[UNOFFICIAL] Texans off-season thread

zeeshan2 · Jul 25, 2018

zeeshan2 · Jul 25, 2018

From Chris Mortensen on SiriusXM...
O’Brien told Mort that JJ crushed the conditioning test. Watts knows he’s at a point where need/wants to play 16+ games this year so they will be smart with him in practice. But he’s in unbelievable shape.

Watson is coming along well, he still has footwork issues to iron out among other things. He’s a full go for camp, he will participate in 11-on-11s but nobody will be allowed to touch Watson. Don’t expect to see rookie DL in there when #4 is in for team. Anybody who touches him gets his walking papers(/s).

Commodore · Jul 25, 2018

houstontexans · Jul 25, 2018

Man, it felt so great that we do not have to talk about QB issue again. We always talked about QB issue every year since 2002.

Not anymore now. Lets go DW4!!!!!

red5rocket · Jul 25, 2018

This red polo Deshaun had on was fire

cmoak1982 · Jul 25, 2018

Commodore said: ↑

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I really like his attitude, seems excited about possibilities. If and it’s a big if, we stay healthy this could be a very good team that could surprise some people, lot of top notch talent.

Commodore · Jul 26, 2018

Fulgore · Jul 26, 2018

houstontexans said: ↑

Man, it felt so great that we do not have to talk about QB issue again. We always talked about QB issue every year since 2002.

Not anymore now. Lets go DW4!!!!!
Click to expand...

Yes indeed. Finally got the most important position on the field correct

zeeshan2 · Jul 26, 2018

conquistador#11 · Jul 26, 2018

Woohoo hof game is next Thursday! It's just preseason but it all goes by so fast. The time between the 4th game and the the start of regular season does feel like an eternity though. No natural disasters please.

Commodore · Jul 26, 2018

showa13 · Jul 26, 2018

No training camp thread?

rocketpower2 · Jul 26, 2018

Fuller looks noticeably bigger. Good to see.

zeeshan2 · Jul 26, 2018

zeeshan2 · Jul 30, 2018

Barnwell: Picking six NFL teams most likely to improve in 2018

Houston Texans (4-12)
Point differential in 2017: -98
Pythagorean expectation: 5.7 wins
Record in games decided by seven points or less: 1-4 (.200)
Strength of schedule: 0.506 (10th-toughest in NFL)

I probably don’t need to sell you too hard on the idea that the Texans will be better than they were a year ago, if only because you watched Deshaun Watson play. Watson started six games, and the Texans’ offense averaged 31 points per contest in those games. That was the best mark in the league. After Watson went down with a torn ACL, an offense led by Tom Savage and T.J. Yates scored just 12.9 points per game. As you might suspect, that was the worst mark in the league. The teams that were ranked 25th (Raiders), 26th (Bills), 28th (Colts), 29th (Bears), 30th (Browns), and 31st (Giants) over that time frame all changed their head coaches and/or offensive coordinators after the season, while the 27th-ranked Broncos fired Mike McCoy in the middle of the season.

The Texans will run things back with Bill O’Brien as both head coach and offensive coordinator. You have to think his success with Watson under center has earned him a chance to see what the pair can do over a full season, but there are also reasons to be concerned about O’Brien’s late-game management. The Texans had chances to seal late leads over the Patriots and Seahawks, and O’Brien played both scenarios conservatively despite possessing a seemingly unstoppable offense. They lost both games.

Those decisions were among the reasons why the Texans went 1-4 in one-score games last season. It would be easy to worry whether O’Brien just can’t manage late-game situations, but the Texans were a strong candidate to decline last season because they went 8-2 in games decided by seven points or less in 2016. Under O’Brien, the Texans are a combined 14-13 in one-score contests. They’re likely to be far closer to .500 in those games in 2018, which would be worth a couple of wins on its own.

The Texans should also be healthier in 2018, given that they ranked 29th in Adjusted Games Lost a year ago. Getting back Watson would obviously be a huge improvement, but Houston has also spent most of the last two seasons without J.J. Watt, who was arguably the league’s best player from 2012-15. Watt wasn’t quite his old self after returning from a back injury last season, as he racked up four knockdowns without a sack in five games before going down with a tibial plateau fracture. There isn’t much of a track record for a Hall of Fame-caliber player like Watt missing most of two consecutive seasons with injuries before returning to his previous level of form, but with Jadeveon Clowney breaking out in Watt’s absence, even a limited version of the guy Watt used to be would give the Texans one of the best pass-rush combos in football.

Their schedule will also be easier. After finishing first in the AFC South in 2016, Houston fell to last place in the division, which lines it up for matchups against the Browns and Broncos. My strength of schedule metric is to look at the Texans’ opponents from a given year and see what their point differential was in games not involving the Texans. By that measure, the Texans had the 10th-most difficult schedule in football a year ago. ESPN’s Football Power Index, a more mature measure, projects that the Texans will have the easiest schedule in football in 2018.

The downside for the Texans is that they don’t have the draft picks that a typical bad team would get to improve its roster, given that Houston sent its first- and second-round picks to the Browns as part of the trades to add Watson and remove Brock Osweiler. The Texans have the worst set of offensive tackles in the league, which won’t help Watson’s chances of staying healthy. Virtually every one of their stars besides DeAndre Hopkins is an injury concern. They also have as much top-level talent as anybody in the league. If any team has the upside to come out of nowhere and emerge from the bottom of their division as one of the league’s best teams overnight in the same way the Eagles did a year ago, it’s the Texans.
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http://www.espn.com/nfl/story/_/id/...rove-win-more-games-2018-projections-schedule

tmacfor35 · Jul 30, 2018

Colvin and Kevin Johnson are playing extremely well in camp.

So is Deshaun.

zeeshan2 · Jul 30, 2018

1. Bill O’Brien and Deshaun Watson acclimated to each other on the fly in a very impressive manner. O’Brien brilliantly replaced many of the complex option routes from his playbook with misdirection concepts, highlighting Watson’s mobility. Watson, in return, did not use that mobility as a crutch, committing more each week to playing from the pocket. That’s essential for sustained NFL success. And if Watson and O’Brien continue this way, Houston will soon have one of the NFL’s most electrifying aerial attacks. Watson does not have a cannon arm, but his downfield decisiveness can be more than enough. Notably, he’s comfortable making these downfield throws while on the move and outside the pocket. His vision and touch, though maybe not quite to Russell Wilson’s level, are excellent.

Assuming Watson is healthy, the only concern is his callow sense for appropriate risk-taking. He threw eight interceptions last year and could have easily had 12 or 14. Decision-making usually improves with experience, though that gunslinger mentality might make him one of those Favreian star QBs whose turnovers you just have to live with.

2. Having speedy vertical receivers like a healthy Will Fuller and fourth-round rookie Keke Coutee can change Watson’s world. Not only are more downfield throws available, but safeties now can’t always squat on DeAndre Hopkins. Hopkins is football’s most befuddling receiver. He’s not fast, quick, big or refined, and yet, his production is almost unmatched. No one is better at making contested catches.

3. Dire questions along the offensive line could really hinder the vertical passing game. O’Brien hails from a Patriots system that prioritizes getting all five eligible receivers out in routes, but on deep shots he’ll add one, or even two, of those receivers to the protection. O’Brien’s left tackle, Julie’n Davenport, is one of the NFL’s greenest linemen, and his starting right tackle, whether it’s Seantrel Henderson or Kendall Lamm, is more of a high-level backup.

7. The other key to those diamond fronts is Jadeveon Clowney, who hopes to become the NFL’s highest-paid defensive player when his contract expires after this season. Playing in an ornate pass-rushing scheme like Houston’s is important because Clowney, though perhaps the game’s most destructive run-defender, does not have the flexibility to consistently bend around the edge. His deceptive herky-jerky movement can still generate outside pressure, but he’s most dangerous inside, where he relies on upfield burst. Texans defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel must keep aligning Clowney at defensive tackle and standup joker positions, and looping him around on stunts against centers and guards.

8. It’s no accident that Houston’s starting safeties, Tyrann Mathieu and Kareem Jackson, are former slot corners. Or that last year’s starter, Andre Hal, who is out battling Hodgkin Lymphoma, is a former cornerback. The Texans play a lot of quarters coverage concepts on early downs, where zone coverages can convert into man-to-man. On third downs, they play a lot of straight man coverage. Disguises and wrinkles are common in all their coverages. If the safeties can’t act as de facto inside cornerbacks, the scheme loses potency.

9. The Texans have a thumping linebacker in Benardrick McKinney and a run-and-chase linebacker in Zach Cunningham, both of whom can star in those diamond pass-rushing fronts. McKinney just got a new five-year deal worth $21 million guaranteed, though Cunningham, because of his speed and potential versatility, could be more valuable by season’s end.

10. Cornerback Kevin Johnson has superb transitional movement skills, but it doesn’t matter if he can’t stay healthy. He’s missed 14 games over the last two years, including four last season with a left MCL sprain. With 34-year-old Johnathan Joseph slowing down and becoming increasingly vulnerable to deep in-breaking routes, Houston—even with the arrival of free agent ex-Jaguar Aaron Colvin—no longer has the cornerbacking depth to survive a prolonged Johnson absence.

BOTTOM LINE: The big names on offense and defense are talented enough to make Houston dangerous week in and week out, but the lineups beneath the stars are pocked with question marks. This team has a "boom or bust" feel.
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zeeshan2 · Aug 2, 2018

Oof

Why Your Team Sucks 2018: Houston Texans

Two Sandwiches · Aug 2, 2018

zeeshan2 said: ↑

Oof

Why Your Team Sucks 2018: Houston Texans
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I can pretty much agree with everything on McNair.

It will be one of the best days in franchise history when he is no longer owner.

houstonstime · Aug 2, 2018

EddieWasSnubbed said: ↑

I can pretty much agree with everything on McNair.

It will be one of the best days in franchise history when he is no longer owner.
Click to expand...

Still, I like it better when these are funny. Make fun of the team. . A shitty owner sucks, but its not really deadspin material.

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