Nine games into the 2022 NFLseason, the Houston Texans sit at 1-7-1. When a team’s record is that poor, there’s never any one, single reason. It’s typically a combination of things. The Texans, for example, suffer from a severe lack of experienced, high end talent. Their play calling on both sides of the ball is suspect, at best. Above all else, this team is YOUNG.
In 2021, the Texans had one of the oldest teams in the league, largely because (a) the team had been operating without huge draft capital for the last four years due to trades, and (b) what was left of the young players brought in under the Bill O’Brien regime got moved out over time, with a few exceptions. With a full draft class of rookies in 2022, the average age of the squad has flipped.
Each game day, the Texans roll out one of the younger teams in the NFL, and on Sunday against the Giants, it got extreme, with ten rookies seeing the field, several as starters and full time contributors. It’s one thing to play as a rookie, but it’s another to play well, and that’s been hit or miss. RB Dameon Pierce might make the Pro Bowl. First round pick Kenyon Green looked like a high schooler the last three weeks. It’s complicated.
Below is an overview of how many snaps each rookie saw on Sunday (in descending order of snap count), with their positional rankings from Pro Football Focus. It’s good these rookies are getting some experience, but man, they are taking some lumps:
LG KENYON GREEN (64/64 snaps, 100 percent)
PFF SCORE: 76th of 81
Green had one of the worst games of his young career on Sunday, drawing multiple holding penalties (two of them were declined), and allowing the pressure that forced Davis Mills to throw a fourth quarter interception. Green is going to be the starting left guard, but he needs an offseason in an NFL weight room.
LB CHRISTIAN HARRIS (69/69, 100 percent)
PFF SCORE: 83rd of 83
When you consider Harris missed nearly all of training camp and the first six games of the season with a hamstring injury, the fact that he is getting 100 percent of the snaps three games into his career is fairly remarkable. He was a bright spot Sunday, even if his PFF ranking is still rock bottom among linebackers.
CB DEREK STINGLEY, Jr. (62/69, 90 percent)
PFF SCORE: 98th of 114
I have no idea if Stingley is making progress or not, because Lovie Smith plays a soft zone defense that allows huge cushions to wide receivers, and we rarely get to see Stingley cover receivers one on one in man coverage. His PFF ranking stinks, but I’m encouraged by what little I’ve seen of Stingley in snaps that involve the use of his God given tools.
S JALEN PITRE (56/69, 81 percent)
PFF SCORE: 83rd of 85
Pitre is another rookie whose use has been through the roof. He’s made some splashy plays around the line of scrimmage, and he had two picks against the Bears in Week 3, but Pitre’s tackling has been abysmal.
RB DAMEON PIERCE (46/64 snaps, 72 percent)
PFF SCORE: 4th of 62
Pierce has been a revelation. He runs hard, breaks tackles, plays smart, and has a super infectious personality. His PFF ranking of fourth best running back in football passes the smell test.
DT KURT HINISH (40/69, 58 percent)
PFF SCORE: 78th of 123
Hinish is an undrafted free agent out of Notre Dame, so his making the team is an accomplishment unto itself. The fact that Hinish plays a majority of the snaps is both a huge accolade for him, but at the same time, a big indicator as to why the Texans have one of the worst run defenses in all of football.
TE TEAGAN QUITORIANO (27/64 snaps, 42 percent)
PFF SCORE: N/A (83.7 overall PFF score)
Quitoriano just came off injured reserve a few weeks ago, but already the former sixth round pick has caught a touchdown pass, and registered a very solid PFF score of 83.7 in his short time as a rotational player.
LB JAKE HANSEN (17/69, 25 percent)
PFF SCORE: N/A (61.8 overall PFF score)
Hansen has found his way onto the field the last two weeks, and on Sunday against the Giants, he put up a stellar 72.3 PFF grade in 17 snaps at linebacker. An undrafted free agent, who played for Lovie Smith at Illinois, Hansen should get some more opportunities to prove himself down the stretch.
DT THOMAS BOOKER (14/69, 20 percent)
PFF SCORE: 108th of 123
Booker is a fifth round pick, and a fringe player, at best. The Texans have gotten much more out of the undrafted Hinish, at the same position.
FB TROY HAIRSTON (8/64 snaps, 12 percent)
PFF SCORE: 9th of 9
Hairston is one of just nine players getting enough snaps at fullback to qualify for PFF rankings, and right now he is rated last among fullbacks. He comes into the NFL having played linebacker in college, so if the the Texans are going to employ a fullback moving forward, Hairston is worth investing time in.
Listen to Sean Pendergast on SportsRadio 610 from 6 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays. Also, follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/SeanTPendergast and like him on Facebook at facebook.com/SeanTPendergast.
This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2022.
