Concerns for Matt Kalil at Left Tackle
It comes as little of a surprise that the concern for Matt Kalil is mounting, especially after his fall from grace from a potential top-end left tackle to start his career. With injuries piling up over the seasons, former general manager Brian Gaine and the Texans took a chance on Kalil.
The start of camp left many hopeful for Kalil seeing him move well and handle what was in front of him during practices. Unfortunately, when padded practices started, the game changed for him. When he was matched up with Whitney Mercilus and J.J. Watt, his issues began to show.
Fast forward to today's practice. It was quickly the worst performance of the Kalil experience since he arrived. With mental and physical fatigue piling up on Kalil, he struggled terribly at left tackle. Brennan Scarlett and Mercilus both made it look easy getting to Deshaun Watson during team drills. Scarlett just walked Kalil back towards Watson, and when Watson started to escape the pocket, Scarlett tossed Kalil off of him to touch Watson on his shoulders to signal a sack. As for Mercilus, he put on a spin move on Kalil where he set him up for an outside move and spun off the Kalil pass set and ended up with a wide-open lane on the inside straight to Watson. That too would have ended up a sack.
What the Texans plan is to this point is unknown. They do not appear in a rush to push Tytus Howard to left tackle after working him at left guard since he arrived. They want to continue to develop Howard properly and now rush his development.
Julien Davenport and Roderick Johnson are the next options, but until they start getting work with the first-team offense, it is all speculation. After the terrible day by Kalil, the Texans have to be concerned with the direction Kalil is trending in camp. There is little reason to think this will improve during the regular season.
https://mavensports.io/texans/news/...-belongs-observations-62x8QsxgTUGP6tYdt5LnhQ/