When the Houston Texans started the 2021 season, there was one spot that stuck out like a sore thumb.
That position group was the running backs, carrying an obsessive and excessive amount of runners with five on the depth chart. That’s a Matt Nagy “nine tight ends” kind of fixation going on here. The problem is that one of those running backs serves little to no purpose on the roster.
If you guessed Rex Burkhead, then you are correct. Burkhead has hardly been a part of the offense, only getting the ball in two games and totaling two catches for 11 yards. He’s only been on the field for use on offense and special teams for less than 30 snaps.
Unless the Houston Texans are trying to use him for blocking purposes (which there should be stats for), then why is Burkhead even on the roster? Burkhead’s saving grace is probably the fact that he is a former New England Patriot, just like General Manager Nick Caserio.
So what should the Texans do with Burkhead?
The Houston Texans need to move Burkhead and bring in a veteran offensive lineman
The offensive line was bad against the Carolina Panthers defense that didn’t necessarily have any players one would fear by themselves. Together they did a great job, and credit goes to Matt Rhule for getting them off to a 3-0 start. However, there needs to be more depth on the offensive line.
While a lot of these available players are older, it can’t hurt to bring a few in as a tryout and have a look. At the bare minimum, the Texans need to sign one of the following players:
- David DeCastro
- Mitchell Schwartz
- Rick Wagner
- Russell Okung
Yes, it’s not 2015 anymore with these players but these are still solid additions that could be made to a young team that needs more help on the offensive line. The run blocking and run game for that matter has been an utter disappointment, and maybe one of these free agents could help change that.
If not focused on an offensive lineman in free agency, then the Houston Texans must focus on selecting one in the 2022 NFL Draft.