Houston Texans offensive lineman Tytus Howard is willing to do whatever it takes to allow his team to field the best five offensive linemen in 2022.
The former 2019 first-round pick from Alabama State, who is entering the final year of his contract unless the team picks up his fifth-year option, told reporters that he feels “pretty good” through the first few weeks of the team’s voluntary offseason workouts.
“We’ve been getting in some workouts and stuff like that,” said Howard. “Everybody’s getting back in football shape. I felt pretty good out there today.”
Howard has been working himself back into shape preparing to play either guard or tackle.
“As far as position-wise, I’m really just going to playing wherever the team deems me the most valuable, whether it’s guard or tackle. I’ve been working out this offseason to become a better player in both, so I feel pretty comfortable playing both.”
Being comfortable playing both also affords the Texans a myriad of directions they can go in the 2022 NFL draft. Howard, who played the first two seasons of his career at right tackle before kicking inside at guard last season. Even with the David Culley regime intending to play Howard at guard, he nevertheless had to fill in at tackle due to injuries and availability issues, which opened up the possibility that Howard return to right tackle for good.
Howard continues to stay versatile, not only as a good career move, but to allow the Texans a chance to get the five best offensive linemen on the field together.
“I think if you’re versatile, I think it just gives the coaches more leeway to certain players they might want to bring in, or certain plays they want to run, thinking about me being versatile the way I am, being able to put me at guard or tackle,” said Howard. “I think it just helps the team in general and it helps me because I get a chance to know all the plays and what everyone has to do, so it’s only going to make me play faster when I’m out there.”
The Texans have been mocked to take NC State guard-tackle Ikem Ekwonu with the No. 3 overall pick, another first-round lineman with position flex to allow Houston to put the best five-man combo on the field in the trenches.
