Two of the Texans' young offensive linemen moved spots this offseason.
Tytus Howard's move from right tackled to left guard has been well-documented.
Howard, the Texans' last first-round draft pick selected in 2019, started 21 games at right tackle over his first two seasons.
Max Scharping, who the Texans drafted in the second round in 2019, had been a starter at left guard his rookie season before losing his starting job last season.
Now, Scharping projects to be the Texans' starting right guard Week 1 against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
Texans coaches wanted to see Scharping get stronger this offseason, and according to head coach David Culley, the third-year lineman has made progress.
"Max has had a good preseason," Culley said Thursday. "Max has improved. There were some things that we wanted to make sure that Max got better at, from a strength standpoint. He’s done that. He’s been healthy. I wouldn’t say that he’s been a surprise, but I would say he’s been progressing very well for us. That’s allowed us to be able to do some things with the offensive line because of his play."
Aside from getting stronger, Scharping's teammates have credited him with being one of the smartest guys in the room.
"In the spring, it was brand new, trying to learn who they are, how they communicate," said center Justin Britt, who's in his first season with the Texans. "Now it's just trying to fine tune it and master it and just kind of take it to another level. ...
"Max as been really beneficial to me in my transition here since he's pretty much the smartest guy in the room and knows the playbook. To have him in there is a blessing as well."
The job at right guard is Scharping's, at least for now.
Veteran Lane Taylor, the former Packers guard who is reuniting with offensive line coach James Campen, is now several months removed from ACL surgery and is expected to practice for the first time this week.
Taylor spent training camp working off to the side with other older, injured newcomers like Marcus Cannon and Andre Roberts.
"Lane will start to do some things this week for us," Culley said. "Again, he hasn’t practiced up to this point. He has to practice at some point as the season progresses. But hopefully he’s going to be ready to play."
Brandon Scott manages digital content for SportsRadio 610. Follow him on Twitter @brandonkscott.
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