Houston Texans offensive line ranked near the bottom

Please make no mistake about it, this is year one of the rebuild under new head coach DeMeco Ryans but there have been instances throughout NFL history where teams suddenly surprise in that first year. Can the Texans pull off a bit of a cinderella story in 2023? Maybe but for that to happen, the offensive line is going to have to play far better than it did last season.

That said, Pro Football Focus doesn't give them much credit and ranked them 25th in the NFL heading into this coming season. Here is what they had to say about the Houston Texans' offensive line.

"Adding Shaq Mason, even though he was coming off a relatively poor year, was a shrewd piece of business by the Texans this offseason. Houston finished as the worst team in the league at generating yards before contact in the run game, averaging just 0.8 yards all year, and Mason is one of the best run blockers in football."

- Pro Football Focus

It should come as no surprise either that PFF voted left tackle Laremy Tunsil as the best player on the line but there are question marks everywhere else. I think the biggest concerns revolve around the play of Kenyon Green and rookie Juice Scruggs.

Green struggled in his first year and the team hopes he can make significant strides in his improvement in year two. The other concern is with Scruggs, can he step in as a rookie and perform well at the center position? Last season, this position was held down by Scott Quessenberry, who posted an overall PFF grade of 36.6, including a pass block grade of 25.8. Will Scruggs be able to step in and give the Texans solid play at center? He can't do much worse.

How much rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud grows and develops this season will be largely dependent on how well the Texans can protect him, so the play of the offensive line will be of great importance. Can this unit bring it all together and do what they need to do? Only time will tell.

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