Make no mistake about it while the Texans' trade for Kenny Stills and Laremy Tunsil will undoubtedly draw a lot of attention for the acquisition of a key wide receiver, this move is entirely about protecting Deshaun Watson's future.
The former Heisman Trophy candidate out of Clemson got off to one of the fastest starts in NFL history as a rookie in 2017. Watson threw for 1,699 yards with 19 touchdowns and eight interceptions in just seven games (six starts). But his season ended early due to an ACL injury.
In 2018, Watson made it through all 16 games but got hit so hard early in the season he was forced to take a bus from Texas to Florida because he couldn't withstand a plane ride. He was sacked a league-high 62 times that year.
It clearly wasn't going well in the 2019 preseason either.
Bill O’Brien was asked about the offensive line vs the Cowboys and what went wrong. His answer. #Texans pic.twitter.com/MplVRH1aqg
— patrick (@PatDStat) August 26, 2019
Tunsil now joins the team as a franchise left tackle. He would have been a top-10 pick in 2016 had it not been for a video leaked on draft night featuring him apparently smoking marijuana through a gas mask. In three years with the Dolphins he has started 44 of 48 possible games and is widely hailed as a top-tier player on the offensive line.
Houston has been trying to land a franchise player in his position for the last few months. According to the Houston Chronicle, the team was interested in flipping Jadeveon Clowney for an offensive tackle.
It's understandable why because coach Bill O'Brien didn't have a clue who would play where on his offensive line on the season as late as the first week of August.
“I don’t know (when the starting offensive lineman will be announced)," O'Brien said. "The sooner, the better, certainly, so they can be all out there together communicating.”
He continued: “I think we have a decent idea, but you have to play it practice to practice during this time of the year."
Houston certainly needed help on the line and it tried earlier this week to get Tunsil. But when that trade was proposed to the Dolphins they turned it down. The previous deal also included a first-round pick, but according to the Miami Herald, the Dolphins wanted more. Ultimately Houston was able to give Miami enough to land Tunsil and some protection for Watson.
Other than the fact the Texans want to protect their investment in Watson, after Andrew Luck's surprise retirement last week, Houston had to be pressing even harder to get protection for its quarterback. While Luck was a big-bodied signal-caller and an athletic one at that, not even he could withstand the lack of help he had from his offensive line.
In 2016, Luck was sacked 41 times which was tied for second in the league. As a rookie in 2012, he was also sacked 41 times which was the fourth most that year. In his six years on the field, he was sacked 156 times and the wear and tear was evident by the time he had missed.
Luck missed nine games in 2015 with a lacerated spleen, all of 2017 with a shoulder injury and likely would have missed time in 2019 had he not retired suddenly last week. Almost all of those injuries have to do with the beating he took due to an egregious lack of protection.
After drafting Luck No. 1 overall in 2012, the Colts took 10 offensive linemen in drafts under general manager Ryan Grigson from 2012 to 2016. Only one of those players were selected in the first round (Ryan Kelly, 2016), zero made Pro Bowls and five are out of the NFL entirely.
Luck got pummeled in Indianapolis and the argument could be made his career is over because the team didn't draft well enough to protect him.
In 2018, the Colts drafted Quenton Nelson No. 6 overall. He was named to a Pro Bowl in his first season and was selected as an All-Pro as well. Luck was sacked a total of 18 times that season as Nelson's presence completely altered the feeling of Indy's line.
Luck posted career highs in passing yards, QBR, quarterback rating and completions. Throughout Luck's career, he was sacked an average of five times per game. He was sacked just 2.7 times per game in 2018 and he was the best football of his tenure.
But the damage had been done.
"(The injuries have) taken my joy of this game away. I've been stuck in this process," Luck said at his retirement press conference. "I haven't been able to live the life I want to live. After 2016, I played in pain and was unable to practice, I said I wouldn't go through that again."
Andrew Luck's press conference announcing retirement. https://t.co/uAxRiMQeK6
— Indy SportsOne (@IndySportsOne) August 25, 2019
This is the last thing the Texans want to hear come Year 8 for Watson. The 23-year-old is one of the most dynamic players in the league, but no one can stand up to the type of beating Luck did, and Watson was more than on pace to take the same amount of shots a much bigger man in Luck took in Indy.
In two years in Houston, Watson was sacked 8.5 times per game in 2017 and 10.9 in 2018. It is far more than Luck ever took and Watson is smaller. Houston wasn't going to let hits and injuries cost it Watson.
The Tunsil trade could save Texans fans that type of heartache.