Can Houston Texans rookie Jonathan Greenard start at OLB in 2020?
The Houston Texans’ 2020 offseason has been unconventional, to say the least.
After trading wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins for a second-round pick and David Johnson, then trading that second-round pick for Brandin Cooks, pretty much all of football Twitter felt like Bill O’Brien was sabotaging his own roster.
Not that Brandin Cooks is a bad player, or that trading DeAndre Hopkins is unforgivable, but trading away one of the best wide receivers in the NFL — maybe the best receiver — for just a second-round pick and a running back who has struggled with injuries?
Then trading a second-round pick for a receiver who is not even close to the same tier as Hopkins?
It has been easy to overlook what the Texans actually did to assemble their roster rather than dismantle what they previously had.
O’Brien has guts, I’ll give him that.
Ultimately, none of our opinions about what O’Brien and the Texans have done matter if they are able to go out and win football games, and with DeShaun Watson at the helm, they stand a pretty good chance of doing that.
But how about this Houston defense?
The Texans have taken on a ton of change the past couple of seasons on the defensive side of the ball, trading away Jadeveon Clowney last year and watching Tyrann Mathieu bolt for the Kansas City Chiefs.
They have pretty much completely revamped their secondary and heading into the 2020 season, there are question marks for this team coming off the edge.
Longtime Texan Whitney Mercilus is still going strong heading into his 9th NFL season. He led the Texans’ defense last season with 951 snaps played (88.3 percent). What other players took the most snaps off the edge for Houston?
Texans 2019 snap counts (outside linebacker)
- 1. Whitney Mercilus, 951 snaps
- 2. Brennan Scarlett, 490 snaps
- 3. Jacob Martin, 221 snaps
Scarlett and Martin combined for seven sacks and six tackles for loss, and as effective as Mercilus is as a veteran player for that defense, he led the team with just 7.5 sacks last season. In 16 starts, Mercilus had 16 QB hits. JJ Watt, who only played in eight games last season, led the team with 21 QB hits.
Needless to say, the Texans have needed production off the edge, specifically in terms of getting to the quarterback, and that’s where third-round pick Jonathan Greenard comes into the picture.
Greenard is a big, long edge like the Texans prefer, and after transferring over from Louisville, he enjoyed a huge 2019 season at Florida with 53 tackles, 16 tackles for loss, 10 sacks, and three forced fumbles.
Jonathan Greenard laid the BOOM 💥 pic.twitter.com/lNwlOUAEFl
— SEC Network (@SECNetwork) December 1, 2019
Even as the 90th overall selection in the 2020 NFL Draft, Greenard has a good chance to come into Houston and seize a starting spot opposite of Mercilus on the edge.
If the Texans could find any way to stay healthy defensively — specifically if JJ Watt could stay healthy — everyone else on this defense has an easier job.
Greenard’s length off the edge and ability to knock the ball free from the quarterback’s hands will be valuable early on, but it’s his ability to use his strong hands and stout frame to set the edge that will earn him early playing time in Anthony Weaver’s defense in Houston.
Although Greenard is not flying off the edge with 4.5 speed, he’s got a good repertoire of moves, high football IQ, and a well-rounded overall game. He should be a productive rookie starter for the Texans in 2020.