The Houston Texans’ offensive line has been a disaster this season and they once again have a new left tackle going forward.
With Kendall Lamm once again showing the Houston Texans that he’s not the answer at left tackle during their week 12 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, head coach Bill O’Brien decided to move Jeff Allen from guard to left tackle for this past Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans.
Allen played pretty well, but did struggle since he hasn’t played left tackle since his rookie year with the Kansas City Chiefs.
Unfortunately, Allen’s Pro Football Focus grade from Sunday’s loss to the Titans was only a 49.5. Here’s what PFF wrote about him:
"Allen was solid on run blocks (77.7 run-blocking grade), but as expected considering he was playing out of position at left tackle, he had significant struggles in pass protection. He surrendered five total pressures on the day, and on a critical fourth down late in the fourth quarter took three consecutive false start penalties."
With opposing defenses not respecting the Texans’ passing game and loading the box to stuff the run, they’ll need Allen to step up his play as a pass blocker in order to buy quarterback Tom Savage more time.
O’Brien stated on Monday that their offensive line is set for the foreseeable future. So it looks like Allen is the guy at left tackle as long as he stays healthy.
Bill O'Brien said he expects this to be his offensive line configuration going forward: LT Jeff Allen, LG Xavier Su'a-Filo, C Nick Martin, RG Greg Mancz, RT Breno Giacomini
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) December 4, 2017
Now of course, there is a chance that Allen could improve at left tackle as the season finishes up, but I wouldn’t count on it. The Texans left tackle for the 2018 season isn’t on their roster right now. They’ll need to look for a new one in free agency.
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