The goal of the Houston Texans’ 2021 draft, which featured a small, five-man draft class with the first selection coming in Round 3, was to foment as much competition as possible.
The selection of TCU linebacker Garret Wallow with the No. 170 overall pick in Round 5 was to provide youth and competition to the linebacking corps.
According to linebacker Christian Kirksey, Wallow has been developing slowly throughout the offseason and has demonstrated a veteran understanding about the game.
“I mean, he’s only a year two, but he seems like he’s been in the league for five, six years,” Kirksey told reporters June 1 after organized team activities at Houston Methodist Training Center. “He’s very smart. He picks up the game fast. He plays fast. He can play any linebacker position on the field, whether it’s Mike, Will or Sam. He can plug himself in and be of impact on this defense, so I’m very proud to see where he’s came.”
Wallow started in two of his 17 games played for Houston as a rookie, collecting 23 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, and 1.0 sack. The 6-2, 230-pound linebacker predominantly saw his snaps on special teams with 286 compared to 180 on defense.
Kirksey, who played in 13 games for Houston in 2021, believes that Wallow will be able to capitalize on his rookie season.
“I thought he had an extremely good rookie year, came in there and made plays when his number was called, and this year he’s definitely taking those strides,” said Kirksey. “He’s definitely working. He showed me some of his off-season routines and workouts that he was doing, and just say that he was working his butt off, so, I can’t wait to see what’s in store for him this season.”
The Texans have another young linebacker joining the ranks in third-round pick Christian Harris from Alabama.
