Over the last season and a half, not a lot of love has been sent in the direction of the offensive line of the Houston Texans. At the conclusion of the 2024 NFL season, the Texans biggest weakness was clearly the five big fellas up front who were tasked with keeping CJ Stroud upright and creating lanes for backs to run through. And by the time the 2025 season rolled around, most weren't convinced that Houston had devoted enough of their offseason resources to addressing their offensive line needs.
But 12 weeks into the regular season, it's now abundantly clear that this group has indeed improved. Hell, you might even be able to go as far as saying the Texans offensive line is 'league average,' which equates to about eight steps in the right direction compared to where this group was last year.
Over these 12 weeks, one other thing that has become clear is that there is an established leader in Houston's O-Line room, and his name is Tytus Howard.
Howard has proven to be arguably the best and most versatile piece of the Texans offensive line. After starting the season as Houston's starting right tackle, Howard has moved to the interior, where he's started at both left and right guard over the last few weeks. It's allowed the Texans to be malleable and figure out what their best possible combination is. As a result, over the last five weeks, the Texans offensive line has twice gone a complete game without allowing a sack.
"I think Tytus has done a great job unselfishly moving where he's played right tackle, right guard, left guard, whatever we've asked him, he's done it," head coach DeMeco Ryans told reporters on Monday. "It shows that he's a smart player to be able to handle as much as we put on his plate. He's done that and he's played well for us.”
Never was it more clear that Houston's tinkering up front paid off then after last Thursday night's win against the Buffalo Bills. In that must-win game, the Texans kept Davis Mills clean all night long, giving the backup QB just enough opportunities to do his part in a 23-19 victory.
"Taking zero sacks, I can assure you that my body feels drastically better than it has in some other games and in my football playing history," Davis Mills said after the game, according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC2 Houston. "Tytus is a warrior. Extremely selfless. I’ve been a locker mate with him the last couple years. Great person. Great football player. Whenever he’s on the field he wants to do what’s best for the team. He’s played every single one of those positions at a really high level. I don’t know if there’s many other guys that can do what he does."
Not only did the Texans offensive line not allow a sack of Mills in Week 12, but in his own individual assignments, Tytus Howard didn't even allow a pressure.