Where Will the Offensive Line Help Come From? Looking Back to Look Forward
The signings, the signing they shouldn't make, and a long-term Texan moves on
The Houston Texans are in the process of an offensive line makeover. The Texans shredded apart one of the worst offensive lines in football.
Laremy Tunsil is in Washington now holding down the left tackle spot for the Commanders. Keyon Green netted the Texans a dynamic safety in a trade to Philidelphia where the Eagles will attempt to draw out any potential the Texans couldn’t. Shaq Mason is a free agent.
Laken Tomlinson was signed as a free agent from the Seattle Seahawks. His best trait is availability. Houston sent a future selection in the sixth round to Minnesota for disappointing guard Ed Ingram. Ingram looks like the Vikings version of Kenyon Green.
Additions inside have been minimal and the tackle options are currently Blake Fisher and Tytus Howard.
It doesn’t look great today. Fortunately, the Texans don’t play a game for another six months. There is time to improve and continue to fix the bane of 2024’s offense.
There are plenty of guards for the Texans to choose from in the upcoming NFL draft. The options in free agency have dried up, so younger and cost-controlled talent seems to be the direction Houston is headed.
The fixer is the creator of the offensive line issue: Nick Caserio.
His whiff on Kenyon Green in 2022 started the offensive line's shakiness. The contract extensions for Tytus Howard and Shaq Mason hamstrung this offseason’s potential for spending.
The general manager of the Houston Texans thought he had built a line that would last coming out of the 2023 draft, but 2024 proved otherwise. A re-tooling might have worked, but Caserio opted for a teardown with two new voices in the rebuild.