It’s been an eventful spring for Texans rookie tackle David Quessenberry.
The sixth-round pick has seen extensive first-team work at right tackle thanks to injuries that have kept Derek Newton and Brennan Williams off the practice field and he’s also been dealing with a strange series of events involving a white Ford truck he borrowed from his uncle for use during OTAs and minicamps. The truck was stolen last Friday from the parking lot of Quessenberry’s hotel and recovered in Texas on Wednesday although police believe it made at least one trip across the border to Mexico before it was found.
“It was used for human smuggling. That’s what they’re being charged with along with grand theft auto,” Quessenberry said, via Tania Ganguli of the Houston Chronicle. “It’s pretty easy to tell when you can look at a truck and see things that are hollowed out and where people have been laying down. It’s a no-brainer that they were using it for that.”
That story had a happy ending for Quessenberry and his uncle and the football side of things looks like it has a chance to work out well for the rookie too. Right tackle was a troublesome spot for the team last year and coach Gary Kubiak said he’s impressed enough with Quessenberry’s progress to leave the door open for a starting job this season.
“You never know. There have been some sixth- and seventh-round draft choices in this league start and [become] great players. With the work he’s getting, he’s going to get a good chance to have that type of situation as a young player, so we’ll see what happens,” Kubiak said.
As the saga of the truck makes clear, life throws its share of curveballs. Training camp will tell us whether a sixth-round rookie starting for the defending AFC South champs is one of them.