According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, the Texans signed undrafted free agent tackle K.J. Malone from LSU.
K.J. nearly skipped his final year of football at LSU to enter law enforcement, but is apparently ready to delay those plans a bit.
"It's a dream come true," Malone said. "I always dreamed of playing in the NFL and to play for an organization like the Texans is amazing. Training out there, I felt like I was at home."
"They said if they had more picks they would have taken me," K.J. Malone told Ross Dellenger of the Advocate. "They only had a couple of today. They wanted more O-linemen there. I'm glad to be a Texan now."
K.J. Malone played offensive tackle for LSU and was a two-year starter, though a knee injury cost him six games in 2017. At the NFL Scouting Combine, he ran the 40-yard dash in 5.34 seconds and did 15 reps of 225 pounds on the bench press while posting a 29.5-inch vertical leap.
In Lance Zierlein's scouting report, he wrote that Malone "has an NFL frame and will check enough of the intangible boxes to interest offensive line coaches but he lacks the body control and balance teams look for from starters."
If the NFL doesn't work out, Malone at least has a backup plan—he nearly skipped his senior season with the Tigers to become a U.S. Marshal, per Wilson. For now, however, he'll have the chance to add depth to the Texans' offensive line and eventually fight for a starting gig should he make the team.
If nothing else, he's excited to practice against players he watched in the past like defensive lineman J.J. Watt and Jadeveon Clowney.
"I was always like, 'Dang, those guys are freaks,'" Malone told Dellenger. "Now I get to go against them."
