Houston Texans Rookie Review: Martinas Rankin

The Houston Texans drafted offensive lineman Martinas Rankin with their second third-round draft pick in the 2018 NFL Draft.

The Houston Texans drafted Mississippi State offensive lineman Martinas Rankin with their second third-round draft pick in 2018. The Texans acquired the 80th draft pick and a 2019 second round pick in the draft by trading Pro Bowl offensive tackle Duane Brown to the Seattle Seahawks.

Rankin was drafted with the intention of having him become one of the Texans starting offensive tackles in the long term. He missed the majority of training camp and the preseason recovering from foot surgery. Rankin displayed his versatility against the Los Angeles Rams in the preseason playing tackle and guard.

Once the regular season started, Texans opted to have Rankin as the swing tackle with Julién Davenport and Seantrel Henderson as the starting tackles. Although that duo didn’t last long with Henderson breaking his ankle in Week 1, it forced Davenport to move to right tackle and Rankin to slide in at left tackle. Rankin started the next three games before Texans opted to move Davenport back to the left side and have  Kendall Lamm start at right tackle in Week 5.

Rankin was relegated to a reserve role for the majority of the season but remained on the active roster for game day. Rankin started in Week 16 against the Philadelphia Eagles at left guard after Senio Kelemete was a late scratch due to injury. Rankin looked comfortable playing inside at guard and will have the opportunity to earn a starting spot in 2019.