2. Kenyon Green, OG
One of the biggest reasons the Texans fell flat in the playoffs was their offensive line. Stroud was thrown around for three sacks in Houston’s wild-card win over the Los Angeles Chargers and the Kansas City Chiefs also got to him often with eight sacks in the 23-14 loss on Jan. 18.
This was an issue all season long as Stroud was sacked 52 times compared to 38 times in his rookie season. His 39% pressure rate was also alarming as only Philadelphia’s Jalen Hurts (40.1%) and Sam Darnold of the Minnesota Vikings (39.1%) were pressured more among starting quarterbacks last season.
With that said, something has to change and it could start with Kenyon Green.
Green was a first-round pick out of Texas A&M in the 2022 NFL Draft but has fallen woefully short of expectations in his first three seasons. Green allowed 47 pressures in his rookie season and posted an overall grade of 37.3 and a 27.0 pass-blocking grade which was last among qualifying guards. He also suffered a shoulder injury that virtually wiped out his entire sophomore campaign in 2023.
Green received more playing time with Houston this past season but the results weren’t much better with 28 pressures on 328 pass-blocking snaps – an 8.5% pressure rate. Green’s 44.6 run-blocking grade also showed he hasn’t made an impact in that department and has 19 penalties (six declined) in his three seasons in the NFL. (This is even worse when you consider he missed an entire season due to injury.)
Green will enter the final year of his rookie deal and it’s a good bet the Texans will decline his fifth-year option. A release would result in $4.35 million in dead cap for 2025 but it might be justified with how much he’s struggled over the past three seasons.