(SportsRadio 610) - Jonathan Greenard does not have a perfect player comparison for himself.
At 6'3", 263 pounds, the Texans' second-year pass rusher considers himself twitchy, but not an athletic freak. Greenard's most obvious qualities on the defensive line are his brute strength, hustle and effort.
Greenard leads the Texans by far with seven sacks, nine quarterback hits and nine tackles for loss on the season. It's the type of work he did in his final college season two years ago, when at Florida he led the SEC in sacks and tackles for loss.
Developing his pass rushing moves has been a combination of muscle memory, and watching others' technique.
"It’s one of those feel things you kind of have to have. Just continue to get repetition," Greenard said Monday. "It is muscle memory. You got to find your go to move, kind of your niche in the pass rushing game. If you ask me, I watch other people. I watch a lot older ones. I don’t really watch the crazy athletic, freak guys. I’m not an athletic freak. I can do some things. Some things are just God-given. You got to know your game, but it’s a little bit of both."
The spin move he used on Rams undrafted rookie tackle Alaric Jackson to sack Matthew Stafford a few weeks ago is one Greenard took from Colts legend Dwight Freeney (Texans defensive tackle Maliek Collins also frequently uses the spin move to get to the quarterback).
Greenard said he first developed it as a running back, but it was watching Freeney that allowed him to apply it as an edge rusher.
"The first one I saw was obviously Dwight Freeney and he just does it as a move, not even a counter," Greenard said. "I kind of thought, ‘Why not change it to a move?’ I definitely watched him coming up and it definitely inspired me from that."
Greenard's progress in year two has been one of the bright spots for this 1-8 team. He is likely one of the Texans' few identifiable pieces toward their rebuild, which hardly feels like it's started.
While Greenard is enjoying some individual success, the collective losing does take its toll.
"I’m a big results guy. I want to win," Greenard said. "That’s all good and all but it doesn’t mean nothing if we aren’t winning. We are all trying to make sure we are all that cornerstone guy, to be honest. That’s cool, but we need to get a dub, and then that will make me feel a little better."
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