How Texans are mixing it up in search of best five for offensive line: ‘I know they’ll be better’

HOUSTON – As the Texans broke the huddle to start training camp, the offensive line had changed again.

The Texans, having executed a dramatic overhaul that included trading five-time Pro Bowl left tackle Laremy Tunsil to the Washington Commanders this offseason and plugging in three to four new starters, are searching for the best configuration of five blockers to protect quarterback C.J. Stroud and establish the running game.

Instead of Jake Andrews at center Wednesday the way it looked at minicamp, it was Jarrett Patterson, last year’s starter.

Massive rookie second-round draft pick Aireontae Ersery, the Big Ten Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year from Minnesota, ran with the first-team at right tackle ahead of Blake Fisher. Fisher was with the first-team offense in minicamp, but struggled last season as a rookie and allowed three sacks in the playoff loss to Kansas City.

Ersery, a big, athletic presence at 6-foot-6, 331 pounds with 5.01 speed in the 40-yard dash and the pass blocking skill to stonewall Penn State blue-chip pass rusher Abdul Carter, also took snaps later in practice with the first-team offense in relief of veteran starting left tackle Cam Robinson.

On the left side, it was Robinson and former Pro Bowl guard Laken Tomlinson. Tytus Howard, arguably the top lineman of the group, lined up at his new right guard spot. The group is overseen by head offensive line coach and run game coordinator Cole Popovich, who was promoted from assistant offensive line coach.

“In the end, offensive line play is about attitude and physical toughness and being able to do a certain number of things to a competitive enough level,” Texans general manager Nick Caserio said. “So, we’ll find out. Again, we have young players. We have veteran players. I think they have the right mindset. So, it starts with Cole and trickles down. In the end it’s about the players and them relying on one another, pushing one another, and being able to go out there and perform.

“The offensive line is about five players playing as a unit. There is a lot of things involved. There is communication on every play. Where is the mike identification, who are we pushing to, where are the problems, does everybody see the picture the same way? So, everything goes inside out so relative to the communication, so we’ll see what that looks like. See how it goes in training camp. Excited for that group. Good group. Let the competition sort itself out.”

Competition is afoot as the Texans seek to upgrade a line that allowed star quarterback C.J. Stroud to be sacked 52 times during the regular season. He was sacked eight times and hit 14 times overall in an AFC divisional round playoff loss to the Kansas City Chiefs at Arrowhead Stadium in January.

Offensive line coach and run game coordinator Cole Popovich is being leaned on to institute improvement across the line of scrimmage with the line.

“Games are won and lost on the fronts,” Caserio said. “Look across the league, you build your mental and physical toughness, physical play in training camp. Once the pads come on, we’ll have a better idea what that looks like. But it’s been a good group to work with, that have had a good attitude.

“They work hard, they are coachable. Varying levels of experience. Cole has done a great job with that group. We’ll put the five best out there and we’ll have eight at the game each week. How many we carry on a roster, we will always do what we think is best for the team.”

During the NFL scouting combine, Texans coach DeMeco Ryans emphasized that there would be a reset of the line after a disappointing season last year.

Now, the dramatic changes of the offseason are on full display. The Texans’ first offensive line configuration might as well be written in pencil, considering their plan to have a lot of competition to find the ideal combination.

“I know there is a ton of questions about the line,” Ryans said. “We’ll continue to grow. Our guys will be where they need to be. They’ll do their job, they’ll handle it the right way. We’ll see how everything shapes out, but it starts with just the mindset and the intent. Our coaches have done a great job of putting the work in. Our players are doing a great job putting the work in. Now it’s just a matter of when we snap the ball, right, on game day, whenever that is, just got to go do it. It’s not going to be about the talking.

“It’s just going to be about us showing you. I know I’m going to get a ton of questions about the offensive line and what it looks like. You guys will see what it looks like when we line up across from another team and we get a chance to actually compete in live reps. Me talking to you is probably not going to convince anybody here. You’re going to keep asking me questions, We’ll see what it looks like, man. I’m excited about the group because I know they’ll be better.”

The Texans’ first-string offensive line is expected to include Robinson, signed to a one-year, $14.5 million contract in free agency and Tomlinson along with Howard.

“When it comes to finding our best group it will be a lot of mixing and matching guys,” Ryans said in the spring. “Putting guys in different spots and seeing which five guys work well together. One thing about the line is that there is a lot of smart guys in that room and they can move around and play multiple spots, so that helps them.

“It’s just a matter of finding that five once we get to training camp and put pads on. Nobody is making the team right now in shorts and helmets.”

Only Howard and Fisher were starters at the end of last season as the Texans allowed Stroud to play under constant duress.

The Texans traded Tunsil to the Washington Commanders in a move largely based on financial reasons, but he was also prone to false starts and had 19 penalties last season.

The Texans fired offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik and offensive line coach Chris Strausser, hiring former Los Angeles Rams tight ends coach and passing game coordinator Nick Caley as offensive coordinator and promoted assistant line coach Popovich from assistant line coach.

“One thing our line can benefit and they’re just working on really good low pads like working great pad level, hand placement, footwork,” Ryans said. “Those fundamental small details that allow you to be great as an offensive line, that’s what you can work here.”

The Texans signed Tomlinson, former Pro Bowl tackle Trent Brown, a 6-foot-8, 380-pound veteran who’s rehabbing a knee injury and not practicing, traded for Ingram, acquired Andrews off waivers and drafted Ersery, a former Big Ten Conference Offensive Lineman of the Year from Minnesota, in the second round.

Ersery is a towering figure who blends size and mobility. He still needs to work on lowering his pad level and polishing his technique. Ersery has a ton of potential, though.

“He is a large human being,” Texans Pro Bowl defensive end Will Anderson Jr. said. “I think he is going to be really good for us. I am happy he is here. Just seeing him today going against our guys, very athletic, can move, can bend, and I am excited to see what he does and going against him. Just like coach always says, iron sharpens iron.”

Inside the Patriots’ meeting rooms and practice fields, Caley and Popovich interacted for years while gaining knowledge from legendary coach Bill Belichick and one of the top offensive line coaches in NFL history: Dante Scarneccia.

At the time, Caley was the Patriots’ tight ends coach working with All-Pro Rob Gronkowski. And Popovich was a rising coach who helped replace Scarneccia when he retired after more than three decades in New England.

Now, the two longtime friends are collaborating on an important task for the defending AFC South champion Texans.

The Texans want to solve pass protection problems that held back the offense last season. Stroud was sacked the second-most of any NFL passer overall, up from 38 sacks when he was named NFL Offensive Rookie of the Year two seasons ago.

How Caley and Popovich instrument a sounder plan to keep Stroud healthy and standing will go a long way toward upgrading an offense that dipped to 22nd in total offense and 19th in scoring last season for a Texans squad headlined by its aggressive defense led by Ryans.

“Cole as our offensive line coach to lead that room, just having one voice to lead it, I feel really strong about that,” Ryans said. “Cole helped a lot of our young players when it came to developing. He had a really great relationship with a lot of guys, and I think very highly of Cole and what he’s able to do.

“I think him having a prior relationship with Nick as well, and them being able to work together and them to hit the ground running instantly, I think that also lead to my decision, and I know we’ll be better for it.”

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The Texans surrendered 54 sacks as a team last season. It was a rough deal all-around for Stroud as he was under heavy duress for the majority of the season as his interceptions increased from five picks to a dozen and his yardage and accuracy decreased.

With the exception of Tunsil, there were continuity, performance and health issues throughout various parts of the season with the offensive line as well as tight end Dalton Schultz allowing three sacks to the Chiefs in the playoff defeat.

“I think it all starts up front obviously and it’s really all 11,” Caley said. “We all have to be in sync and I think protections starts with communication, trust and cohesiveness up front and really having clear rules in the protection system. We’re going to be going through that process.

“Obviously, I have a history with Cole dating back to my time in New England when he was our offensive line coach and I coached the tight ends. So, I have a really good working relationship and level of trust with Cole. He is a very good football coach and I’m excited to go through this process with him.”

Popovich is heading into his third season with the Texans. A former Fresno State starting offensive lineman, Popovich broke into the NFL as a coaching assistant in 2016 before being promoted to assistant running backs coach working with Sony Michel then being named co-offensive line coach when Scarneccia retired.

Popovich left the Patriots in the offseason for personal family reasons related to mandatory NFL Covid-19 vaccine regulations and coached high school football in Franklin, Massachusetts. He was then hired at Troy University as their head offensive line coach before joining the Texans and winning two consecutive AFC South division titles as part of Ryans’ first two seasons in Houston.

Both Popovich and Caley are big believers in Scarneccia, who was known for his hard-nosed, fix-it, get-it-right approach protecting star quarterback Tom Brady.

“Sure, Dante Scarnecchia. I was with Dave DeGuglielmo in 2015, very good coach,” Popovich said. “Dante Scarnecchia, longtime New England coach, influenced a lot of what I’ve obviously learned up front in the protection systems. Then been a part of other ways of doing it too. But yeah, in terms of my, informative stages, it would be my early years in New England, obviously with those two.”

One of the reasons why the Texans had so many issues was a lack of clear communication and scheme plans for blitzes and stunts. That was particularly glaring in a road loss to the Green Bay Packers. Against the Tennessee Titans, the line was overwhelmed by the powerful charge of interior defensive linemen Jeffery Simmons and T’Vondre Sweat during a regular-season upset loss at NRG Stadium. The Baltimore Ravens’ speed off the edge and stunts gave the Texans a lot of issues during an embarrassing 31-2 loss on Christmas.

Cohesiveness was in short supply for the Texans. And Caley is determined to change that, immediately.

“With the offensive line, the quarterback, obviously the halfback, you got to be able to see the game through the same set of eyes,” Caley said. “You got to be going in the same direction, and you got to be tied together. That’s starts with communication.

“It starts with protecting inside out and establishing a pocket, the depth of the pocket, the width of the pocket, and that extends, obviously, in the tight ends, receivers, when you’re chipping and stuff like that. But, it does, it really starts inside out, and it starts seeing it through the same lens. We all have to be coordinated in that.”

Among the factors in Strausser’s dismissal, besides him leaning toward retiring from coaching over the past few years, was an unwillingness to listen to input from players and staff, according to league sources.

“Having one voice with Cole Popovich, Cole is a good offensive line coach,” Ryans said. “The thing for me is having an offensive coordinator and offensive line coach in Cole and Caley, they’ve worked together before. They’ve spent a lot of time together.

“The flow of information, it sped up drastically. We’re not trying to see how we’re going to do things. We know how we’re going to do it, and now our players will get that communication clearly and direct and now our guys can go out and execute exactly what we’re coaching.”

Stroud is happy with the changes the Texans have made at receiver and with the offensive line.

“Just like anything in life, if that’s time, people, personal things, you got to invest into it,” Stroud said. “So, I’m grateful that we’re trying to fix things and get things squared away. I’m trying to lift those guys up every day. I think it’s very important and I’m excited and happy we did that.”

Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com