Houston Texans: Tytus Howard speaks on his adjustment to the NFL

Houston Texans first-round pick Tytus Howard is adjusting to life in the NFL and he had some things to say about it. How is he doing? Let’s take a look.

It’s offseason time for the Houston Texans and the main storyline is watching how the prospects ingratiate themselves at the professional level and what will the positional battles will be when it’s all said and done at the start of training camp.

Tytus Howard, the Houston Texans first pick of the 2019 NFL Draft — selected 23rd overall — is one of the most important because he will be going to a unit that badly needs improvement. Deshaun Watson was sacked an NFL-record 62 times last season and this organization can’t let that happen again.

I absolutely love the pick and it may prove to be one that holds tremendous value for this team. He’s already drawing comparisons to Duane Brown, the only other tackle selected in the first round in franchise history, so he’ll be looked upon to make it count.

As I’m sure you know by now, he hails from the tiny Alabama State University; and although that’s the case, he performed well when in the trenches. He didn’t allow a single pressure against Auburn — their highest-ranked opponent — back last September and he has proven that he can bang with the big boys.

He’s a big boy himself — this man is a 6-foot-7, 317-pound tackle that can run the 40-yard dash in 5.05 seconds with 34-inch arms and 10.6-inch hands to boot. He’s exactly what the Houston Texans are looking for in this system and his timing of progression to everyday starter status is well within his hands.

He spoke with the Chron’s John McClain recently about the adjustments that he has had to make and here’s what he said:

"“It feels pretty good to compete with some of the older guys,” he said. “Just being behind them and watching and learning you can get a feel for how this thing goes. I’m finding out that the game’s a lot faster in the NFL than it was in college. It’s letting me know I still have a lot of work to do.”"

Howard has played just about every offensive position imaginable in his career up to this point — including quarterback — so his ability to play more than one position is a trait of a player that this franchise holds near and dear.

We’re not sure of how quickly he will progress but I do think that we’ll see Tytus out there a lot this

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season. It remains to be seen if he will be starting Week 1 but he certainly has the potential to do so considering the competition he’s up against.

Pro Football Focus (subscription required) has Howard graded out with a near-solid 77.6 overall grade through 659 snaps in 2018. Not to mention that he was ranked 14th among tackles in his class in run-block success percentage (93.9).

He faced a lot of pressure on his side and still ranked 24th among tackles in Pass Blocking Efficiency (98.3).

This certainly indicates he’s ready to do battle on the gridiron and he’s primed to make an impact, likely sooner than later.

Let’s keep our eyes peeled…

Good luck Tytus.

Next. NFL Draft 2019: Grades and analysis for all seven picks. dark

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