Juice Scruggs struggled as a rookie but that may be all behind him now

The Houston Texans offensive line last year was rough. It didn't help that star left tackle Laremy Tunsil was hampered by some nagging injuries. Other guys like Tytus Howard and Kenyon Green were out for most, if not the entire year. Shaq Mason was the only player who didn't seem to struggle with staying on the field for the entire year. Yet, the most disappointing of all the injured players was starting left guard Juice Scruggs.

Scruggs was penciled in to be a backup to start the season, but injuries and poor play had many people expecting him to be in a major role all season. Sadly, the Texans were without Scruggs for most of the preseason as he was dealing with an injury. An injury that hindered his training. Resulting in a scenario where, upon his return, Scruggs was playing catch-up.

He didn't perform well, and as the season went on, you could see that he was struggling to keep up with his assignments. Potentially due to his lack of preseason action and practices. So when he got the all-clear and people found out that he was moving from left guard to center, optimism for the second-round pick started to rise.

He was, after all, highly touted coming out of Penn State and some saw him as a late first-round pick. So the Texans landing him was seen as a coup of sorts. His struggles did concern some, but most thought he'd be much better with some time and training.

It's why he's saying what he's saying now. Returning to the center position, Scruggs told the media recently (via MSN.com) that now that he's healthy, it's all about football.

""I’ve been able to just focus on football. Like you said, even now, I can just focus on center. So, it’s been very good just coming in, honing on that and just knowing that it wasn’t like last year, for sure.""

His move to the center position may open up a whole new level of expectation for the 2023 NFL Draft pick. If he can be more productive at the position, while remaining healthy, then he could give the Texans yet another top-tier player from the class. A class that includes Rookie of the Year winners C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson and blossoming top-tier wide receiver Tank Dell.

If Scruggs can find his way into constant success this season, then that'll make four standout players from one draft. A rare occurrence indeed.