Texans’ DeMeco Ryans Shares One Big Takeaway on Offensive Line

The Houston Texans took home a win in their second preseason bout of three on Saturday night, taking down the Carolina Panthers 20-3 in a game where quarterback C.J. Stroud saw his first action of the season.

And in the process of that action from Stroud, as well as the other quarterbacks that got snaps in Davis Mills, Kedon Slovis, and Graham Mertz, it stuck out as a relatively strong output for this group. Houston allowed only one sack on the night to

And in the midst of an appealing performance from this offensive line, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans gave the unit a bit of praise following the events of Saturday's win, with the one main takeaway of this Houston o-line being the togetherness showcased upfront.

"The thing that I'm seeing from the offensive line is that they're playing together, and that's the main thing," Ryans said after the Texans' preseason win vs. the Panthers. "They're playing together, they're communicating well, they're picking up the pressures and stunts really well, and they're playing as one. They're resetting the line of scrimmage... There's not many mishaps on the offensive line. So, it's just consistent play giving us a chance to get the play started, and a chance to have productive plays, because everything starts up front."

"When those guys are sound in what they're doing, they're playing together, they're playing smart ball, playing with great awareness, now we have a chance to get productive plays."

DeMeco on the #Texans offensive line pic.twitter.com/VngDrIRLnw
— Seth Payne (@SethCPayne) August 17, 2025

It's extremely valuable chemistry being built early on the Texans offensive line, something that seemingly wasn't too fortified on Houston's unit upfront across last year as they sank to the depths of being one of the league's worst-rated pass protection groups at season's end.

But now, the seeds are already being planted for a strong, cohesive group to roll out upfront. The Texans rolled out a starting lineup on Saturday headlined by Aireontae Ersery and Blake Fisher at tackle, with Laken Tomlinson, Jake Andrews, and Ed Ingram being the ones manning the interior–– a group that didn't allow a single pressure in the first 25 snaps of the game, showing that both the chemistry and technical ability are at a completely different level than 2024.

Jul 24, 2025; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans tight end Cade Stover (87) and Houston Texans Aireontae Ersery (79) during training camp at Houston Methodist Training Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-Imagn Images | Troy Taormina-Imagn Images

It's certainly early, but so far, this Texans offensive line is showing some great signs of life ahead of Week One.

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