The Houston Texans offensive line is doomed if Laremy Tunsil is out for a while

Not to be Chicken Little here, but the Houston Texans offensive line is on the verge of being the worst in the league. That's already a fact. It's bad, people. It's about to get worse, however. News broke on Thursday that perpetual Pro Bowler and the only man who can seemingly make this line, not the worst, Laremy Tunsil, just had surgery.

The surgery was apparently on his knee and described by Ian Rapaport as a cleaning of sorts. The prevailing wisdom is that he won't be out too long and should be ready for camp. Here's the thing, however, there is no such thing as an easy surgery. There is no such thing as a minor surgery. What may be a minor cleanup could end up being a career ender depending on a variety of circumstances.

Frankly, we're not ones to be cavalier about the idea of Tunsil going under a minor procedure when he's (about to be) 30 years old and has been playing football for probably literal decades at this point. He's getting to the age where minor injuries no longer exist. Where his age and health will become larger factors as time goes on.

Think about this, Joe Thomas, NFL Hall of Famer at just 38 years old, retired at just 33. Orlando Pace was 34. Jonathan Ogden was 33. The elite of the elite in this game don't play that long. Tunsil is three years younger than those men when they retired. Certainly, Tunsil isn't playing like he should retire, but injuries aren't something to take lightly at his age.

The Texans have got to focus on improving the line around Tunsil, so should this injury persist into training camp and then the regular season, the Texans aren't screwed. Without Tunsil, this offensive line is nothing but five pieces of Swiss cheese trying to stop a leak on a submarine.

Hopefully this surgery wakes up the Texans to the need of an improved offensive line.