Houston Texans: 3 Goals for Ross Blacklock’s rookie season

1. Houston Texans: Stats that include three sacks and numerous TFL

As a fifth-round rookie back in 2016, D.J. Reader collected one sack, seven solo tackles, two TFL and two QB hits in 16 games (seven starts). In his final season with the Texans in 2019, Reader as a defensive tackle totaled 2.5 sacks, 28 solo tackles, six tackles for loss and 13 QB hits.

Those are the shoes which Ross Blacklock is stepping into, and he’s going to have the expectations higher than those of Reader during his rookie season. Taking a look at the two sets of numbers earned by Reader, the numbers that Blacklock will have in 2020 could be more toward the 2019 season, but maybe not as high, at least early on.

If Blacklock can play in all 16 games, and start at least 10 of those, that is a good start, but my belief is Blacklock will have more than 10 starts as a rookie. In his rookie season, maybe the goal for Blacklock should be three sacks, 20 solo tackles, eight tackles for loss and at least 10 QB hits, with that being fewer than one per game.

The most important part of Blacklock’s job doesn’t show up on a stat sheet, but rather he needs to stuff rushing gaps and not let the opponents’ rushing game take over the Texans defense and wear down the front seven for the Texans.

All of the goals mentioned are very achievable, and with the potential stats, maybe those are too low because the feeling with the Texans signing Blacklock and having him alongside J.J. Watt is the Texans defensive line will impress many. More so, maybe Blacklock can surprise the opponent each week and make a name for himself in the NFL.