Texans Kendrick Green A Nice Fill-In for Kenyon On Offensive Line
Houston Texans' offensive lineman Kenyon Green - the former Texas A&M standout and the Texans' No. 15 overall pick from 2022 - will be placed on the injured reserve and forced to miss the entirety of the 2023 NFL season with a shoulder injury. The injury was suffered in the third and final game of Houston's preseason.
In a reactionary move, the Texans have traded for former Illinois guard Kendrick Green. Green may have been a roster-cut casualty of Pittsburgh, but it never got that far, as the Steelers instead agreed to send him to Houston in exchange for a 2025 sixth-round pick.
Kendrick Green is a former third-round pick of the Steelers in 2021, and a former first-team All-Big Ten in 2020, and a change of scenery might be exactly what Green needs. He started the first 15 games for the Steelers in 2021 but didn't play at all in 2022 - instead being a game-day inactive for all 17 games.
Interestingly, the Steelers tried moving him from guard. After struggling at center most of the offseason, he was finding some new value at fullback. However that experiment seemed like an unlikely alternative, but the Steelers still held faith in Green, and even started him at guard after three of their guards were banged up in the final preseason game. In the third game, he played much better at guard in Game 3 than he did at center in the previous two preseason games.
Kenyon Green is reportedly expected to make a full recovery, and the Texans will just need to fill his gap until next season. But offensive live depth is always a concern for most teams in the NFL. And if Kendrick can find success at guard for the Texans, he'll be a nice fit for a low price in a spot where the team needs him most. Especially in the wake of the injury to Texans' rookie center Juice Scruggs.
