According Sharp Football Analysis, and expounded upon by analyst Warren Sharp via X, the Houston Texans are predicted to have the 31st-ranked offensive line in the NFL in 2026. The full list was as follows:
1. Denver Broncos
2. Philadelphia Eagles
3. Buffalo Bills
4. Tampa Bay Buccaneers
5. Los Angeles Rams
6. Chicago Bears
7. San Francisco 49ers
8. Los Angeles Chargers
9. Seattle Seahawks
10. Atlanta Falcons
11. Indianapolis Colts
12. Carolina Panthers
13. Minnesota Vikings
14. Detroit Lions
15. New England Patriots
16. New Orleans Saints
17. Jacksonville Jaguars
18. Dallas Cowboys
19. New York Jets
20. New York Giants
21. Pittsburgh Steelers
22. Washington Commanders
23. Kansas City Chiefs
24. Baltimore Ravens
25. Las Vegas Raiders
26. Arizona Cardinals
27. Green Bay Packers
28. Cincinnati Bengals
29. Miami Dolphins
30. Tennessee Titans
31. Houston Texans
32. Cleveland Browns
The staff at SFA made it a point to explain the voting process by saying, "score based on average ranks of positional unit (on a 100-point scale) for all 32 teams, from Sharp Football staff voters. If all voters had a team at #1, that score would be 100." Using their method, Houston was handed dismal score of six out of 100.
SFA then broke down their decision further by analyzing some of the offseason moves by general manager Nick Caserio in his efforts to correct a unit that finished near the bottom of the league in multiple key statistical categories.
Sharp Football Analysis has concerns about Texans OL in 2026
The SFA staff wrote this about the kind of "protection" quarterback C.J. Stroud may or may not be working with next season,
"It’s going to be tough for C.J. Stroud to make the necessary strides playing behind this offensive line. Houston added rookie Keylan Rutledge and veterans Wyatt Teller and Braden Smith, who have missed a combined 17 games over the last two seasons, in hopes of turning things around quickly."
For starters, the Texans' offensive line finished the 2025 season ranked 30th in pass-block win rate (56%), and the league's worst run-block win rate (68%). Then, it's been widely accepted that Houston is taking a bit of a gamble with Teller and Smith, as the two veterans are highly accomplished, yet needing to rebound from multiple injuries accumulated in recent seasons. Those two factors are understood and valid.
However, this list seems to be more based on previous reputations and not exactly a thorough projecting of how each player of each blocking unit will acclimate in the upcoming campaign. Rookies will get better, blocking schemes evolve, playbook language becoming clearer and cohesiveness increasing over the course of another offseason.
Texans' OL has a chance to exceed expectations in 2026
One has to factor in the sheer volume of moves made by Caserio to address last year's issue, as explained by NFL Analyst Ross Tucker during a recent interview with Texans Analyst Garret Williams (aka "Houston Stressans"),
“This is the second year in a row where Caserio has thrown a lot of volume at the position. Right now, they have 10 guys that have played, or first round pick. 10 guys that you’d like to think if they were out there would be good enough to not be the reason why the Texans lose & give them depth for injuries. It’s debatable how much Wyatt Teller has left, I thought he did some really positive things last year. Keylan Rutledge is going to be the key. They’re going to test Rutledge early both physically and mentally.”
It's true that Houston is banking on a level of unknown production from multiple spots on across the offensive fron five. However, with a shift to a more run-centric playstyle, more dependence on gap-scheme vs. wide-zone scheme blocking, the infusion of All-Pro pedigree and veteran leadership (Teller and Smith) and more experience acquired by offensive coordinator Nick Caley and offensive line coach Cole Popovich should help produce a unit that performs way beyond their "bottom of the barrel" designation.
To his credit, Sharp acknowledged Houston's path to shattering their low ranking when he stated as a follow up via another post on X,
"Texans could be the team to exceed these rankings to the largest degree. Shifted from #27 man blocking % in 2024 to #2 in 2025 with an OL not suited for it and without a real RB1 given the Joe Mixon injury
Time will tell how much this squad truly makes an impact.
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