Houston Texans: Taking a closer look at the offensive depth chart

Offensive line and tight end

Let me start off by saying that anybody who says the Houston Texans O-Line is trash, just show them this tweet:

Underrated says it best. To top it off, Max Scharping and Tytus Howard were rookies. They will likely show improvement next year, and Laremy Tunsil didn’t even get an offseason last year to learn the Houston Texan offense. With the rookies likely to show improvement and Tunsil getting time to learn the offense, this O-Line will show improvement next year. Brent Qvale and Roderick Johnson are experienced backups to have on the roster.

Zach Fulton and Nick Martin are good signs of continuity as they have played decent for the Houston Texans. Overall, this is a solid group that will improve, however, it is still imperative that Watson gets that ball out quicker. It’s why he was still sacked so many times last year, as the o-line can only hold them off for so long.

My only thought about improving this O-Line is at Right Guard. Zach Fulton recently restructured his contract, which is great for both sides, but while he is a solid option at pass blocking, he really struggles with run blocking. It’s why I think signing Larry Warford would a great help for David Johnson and help Zach Fulton improve his run blocking.

The only problem is that if you put Warford in on a play, the defense will likely know it’s a run play because Warford is an excellent run blocker but isn’t as good of a pass blocker as Fulton. It’s a potentially rewarding but also a potentially unnecessary signing. Interesting to see how it will all play out before Week 1. However, since Fulton has a reworked contract, it’s unlikely to see Warford in a Texan uniform, so don’t get your hopes up.

At the TE spot, you have your starter Darren Fells. Though he is on the older end of football players, I like to think of it as more, ‘experienced.’ He was reliable last year and didn’t really cause any issues. Jordan Akins showed improvement last year as he went from 17 catches his rookie year to 36 catches last season.

Jordan Thomas had a solid rookie year as he proved to be a solid red-zone target. However, in his second season, he had a rib injury and wasn’t all that helpful when he returned. He will likely be competing with Kahale Warring for some snaps to try and make the 53-man roster.  Warring was drafted before last season in the 3rd round. However, he did not play due to nagging injuries and didn’t see the field. Warring instead spent his rookie year learning the offense and will provide Jordan Thomas some competition for the 3rd TE spot. The odd man out between the two would be unlikely to see the field as often.