By Brandon Simmons
The Regrouping of the Houston Texans
If there is one word to describe the 2019 Houston Texans, it would have to be regroup. This Texans team made some significant roster changes, beginning in the middle of training camp. It started with a season-ending knee injury to running back Lamar Miller, which prompted a trade with the Kansas City Chiefs for Carlos Hyde. Eventually they went after running back Duke Johnson from the Cleveland Browns to serve as a change of pace back who can catch out of the backfield. But the replenishment did not just stop in the backfield. The biggest move came when the Texans traded for left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills from the Miami Dolphins in exchange for a couple of first round picks. As the defensive backs were dropping from injuries throughout the year, Houston hit the waiver wire and trade market to pick up DB’s to bolster the depth. Cornerback Gareon Conley, who was acquired from the Raiders, was one of these in-season, quick fix pickups, in addition to former Tama Bay Buccaneers corner Vincent Hargreaves, who picked up off waivers.
The Texans really practiced the philosophy of “next man up” this year and it seemed like it kept their season afloat. Injuries took out some key players – including Miller and defensive end J.J. Watt – but the team found ways to fill in those areas and remain competitive. Now giving away defensive end Jadeveon Clowney was something that might have been extremely questionable, given the fact that Watt really didn’t have a strong start to his year pre-injury, but it might have been a move to set Houston up going forward in saving money. Perhaps my personal favorite move was bringing in the running backs this year. Hyde and Johnson stepped into a position that was disastrous at the time. Not only was Miller down for the year but running back D’Onta Foreman was let go because of disagreements with the coaching staff, but the Johnson move filled that need up very quickly. Despite the RB flare up that occurred in the offseason Hyde became a 1,000 yard rusher for the first time in his career and some of his biggest games helped secure some wins for this team this season.
Rebuilding of the Offensive Line
Coming into the season, the offensive line was one of the bigger concerns for the Texans as expected. Quarterback Deshaun Watson took a beating in 2018 with 62 sacks, so things had to get better. Houston started addressing this need in the draft by selecting Illinois tackle Tytus Howard in the first round at 23rd overall; then they followed that up in the 2nd round by selecting guard Max Scharping out of Northern Illinois. Obviously, the biggest the acquisition was Laremy Tunsil from the Miami Dolphins trade, who was able to block on Watson’s blind side at the left tackle. When Howard went down due to injury, Chris Clark was able to step in to take over to help continue the success of this unit.
This was an improved unit across the board that could really lift this offense in the future. Tunsil is heading into the final year of his rookie contract from Miami and Howard will be returning as well. Despite those false start penalties, Tunsil has proven to be a valuable member along this o-line. Should the Texans decide to get back in the draft for another o-lineman, he can serve as a veteran voice to help the younger player with communication and protection calls. With Watson constantly emerging as a superstar in this league, it’s vital to have a solid group upfront, who is familiar with his movements in the pocket and how to protect him in the best way possible.
Deshaun Watson at Superstar status…soon
Quarterback Deshaun Watson has done nothing short of making spectacular plays all season and it’s going to continue. This year, he was mentioned in a few MVP conversations and made a plethora of highlights. While he has been criticized for holding on to the ball too long, he has shown a remarkable ability to escape pressure, which was shown against the Buffalo Bills in the Wild Card. In the same game, the world got to see his penchant for putting the team on his back and getting the win.
Watson’s 2018 was all about him completing a rookie season that was cut short; his 2019 was all about becoming a player that’s taking the next step to be a winning quarterback. He doesn’t get the national attention like a Pat Mahomes or a Lamar Jackson; and honestly, the Texans did not win as big as those teams did in the regular season to warrant that, but he still can put up colossal numbers just like the aforementioned QB’s. In the Texans’ 53-32 win against the Atlanta Falcons, Watson set an NFL record, becoming the first player over 400 yards and 5 touchdowns with five or fewer incompletions. His stat line of 426 yards on 28-33 passing resulted in him having a perfect quarterback rating of 158.3. It’s performances like these which helped his team secure some key wins throughout the year. If he continues to rise, Watson may very well be in the MVP convo every year, if not in the discussion for best quarterback in the league. His college coach – Clemson head coach Dabo Swinney – once described him as the closest thing to Michael Jordan and you can see it. Watson exhibits this in the highlights he makes each week but also in the comeback victories, such as against the Chiefs in Week 6 and the Raiders in Week 8. The one area where he needs to live up to this proclamation is in championships, but it took a while before Jordan got some gold on his finger.
Going Forward
Offseasons are always hectic and Houston will be faced with one coming up. Last offseason, the Texans fired General Manager Brian Gaine right after the draft. It was expected that head coach Bill O’ Brien would take on that role in addition to his normal head coaching duties. After the Chiefs playoff game, it did not look like O’Brien was going to even be a coach going into next season, but he still remains for at least another year. The only change on the coaching staff was the team moving on from defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel and promoting defensive assistant Anthony Weaver to coordinator. The Tunsil contract is going to be up after this upcoming season, then Watson’s deal will be in its final year after that, and J.J. Watt’s contract will be coming up soon as well; so some heavy decisions will be made that could affect the trajectory of a team with championship contender potential. That will make this year’s draft vital in what young pieces they can supplement to make an impact. Houston has only 6 picks for the 2020 draft, including a couple of comp picks. They should use the higher end of these picks on bolstering the defensive line to improve the pass rush.
If you look close enough, a lot of teams begin their offseason with uncertainty that could take months to resolve, and the Texans are no different. They have had a tremendous season by winning some tough games and have to build off this team if they want to go further.