The Houston Texans came up short in their bid to make a run in the playoffs last season and a big reason was their offensive line. The Texans ranked 29th in Pro Football Focus’s final offensive line rankings for 2024 and out of the 11 players that entered games, eight had an overall grade below 65.0.
Changes needed to be made but you could argue the group has gotten weaker this offseason. Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Washington Commanders and the release of Shaq Mason left the Texans without another veteran in the middle.
But while some of these moves were necessary, there’s one move that Texans fans won’t be complaining about and it enhances their chances of being better in the trenches as they prepare for the 2025 season.
Texans Fans Won’t Miss Kenyon Green After Trade to the Eagles
A hometown kid from Humble, Texas, Kenyon Green was a great story coming out of the 2022 NFL Draft. He was a five-star offensive tackle recruit coming out of high school but moved to left guard for Texas A&M in 2020. He wound up starting at four different positions the following season and played his way into a first-round prospect, selected by the Texans with the 15th overall pick in the NFL Draft.
While Green had the 6-foot-4, 323-pound frame to play guard in the NFL, his 5.93 relative athletic score left a lot to be desired. That showed up when Green arrived in Houston as he logged a 37.7 overall grade in 823 snaps during his rookie season. He also struggled in pass protection, allowing 47 pressures on 495 pass-blocking snaps (9.4% pressure rate), and finished with the second-lowest overall grade among 84 qualifiers behind Los Angeles’s Bobby Evans.
Green missed the entire 2023 season with a shoulder injury but the time to heal his body and mind didn’t pay off. He logged a 38.6 overall grade that ranked 73rd out of 79 qualifiers. He also struggled in pass protection allowing 28 pressures on 328 pass-blocking snaps (8.5% pressure rate). The supporting cast around him didn’t do any favors but Green showed no signs of a player that could turn it around entering the final year of his rookie deal.
That status facilitated a trade where the Texans acquired safety Chauncey Gardner-Johnson and took on half of Green’s 2025 salary to make it happen. While Houston still has questions on its offensive line including new acquisitions Ed Ingram and Laken Tomlinson, throwing the towel in on Green appears to be the right move and should be addition by subtraction along the Texan’s offensive line next season.