Jacksonville Jaguars vs Houston: Tyrod Taylor plus 9 Texans to watch

Four more Texans defenders the Jacksonville Jaguars must contain.

Whitney Mercilus, EDGE rusher

The Texans failed to bolster their defensive front due to the lack of cap space and draft picks they had at their disposal. Thus, EDGE Whitney Mercilus, the team’s best rusher, will have to pick up the slack. However, it’s not a sure thing he will suit up in Week 1 and if he does, he may be not be at full strength.

If Mercilus isn’t good to go, Houston will have a harder time getting to rookie quarterback Trevor Lawrence, which would bode well for the Jaguars’ chances to win the game.

Terrance Mitchell, cornerback

With cornerback Vernon Hargreaves facing off against DJ Chark, Terrance Mitchell might be assigned to cover wide receiver Marvin Jones Jr. Last season, Mitchell started all 16 games for the Cleveland Browns. The downside is that he gave up six receiving touchdowns. This will be a matchup Jaguars offensive coordinator Darrell Bevell will want to exploit.

Justin Reid, safety

A staple of the Texans’ secondary since 2018, Justin Reid has started in 44 games with 40 starts. The Stanford product gave up a career-low two touchdowns last season and has improved every year. He didn’t log an interception in 2020 but had four passes defensed.

Zach Cunningham, linebacker

The Texans’ defense doesn’t match up favorably against the Jaguars’ offense heading into Week 1. Still, linebacker Zac Cunningham could make things difficult for Trevor Lawrence and cia. Cunningham has started all 32 games over the last two seasons and has logged five sacks and 306 total tackles in that span.