Over the course of the last three months, all those associated with and those who follow the Houston Texans have had to reconcile with the state of the offensive line. Collectively, we have analyzed, discussed, debated, and sparred with each other over the players that make up the offensive line, it’s coaching staff, and how much it was to blame for 2024’s disappointing finish. It has become the discussion point of the offseason, and nearly everyone has a strong opinion on this subject, including the Texans front office. They’ve virtually blown up the entire operation, signaling that a plan for big changes was on deck in the event that the 2024 season didn’t go well. So, as 2025 began, so did the Offseason of the Offensive line.
This has been such a controversy, and such an impressive undertaking by the Houston Texans organization, that there was no way I could contain my thoughts to one article. This overview of Houston’s offseason line will be split up into three parts: the first as an analysis of what went wrong with 2024’s line, the second as a review of the Texans’ transactions since free agency began, and the third functioning as speculation on what moves could come next. So, without further ado, let’s jump into part one!
As of writing, March 27th, 2025, the Houston Texans have replaced three of their five starters on the offensive line:
LT Laremy Tunsil - Traded along with a 2025 fourth-round pick to the Washington Commanders for a third-round and seventh-round pick in 2025 and second-round and fourth-round pick.
G Shaq Mason - Released.
G Kenyon Green - Traded along with a 2026 sixth-round pick to the Eagles for C.J. Gardner-Johnson and a 2026 sixth-round pick.
These players along the offensive line have been replaced in free agency by:
G Laken Tomlinson - Signed to a one-year, $4.25 million contract.
G Ed Ingram - On last year of rookie deal, traded for a 2026 sixth-round pick,
T Cam Robinson - Signed to a one-year, $12 million contract.
T Trent Brown - Signed to a one-year, $3 million contract.
This was quite the volley of transactions made by the Houston front office in the first week of free agency, quickly revealing Nick Caserio’s intentions to remake the Texans’ most maligned position group of 2024. So, what are we to make of these transactions? If this is to be the offseason of the offensive line, how did it become such a controversy in the first place?
Scoping out any Texans fan page or social media timeline during their season last year meant certain confrontation with the belief that Houston’s offensive line was the rotten, slimy stain that tainted the whole 2024 season. One week, Kenyon Green was being fed to fire. The next, Shaq Mason was to blame for everything. The week after that, Laremy Tunsil’s penalties caused a near-mutiny among fans. Week after week, these three linemen in particular were at the center of Houston’s ire.
And, despite my exaggeration, Houston fans were right to do so. The hype around Houston offense in the 2024 offseason was immense to say the least, led by feverish anticipation of what rookie phenomenon C.J. Stroud may do to follow up his record breaking inaugural season. The 2023 team’s success on offense was so surprising that the Texans front office was happy to keep offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik after multiple rounds of head coaching interviews; he wanted to stay, and they wanted to keep him. Keeping Slowik, as odd as it may sound now, was a welcome surprise to many Texans fans, and then they started salivating when Houston extended tight end Dalton Schultz, and then…the heavens opened up:
On April 4, 2024, the Houston Texans traded for Buffalo Bills star receiver Stefon Diggs. To many (like me), this was the moment the Texans won the Super Bowl and Stroud won MVP. After a season like 2023, there’s NO WAY Houston can mess this up! This was a team of destiny, and the offensive line was as far from many Houston fans’ minds…so…how did we all end up blaming them for everything?
It all started slowly, as sneaking suspicions of the interior line’s performance creeped around the periphery in the first few weeks. A hot start in week one vs. the Indianapolis Colts emboldened the optimists, but the offense at large was disappointing to many in September and into October. Instead of smashing weaker opponents like the Chicago Bears and Jacksonville Jaguars, the Houston Texans were squeaking by them in defensive efforts. Only scoring 19 against the Chicago Bears was a surprise to some, not even breaking 300 yards of offense against the Minnesota Vikings was a big disappointment, and then nearly losing to the Jaguars and Buffalo Bills was enough to get heads turning. This offensive line wasn’t dominating against any of these opponents, and in fact, seemed to be making routine mistakes. Everyone had gotten used to Tunsil’s weekly false start penalties, then Shaq Mason added to the frustrations when he would miss a blocking assignment. Kenyon Green wasn’t looking like a reliable player at all, either…something was clearly wrong.
By mid-October, these low scoring games became the norm, and the presumptive season for the ages for Houston’s new quarterback was beginning to look more like a sophomore slump. Now, the small handful of hecklers yelping about Tunsil’s false start penalties had become a bit of a crowd, and the group of fans complaining about Mason exploded. A season-low in offensive yardage (197 total yards) on October 20 in Green Bay couldn’t have come at a worse time for spectators desperate to see improvement. Seth Payne, a former Texans defensive lineman and current Texans analyst, laid out a particularly damning review of this Packers game on his YouTube channel, describing what appeared to him to be an offensive line that just wasn’t coached well. Several blown blocks and miscommunication in multiple games led Seth to believe that coaching in particular had taken a nosedive from 2023, and was a primary culprit to their decline.
Grasping for explanations to the theatre of errors Houston’s offense became, criticisms and chastisements came for Tunsil, Green, Mason, and Juice Scruggs like stray bullets, following their decline in performance like a shadow. Then, on Halloween 2024, the floor caved in.
Against the New York Jets on Halloween 2024, the Houston Texans’ offense was broken and laid bare for all to see on national television. The Jets tore through the interior line of Mason, Scruggs, and Green like a hot knife through butter, and Stroud fell deep into habits that only worsened during much of the 2024 campaign: desperately attempting to buy time behind the line of scrimmage, holding onto the ball for too long, attempting to make big plays while under pressure, and absorbing too many sacks. By contrast, the defense played like a championship-caliber group all season long, only making the offense look worse by comparison.
This game held everything bad about the 2024 Houston Texans offense under a microscope, and in the very next game, the Detroit Lions did the same exact thing in the same exact national spotlight. Once again, Houston was losing a game that was being won almost single-handedly by their defense, sending the few that still had belief in the offense to “find its way” into the pits of despair. Even though the Texans had nabbed five interceptions off of Lions quarterback Jared Goff, one returned for a touchdown, that turned out not to be enough to win. Houston finished with just 23 points, 16 first downs, and 248 total yards of offense; nearly 100 yards less than Detroit!
This was not the offense we were promised, and the interior offensive line provided the perfect target for Nick Caserio for the 2025 offseason; and the perfect punching bag for Texans spectators yearning for a return to rookie-era Stroud. From September to November, it became clear to all that the hype surrounding the 2024 Texans offense during the preseason was fool’s gold. Stroud finished with fewer yards and touchdowns, more interceptions, less yards per attempt and per game, a lower passer rating, and 14 more sacks than he had in 2023. Even though Joe Mixon had done much to improve the rushing attack, Houston’s offense got worse overall in 2024, with the passing offense falling from seventh in yardage in 2023 to 21st in 2024. Somewhere along the road to Texans offense 2.0, the offensive line lost its way, and that changed everything.
That’s where I’ll end this first part of a three-part series covering the offensive line. I’ve covered the disaster that was Houston’s 2024 offensive line, and now I’m going to leave you on a cliffhanger on what my thoughts will be on the incoming free agents. Sorry to leave you in wait, but what’s a good series without some suspense? And heck, this will give you some time to react to my critique of the line! Was I right about them, was I wrong? Go ahead and tear me a new one down in the comments below!
GO TEXANS!!!