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The Houston Texans will eventually have to pay quarterback C.J. Stroud. On top of that, the draft didn’t go exactly as planned. Now, the Texans face the issue of whether their riskiest move of the 2025 NFL offseason will haunt them.
After a season where Stroud faced tons of pressure, the Texans didn’t improve their offensive line. And they may have taken a few steps backward.
Houston traded All-Pro left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Commanders. They also sent former first-round guard Kenyon Green to the Eagles. Furthermore, the released guard Shaq Mason because of salary-cap issues. That’s a lot of gamble on the offensive line being able to produce for a playoff-level team.
Well, if you listen to Pro Football Network, the Texans enter the 2025 with the worst offensive line in football. Yep. The dreaded No. 32 spot for Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans to deal with, according to profootball network.com.
“It wasn’t a great season for the Houston Texans’ offense,” PFN wrote. “And the OL’s play is a big reason why. There weren’t any truly disastrous games, but Houston had seven games graded as a D+ or worse and 11 with a C- or worse. It’s hard to perform well consistently on offense with that level of line play.
“This line also struggled with the run game. They ranked 31st in RBYBC/rush (0.58) and RBWR. That makes some of Joe Mixon’s performances this season even more impressive than they first looked.”
The Texans’ offensive line hope will have to come from the draft. They selected Aireontae Ersery in the second round. This came about thanks to a draft trade. And it Ersery should help, at least in the long term.
“Houston general manager Nick Caserio was wise to trade out of the first round, considering the lack of value at offensive tackle and receiver at No. 25,” Steve Muench wrote. “Now he gets one of the most promising offensive tackle prospects in this class with one of his five Day 2 picks. Ersery should push Tytus Howard and Blake Fisher for the starting right tackle job. If he wins it, Howard can kick inside. Ersery could also be Houston’s left tackle of the future.”
So that’s a lot of hope. However, one guy won’t solve the overall issue. And, truthfully, Ersery is more of a long-term guy.
And the Texans chose wide receivers in the second and third rounds. They went cornerback and running back with the next two picks. Then they grabbed a safety, quarterback, defensive tackle, and tight end.
Yep, they may have left Stroud high and dry. Last season, Stroud got sacked 52 times for over 400 yards — second only to Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams. Also, it proved to be far more than the 38 sacks he took in 2023.
Getting free-agent tackle Cam Robinson should help with the loss of Tunsil. But that’s a lot to expect from Robinson....
