Texans superstar left tackle Laremy Tunsil takes exception to NFL writer's OT rankings

The Texans may not have the greatest offensive line in the NFL, or the AFC, or even their own division. However, they do at least have one strong foundational piece to build the unit around.

That would be their franchise left tackle Laremy Tunsil , a four-time Pro Bowler who is the highest-paid player in the league at his position at $25 million per year. While that doesn't necessarily make him the best left tackle in football, it at least has to put him in the conversation.

Tunsil has his heights set at the very top, though. CBS Sports NFL analyst Jeff Kerr just found out, as he recently came out with a ranking of the top 20 tackles in the league . Kerr put Tunsil at No. 11 on his list, dropping him eight spots from No. 3 last year. Here's what he had to say about Tunsil's game going into 2024.

"Tunsil is still one of the great left tackles in football, coming off a season which he allowed five sacks and 20 pressures in 518 pass-blocking snaps (3.9% pressure rate allowed per dropback). His run blocking was graded the highest in years, with the tape backing up the grade. A franchise left tackle in Houston, Tunsil is still only 29 years old. He has good years ahead of him. "

Apparently that's not good enough for Tunsil, who's literally taking names. Observe.

Kerr isn't alone in his assessment as having Tunsil ranked outside the league's elites at this spot. For example, Zoltan Buday at Pro Football Focus ranked Tunsil No. 8 on his list of the top OTs in 2024. PFF's grades for the 2023 season were even harsher, as they had him graded out at 75.5, tied with Kaleb McGary for No. 20 at his position.

It's good that Tunsil has a high bar for analysis of his game, but the only way to get to the top of this particular mountain is to outplay guys like Trent Williams consistently for a couple of years and as yet he hasn't done that.

Nevertheless, Tunsil is more than capable of keeping C.J. Stroud's backside clean for years to come and that's all that really matters for the Texans.