With Rookie's Role Decided, Texans Plan at Offensive Line is Clear
The trade the Texans didn't make now seems to be clear
The Houston Texans have a plan for rookie offensive lineman Aireontae Ersery that lays out the plan for their interior line as well.
“We’ll start him out at tackle and see how he does there,” DeMeco Ryans said Monday at the Houston Texans Foundation charity golf event. “My vision for him was always he could help us at tackle.”
Ersery’s history and size made it tough to see him at guard. He played left tackle almost exclusively at Minnesota. He’s also huge at 6’6” and over 330 pounds. The Texans were the “square peg, round hole” team under Bobby Slowik last year. They won’t make that mistake again.
Where Ersery competes is the big question. He played left tackle in college.
Before the draft, the Texans signed Cam Robinson to a one-year, $12 million contract. Robinson is a steady veteran who has only played left tackle. His pricey contract dictates he’s getting the first shot at left tackle. It won’t be easy for Ersery to unseat him.
Blake Fisher played right tackle for the Texans last year and started the team’s final six games. His production was fine. It wasn’t to the level where he is the unquestioned starter. Fisher was seen a year ago as a player who needed an NFL offseason. Now with one under his belt, he should be more equipped to handle right tackle duties. Fisher’s experience gives him a leg up on Ersery, though the distance might not be as great as between Ersery and Robinson.
If he beats out Robinson or Fisher, so be it. It would make the selection of Ersery even better and would just throw into question the investments in Fisher and Robinson.
The likely outcome, for now, appears to be Ersery as a backup tackle. Perhaps he’d even be the swing tackle who would play either position if Robinson or Fisher were out.
It would mark the second year in a row the Texans drafted a tackle with no clear path to starting. Last year, Fisher was relegated to swing tackle duties while Laremy Tunsil and Tytus Howard started at tackle.
The Texans might have added a backup tackle instead of a potential starter at guard. Ersery, Robinson, and Fisher can’t all be on the field at the same time.
Tackle depth doesn’t bother general manager Nick Caserio. He craves it.
“I think we've always been a big believer you can't have enough tackles on your football team,” he said last year after the team drafted Fisher. “You need three tackles, three or four tackles, that you feel can go out there and play.”
Unless they’ve changed their approach, don’t expect Fisher to be bumping inside while Ersery plays tackle. Caserio was stern last year; he viewed Fisher as a tackle.
The interior of the offensive line was the problem last year, not the tackles. I know solidifying the future of left tackle is important, and Ersery might be the long-term replacement for Tunsil, but they need to be better inside.
The Texans seem ready to bet on a menagerie of mediocrity on the inside. Though anyone could argue mediocrity would be an improvement over 2024’s performance.
Howard seems likely to resume his work inside for the Texans. Laken Tomlinson has played a lot of football, though his performance has slipped in the past few seasons. Ed Ingram was benched mid-year in Minnesota. Juice Scruggs played all three interior positions but didn’t start at any of them when healthy at the end of the season. Nick Broeker has barely seen the field in two seasons. That’s similar to the newly acquired Jake Andrews, who has played sparingly.
How Ersery gets on the field in 2025 is clear, and his future is crystal clear. The second-guessing of adding a tackle option and zero interior offensive line options via the draft will be present through the 2025 season, regardless of Ersery’s performance.