As the Houston Texans prepare for their impending future at defensive tackle (rookie Kayden McDonald), their past just signed with another football team.
According to NFL Insider Jordan Schultz, former Texan D.J. Reader has agreed on a two-year, $12.5 million contract with the New York Giants (can reach $15.5 million with incentives). This continues the defensive focus for the Giants this offseason, as they have now acquired linebacker Tremaine Edmunds, defensive tackles Shelby Harris and Leki Fotu, re-signed linebacker Micah McFadden and drafted impact rookie linebacker Arvell Reese. This comes after the team traded All-Pro defensive tackle Dexter Lawrence to the Cincinnati Bengals for the 10th-overall pick.
Identified by some as the ‘best defensive tackle on the market’, Reader leaves a two-year run with the Detroit Lions where he accounted for 51 total tackles, three sacks, one pass defended and 5.5 run stuffs. The Giants now make his fourth team in his highly productive 11-year career.
Reader first came to prominence as a member of the Texans, as the former fifth-rounder out of Clemson played four years sporting Deep Steel Blue while putting up 154 total tackles, 6.5 sacks, one pass defended and 13 run stuffs. While it would’ve been nice to keep Reader alongside franchise legend J.J. Watt and former first-overall pick Jadeveon Clowney, the business side of the NFL interjected itself as it frequently does.
D.J. Reader leaves Texans for lucrative deal with Cincinnati Bengals
Ahead of the 2020 season, Reader signed a lucrative contract with the Bengals, ending his four-year start with the Texans. His absence was immediately felt along the defensive line. The team went from being ranked 25th in yards per game (121.1) and 27th in yards per carry (4.8) allowed in 2019, to dead-last (32nd) in both yards per game (160.3) and yards per carry allowed (5.2) in 2020.
Since then, players like Maliek Collins, Ross Blacklock, Kurt Hinish, Roy Lopez, Sheldon Rankins, Khalil Davis, Mario Edwards and others have all taken their turns at attempting to clog up the middle of the formation in order to limit the rushing attacks of opposing offenses. While some seasons panned out better than others, Houston just couldn’t find that singular interior force that could draw enough attention to the middle to allow edge rushers a chance to collapse the pocket and make impact plays when consistently needed.
That is, until former Ohio State Buckeye Kayden McDonald fell into Houston’s lap at 36th overall in the top of the second round of this year’s NFL Draft.
Kayden McDonald can be the interior stopper the Texans’ defensive line needs
McDonald is known as a cinderblock of a player, able to draw multiple offensive linemen as he barrels towards the opponents’ offensive backfield. He specializes as a run-blocker, which is exactly what Houston needs in between their already ferocious All-Pro pass rushing duo in Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter.
Funny enough, Reader and McDonald are almost identical when looking at certain measurables at the time of their respective drafting. Both came out weighing about 326-327 pounds, both are 6-foot-2 and change, both have about the same hand sizes(9 &1/2", 9 & 3/4" respectively) and both come from non-SEC colleges. While physical traits alone won’t guarantee that McDonald will have a similar impact as Reader for the Texans, his pedigree and the surrounding elite talent that already occupies the current defense will certainly aid him in having the best chance possible.
The organization's high investment in McDonald certainly screams as much.
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