Houston Texans' Unmistakable Need Called Into Serious Question

The Houston Texans have been incredibly busy this offseason, but have they actually improved?

The Texans entered free agency with very limited financial flexibility, so there was only so much they could do. They then tried to alleviate their salary-cap issues by trading five-time Pro Bowl tackle Laremy Tunsil, which further exacerbated their offensive line woes.

Houston did sign Cam Robinson as a replacement, and it was able to land Aireontae Ersery in the second round of the NFL Draft, but serious problems still exist on the interior of the Texans' offensive line, and ESPN's Aaron Schatz identified that as the biggest source of concern for the team heading into 2025.

"The Texans have plenty of guards, but are any of them good? The starting left guard will probably be Tytus Howard, a natural tackle who has been up-and-down when playing inside," Schatz wrote. "Behind him is veteran Laken Tomlinson, who ranked 44th out of 64 ranked guards in pass block win rate (91.1%) last season in Seattle."

As Schatz noted, Howard is playing out of position, but he isn't the only guard who is trying to adjust.

"On the right side, there's Juice Scruggs, who is more of a center but did have a 93.0% pass block win rate at guard last season," he continued. "Veteran Ed Ingram, who ranked 54th among guards in pass block win rate (89.8%) last season in Minnesota, is next up. The Texans have thrown a lot of bodies at this position, but how much better will they be compared with last season's debacle?

So both Howard and Scruggs aren't naturally guards, and the Texans don't really seem to have any definitive veteran answers to counter that.

Houston surrendered 54 sacks last season, with C.J. Stroud himself hitting the turf 52 times. That undoubtedly contributed to Stroud having a disappointing sophomore campaign.

Hopefully, the Texans can piece together some answers between now and Week 1.