NFL players are still elite athletes, despite on field results.
A lot has been made this off-season about the poor play of the 2024 Houston Texans offensive line. And rightfully so, their combined efforts were far from glorious. 52 sacks allowed, second most in the league, isn’t exactly an indicator of top-tier talent.
But, Texans general manager Nick Cairo invested heavily in the offensive line since he took over player personnel decisions. In fact, you could argue that Caserio assembled more offensive line talent than many “top offensive line” teams possess.
That’s where the problem comes in, however.
A general manager can assemble the most talented roster ever conceived and still fail to win games. NFL history is littered with stories of franchises going for broke on high-dollar/high-talent free agents and draft picks, only to end the season on the outside looking in.
Sure it’s easy to blame the players – and there’s plenty of visual evidence of 2024 Texans linemen giving up on plays, failing to care about protecting C.J. Stroud, not opening holes for Joe Mixon, etc.
Which begs the question(s): Did the offensive linemen fail to perform at playoff contention level due to lack of individual talent?
The answer is likely: No.
So why did they falter, time and again? Why did these world class athletes not get it done?
They more likely failed to get it done due to a mixture of X-factors not easily seen on field.
If you’ve been a sports fan for any amount of time, you’ve probably heard stories of athletes saying things like “I had already taken that shot 1000x before doing it in a game.”
The off-field preparation, team practice, game plan installs, blocking schemes, individual and position group coaching… it all builds the product we see on the field.
And another notable quote from an athlete:
Mike Tyson
Everybody has a plan ‘til they get punched in the mouth.
When a player falls to the injury bug, whether it’s a fellow offensive lineman or a wide receiver or tailback or such, the plan changes, the scheme adapts.
I wasn’t a fan of the Chris Strausser hire in 2023, when he joined the Texans coaching staff as offensive line coach. In his time under former offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik, the offensive line failed to live up to the potential of the individual players. Does that make Strausser a bad person? No. It just means he wasn’t the right coach for Houston’s offensive line.
With the addition of Nick Caley, who has ties to Caserio from their years with the New England Patriots, and elevation of Cole Popovich to offensive line coach, foundational changes have been made.
Without making a single player change, the 2025 Houston Texans offensive line should perform better than the 2024 version.
“Should” being the operative word.
Now, a lot of fans prefer easy to understand, instant-gratification things, like roster churn. And, on the surface, it’s understandable why a casual observer would think the entire O-Line, or at least all but one or two of them, should get walked out of the building.
We just all need to remember: coaching matters. Leadership matters. Caserio could put together a line of five Hall of Famers and they could still stink up the field if the coaching, scheme and leadership suck.
Get non-roster bits right, and watch this offense instantly improve.
Then adding one, maybe two key linemen makes far more sense than a fire sale.