The purest form of competition we may see in training camp this season.
One of the first things we do in sports commentary is acknowledge reality. We can act like draft status, contracts, and past performance don’t matter. We can wring our hands and decry this as some kind of new reality that makes modern players soft. In our childhood, the men were men and the sheep were nervous. Of course, all of that is hogwash as the game remains more the same than what we might think.
Most of the positions have been predetermined by one of those factors. Contract status and draft status come into play more often than not. When that doesn’t have a profound impact then past performance does. Some wise people would tell you that past is prologue and they would generally be right, but as we see in all major team sports, past performance is not always a good predictor of future production. Players sometimes have out of context seasons or they simply age.
We can certainly question or criticize this mode of thinking, but it makes perfect sense. Team executives and coaches alike want to justify their choices. It’s basic human nature. If I take a guy in the first round then I want that guy to succeed. If he succeeds it makes me look better and if I look better I stay employed. If too many late round picks and undrafted free agents suddenly win jobs then something isn’t working. Someone is getting canned.
That brings us to the defensive tackle position. On the Houston Texans roster, there is not a single one that has a spot sewn up. Sure, there are guys we are pretty sure will make the final roster, but whether they have a starting spot is yet to be determined. This can be scary and exciting at the same time. On the one hand, you don’t know what you are going to get. On the other hand, we know we are going to see the best men win.
McTelvin Agim— Third Round Denver Broncos, Free Agent
Khalil Davis— Sixth Round Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Free Agent
Foley Fatukasi— Sixth Round New York Jets, Free Agent
Marcus Harris— Seventh Round Houston Texans
Kurt Hinish— UDFA, Houston Texans
Tim Settle— Fifth Round Washington Commanders, Free Agent
We should point out that some other players might be able to move back and forth between defensive end and defensive tackle. Denico Autry will probably be one of those guys that will move back and forth. However, a quick look at the list of players above reveals a very simple truth: none of them are highly heralded players. Some have gone on to be good rotational players, but none of them is a stud.
However, this is where there is some hope. Defensive tackle is one of those positions where production and proficiency is largely dependent on what they are asked to do. Defensive tackles in a 3-4 are asked to do very different things than the ones in a 4-3. Even within those systems there are all kinds of variations. It comes down to what DeMeco Ryans wants out of his defensive tackles and whether this group of guys can and will deliver that is an open question.
Teams have to punt positions all the time. They do this for a variety of reasons. Most of the time they have chosen to invest heavily in a position group and just don’t have the resources (draft or otherwise) to invest in another one. Sometimes, you don’t have to invest heavily in a group. Sometimes you can get what you want without spending a ton of money or draft capital.
We have seen that with the running back position over the years. More and more teams are filling their holes with late round draft picks and seeing a ton of success. So, the question is whether these particular defensive tackles can do what Ryans wants. If they can it really doesn’t matter how much you pay them or where they were drafted.
Maliek Collins and Sheldon Rankins made plays and were paid a lot of money to do so. Yet, their PFF scores indicated that they were average starters at best. We can look at it as the team losing all of those tackles and all of those sacks. Except professional sports doesn’t work that way. You don’t lose your first baseman and lose 100 RBIs. You lose the difference between what he produced and what they next guy will produce.
We don’t lose Collins and Rankins and lose ALL of that production. We lose the difference. Moreover, there are other players on the defense that could and will pick up the slack. So, the real question is whether the defense overall will be better with the changes in personnel. That will ultimately be determined by what we see on the field during training camp and the preseason games.