The Houston Texans may be trending in the right direction with the hiring of DeMeco Ryans as coach, but they are still amid a rebuild.
Part of coming out of a rebuild is getting veterans in place to fill roster spots until younger talent with greater potential comes along. Bill Parcells use to refer to these players as “hold down the fort guys.” Houston may need to a few more in the 2023 offseason.
According to Matt Bowen from ESPN, one free agent fit who would be ideal for Houston is New Orleans Saints defensive end Marcus Davenport.
New Houston coach DeMeco Ryans needs edge defenders for his system, and Davenport fits here given his physical traits in both base and sub-packages. Davenport could be schemed to isolate in one-on-one pass-rush matchups or deployed on stunts/slants from the Texans’ loaded fronts. And at 6-foot-6 and 262 pounds, he can also set an edge against the run. While the production declined for Davenport in ’22 (0.5 sacks, 20 pressures), he did record nine sacks and three forced fumbles in 2021.
The former UTSA Roadrunner and San Antonio John Paul Stevens High School product would be getting a little closer to home if he signed with the Texans. Ryans is going to be using a 4-3 front the same as Lovie Smith was deploying for the past two seasons, and having the 26-year-old would be helpful in the pass rush rotation.
Setting the edge against the run would be where Davenport could be most helpful. The Texans were horrendous at stopping the run with 5.1 yards per carry surrendered, the fourth-most in the NFL, and 170.2 rushing yards surrendered per game, the worst in the NFL. If Davenport’s presence helped Houston become respectable as a run defense again, it might be worth the signing.
Adding Davenport would also mean Houston had two young yet veteran defensive ends as Jonathan Greenard enters the final season of his rookie contract. Houston would be channeled to use their twin first-round picks in the 2023 NFL draft to fix areas other than edge defense.
