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John Harris and I had rookie C/G Keylan Rutledge in the studio for the first time, and he sounded like he's been doing this for five years. I asked him about the grind from bowl prep through the draft and into his first NFL season.
"It's a long process," Rutledge said. "As soon as you finish up bowl prep, you get right into the Combine and doing all that Senior Bowl stuff, and then all the Combine visits, and then rookie minicamp and OTAs and all the media. It's a lot."
Center, Guard and Seeing the Field
Rutledge played right guard all through college. In Houston, he's lined up at center and both guard spots.
"Setting going left, then right, is a lot different, and having your hand on the ball is a lot different," he said. "But how we try to teach our technique here is very similar."
That time at center is paying off now that he's next to Evan Brown.
"It helps me so much because I don't have to think as much," Rutledge said. "He's obviously going to make the call, but I'm already getting up there thinking through his set of eyes. I can almost go ahead and set the table in my head as soon as we get up there."
Five Playing as One
Rutledge credited Ed Ingram, Wyatt Teller, Evan Brown and Jake Andrews for helping him along, and he explained what's driving the line's improvement.
"It's up front as five, playing as one," he said. "All them little things, those start to stack up in the run game, going from two, three yards to five, six, seven, and then you bust some big runs."
He's also been tested by some of the best interior defenders in the league.
"It's been great because it's really challenged me," Rutledge said. "Made me understand how much your technique really needs to be honed in when you're playing really, really good players."
The First Win and the Road to London
Rutledge didn't hide what the first win of the season meant.
"There was a lot of smiles out of that one," he said. "But just right back to work. You got a big one this week."
He's played overseas before, too, with Georgia Tech's trip to Ireland.
"We went up there and got a win," Rutledge said. "So hopefully I'm 2-and-0 overseas. That would be great."
Johnny summed up the interview perfectly afterward: "He sounds like the real deal."
Catch the full conversation on Texans All-Access on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Go Texans.
