Texans Next Roster Moves: Building ‘Inside-Out’ with Linemen?

The Houston Texans are in rebuild mode and coach Demeco Ryans knows exactly how he wants to build his foundation -- on the offensive and defensive lines.

The Houston Texans need talent in order to make a 3-13-1 season in 2022 a thing of the past. As free agency looms and players are quickly taken off of the market, the Texans must move with a purpose to revamp their 53-man roster into a winning team.

Coach Demeco Ryans spoke definitively on the necessary pieces the franchise is looking to add.

“The O-line, D-line … that’s the important piece to building a football team,” Ryans told reporters this week at the NFL owners meetings in Phoenix. “You have to build it from inside out, and to add interior defensive linemen, to add really good offensive linemen to our team, that’s going to be vital to us moving forward and being successful. That’s where it all starts.”

Outside of offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, the Texans did not have a single lineman on either side of the line of scrimmage make the 2022 Pro Bowl. The same applies for either All-Pro team, which contained honorees from good and bad teams.

Houston has two first-round draft picks this year and intends to take a quarterback at No. 2. They will need major protection for their valued selection and a defense that can bring him back on the field with regularity. 

Assessing the free agent landscape, Jadeveon Clowney, Kyle Van Noy and Yannick Ngakoue are the three biggest names still available. Clowney, 30, was drafted by the Texans and spent four seasons with the team but at this juncture in his career may be seeking a team more ready to win now. 

Van Noy, 32, is coming off a career-high 17 games played in 2022, where he recorded five sacks, nine QB hits and eight tackles for loss - second-best of his career.

Ngakoue is the youngest of the bunch and would bring 29 combined tackles from a year ago into a needy Texans unit. 

Ryans will now look to management to support him with quality additions to his roster, not only on the lines but everywhere else around them. … maybe most likely via the NFL Draft and maybe, if the Texans get it right, from “inside-out.”

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