NFL analyst ranks Texans star lineman among league’s top 50 players

The Houston Texans have put together an All-Star-type team for the 2024 NFL season. Betting on the fact that they have an open window for the Super Bowl, general manager Nick Caserio has added several Pro Bowlers to the team this offseason as well as a few other very solid underrated contenders.

While their roster looks young and deep on paper, their best player is arguably veteran Laremy Tunsil. According to analysis by Sam Monson at Pro Football Focus, Tunsil is the 44th-best player in the league this year. That makes him the only Houston player to make their Top 50 list.

“One of the game’s best left tackles in pass protection, Laremy Tunsil earned the second-highest PFF pass-blocking grade among offensive tackles in 2023, behind only future Hall of Famer Tyron Smith. Tunsil can protect his quarterback with the best, but his run blocking isn’t on par with the game’s other top tackles, which explains the gap between him and some others at the position in these rankings.”

Aside from his lackluster run-blocking performance, Tunsil has been selected to the Pro Bowl four times in the five years he’s played for the Texans since being traded from the Dolphins. The only exception was in 2021, when injuries sidelined him for all but five games. Excluding that year, Tunsil has never posted a pass-blocking grade lower than 85.4 for Houston.

Tunsil will turn 30 in a few weeks, a time when many professional athletes begin to see their performance decline. However, there are many exceptions to this rule and so far, Tunsil has shown no signs of a decline in performance. He will be under contract with Houston through the 2026 season.