Alan Truex: Texans wanted better, but Tytus Howard can play

HOUSTON — This is not a happy place in the wake of the NFL Draft.  It’s, well, almost a real wake. The nation’s fourth-largest city is mourning the local pro football team blowing its chance to bring protection to the league’s most besieged quarterback, Deshaun Watson.  

The only stat in which Watson led the league last season was most times pressured.  The analytics mavens say that on 44.5% of his dropbacks, he had to rush his throws because of hands in the face or threatening his lower body.  

Last weekend’s draft did not look promising for the Houston Texans in the first place when the regular season ended. They won the AFC South, 11-5, and landed on the worst of both worlds: miserable postseason, quickly ousted, 21-7, by the runner-up in their division, Indianapolis, and then getting blown out in the draft.  

The Texans didn’t get their first pick until 22 teams chose before them.  Even so, their hopes soared as the first round proceeded, with the player they wanted still in the Green Room.  Only one left tackle was chosen among the first 21 players – Jonah Williams, No. 11, to Cincinnati. Among the remaining: Andre Dillard, first-team All-Conference offensive tackle in the Pac 12.  

But Howie Roseman, builder of a Super Bowl winner in Philadelphia, swooped in front of Texans general manager Brian Gaine and snatched his dinner.  Or, if you prefer, ate his lunch.

Roseman moved up three places and surrendered a 4th-round pick and a 6th-rounder to acquire a blind-side shield for Carson Wentz.  

A Texans fan might ask, why didn’t Gaine let go of a potential backup or two to climb one rung higher on the draft ladder?

Gaine probably thought the Eagles wouldn’t cut in front of him because they had no urgent need.  They had a perennial Pro Bowl left tackle in Jason Peters. And they had a respected backup in Hal Vatai.

But Peters is 37 and has said his next football season will be his last.  

“It’s an offensive line-deficient league,” Roseman said.  “It’s hard to find those guys. We thought it was a great opportunity.  He was the highest-rated player on our board at that point.”

So the Eagles are preparing for the future while the Texans aren’t taking care of either the future or the present.

Roseman couldn’t resist gloating:  “Really great weekend for the Philadelphia Eagles.”

And here’s Dillard, who knew the Texans wanted him: “I hear they got the greatest cheesesteak in Philly, so I’m really excited about that.”

Hey, Andre, in Houston we got poblano chile rellenos, tacos al carbon and Blue Bell ice cream.  You’d be really happy here, trust me. Besides, as everyone knows, Deshaun Watson is a much nicer guy than glory-hound Carson Wentz.   

But I guess that’s already water under the bridge, which is not a phrase you should use in this flood-prone city.  After Roseman picked his pocket there was nothing left for Gaine but to draft the new best available left tackle.

That turns out to be Tytus Howard from Alabama State University, which is not to be confused with the University of Alabama.  

Like Andre Dillard, Howard is an All-Conference offensive tackle.  But instead of Pac 12 he’s Southwestern Conference. Which will never be confused for the Southeastern.  

So now you can sense the disappointment that hangs like humidity in this tropical metropolis.  

Seth Payne, former Texans defensive tackle who’s now an analyst for AM-610 and usually team-friendly, was among the hand-wringers this time.  “It’s not a good sign,” he said, “when the first thing they mention is his versatility. I want versatility in my swing tackle, not in my left tackle.  I want him to protect the quarterback’s blind side.”

But Howard’s college coach, Donald Hill-Eley, had an explanation that later aired on 610.  He pointed out that Howard switched back and forth from left and right tackle because “we had a lefthanded quarterback, and I wanted him to protect the blind side.”  So in passing situations, the player would shift from his more natural position, left tackle, to play the right side.

This makes me wonder if Howard was misjudged by scouts.  Were they, like Payne, unaware of the specialness of his versatility?

And while it’s true he faced a lot of cardboard cutouts, he played well on his few chances at first-rate competition.  His team was steamrolled 63-9 by Auburn, but Howard did more than hold his own against one of the SEC’s most respected fronts.  Howard also graded well in the Senior Bowl. And his 5.05-second 40 at the Combine suggested he can get outside for jet sweeps.

Hill-Eley sounded sincere in extolling Howard as a late bloomer who was a 6-2, 225-pound quarterback in high school, and then a tight end.  This is where versatility first bit him. He was as passionate about basketball as football. So he slipped under the grid radar.

It was near the end of his three years at Alabama State that he reached 6-5, 320 pounds.  “He works hard,” Eley said, “and he’s very smart, and he plays anywhere you need him to play.”

Howard is soft-spoken, but he sounds determined when he says, “I promise the Texans will not regret drafting me.”

Of course, no matter how thoughtfully he presents his resume, the draft gurus are not buying.  Pete Prisco, CBS Sports.com, blared: “Patriots earn the best mark, Texans the worst.”

Notice how these gurus try to ease the blow of their gavel.  Prisco gives the Texans the lowest grade in the league, and it’s an enabling C-.  All due respect, you can’t be the worst in the NFL and get a passing grade. It just doesn’t work like that.

So here’s Mel Kiper effusing about the Texans’ most troubling rival, the Indianapolis Colts.  He hailed them as champions of the Draft and added: “My bold prediction is the Colts represent the AFC in the Super Bowl.”

So I will make a bold prediction.  Kiper will be proved wrong. There will be the usual AFC champion, New England.

But Tytus Howard’s prediction will turn out right.  The Texans will not regret drafting him. He will be, at worst, an upgrade from Julien Davenport.