The Texans start their OTAs (organized team activities) this week.
Houston is stacked on offense with top-end talent and depth. The one area on the offense that still has questions is the interior of the offensive line. The left guard and center positions will have four players competing to start at two spots.
Here’s who should start and backup on the Texans offensive line in 2024.
2024 Texans Offensive Line
Both tackle spots are set with Laremy Tunsil on the left and Tytus Howard on the right. They’re talented bookends that just need to stay healthy. The Texans solidified the position with the second-round selection of Blake Fisher who will provide upgraded depth behind both top tackles.
Shaq Mason returns to continue to hold down the right guard position. He’ll need to continue to play up to his contract in the coming years to ensure he doesn’t become a cap casualty and replaced by one of the cheaper, younger guards on the roster. For 2024, he should continue to be a stalwart.
Starting left guard
In the 2022 NFL draft the Texans took cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. with the third-pick overall. They had a second choice in the first round that year at pick No. 13, which they traded to the Eagles in a move that saw Houston select guard Kenyon Green at pick No. 15.
Green started 14 and played in 15 games as a rookie. Over his first year he dealt with multiple injuries. To start his 2023 campaign he suffered an injury to his left shoulder that kept him out for the entirety of the season.
Green was thought highly-enough of to be selected in the first 15 picks of the draft. If he’s able to play to his pedigree along with the talent assembled around him on the offensive side of the ball, then pieces start settling into place for a dominant unit.
Starting center
Green’s not the only offensive lineman who the Texans targeted early in the draft in recent years. Houston traded their 2023 third-round pick No. 65, sixth-round pick No. 188 and seventh-round pick No. 230 to the Eagles so they could move up and select C/G Juice Scruggs.
If things fall perfectly, to the Texans past draft plans, Green would slot in at starting left guard with Scruggs in the middle starting at center. The Texans line would finally come to fruition after the trades and contracts for Tunsil and Mason, first-round selections of Howard and Green along with the trade up and second-round pick of Scruggs.
Projected starters:
- Left tackle Laremy Tunsil (trade)
- Left guard Kenyon Green (1st-round pick)
- Center Juice Scruggs (2nd-round pick)
- Right guard Shaq Mason (trade)
- Right tackle Tytus Howard (1st-round pick)
LG/C competition
The plan looks great on paper but it has to happen on the field. Green has played in 15 of 34 possible regular season games. Scruggs started six and played in seven regular season games out of 17 in his rookie year.
After Green’s injury last year the Texans traded a sixth-round pick to the Steelers for Kendrick Green. Green played Week 1 and started Weeks 2-4 before suffering a knee injury and subsequent surgery to replace his right meniscus that cost him the rest of the season. Oddly enough, the injury happened against the Steelers.
The Texans went back to the offensive line in the sixth round of the 2023 draft after selecting Scruggs towards the end of round two. Houston picked C/G Jarrett Patterson. Patterson started the first seven games of his rookie season until he too, suffered an injury, a fractured fibula.
Those four of Kenyon and Kendrick Green along with Scruggs and Patterson will be the four competing to start at left guard and center. If Kenyon doesn’t show consistent improvement early, Scruggs should get in the competition at left guard with Patterson moving into his ideal role at center. Kendrick should compete to backup across the interior at each guard spot and the center position.
Nothing should be written down in pen as this core four all has potential and ability but availability will be key. Which of them can stay on the field and play consistently? That should decide it more than upside or anything else. Consistency will be key.
Last season, this group of Green, Green, Scruggs and Patterson played in a total of 18 regular season games out of a possible 68. Two of the three of Kenyon Green, Scruggs and Patterson will be Week 1 starters, assuming the health issues are a thing of the past. If it’s not Kenyon starting at left guard with Scruggs at center, the next most likely would be Patterson at center with Scruggs at left guard. Kenyon could then compete for backup reps at left guard and center.
Last resort
When preparing for a long successful season teams need to have a plan A, B and C, at a minimum. The plan C for the Texans at left guard is Tytus Howard. Houston will hope to keep Howard at right tackle and have someone else step up next to Tunsil.
The plan going into the season should be for Howard to play every game at right tackle. However, if injuries hit again to the offensive line or the younger guys don’t click at left guard, the Texans could pivot to plan C and do something that they don’t want to do and move Howard back to left guard for the good of the team.
By the mid-point of the season, rookie swing tackle Blake Fisher could push the offensive line group as one of the top-five talents in the room. In a move to get the five best offensive linemen on the field, whether due to injury or lack of performance, Howard could once again make the in-season move to left guard with Fisher starting at right tackle.
The Texans have many options and have invested wisely in the offensive line. This year could be the year that all the young seeds sprout up and Houston has the line that they envisioned. If not, they have several moves to pivot to that will ensure solid line play in 2024.
