Houston Texans will compete against a familiar face this weekend

Remember when the trade deadline buzz surrounded the Houston Texans?

The hype and hope that a Deshaun Watson trade would go down ultimately didn’t, But when the Houston Texans traded defensive end Charles Omenihu, it caught a lot of people off guard. The San Francisco 49ers gave up a 2023 sixth-round pick for one of the team’s better and more likable guys.

Omenihu had just started to build a rapport in Defensive Coordinator Lovie Smith’s defense, working alongside Jonathon Greenard. Both Greenard and Omenihu were seen as the future bright spots for the Texans’ defense. Unfortunately, Omenihu being traded was another one of Nick Caserio’s late-round pick trades that didn’t do much to instill any hope of something valuable in terms of draft capital.

But did Caserio do the right thing in trading Omenihu away? First, let’s take a look at the stats.

The Houston Texans may have won the Omenihu trade to the 49ers

Since being traded away, Omenihu has been behind on the depth chart to Arik Armstead and Nick Bosa. Both of those players are incredibly talented, and it’s no wonder why they’re starting. When we look at Omenihu’s production, he’s only had two tackles in the handful of games he’s suited up for San Francisco.

Omenihu has played sparingly, with his highest number of snaps coming in Week 11 at Jacksonville, with 35% of possible snaps played. So while Houston’s defense hasn’t been the greatest, at least the Texans can rest assured that Omenihu didn’t suddenly start having a Pro Bowl-type year once he got to the Bay Area.

Of course, trades can’t always be officially judged within the same year (unless they’re a really good steal), so it will take time to see what Omenihu does for the 49ers in this week’s game when his former team comes to town.