The Houston Texans did not have a player go to the Pro Bowl following the 2021 season. Such is the side effect of going 4-13 and not having a face of the franchise.
According to Nick Shook from NFL.com, defensive end Jonathan Greenard is a candidate from the Texans to make the Pro Bowl in 2022.
The pickings remain slim in Houston, and while I desperately wanted to push all of my chips to the center of the table on Davis Mills, I just couldn’t do it (at least not yet). The more likely candidate to reach the Pro Bowl is one of the sneakier standouts from last season, Greenard, a player who quietly led the Texans with eight sacks. He did so on a limited number of snaps, too, and didn’t miss the watchful eye of Pro Football Focus, which has Greenard listed among its top 10 breakout candidates from the 2020 draft class. If we’re looking for a first-time Pro Bowl candidate in Houston, Greenard is the one.
For Greenard to make the Pro Bowl, he will need to at least hit the 10.0 mark. The former 2020 third-round pick from Florida will also need to add a few forced fumbles and tackles for loss to his stat line in order to show coaches and players across the league he is a force off the edge.
What will also help Greenard’s candidacy is if the Texans are competitive. If Greenard is tallying his 10.0-plus sacks while Houston is 1-7 and starting Kyle Allen at quarterback, Greenard’s good work is going to get buried amid the losing. If Greenard’s efforts are part of even a 4-4 campaign and the losses are by a touchdown or less, the perception will be the Texans have finally gotten out of the rebuilding phase.
The last Pro Bowl defensive end the Texans had was J.J. Watt in 2018 when he collected 16.0 sacks, 18 tackles for loss, 25 quarterback hits, seven forced fumbles, and four pass breakups.
