Eye of the Jaguar: 3 Key things Houston Texans must prepare for

Josh Allen’s return could make life harder on Sunday for the Houston Texans

No, we’re not talking about THAT Josh Allen. There is also a player with the same name on the defensive side of the ball for the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Allen was a pro bowl defensive lineman as a rookie in 2019, playing in all 16 games. Allen racked up 10.5 sacks on 44 combined tackles.

Definitely a hot start to his career, but injury issues carried into the 2020 season which led to lower production. A knee injury late in the season is what ended his playing time early last season, as Allen was placed on Injured Reserve.

Allen’s absence is one of the reasons why the Jaguars plummeted in terms of their total defense rankings. They had the 21st-best defense in 2019, and without Allen, they sunk to the 31st spot overall in 2020. This should increase with Allen returning,

It will be a one-man show in the pass rush department, as the rest of the Jaguars free-agent moves didn’t bring in anyone that instills any sort of fear in the pass rush. Jay Tufele and Jordan Smith were taken in the draft, but are rookies for a reason on top of being buried on the depth chart.

So all the Houston Texans offensive line has to do is stop Allen, and the defensive line is already beat. The Texans are going to be ground-heavy as evidenced by the fact they’re carrying five running backs on the roster. That’s like a Jon Gruden obsession over QB’s or the Chicago Bears obsession with trying to find a tight end (they had 9 on the roster heading into camp last season).

Expect a handful of ways that the Texans will batter Allen with. Chip blocks from tight ends, crackback blocks, and more.