Houston Texans left tackle Roderick Johnson turned in yet another solid performance against the Cowboys Saturday. He has earned the starting job at LT. Why?
The HoustonTexanswould love to put this past Saturday’s performance out on the gridiron far in their rear view mirror after the 34-0 shellacking that took place. It was a game mired in bumbled plays, lackluster effort and it seemed as if these guys weren’t prepared to take on the Dallas Cowboys.
Although it’s the preseason, the HoustonTexanscould’ve turned in a better performance than that because the fact that they weren’t even able to score a touchdown is beyond unacceptable. Are Cowboys that good or did the HoustonTexansgive a damn?
That’s a question that’s open for debate — but I would say it’s fair to assess that with the injuries that occurred toLamar MillerandZach Fulton, the team wanted to play it safe by pulling their stars out of the game early.
Deshaun Watsongo some considerable time Saturday but shortly after Fulton went down, he was pulled from the game quickly and thenJoe Webbtook the reins for the rest of the first half. That was a smart move considering how unlucky the HoustonTexanswere with the injury bug in the early goings that night.
But despite the negativity of such a bad game that the HoustonTexansplayed, there was a bright spot.
Left tackleRoderick Johnsongot the start once again and he performed solidly in the minute of snaps that he took. Johnson looks like he’s ready to take over the job at this position and he wants it so bad that he could taste it.
Considering that the offensive line didn’t perform all that well as a whole, Johnson stood out like a sore thumb but in such a positive way.
Pro Football Focus gave Johnson a highly-satisfactory75.1 pass block, along with an 65.2 offensive and 58.4 run block grade through 12 snaps that he took at left tackle.He didn’t allow
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a pressure on his side while he was out there.
These numbers indicate that Johnson submitted another solid performance at the position and he’s making strides to be the starter for the HoustonTexans.
I’m all about guys earning their keep and just becauseMatt Kalilis a veteran and was good at some point, he shouldn’t be given the position. There shouldn’t be an inheritance with anything in the NFL.
I honestly couldn’t be more proud of the former fifth-round pick that has bounced around a bit in the league. He had been on the team’s practice squad but it certainly looks like he won’t be going there this season. With as well as he has been playing, he may have found a home with the HoustonTexans.
Let’s continue to hope for the best but I think the mystery at left tackle has been solved.
Keep up Roderick — go HoustonTexans!
For more grades, advanced statistics and more at Pro Football Focus,subscribe to PFF’s EDGE and ELITE subscriptions at ProFootballFocus.com.
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