Texans transferring Tytus Howard to LG to start out season
The Texans selected Tytus Howard in the first round of the 2019 draft, with the idea that he could be the club’s long-term solution in the left tackle. The election was seen as some sort of reach and perhaps a panic move after the Eagles skipped Houston to pick Andre Dillard, who was the superior candidate. A few months later, the Texans switched a trade for LT Laremy Tunsil, and Howard opened his rookie season as the starting RT.
A ruptured meniscus ended Howard’s rookie campaign after just eight games. The lack of practices due to the pandemic also hurt.
He still started 2020 with 14 games on RT and was ranked 61st best tackle by Pro Football Focus out of 79 qualifiers. Sports Talk 790’s Aaron Wilson attributes that less-than-impressive ranking to a slow start caused by off-season problems and the fact that Howard continually bailed out former right-wing security guard Zach Fulton, who dropped 11 bags last year had to. Nonetheless, the team is now moving Howard into the interior and will place him at the left guard, according to Wilson.
Howard played a game at LG in 2019, and the team tested him in several different positions during training camp this year. But he was deployed on the left guard during the preseason game against the Cowboys last week, and that’s where he will open the 2021 season. He’s got the size, strength, and vicious streak to thrive inside, and between Tunsil on the left and the new center Justin Britt on the right, it will surely help.
2020 four-rounder Charlie Heck is expected to start the season on RT, but Howard is ready to step back outward if necessary.
