With the Houston Texans in full swing on their rebuild, the focus is almost entirely on roster development. While probably the weakest roster in the AFC South resides in Houston for now, things appear to be trending upward. There seem to be at least a few diamonds in the rough so to speak, and Lovie Smith has done a good job finding value where others have not thus far as head coach. The Texans roster situation also means that players who are absolute cornerstones often go unheralded by the rest of the league.

So with that, all acknowledged, why don’t we highlight a couple of the unheralded stars-to-be on the Texans. Here are two hidden gems on the current roster in Houston.

2 Hidden Gems on Texans Roster in 2022

1. Jonathan Greenard, EDGE

Sure, it may be a bit of a copout to use the technicality mentioned earlier that Texans stars are hidden from the discussion around the rest of the league, but Greenard does go pretty much un-talked about as one of the better edge rushers to come out of the college ranks in recent years. After a rookie year that saw Greenard start just one game, he started all 12 games he appeared in across the 2021 season, and his sack production also took a massive bump, from 1.0 to 8.0 sacks. Greenard's pass-rushing grade from Pro Football Focus even ranked in the Top 10 in the league last season, finishing 7th when all was said and done despite a smaller snap count than others.

With that noted, why aren't more people talking about Jonathan Greenard as a potential star in the making? Well, being on a Texans team that's gone 8-25 in your first two seasons will do that. Greenard could definitely enter the conversation as one of the best edge rushers in the AFC South at a minimum if he keeps up his good momentum going into 2022 and avoids any injuries. Should he be able to do that, you can definitely expect Jonathan Greenard to not show up on any lists like this in 2023.

2. Tavierre Thomas, Defensive Back

In researching for this article, I came across a number of different Texans-related media pieces that pegged Tavierre Thomas as their most underrated player heading into 2022, so naturally, intrigued, I decided to check Thomas out myself, and it must be said, that assessment may just be correct, and Tavierre Thomas may just be able to do it all over again in 2022.

Thomas finished the year as probably the Texans' best corner, after starting the year a no-name fringe roster guy. In fact, Thomas finished with a slot coverage grade from Pro Football Focus that put him among the league's elite at the position. Finding his niche in the nickel spot with the Texans, the former Division 2 Ferris State undrafted free agent logged himself more snaps than his entire career combined to that point in 2021, picking up 86 tackles and two interceptions, one of which he returned all the way to the house to seal a win over the Chargers.

While Thomas may not be the most likely Texan to recreate his production from 2021 across the 2022 season, his usage late in the year shows that the coaching staff certainly believes in him, which often instills confidence in a player, and if nothing else, that should leave Thomas with the best chance possible to show up and show out again in 2022.