How Texans LT Ersery Could Change Everything
A torrent of free agency moves and draft decisions made the Houston Texans the talk of the NFL offseason from March to May, building hype among a football-starved crowd and fanbase aching for a championship. Recently, it’s felt like everyone has been aching for the Texans to break through, with Super Bowl predictions cropping up everywhere from Lance Zierlein to Aaron Schatz! It’s like Texans mania had swept the country in June…that is, until the Los Angeles Rams traded for DE Myles Garrett . Leave it to the Rams to steal the headlines and make some blockbuster trade reminiscent of their neighbors with the hardwood court and gold-and-purple get up. Besides L.A.’s tubthumping, Houston has assembled possibly their most complete team to date through the 2026 offseason, signing veteran tackles and tight ends to improve the “balance” of the offseason line, as Texans offensive coordinator Nick Caley described in his interview with the Houston Chronicle’s Jonathan M. Alexander: “You always want balance, and each game is a little different,” Caley told the Chronicle. “I think we found a way to even that out as the season progressed. So finding a way to do that. And balance doesn’t come necessarily in terms of a 50-50 run-pass ratio, but it’s also the usage of different players.” That’s why Houston added several tight ends this offseason. The Texans signed veteran Foster Moreau to a two-year deal and drafted rookie Marlin Klein in the second round. Brevin Jordan is also returning from a knee injury that ended his 2025 season before it got started. – Jonathan M. Alexander, “Exclusive: Why Texans OC Nick Caley is confident C.J. Stroud, offense will show improvement in 2026” This influx of new blockers to control the edge on Houston’s offense has a lot of fans bullish on the Texans entering 2026. New offensive linemen like RT Braden Smith, LG Wyatt Teller , and rookie C/G Keylan Rutledge give plenty of reason for optimism after last year’s red-zone woes. But, on top of those additions, the TE room Houston has assembled in 2026 has some analysts seeing red, including Battle Red Blog’s Nickschwager, who’s bullish on the position group to take a big step forward. Maybe these new faces are all Nick Caley needed to get his ground-game churning, but to me, those new players are only half the story. Don’t get me wrong – adding all of these veterans and rookies will give the Texans’ front some real teeth, but there’s one player in particular that can springboard this group from plucky playoff underdog to true Super Bowl Goliath: second-year LT Aireontae Ersery. Maybe the name alone doesn’t get you out of your seat like one such as Will Anderson Jr. , but Aireontae Ersery’s position as CJ Stroud’s blindside protector holds just as much value as any other spot on the roster. As a rookie starter drafted in the second round of the 2025 NFL Draft, Ersery was given hefty responsibilities in an instant and did enough to hold his own as a young LT. He had cowboy-sized boots to fill when all-star Laremy Tunsil was traded to the Washington Commanders , and even though Ersery was too slow and too handsy to be a pass a Chanel-laiden Tunsil vibe check, he certainly put plenty of teams on notice in year one: In his rookie season with the Texans in 2025, Aireontae Ersery played in: 18 Starts (Including Playoffs) – 17 Games at LT, 1 at RT (Week 1) 1,225 Snaps (Including Playoffs) – 1,166 at LT, 59 at RT; 472 Run-Blocking Snaps, 753 Pass-Blocking Snaps 7 Sacks Allowed, 11 Hits, 48 Total Pressures, 13 Penalties 58.9 PFF Grade (50.9 RBLK, 66.1 PBLK) It’s not a shining report card, but given the circumstances, Ersery showed he can be a starter in the NFL. All of those pressures given up and penalties are hard to swallow, but the majority of these came in the first eight weeks of his NFL career. Ersery countered this rough onset of the season with an excellent run in November/December that coincided with Houston’s push into the NFL playoffs. I said as much [... truncated ...]