Little the did the Houston Texans know that when they added George Warhop to Lovie Smith’s staff as offensive line coach that they were going to score a guard in free agency.
The Jacksonville Jaguars allowed A.J. Cann to hit the free agent market in March, and the former 2015 third-round pick from South Carolina had a good idea where he wanted to continue his NFL career.
“He’s one of the reasons I stepped up to be here but there are a lot of people here that I know decently,” Cann told reporters after organized team activities at Houston Methodist Training Center Tuesday. “I felt like it was time to make a change and I felt like this would be a good change for me. I’ve been liking the vibe so far and I love what’s going on. I love the situation right now.”
The Texans drafted Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green with the No. 15 overall pick in Round 1 of the 2022 NFL draft. Presumably the former Atascocita High School product will take the left guard job, which leaves right guard open for Cann.
What gives the 6-3, 315-pounder an inside edge is he knows what type of coach Warhop is and what his expectations are for the offensive line.
“Coach Warhop is going to be very detailed,” said Cann. “He’s going to be about his work each and every day. I know he’s a laidback coach but when it’s time to get after it, he gets after it. He’s never going to change for anybody. He’s going to be him and that’s what I respect about him.”
Warhop is the third different offensive line coach in as many seasons for the Texans. James Campen was the offensive line coach, but after Houston fired David Culley as coach, Campen took a job with the Carolina Panthers, reuniting him with a former Green Bay Packers connection in offensive coordinator Ben McAdoo.
