When the Texans signed cornerback Aaron Colvin in free agency, they had seen first-hand what he could do to shore up their secondary.
"We had played against him, coached against him for a couple of years," head coach Bill O'Brien said last week at the Annual League Meeting. "Very impressed with his ability. Obviously played over the slot a lot when we played them. Quickness, playing strength, he's a good blitzer, smart guy, smart in the zones, can play man-to-man coverage."
Colvin, who spent four seasons in Jacksonville, played in both games against the Texans twice last year as well as all three Jaguars playoff games. The former 2014 fourth-round pick played 83.7 percent of his coverage snaps as the slot cornerback and allowed just 0.76 yards per coverage snap. That ranked as the seventh-best mark among players at the position with at least 110 snaps, according to Pro Football Focus.
But what about his versatility?
"It's definitely a topic that comes up a lot, but at the end of the day, I'm a football player so I can play corner, safety, nickel, linebacker," Colvin said on NFL Network. "It doesn't matter. Wherever you throw me, I expect to make plays and I will make plays but I mean, I grew up playing outside so I'm comfortable out there on that island and if I get thrown out there, it's going to be the same results. I expect the ball."
During his career at the University of Oklahoma, Colvin started at both cornerback and safety. While his role at Jacksonville was mostly as a slot corner, Texans fans could see more from the fifth-year cornerback.
"He'll be in a competition, not just on the inside, but we'll use him on the outside, too," O'Brien said. "Every team is different. They have, obviously, A.J. (Bouye) and Jalen (Ramsey), two lockdown corners, so they used him differently than we will use him. But we were very impressed with him when we studied the tape in going against him and now we're excited to have the opportunity to work with him."
In 2017, Colvin recorded five passes defensed, four tackles for loss, one fumble recovery and one quarterback hit. He also recorded his first career interception in the Jacksonville's Wild Card win over the Buffalo Bills.
