Ranking AFC South Units: Offensive Lines
By Josh McSwain
1. Texans
Well, this should be pretty obvious. The rest of the lines have not proven themselves to not be bad.
Houston ran for the most yards last year, but they were third in yards per rush at 3.7. That is certainly a function of lack of talent at running back, but also an inditement of the line.
Houston allowed a division low 36 sacks last season, and part of that was due to the inability of anyone not named Hopkins to get open and quarterbacks who could not get the ball out quickly.
Still, assuming Duane Brown comes back healthy, they have a top five left tackle. If not, things could get really dicey. He would be replaced by former Bronco Chris Clark, who came over last offseason. He’s a decent third tackle but that’s about it.
On the interior, Xavier Su’a-Filo is slated to start at left guard and he’s solid. Two new starters come in at center and right guard with Nick Martin from Notre Dame the presumed starter at center after being picked in the second round and free agent pickup Jeff Allen from the Chiefs likely to start at right guard. They take over for Ben Jones and Brandon Brooks, who departed in free agency.
Derek Newton is still at right tackle. He struggles at times in the passing game but he’s solid in the running game, which is what you ask a right tackle to be.
Overall, this line has proven themselves to be the most reliable at this point in time. But Brown’s health and how new guys mesh will determine if they can stay at the top of this list.
Later this month we will look at the defensive side of the ball.