Houston Texans expecting huge leap for Charles Omenihu in 2021
To say the Houston Texans have had a tumultuous couple of years would be quite the understatement. What once looked like a promising core of players has disintegrated into what could quite possibly be the most uninspiring roster in the NFL.
The Texans traded away wide receiver De’Andre Hopkins for pennies on the dollar. They overhauled their coaching staff and front office. They have wasted precious draft assets on backup running backs. Their star quarterback’s NFL future is currently in limbo, and even if off-field was no issue, he doesn’t want to be in Houston anyway.
JJ Watt, arguably the best player in franchise history, is gone.
The Houston Texans‘ roster is loaded with question marks heading into the 2021 season, and one player this team is going to be relying on to push the team forward is 2019 fifth-round pick Charles Omenihu.
For all of the flak that Houston gets lately, and deservedly so, this team has been one of the best in the NFL over the last decade at producing and developing quality defensive line talent no matter the draft status of the player.
Omenihu came into the NFL in 2019 as a pretty nice steal for Houston in the fifth round, and he’s proven to be a great draft value on the field in relatively limited snaps thus far.
Through two seasons, Omenihu has played 989 snaps and in those reps, he’s racked up 30 total tackles, 21 quarterback hits, seven sacks, seven tackles for loss, four pass breakups, two forced fumbles, and 34 total quarterback pressures.
Given those snaps are roughly the equivalent to one full NFL season’s worth for a starting player, it’s safe to say that Omenihu has maximized opportunities.
He played in just 547 snaps a season ago and had 16 QB hits in addition to four sacks and 21 pressures. That kind of pass rush productivity should not go unnoticed or underrated especially as the Houston Texans are now moving on from the JJ Watt era.
Omenihu can play a versatile role on the defensive line and rush the QB from the inside or off the edge. His length presents such a problem for offensive linemen and obviously, the proof of that is in the production we’ve seen thus far.
The Houston Texans certainly need some positive offseason developments with all that has transpired in the last 18 months. This team has taken on so much change that they will be almost completely unrecognizable by the time the 2021 regular season rolls around.
With that being said, Omenihu has a chance to etch his place among the team’s top young players to build around in 2021 and help ease the pain of losing such a significant piece of the team’s history in the 2021 offseason.