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The Houston Texans' training camp will be filled with several critical storylines surrounding how several starting competitions and roster battles will take place, and who might be the ones to win those.
That's the nature of any NFL training camp. And this year's Texans team will be no exception when it comes to sorting out several key position groups from top to bottom after a busy offseason of roster optimization.
One area of the Texans roster, though, will be worth a good bit of attention when compared to the rest–– which comes because of the work Houston's done to the position group this offseason, but also because of the importance it has to this team's success in 2026.
That's their offensive line, which is bound to take on multiple different forms and combinations throughout the next few weeks of training camp, and will be something to take notice of throughout.
Texans' O-Line Combinations Will Be Worth Keeping Close Watch Of
The Texans' offensive line will have a ton of moving parts heading into this season. They'll be moving forward without Tytus Howard for the first year since 2019, have a new first-round pick in Keylan Rutledge entering the fold, as well as multiple veterans brought in throughout free agency who could make a big impact as well.
That's all good news for the Texans' offensive line. This group needed change after another year of somewhat improved, but still below-average production, and the multiple adjustments they made can hope to keep the arrow pointing up for 2026.
But as to how this five-man starting unit shakes out is still far from determined. Outside of Aireontae Ersery starting at left tackle and Ed Ingram retaining his spot at right guard after his extension this offseason, nothing is guaranteed for this group.
That'll lead to this Texans coaching staff rolling out a good share of combinations in terms of five-man starting units throughout the next few weeks, with the primary goal of finding the best collective group to enter Week 1 with.
Where the Position Battles Will Lie on the O-Line
The center position will be the position with the most individual contenders to get the call-up. Of course, Rutledge will be one of them, and the most likely to win out simply because of his stock as a first-round pick.
However, last year's starter in Jake Andrews is still on the roster and will be eager to keep that spot for a second season. You've also got other versatile linemen down the depth chart like Evan Brown, Jarrett Patterson, and Febechi Nwaiwu who can play center and will be competing for a second-string opportunity themselves.
At right tackle, Braden Smith will be fully healthy after missing OTAs and minicamp due to recovering from his neck injury from last season. But his starting spot isn't quite guaranteed.
Trent Brown took all of his reps as the first-team right tackle during Houston's offseason program, and if the coaching staff likes the guy they went undefeated with as their starter on the right side last season (7-0), maybe they'll run it back with him in that same role if he does well in camp.
Then you've got left guard, which feels like an easy spot for Wyatt Teller to fill in, but even his place isn't guaranteed. If he stumbles in his switch over from right guard, Rutledge could assume that spot while someone like Andrews moves into the starting center role, then move Teller down to second string.
Bottom Line
So the competition in this group will be fierce through the weeks ahead. And in doing so, the Texans are going to roll out multiple five-man units to see what each unit can put together, and which might be the best performing.
Once you see the Texans continue to roll with the same five-man group throughout multiple days in a row at practice, that could be a sign that Houston's found their crew to roll with. But digging up that verdict will take some time to do. So keep a close watch once camp kicks off later next week.
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This article was originally published on www.si.com/nfl/texans/onsi as One Development to Watch Closely During Texans Training Camp.
