Texans: 3 Bold Predictions Before Training Camp Begins

1. Jonathan Greenard will be breakout player on team in 2022

The one player who showed improvement in 2021, but can — and will — do even more in 2022 is defensive end Jonathan Greenard. The defensive end has played in 25 games combined in his first two seasons in the league since being drafted 90th overall in 2020.

In his second season, Greenard had eight sacks, and that number can be much better in ’21 if his progression continues from year two to year three. In ’20 as a rookie, Greenard totaled one sack, but with his +7 sack improvement in ’21, the hope is that positive increases even more, because Greenard is a talented player.

Houston’s defense will be better overall as a unit than it was a season ago, and if that happens, then the prediction of Greenard being the breakout player of the unit will not only come to fruition, the boldest prediction of all is he’ll improve his sack total from ’21

That means if Greenard can play a complete schedule of 17 games for the first time in his career, and improves another +7 sacks this season, that would make his have 15 sacks in ’22. That would be a tremendous feat for sure, and these could be lofty expectations, but being his third year, the Texans really need him to be a breakout player for this defense to improve.

Houston has the core players to be a better defense than they were last season, and Greenard is one of those players that will make them a better unit. Saying he’ll have another seven-sack gain in ’22 is lofty, but it is also a bold statement that can happen if others on the defense improve their game, too.