Texans Insider Breaks Down the State of Texans' Offensive Line
After high-profile trades and a heavy investment in veteran talent, Houston’s revamped front five faces a critical test. Can these bold offseason gambles solidify protection for 2026?
Every NFL front office is faced with one major question: Did we do enough to build a contender? Perhaps the answer for all those franchises is, you can always do more, but the Houston Texans have to feel good about what they accomplished in free agency and the NFL draft. The Texans lost a significant piece in star right tackle Tytus Howard via trade to the Cleveland Browns.
For Houston general manager Nick Caserio, the move may have been necessary. The Texans could not really afford to pay Howard what he asked for and retain other stars, and letting him leave for nothing in free agency would have been worse than trading him for a draft pick. Despite the reasonable justification for trading Howard, the Texans entered the offseason deficient at offensive line.
Compounding the glaring weakness with a trade of Howard led some to believe that the Texans needed to do more to fortify the unit. And they did, adding several potential pieces for the 2026 season. Heavy's Josh Burkhalter provided where Houston stands at the position group leading into training camp.
Here was his assessment of the offensive line. "Caserio’s investments in veteran players like (Ed) Ingram and (Braden) Smith have been necessary after several draft misses. The Texans also traded former franchise left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders last offseason.