The 2018 Houston Texans Offseason

What can you say about the needs of the Texans? The biggest news is all the front line players the Texans will have returning after missing all or most of the 2017 season due to injury or suspension. With Desean Watson, JJ Watt, Whitney Mercilus, Kevin Johnson, just to name a few, the infusion of talent just from that locale will mean a major upgrade in the Texans roster. Things looking brighter already right?

 

Another thing that could be a good thing is the return of Romeo Crennel as the DC. Mike Vrabel was the up and comer who went from being a LB coach to DC after only 3 years as an NFL assistant. Vrabel has moved on as he landed the head coaching position at Tennessee this offseason. According to Fred and AJ on ESPN evening radio show The Blitz the Texans D was poorly coached and poorly coordinated last year and if the guys are right the departure of Vrabel is a blessing in disguise. Of course, I rarely agree with Fred and AJ as they tend to be so negative about anything Houston sports related. Couldn't the fall off in defense last season been mainly due to the players they lost to injury? You lose All Pro and Pro Bowl caliber players your D just won't be as good. So, with the NFL Scouting Combine beginning Tuesday in Indianapolis what do you think the Texans will be looking most at?

 

Here are my top five positions of need and how I think Houston could and should address those needs.

1. Offensive Line - I think you have to address this in both free agency and the draft. The Texans have got to protect Desean Watson and open some holes for the running backs. Free agents are hired guns and only around for a short duration and you always overpay for free agents. That means the Texans need to hit on a couple of draft picks at this position.

2. Backup QB - I was clear that Tom Savage is not the answer. The falloff in production when Watson tore his ACL last season was painfully clear. I wanted Savage to succeed but he just isn't an NFL QB. I think you have to go free agency with this one. You don't want a 2nd year player and a rookie as your QB depth chart. There will be veteran players available who can actually win an NFL game if called upon.

3. Cornerback - Houston was hurting at corner last season. Partly because the front office let AJ Bouye go via free agency and partly because of a lack of talent at the position. The problem is Houston doesn't have a first or second round draft pick because of the deal to trade up to get Desean Watson so they will need to hit on late round picks here. In free agency there may be some good options available. The Rams have a deal in place to get Chiefs CB Marcus Peters which means Trumaine Johnson might not be resigned and could be available. Also, the Patriots will likely lose Malcolm Butler because he is rightfully pissed off that he was benched in the Super Bowl three years after being a hero in the Super Bowl against the Seahawks. Butler will be expensive so Johnson might be a better option.

4. Linebacker - I could say safety here as the loss of Quinten Demps hurt the Texans defensive back field but I have to go with the backers here. Houston lost John Simon and Akeem Dent in free agency and when Mercilus and Watt were injured and Brian Cushing was suspended the LB's were hurting. I know Watt isn't a LB but the way he rushes the passer he is like another LB on the field. There weren't enough bodies that were good enough to step up after the injuries and suspension hit. Besides, Cushing is getting old and that probably why he used steroids so he could prolong his career. This is another position where a free agent will bring immediate help and the draft will bring long term success.

5. Tight End - You can't put your eggs in the CJ Fiedorowicz basket because after suffering 3 concussions this past season the handwriting is on the wall. He needs to get out of football as a player before he does serious brain damage to himself. Ryan Griffin is a nice player but as a free agent are you going to pay him big bucks? Not likely. Houston needs a beast that can stay on the field. A guy who is an all around TE who can block and be effective in the passing game. The Texans haven't had that guy since the heyday of Owen Daniels. Remember him? Tight end is the one piece missing from the Texans attack. A free agent is likely not the answer although Jimmy Graham is available. He's also 31 and several serious injuries removed from the great Jimmy Graham we knew in New Orleans. I'm okay with Graham if Houston doesn't have to pay an arm or a leg for him. The best case scenario would be to get their TE of the future in the draft but, again, without a 1st or 2nd round pick getting an impact TE in the draft won't be easy. Even so, Dallas got Jason Witten in the 3rd round so there is hope...................

 

The best acquisition made by Houston may not be a player but a GM. I have long since thought Rick Smith sucked as a GM and with him taking an indefinite leave of absence to be with his wife who is battling breast cancer (classy move by Smith BTW) it opened the door for a guy who is more in tune with head coach Bill O'Brien. Brian Gaine might be the best thing that has happened, or will happen, for Houston this offseason. Either way, if the marriage between O'Brien and Gaine is not productive, and Houston doesn't have a rash of serious injuries like last year, it will be a make or break season for both. Certainly for O'Brien because he will be fresh out of excuses for why he can't win more than 9 games in a season. With the emergence of Jacksonville and to a lesser extend, Tennessee, 9 wins won't win the division in the foreseeable future and it won't be good enough for a Wild Card in most seasons given the depth of the AFC.

It’s been hard for me to get into the Texans this offseason. They did make some interesting additions via free agency like S Tyrann Matthieu. Houston did resign CB Jonathan Joseph. Joseph has been a really player for Houston since signing as a free agent way back in 2011. He will be starting his 13th season in the NFL this year but as long as you have your speed there is no reason he is too old for the game. One thing you can say about Joseph is he is reliable, he shows up pretty much every game day.

Houston also signed G Senio Kelemete who comes from the Saints. The main weakness for the Texans for the last several years has been offensive line and under Rick Smith that need was never really addressed. New Texans GM Brian Gaine address the O-line right out of the box signing Kelemete, as well as, G Zach Fulton late of the Kansas City Chiefs and OT Seantrel Henderson who comes from Buffalo. It didn’t stop there as the Texans added OT Martinas Rankin from Mississippi State in the draft.

Houston addressed their 2nd biggest need at DB by signing Matthieu, Joseph and Aaron Colvin who played the first 4 years in the NFL with Jacksonville in the free agency period. They also added Stanford FS Justin Ford and CB Jermaine Kelly from San Jose State in the draft.

The Texans added some pass rush help in the form of fresh meat at LB. In free agency Houston did not pick anyone up but, in the draft, they selected OLB Duke Ejiofor from Duke. He was a 4-3 DE in college but he will play OLB for Houston. The question will be if he can succeed in Houston’s 3-4 scheme. Houston also took OLB Peter Kalambayi from Stanford who should add a lot of speed and athleticism to the mix.

With the retirement of CJ Fiedorowicz due to concussion issues the Texans needed help in the tight end department. The Texans made no moves in free agency but they did draft a couple of guys to fill that need. In the 3rd round they drafted Central Florida TE Jordan Akins. Akins is a better receiver than blocker but Houston could use the help on offense. He’s a little old for a rookie, 26, but he played 4 years of minor league baseball in the Rangers organization before returning to school and football. The Houston Chronicle hated this pick and with a lot of TE’s available Houston went with Akins. Only time will tell but a lot of head scratching went on over this pick. Houston also drafted Mississippi State TE Jordan Thomas in the 6th round. The Chronicle also hated this pick. He is huge, 6’5’’ and 280 pounds and he was used mostly as an outside receiver in college. He will need to learn to play inside and improve his blocking quite a bit.

Last weekend’s rookie mini-camp was the first look as group all the coaches had to look at the rookies and selected 2nd year players. Texans radio announcer Marc Vandermeer gives his take on the Texans rookie class in this article from Texans.com

 

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vandermeers-View-Rookies-looking-for-work/f383ce0e-592a-4406-a3df-4c57cff0ed41

The Houston Texans are about to begin their 3rd week of OTA's and the news out of Texans camp is pretty good. Mainly because of all the people out with serious injuries are all doing well. Christian Covington and Whitney Mercilus have been participating in the OTA's and darn glad to be there. JJ Watt is continuing his rehab from surgery on his broken leg earlier this year. DeSean Watson is throwing 7 on 7 and continuing his rehab of his ACL injury and he is, by all accounts, ahead of schedule. All great news. Lamar Miller is looking for a bounce back year and D'Onte Foreman is also looking to bounce back from injury. The Texans offense should be very formidable with the return of Will Fuller V from injury who joins DeAndre Hopkins and others in the Texans receiving corp that also will see a return of Braxton Miller who also is coming back from injury. It's like Houston is getting a whole team of Pro Bowl caliber players. The Texans who looked so good until Watson went down will be even better. On the offense there is a real buzz about their newest WR taken in this past April's draft. The buzz is all about Keke Coutee the Texas Tech alum who is impressing folks all over the place including DeAndre Hopkins who says the guy is dedicated and he is a real baller. Of course a lot of guys are good on the underwear practice field but there is real hope heading into Training camp later this summer. The Texans defense has a lot of potential and additions like Tyrann Matthieu to help shore up the secondary and this team looks like a team to be reckoned with. Week 3 of OTA's begin tomorrow. With the Astros sort of struggling and the Rockets eliminated from the playoffs having the Texans as a distraction is a welcome relief.

I have not forgotten about our Texans. Like the guys from north Texas who have traveled to a cooler climate for the first part of training camp, Houston has done the same thing. They chose, like last summer, to head east and they are holding their second training camp at the Greenbriar Resort in West Virginia. The Cowboys are enjoying days in the 60's and 70's in California the Texans are basking in the cool air of the mountains of West Virginia in the same 60's and 70 degree weather.

 

Linked here is a recap of today's practice which was their second in pads so far this training camp. Also, take time to check out other articles from Texans.com to stay up to date on training camp.

 

https://www.houstontexans.com/news/training-camp-day-4-notes-and-quotes

I watched some games last night and I will watch more when they are aired on the NFL Network over the next few days.

I watched the Brown-Giants game and I was happy with what I saw from Cleveland on both defense and offense. The Browns O-line was able to pass protect pretty well but they need work on their run blocking. I was thinking Georgia RB Nick Chubb would be more of a factor but he wasn’t. It wasn’t his fault, the line just didn’t open any holes. The clear cut star of the game was Baker Mayfield. It’s looked like he hadn’t missed a beat from his Oklahoma days as he led the Browns to two TD’s. He will be pushing Tyrod Taylor all summer but Tyrod was pretty good in his one series. Taylor went 5-5 passing with a TD pass to 2nd year TE David Njoku. The defense showed signs of being good too even though I don’t think much of Greg Williams (Browns DC).

The Texans did well too. Braxton Miller played the whole game between Deshaun Watson, Brandon Weeden and Joe Webb I think the Texans QB situation isn’t in bad shape at all. After missing almost all of 2017 due to injury he is getting a great opportunity to show what he’s got. The Texans have a trifecta of TE’s, Jordan Akins, Stephen Anderson and Matt Lengel looked pretty good last night. Enough so that I’m excited to see them play again. Next week the Texans play the 49ers so it will be a good barometer on who is better between the Texans or the Cowboys who ended up losing to San Fran last night.

The Cowboys 1st team offense drove the field and scored on a long pass from Dak Prescott to rookie WR Michael Gallup on a pass so perfect Prescott could not have walked up and handed the ball to Gallup any better. One series and the 1’s were done. Well, not all the 1’s because the 1st team O-line played the whole first half giving backup Cooper Rush and opportunity to show what he has. What he did was lead the Cowboys to 10 points and a 17-10 lead after 3 quarters. The downside was when 3rd stringer Mike White came in and really didn’t do well at. He led the Cowboys to zero points and even cost his team field position by getting sacked. The 3rd string O-line didn’t open any holes for the run game and they didn’t give White much time to pass the ball. White did not do a good job of finding the open man most of the time. Right now, it’s Dak and Cooper Rush and everyone else is miles behind. Dallas led from the opening drive to 0:18 left in the game. It’s frustrating to lose like that but it’s preseason and W’s and L’s don’t really matter. What matters is who shows up. BTW the Cowboys 3rd team defense and offense were pretty bad so I guess you could say they didn’t show up.

The Texans are 2-0 so far in the preseason and while your record in August doesn't mean much in most cases I think it matters a little more in Houston. Coming off a disappointing season when almost half of the roster ended up on IR including your starting QB, your deep threat WR, your all-world defensive end and your best linebacker you need to rebound in a big way. In this past weekend's game the 1st and 2nd unit's struggled some but hung in there with the defense looking better overall than the offense. It was the back end of the roster that picked up the Texans and allowed them to end up in the win column. The only position I worry about is CB. Kevin Johnson has looked bad at times and them he hurt his shoulder and went out but this week's game will feature a bunch of guys who haven't seen the field since 2017. It's a pretty impressive list:

 

J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins, Jadeveon Clowney, Tyrann Mathieu, Will Fuller V, Benardrick McKinney, D.J. Reader and Johnathan Joseph.

 

That's a pretty good Pro Bowl unit Houston will be getting back for this week's game. It will be great to see all of them back on the field again. I am really getting excited to see this team at full strength. I have a feeling this will be a very special season. Just a feeling -- could be gas -- but I hope not.

The Texans will play their 3rd preseason game in a little under 2 hours. The 3rd preseason game is generally considered the "rehearsal game" when the starters get the most game playing time prior to the regular season opener in two weeks. We will likely see Deshaun Watson, JJ Watt and others we haven't seen as yet this summer. I don't think all the rust will be off these first time players but I will be happy to see them in action.

 

It should be lots of fun as training camp is essentially over. Houston will have maybe one or two practices at most as they prepare for the final preseason game this coming Thursday against the Cowboys. That last game will be for all the bubble players who need one last opportunity to make the final 53 man roster or at least gain consideration for the practice squad. The 4th game is called "the scout's game" for this reason.

 

Two weeks until opening weekend of the 2018 season. Friday night football has already begun and college football is next weekend. It's like Hanukkah in that it lasts for days and involves a lot of gift giving. Also, the menorah, the Jewish candle holder for the holiday, is shaped like the NFL shield. It's kind of a weird analogy I know, but what the heck!

 

It's also a time of remembrance this week. Just over a year ago Hurricane Harvey visited SE Texas. It's a time we all would like to forget but so much good came from that disaster. It was a time when man's humanity and God's grace made itself felt in the love and charity and good will that came from all corners as the people in the area from Corpus Christi to the Louisiana border came together to pull each other through. A time of sadness and hardship was helped by the spirit of charity and community to be more bearable.

Not to nitpick or anything but the Texans should have beaten the Rams yesterday. A missed field goal in the first half, Bill O'Brien chose to go for a 4th and goal with Brandon Weeden and failed. If they kick the field goal that's another 3 points and the TD scored late in the 4th quarter would have given the Texans a 6 point lead and kicking the extra point instead of going for 2 would have made it a seven point lead. There is no guarantee that Houston's 4th string defense would have stopped the Rams from scoring but I'll take a lead and try to hold it over being down 1 point with 1:18 left and no time outs with at least sixty yards to go for a game winning field goal any day. A game winning field goal that our kicker missed. It was 57 yards but he had the distance and the other field goal he missed was from a considerably shorter distance. Hopefully, all the bad decisions and lousy kicking will go away once the regular season starts. We can only hope Ka'imi Fairbairn gets well soon because I have zero confidence in Nick Rose.

 

The Texans first team offense and defense looked pretty good as they shutout the Rams while they were in the game and they should have had a 10 point lead but for the missed field goal by Rose. I have been watching the Texans and I have come to the conclusion that Joe Webb III would be a better backup than Brandon Weeden. Webb has had to work with lesser talent on the field but he's gotten better results than Weeden. I really hope Bill O'Brien gives Webb a chance to work with the 1's this coming Thursday against the Cowboys, if the 1's even play. Even if he works with the 2's it will be better than he's had to work with.

 

Braxton Miller looked pretty good yesterday. Hopefully his injury issues are behind him. This WR corps looks loaded from what I've seen. With DeAndre Hopkins, Will Fuller and Bruce Ellington they have some nice starters but they can also field Braxton Miller, Sammy Coates and rookie Keke Coutee. Rookie Vincent Smith looked pretty good too. Houston has talent enough to keep 7 WR's but most clubs don't keep that many. It will be interesting to see who makes the final cut next Saturday.

The Texans got down to their final 53 today like all the other 31 teams. The final part is not really final as the Texans will be looking over the cut lists from the other teams to try to upgrade the talent on the team or fill holes that weren't able to be filled to their satisfaction in training camp.

 

One of the biggest cuts, in my opinion, is that of WR Braxton Miller. Miller was a 3rd round pick of the Texans in 2016 but he was slowed by injuries in 2017 to the point that he played in 11 games and was basically ineffective when he did play. Houston tried to trade him but found no takers as most teams would be expecting him to be on the cut list and get him on the cheap.

 

I'm kind of sad about the Texans cutting OL David Quessenberry. The guy was in rookie camp 3 years ago when he was diagnosed with cancer. He missed his first two seasons undergoing cancer treatment and he made his comeback last summer doing well enough to make the Texans practice squad. There is still a chance he makes the practice squad again and, unless he actually gets picked up this weekend, I hope he is signed to PS again.

 

Other surprises were the release of P Shane Lechler, FB Jay Prosch and QB Joe Webb III. Lechler was likely a salary cap move as was Prosch. I personally thought Webb played better than Brandon Weeden this summer and Webb's skill set more closely mirrors Deshaun Watson's so the offense wouldn't have to change much.

 

Linked below is the whole list of today's cuts for Texans.com.

 

https://www.houstontexans.com/news/transactions-texans-cut-roster-to-53

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