Texans rookie Jalen Pitre earns B+ grade in preseason opener

Texans rookie Jalen Pitre was awarded a solid grade from NFL.com for his performance during the preseason opener

Houston Texans rookie safety Jalen Pitre played well in his NFL debut during the preseason opener vs. the New Orleans Saints this past Saturday night, and a draft analyst noticed that play by giving the rookie safety an above average grade.

In what was his NFL preseason debut, Pitre finished with four tackles in his first outing in Lovie Smith’s defense. Pitre will be relied upon heavily in 2022, and will most likely have to keeping learning and improving throughout his rookie season.

As for the preseason debut of Pitre, Chad Reuter on NFL.com wrote the following about Pitre and he performance during the 2022 preseason opener against the Saints, giving him a B+ grade for the time he was on the field:

"“The recognition skills and attacking style Pitre showed at Baylor appeared multiple times on Saturday night, including on a tackle for loss in the first quarter. Pitre nearly had a diving interception on the next play …”"

Texans have chance to have solid secondary in 2022 and beyond

There were times in the preseason game against the Saints where the secondary of the Texans showed they needed some work, but that’s OK because this is what the preseason games and training camp practices are for. There is no doubt Houston’s defense — especially the secondary — will be better than the unit from last season.

Houston’s secondary also includes another rookie, Derek Stingley Jr. — the third overall pick in the 2022 NFL Draft — at cornerback, Eric Murray at safety, Steven Nelson at cornerback, Desmond King II at cornerback and Tavierre Thomas at nickel.

As for the defense of the Texans against New Orleans last Saturday, the unit allowed 270 total yards with 140 of those yards coming in the air.

With Pitre being a rookie, along with Stingley being a rookie too, the Houston secondary will have their issues because that is how things are for rookies against the best players in the world. The positive is they are both talented enough to overcome any miscues they might make during a game as the experience builds up for them week-after-week in 2022.

In the case of Pitre, his first steps on the field are worth some praise, but there is so much more to look forward to in ’22, and this positive moment is just the start of hopefully something very special down the road.