The 2024 season may not seem like an underwhelming year for the Houston Texans since their season ended in the Divisional Round to the Super Bowl runner up, but it absolutely was. So much went wrong the Texans throughout the year, and they fell short of expectations with a 10-7 regular-season record. To Houston’s credit, though, the team found a way to fight and win games even when it wasn’t at its best.
One unit that was nowhere near its best was the offensive line. The o-line became the biggest weakness for the Texans in 2024, and was a major reason why the season didn’t go as planned for the team. Houston was aware of that, and has spent the offseason rebuilding the line into, hopefully, a more competent unit.
The Texans have added veterans and rookies to the roster, trading for Ed Ingram, signing Laken Tomlinson, Trent Brown, and Cam Robinson, and drafting Aireontae Ersery in the second-round of the draft. While those guys will be relied on to turn the offensive line around, Houston may also find some additional help from an unsuspecting source.
Undrafted signee Eli Cox is being named as a player to watch on the offensive line heading into training camp. Ben Cooper, in a recent piece for PFF, highlighted one UDFA on all 32 teams to keep an eye out for, and Cox was the guy in Houston.
Eli Cox named as an undrafted player to watch for the Texans
Cox is a center out of Kentucky, and although Houston has already added several veteran offensive linemen, Cooper still thinks Cox can emerge as another option because of his production in college.
"The Kentucky center didn’t allow a sack across 388 pass-blocking snaps in 2024 after honing his craft in four seasons as a starter. The Texans didn’t add many undrafted free agents, but Cox still stands out as one who could make an early impact if he proves his worth as a better blocker than Jarrett Patterson, who improved in 2024 but was still just the 23rd-ranked center in PFF overall grade (64.1)."Ben Cooper (PFF)
If the young linemen can carve out a role on the teamm that would be great for the Texans. A team can never have too many good linemen, and depth is extremely important for the offensive line. If the offensive line can be a consistently solid group, Houston has a chance to join the upper echelon of teams in the NFL.
