Houston Texans: Antony Auclair becomes newest TE on roster

The Houston Texans added another free agent to their roster on Wednesday, as Antony Auclair becomes the latest player to join the roster this offseason. The Texans will have a different look at tight end this upcoming season, and this will be a solid chance for Auclair to compete for a roster spot.

Auclair was a part of four seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including their Super Bowl season a year ago. Auclair played in eight games that championship season, including making two starts, though he was inactive in Weeks 14 and 15, plus inactive for all of the playoff run as the Buccaneers made their run to the Super Bowl.

Also in ’20, Auclair played in Week 1, then was on the injured reserve list from Weeks 2-7, and returned for Weeks 8-13 and Week 17. In the games played in ’20, Auclair totaled no receptions and was targeted just once, so there wasn’t much to talk about from that season.

Auclair has never been a big threat in catching passes with 40 games active, making 20 starts, but only having 10 receptions on 14 targets for 84 receiving yards in his four-year career. His career-best reception is 14 yards back in his rookie season, and he’s yet to make a reception for a touchdown.

Houston Texans: Jordan Akins was best on roster in 2020

As for how he’ll fit in the tight end battle for the ‘’21 offseason, Auclair will have to compete against Jordan Akins, Kahale Warring, Paul Quessenberry, Pharaoh Brown and Ryan Izzo, so that means there really isn’t a superstar at the position on the roster of the Houston Texans.

Last season, the leading tight end for the Houston Texans in yards and receptions was Akins, who in 13 games played totaled 37 receptions (49 targets) for 403 yards, averaging 10.9 yards per reception. He also caught one touchdown, as Akins also averaged 31 yards receiving per game in ’20.

The Houston Texans didn’t re-sign Darren Fells this offseason, as general manager Nick Caserio decided to go a different way, which was fine, but he was a solid player for the franchise the past couple seasons. In ’20, Fells played in 16 games, where he caught 21 passes on 28 targets for 312 yards with four touchdowns. Fells also averaged 14.9 yards per reception in ’20.

Though this signing of Auclair isn’t the most exciting signing of this offseason, it does add another dimension to the offseason tight end competition that the Texans need to have in camp to make this team better than it was a season ago.