Reader in line for expanded role on Houston defense in 2017

The retirement of Vince Wilfork, who played 587 snaps in 2016, leaves a large hole both figuratively and literally in the interior of the Texans defensive line. Sophomore D.J. Reader, a man of no modest size himself at 6-foot-3 and 335 pounds, is ready to plug that hole.

• While D.J. Reader and Vince Wilfork played similar roles with most of their snaps coming at DT or NT, Reader finished 2016 with a grade of 71.1, compared to just 45.1 for Wilfork.
• While Reader played only 477 of 1,150 possible defensive snaps in 2016, he played more snaps as the season went on with a season high of 45 in the Texans' playoff loss to the Patriots, when he also finished with a personal best PFF game grade of 81.9.
• Wilfork led Texans defensive linemen with a stop percentage of 5.9 in 2016, while Reader was not far behind with a stop percentage of 5.0.
• Reader's pass-rush productivity rate of 6.5 ranked second of all rookie defensive tackles in 2016.