Offense Strikes Back on Day Two of Senior Bowl
There were some offensive players that would fit nicely for the Texans
The Panini Senior Bowl continued with day two of practice. The National and American teams both played better on offense after day one went to the defense.
Here are my observations from the second day of practice.
Jacob Rodriguez (LB, Texas Tech) had a continuation of his excellent football season for the Red Raiders. The linebacker was my top standout for the day. He was everywhere in coverage. He punished one running back who was slow getting out of his break. Rodriguez was running with a lot of the running backs in coverage. When the team portion started, Rodriguez picked up where he left off in his final college football season. The anticipation put Rodriguez in spots to make tackles, but obviously, there is no tackling in practice. Then the hallmarks of Rodriguez’s game showed up. Adam Randall (RB, Clemson) fired through the hole, and Rodriguez glided over to him. The linebacker smacked the ball out of Randall’s hands like he did seven times this season. The first turnover forced. The second turnover was straight out of a scene from Lubbock, Texas, this season. Romello Height (DE, Texas Tech) flew in from the edge and would’ve carved the quarterback in half. He forced an errant throw that Rodriguez hauled in for his second turnover of the day. The Texans have only Jamal Hill under contract beyond the 2026 season. Rodriguez isn’t a need necessarily for the 2025 season, but you can deploy him right away. His ability to force turnovers would play well on special teams. He could learn from Azeez Al-Shaair about being a good linebacker who controls the defense. He’d be decent depth at the position, though probably needs a little seasoning to be trusted. Rodriguez probably isn’t worth the 69th overall pick for Houston, but Nick Caserio has moved around in the past, and if the Texans added an extra third, depth could be on the table. A year ago, Houston used a late-third to draft a clearly depth player in Jaylin Smith, who, by the way, was also a Senior Bowl participant.
Dametrious Crownover (OT, Texas A&M) is massive. He uses his size well, though I would like to see him lean on opponents more. He weighed in at 330 pounds and stands 6’6”, which is nearly identical to Aireontae Ersery, who, again, was a Senior Bowl participant last year. He’s hard to miss. The Texans have added mass and height to the line in the past year, and Crownover might be another candidate. Imagine if he were eventually good enough to take over the right tackle spot and the Texans had two Erserys. Crownover has been repping at left tackle and right tackle, but he played over 1,800 snaps at right tackle for the Aggies. He allowed three sacks in his college career. He’s going to get some extra eyes on his work after this week.
