The Houston Texans have done major work across their roster on both sides of the ball throughout this offseason, yet as those decisions have now fell in place, many are starting to find more questions than answers for what this team has in store for the 2025 season –– especially when it comes to the offensive line.
And with those big questions in mind on the Texans' unit upfront, inevitably, it makes for an interesting situation in the case of C.J. Stroud. After being behind one of the worst pass protection units in the league last season, the belief is starting to generate that Houston may have made his situation even worse for the year ahead as a part of their bold additions and subtractions.
In the eyes of FOX Sports analyst Ben Arthur, the Texans' moves make for a dangerous outlook offensively for the year ahead, labeling Stroud as one of six key names in the NFL "positioned to fail" in 2025.
"On paper, the Texans’ pass protection for Stroud looks worse than it did last year, when it ranked near the bottom of the league," Arthur wrote. "The Texans traded left tackle Laremy Tunsil for draft compensation, and also moved on from guards Shaq Mason and Kenyon Green. In a vacuum, those moves are fine. But the acquisitions they’ve made to remake their offensive line feel underwhelming at best... More moves could be made during the draft, and there’s a long time between now and September. But it’s difficult to say Houston has given Stroud the surrounding cast he needs to get back to the play of his historic rookie season in 2023."
Of course, the difference between what's put together on paper and the actual on-field product can be two vastly different units. However, looking at what's on tap for the year ahead, adding multiple veterans on one-year deals to tackle those needs up front, each having one or more of their respective concerns in terms of consistent production, signs point to this being a dark scene for Stroud in this offense.
The logic behind cutting ties on the existing unit does make sense. Instead of investing heavy capital into a position group not performing well, re-distributing those investments to other players or different areas on the roster entirely has reasonable appeal.
But, when that decision doesn't pair with the necessary moves to genuinely improve the situation on the offensive line, and maybe even worsen it, that rationale leads to many wondering whether it was necessary to pull those various triggers at all.
The draft may provide a bit of much-needed optimism for what's to come on this front, yet if the season were to kick off today, it might be hard to have strong confidence in this current group. However, time will tell if the unpopular decisions from Nick Caserio and Co. end up paying off in the end for both Stroud and this entire Texans offense.
