Houston Texans: Jordan Akins is on track to making his mark in 2019

Houston Texans tight end Jordan Akins is making a name for himself so far and it’s going to be an interesting mark made in 2019. What’s going on with him?

Houston Texans fans — we’re in the midst of the preseason and we’ve finally got some games going on to talk about!  Our beloved football team has a ton a talent but it still remains to be seen if it will all compartmentalize into something that we can proud of in 2019.

This schedule isn’t as fluffy as last season and I still have them ending the season somewhere around the nine-win mark.  But that’s why you play the games — I had envisioned the Houston Texans getting to the 11-5 mark, I had predicted 12-4 for 2018 but I couldn’t make up the nine-game win streak.

My aspirations about the Houston Texans postseason hopes were near dashed, especially after Week 3 in an embarrassing, devastating loss to the New York Giants where they allowed then 37-year-old Eli Manning to put on a clinic.

But it was after that moment where the Houston Texans conjured up some guts and quickly turned things around with each game that they won in the streak.  Even though the season ended with a terrible 21-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card round, it’s still notable how incredible it was for the team to still make the postseason despite starting out 0-3.

History wasn’t on their side and the law of averages were telling the experts otherwise.  But you know what?  They prevailed and I think they can do the same this season by running the gamut and proving the naysayers wrong.

As a matter of act, the same can be said about tight end Jordan Akins, who is on a mission to

prove his worth in the NFL, just like the Houston Texans are.

Akins was selected in the third round of the 2018 NFL Draft and we all had wondered exactly what his role was going to be.  He has a terrific frame for the game, wildly athletic but isn’t much of a

blocker.

His role is becoming more defined as of late but there’s going to be a lot of ebbs and flow to it.  He sees himself also being a wide receiver, helping out with punt returns and some fullback work.  This should be no problem with his 6-foot-4, 243-pound frame.

It seems whatever he’s asked to do, he’ll be ready to fulfill the role and it’s already indicating that he’s off to a terrific start.

Pro Football Focus had Akins as the highest-graded offensive player this past Thursday against the Green Bay Packers with a sterling 87.1 grade.  He caught two balls for 24 yards off three

targets in the action he saw out on the field.

Could this be a breakout season for Akins?  It’s hard to say because of the glut of tight ends that they already have with Jordan Thomas, Kahale Warring, Darren Fells and Jerell Adams but he’s got a great shot to make his mark out there.

Thomas will continue to be the deep-ball, red-zone threat but Akins could carve his way into being a reliable, pass-catcher than keep those chains moving up the gridiron.

We’ll have to see but I wish Akins nothing but the best of luck.

Akins, 27, recorded 17 catches for 225 yards — 13.2 yards per reception — with zero touchdowns through all 16 games — six starts — in 2018.  His catch percentage was 68.0.