Battle Red Blog
As training camp approaches it is a good time to take a look at the players with something to prove in training camp. One of the key points that happens with a perennial playoff team is that you get seemingly good football players that don’t make the cut. Teams get 53 spots and 47 spots on Sunday. As the Texans aim to improve every unit on the field, some of the existing guys will have more to prove.
That is obviously more true of the offensive line than any other unit. The Texans added Wyatt Teller, Braden Smith, and Evan Brown in free agency. They brought back Ed Ingram and Trent Brown from the previous line. They added Keylan Rutledge and Febechi Nwaiwu in the draft. My math skills are not what they are cracked up to be, but I count seven guys right there. That doesn’t include Jarrett Patterson, Aireontae Ersery, and Jake Andrews who were already under contract. That’s ten guys and there will not be ten linemen on the final roster.
There is usually a grace period for highly drafted players. Kenyon Green got three years before the Texans cut him loose. Juice Scruggs also got some extended rope as a second round draft choice. However, there comes a time when you either have to produce or you get cut. Jarrett Patterson was a sixth round choice. Matthews was a starter last year but could be cut if others step up at center. That leaves Blake Fisher as a guy that needs to step up in order to keep his spot.
Part of it is simple numbers. They already have three tackles in front of him on the depth chart in Ersery, Smith, and Brown. Obviously, that doesn’t include anyone else that could play tackle in addition to some other positions. The first couple of seasons have been a mixed bag for Fisher. He played more in his rookie season, but the results were tepid at best. The official numbers looked better last season, but he was used almost exclusively as a sixth lineman in run heavy sets.
2024: 50.4 overall, 49.1 run block, 48.3 pass block
2025: 73.5 overall, 75.2 run block, 59.5 pass block
Congratulations to Nick Caley for finding a way to get the most of out Fisher. He showed some proficiency in how he was used as the sixth linemen, so the overall grade was pretty good. For the uninitiated, PFF scores work in the same way that scouting grades work. Most scores fall between 20 and 90 when players get repetitive snaps. Very few players ever score below 40 and live to tell about it. So, typically you see players between 40 and 60 serve as strictly bench players or end of the roster guys. Guys between 60 and 70 are rotational players or borderline starters. Players between 70 and 80 are solid to good starters. Players above 80 are All-pro types.
So, he was a starting quality lineman when used exclusively...
