Texans felt Tytus Howard playing left tackle was ‘best matchup’ against the Jets
Another one of the puzzling moves the Houston Texans made to their lineup in Week 12 against the New York Jets was to kick Tytus Howard from left guard to left tackle.
Most of Howard’s experience at tackle has come on the right side where he played his first two seasons as the Texans’ 2019 first-round pick from Alabama State. The 21-14 loss was the first time in Howard’s career he protected the quarterback’s blindside.
According to coach David Culley, moving Howard to left tackle was the best option for the offensive line against the Jets.
“We just felt that was the best matchup for us this week with who they were playing at the end,” said Culley. “We felt like Tytus would be better outside than inside.”
The Jets featured defensive tackle Jonathan Franklin-Myers, Quinnen Williams, and Sheldon Rankins at defensive tackle, who went against Texans guards Justin McCray, Lane Taylor, Max Scharping, and rookie center Jimmy Morrisey.
The Jets’ defensive ends were Bryce Huff and Shaq Lawson.
Culley wasn’t sure if Howard would play left tackle going forward.
“It’s been week-to-week,” Culley said. “It depends on the matchups we’ve got, and once we get some of our guys back again, we’ll be able to keep him inside. But right now, we felt like he gave us the best matchup outside to play tackle.”
Houston felt they could move Howard out to left tackle due to his intelligence and ability to quickly adapt to multiple positions.
Said Culley: “Tytus is a very, very intelligent football player. He can play multiple positions. He’s got very good football instincts. He’s shown that he can go inside and outside and go left and go right. And obviously he’s a pretty good player and we’re able to do that with him.”
The Texans fall to 2-9 on the season and suffer consecutive losing seasons for the first time since 2002-06.
