Texans: Center Justin Britt knows the importance of o-line in rushing game

One part of the Houston Texans offense that needs revamping is the running game, and that starts with the offensive line in 2022.

In 2021 the Houston Texans offense never quite had a quality rushing game, as the run attack had faults with running back, play calling and the offensive line blocking as well. Houston finished the ’21 season with Rex Burkhead being the leading rusher on the team with 427 yards.

The second best rusher was Mark Ingram with 294 rushing yards and he played only seven games with Houston that season, so that pretty much sums up last season when it came to running the football.

In all, the running game in Houston was tough to watch, and it was a huge factor in the Texans finishing with an 4-13 overall record. Now in 2022 and training camp taking place, the Texans running attack looks a little different with Burkhead returning, but the team has added Marlon Mack and Dameon Pierce to the roster.

Houston’s offensive line is also working to have better run blocking, and veteran center Justin Britt knows the play of the o-line is greatly important to the improvement of the Texans having a respectable running game in ’22.

A big part of Houston being a better running team is the overall health of the offensive line, as many members of the unit missed games in ’21. The running backs were at fault too, but for this talking point the offensive line will need to be much better in ’22.

What does Texans center Justin Britt think of the offensive line entering ’22?

Britt talked to the Houston media on Saturday about the role of the offensive line when it comes to running the football this season, with comments provided by HoustonTexans.com:

"“I come from a background where running the ball was kind of like the backbone of the offense. I understand what it takes and it’s confidence within the head coach and the OC, but we have to make them confident.”"

Britt continued to talk about the play of the Texans’ offensive line and how they will need to do their job when rushing plays are called:

"“We have to make them work when they call it. We have to make the holes and we don’t have to press and do anything. We just have to do our job because they are teaching us really well and we are getting the opportunity to come out here and practice it and fix our corrections each day.”"

This is the thing about the Houston that is fun to hear and read about is knowing the players on the team understand what they need to do for the team to have success in ’22. Again, the rushing game was really hard to not only watch, but it was tough to comprehend how bad it was a year ago.

There is now way the ’22 rushing game of the Texans will be as bad as it was last year. With a new offense and hopefully better play calling, the play of the offensive line will be much improved if they are on the field healthy for most of the time as a complete unit.

Do you think the Texans will be a better rushing team in ’22, and what are your predictions as to who will be the best running back on the team for this season?