"Number 63 is reporting as eligible to receive."
Anyone who watches Texans games with regularity hears an NFL official say these words multiple times throughout a game this season.
No. 63 is 23-year-old Kendall Lamm, an undrafted rookie tackle out of Applachian State. The Texans have been lining up Lamm as an extra blocker on a number of plays.
"In essence, you have to let the defense know that I am eligible to catch the ball as you saw during the Buffalo game," Lamm said on Texans Radio. "For the most part this year, I've been the extra blocker to kind of help us in the run game and everything and deal with the pass rush and all that, but it just allows the defense to see that I can catch the ball so they may change their formation and everything else."
This past Sunday, Lamm did just that. He caught his first NFL pass for a seven-yard gain on third-and-1 in the first quarter against the Buffalo Bills on the first scoring drive.
When asked if it's every offensive lineman's dream to catch a pass, Lamm laughs.
"Without a doubt, without a doubt," Lamm said. "Of course, we're the bigger guys and everything so when you get the opportunity, I had to make sure to catch it. I had to."
It's not the first time he's been asked to catch passes as an o-lineman.
"Did kind of the same thing in high school, caught two passes," Lamm said. "I've done it before but never in college."
Lamm played mostly left tackle at Applachian State, where he started all 12 games both his junior and senior seasons. Lamm, a first-team all-Sunbelt Conference honoree, was part of an offensive line that helped pave the way for the Mountaineers to rush for 1,747 yards (291.2 ypg) and allow just one sack during the school's six-game winning streak to close the 2014 season.
