For all of the moves that the Houston Texans made this offseason, training camp is the time when everything comes into focus. The Texans overhauled many areas of their team, looking to make the jump they couldn’t make in 2024, and the biggest question among fans is what would happen along the offensive line.
The Texans made plenty of moves to fix a unit that allowed C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times last season. But while the front office put in some effort, it seems like the same problems still exist during the opening week of camp.
The Texans’ Offensive Line is Still Struggling During Training Camp
The report came from ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime, who gave a less-than-sterling review of the Texans’ offense during Saturday’s practice. While he mentioned that Stroud threw a pick-six to linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair, he also revealed that the offensive line is up to their old habits from a year ago.
“The Pro Bowl pass-rush duo of Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter wrecked the offensive line on a few plays,” Bien-Aime wrote. “The starting interior defensive line also prevented explosive run plays. …The O-line is looking shaky early – Stroud was under pressure and the run game has looked nonexistent. But again, players haven’t been in pads.”
Bien-Aime also stressed that there isn’t anything to worry about as they’ll find out more when players practice in pads beginning on Monday. But for Texans fans it may as well have been Leslie Nielsen standing in front of an exploding fireworks factory.
The Texans’ offensive line sabotaged their hopes of a deep playoff run a year ago. While they still were able to win the AFC South, their issues came to a head when they allowed eight sacks in an AFC Divisional Round loss to the Kansas City Chiefs.
That loss sparked a movement this offseason. Houston traded Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders and first-round bust Kenyon Green to the Philadelphia Eagles. But the choices to replace them were underwhelming as journeyman Laken Tomlinson and Cam Robinson signed as free agents, Jake Andrews was claimed off waivers and Ed Ingram was acquired in a trade with the Minnesota Vikings.
The Texans also have second-round pick Aireontae Ersery waiting in the wings, but it would be hard to convince a fan that this group got better despite all the offseason moves.
There is a chance that increasing the contact could help the Texans show the changes have worked. The relatively new group could also just need time to work together with two new starters and Tytus Howard shifting from left guard to right guard.
Regardless, this is something fans will be watching for when Houston puts the pads on Monday and hope things will get better before they open the season at the Los Angeles Rams on Sept. 7.