Analyzing The Charles Omenihu Trade

The new Texans regime tried to make Charles Omenihu a defensive end. He’s an abysmal run defender, on both the interior and the exterior. At his best, he’s been an interior rusher who can long arm and bull rush. He can use his length to affect offensive guards in pass protection. His interior rip move was a plus pass rush move.

This year, the Texans ignored Omenihu’s previous success. They wanted Demarcus Walker, Jaleel Johnson, Ross Blacklock, Vincent Taylor, and Maliek Collins to play on the interior. They moved Omenihu back to defensive end, where his pass rushes failed and his run keys were still funky. Omenihu doesn’t have the speed to bend the corner. There, the Texans left him to flail.

As a result, Omenihu had zero sacks and three quarterback hits in the two games started. He was even a healthy inactive in two of his starts. Omenihu was entering the last year of his rookie contract. He’s only 24 years old, one of the few Texans on the roster with some allure of youth. Instead of playing him at his natural position, where he had success, the Texans moved him out of position, hoping he’d do something he didn’t do before so they could play the veterans they signed instead.

This is an example of the problems Nick Caserio had this offseason. He signed a horde of veteran players with limited talent. No one is going to give you anything for Kevin Pierre-Louis. Players with talent were put out of position—Omenihu, Justin Reid, Desmond King, and Tytus Howard. The idea of turning players into picks makes sense, but it doesn’t if you don’t have anything to offer.

Before the trade deadline this afternoon, the Texans moved Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers for a future late round draft selection.

Draft capital so far away in the future and inconsequential that it can’t be named at this moment. If Houston played Omenihu at his natural position, maybe they would have found someone apart of their future plans or received some sort of actual draft compensation, the most important resource of a rebuilding team.

Instead, Caserio managed to acquire a future late round pick, a phrase that should be the mantra of Houston’s trades this deadline.