Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans sat $36 million as Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller opened their preseason game against the Las Vegas Raiders on the bench.
Smith and Teller are two key parts of the Texans’ offseason overhaul of the offensive line, but the start of their Texans tenures has been anything but what was expected. It began with Smith failing to earn the starting job at right tackle over Trent Brown.
It became “noteworthy” as they moved Teller out of the starting lineup against Vegas.
Texans’ DeMeco Ryans Makes Major Decision With Braden Smith & Wyatt Teller
As the Texans took the field on offense for their first drive, they had Brown at right tackle. Rookie Keylan Rutledge started at left guard over Teller. Evan Brown was at center.
“Noteworthy that Braden Smith and Wyatt Teller weren’t in the starting lineups,” ESPN’s DJ Bien-Aime posted on X on August 20. “Smith signed a 2 year 20 million contract and Teller signed a two-year, $16 million deal.
“It would be different if they weren’t suiting up. Decisions to be made in a couple weeks.”
Rutledge started at center in the Texans’ preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers, where he is listed on their unofficial depth chart, while Brown is listed as a backup guard.
“#Texans are giving serious consideration to this offensive line configuration of Evan Brown at center, Keylan Rutledge at left guard, but no final decisions made,” KPRC 2’s Aaron Wilson posted on X during the game, adding, “As Cole Popovich has said, they have time to land on their top five guys.”
The unmentioned cost in Bien-Aime’s post is that the Texans also spent another $37.5 million.
That was to retain Ed Ingram, who did not start at right guard or play with the second unit. Whether the general manager Nick Caserio and Texans’ decisions for the game were injury-related or truly a personnel decision remains unclear.
Texans Investments Still Paying Off
The Texans spent $8 million combined on the two Browns. That is less than one quarter of what they spent on Smith and Teller.
In the end, all that matters is that the group shows improvement from last season.
“Something I’ve been hammering home all offseason is the depth of the offensive line is vastly improved,” Houston Stressans (Garrett Williams) posted on X on August 20. “Regardless of the starting 5 they roll with, I will feel much better about it than last year.
“Heck, the 2nd team today (Fisher, Febechi, Andrews, Teller, Smith) may be just as good overall or better than most of the lineups they ran out there last year.”
Notably, Teller has played right guard for most of his career.
The move to the left side was among the questions about his fit in Houston. Both Smith and Teller have also both battled injuries, particularly in recent seasons. The Texans appear to still have plenty to sort out up front. That is, even if Thursday did not tell the whole story.
Texans Rookie Get After Fernando Mendoza
The Texans got some encouraging moments from some of their other rookies. Namely, linebacker Wade Woodaz and defensive tackle Kayden McDonald made big plays.
Woodaz got things started for the trio, intercepting Raiders quarterback and rookie No. 1 overall pick Fernando Mendoza and returning it for a touchdown. Mendoza threw 1 pick-6 during his time in college, but did it in his second NFL game.
McDonald would later get home on Mendoza for a sack.
That was with Rutledge proving his versatility, and all in the first half. Ryans and the Texans led by multiple scores at the break.
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