SEATTLE – When it comes to the Texans’ left offensive guard spot, the position remains in flux.
It’s the only unsettled spot across an offensive line that regressed Monday night against the Seattle Seahawks in a 27-19 road loss during which quarterback C.J. Stroud was sacked three times and pressured 17 times as running backs Nick Chubb and Woody Marks combined for just 31 rushing yards on 15 carries.
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Tomlinson, 35, a former Pro Bowl selection with the San Francisco 49ers who was replaced by Scruggs as the starter against the Baltimore Ravens, started against Seattle, one of his former teams. He played 43 snaps, 57 percent of the overall offensive playing time.
Scruggs, a former second-round draft pick from Penn State who’s a former starter at center and right guard, played 33 snaps for 43 percent of the offensive snaps.
Rotating guards is somewhat unusual in the NFL. However, neither Tomlinson or Scruggs has done enough to lock down the job permanently.
“For us, rotating both of those guys is a matter of just we felt like when those guys rotated, we had a better situation that left guard,” Texans coach DeMeco Ryans said Tuesday. “That’s the reason behind it. I felt like both guys played better when both guys were on a pitch count and we rotated those guys.”
Tomlinson graded out higher than Scruggs with a 64.2 overall blocking grade, 57.8 as a run blocker and 74.7 in pass protection with one hurry and one pressure allowed.
Scruggs didn’t fare as well, per Pro Football Focus analytics. He had a 52.1 overall blocking grade, a 66.1 run blocking grade and a 54.2 pass blocking grade with one quarterback hit, one hurry and one pressure yielded.
The Texans, regardless of who was in the game, didn’t block well overall as an offensive line. Especially in close quarters in the Seahawks red zone.
“In short yardage, we got knocked out the ball,” Ryans said. “At the end of the day, if you want to move the ball we have to be able to run the football and get a yard.
"But, if we’re getting knocked back up front, then we’re not going to get a yard. So, it all starts up front with displacing the line of scrimmage. We did not do that. Therefore, we were not successful at gaining the yard.”
Aaron Wilson is a Texans and NFL reporter for KPRC 2 and click2houston.com