Houston Texans: Julie’n Davenport benched for Kendall Lamm
By Jair Lopez
Houston Texans second-year offensive tackle Julien Davenport has been replaced in the starting lineup by Kendall Lamm after struggling for multiple games.
The patience of the Houston Texans was wearing thin with Julien Davenport struggling on the right side of the offensive line and a change has been made in the starting lineup with Kendall Lamm now being listed as the starter.
Davenport spent the majority of the preseason and training camp as the starting left tackle as Seantrel Henderson started at right tackle. However, with Henderson suffering a season-ending ankle injury in Week 1, rookie Martinas Rankin was slotted as the left tackle meanwhile Davenport was tasked with the assignment of learning a new position at right tackle.
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Davenport has been unable to get acclimated to his new position, having multiple miscommunications with the offense and several false starts that killed opportunities for the team to put points on the scoreboard.
Lamm was declared as the starting right tackle for their Week 4 game vs. the Indianapolis Colts faring much better than Davenport did.
Lamm looked much better in pass protection throughout the preseason than he had in previous seasons. There was some uncertainty prior to the Colts game that Lamm could translate that level of play to the regular season where he would face better competition instead of players that were simply fighting to make the back end of an NFL roster.
Lamm wasn’t spectacular by any means allowing Watson to get sacked late in the second quarter, but he showed to be a better fit on the right side than Davenport. If Lamm is able to hold his own on most plays, that is the best the Texans can ask out of him.
The right tackle Lamm is in his fourth season with the Texans after going undrafted in 2015. He knows the offense that head coach Bill O’Brien wants to run on game day, and the reality is experience is really what is making him the better option moving forward.
The Texans have not given up on Davenport. They drafted him last year in the fourth-round with the intention of developing him and having him and Rankin be the starting tackles for the years to come.
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Davenport is the better player from a physical standpoint, but he is still making the transition from college to the NFL level and is learning to readjust his technique as he learns to protect the quarterback from the right side.