The Houston Texans had a terrible season in 2013 after winning their division for the first time in team history in 2012. They started the season 2-0 and proceeded to lose 14 straight to end the season, earning them the first overall pick in this May’s draft. Although they only won two games this year, they do not have quite as many needs as your typical 2-14 team usually has.
What’s going to make things harder for them this offseason though is a whole new coaching staff and the adjustment period that follows. The two most notable changes were bringing in Bill O’Brien from Penn State as their head coach to replace Gary Kubiak and hiring Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator.
Crennel is such a big change because the Texans are use to running a 4-3 defensive front but Crennel runs a 3-4. He likes his defensive linemen to play a 2-gap technique instead of a 1-gap, likes his inside linebackers to be big and his outside linebackers to be big, jam the receivers, and drop back into coverage sometimes.
He typically has his secondary play a quarter-quarter-half, or Cover 8, technique. All of these schemes will be different for this defense and with a new scheme a defense will need different personnel to fit it. Before we get to their defense, their most glaring need must be addressed first.
Quarterback
This is their most glaring need. Once Matt Schaub got pulled as the starter it was obvious their future at the position was not already on the roster. With Schaub’s cap number being fairly high for a player that will not be the starter this season, you can almost guarantee he will be on his way out of Houston shortly.
So, with the first overall pick in the draft it would benefit them a great deal to use that pick on a quarterback. Once they decide they are going to use that pick on a quarterback, they then have to decide which quarterback. Some of the likely candidates are Teddy Bridgewater out of Louisville, Johnny Manziel out of Texas A&M, or Blake Bortles out of the University of Central Florida.
At this point in the offseason, it’s anyone’s guess which one they end up going with. With Schaub out and most likely a rookie coming in to lead them into the future, it might serve them well to sign a veteran during free agency at the veteran minimum so whichever quarterback they draft has someone to learn under. Some guys they might bring in for this role would be Josh McCown, Matt Cassel, Shaun Hill, or Chad Henne.
Right Tackle
The offensive line for the Texans wasn’t as bad as people made it seem last year. Some people argue that the quarterbacks looked bad because of the offensive line play when in fact the offensive line looked bad a lot of times because of the quarterback play. That’s not to say their line is in the top tier of the league, but it was serviceable.
Out of the five spots on the line, they need the most help at right tackle. Derek Newton just can not stay there. To fill this spot they might draft a tackle in the mid-late rounds of the draft. They might also fill it via free agency or even both. If they go the free agent route, they could give serious consideration to bringing Eric Winston back or bringing in Zach Strief. Either one would be an enormous improvement at the position.
Wide Receiver
This need isn’t a huge one. They have one of the top wide receivers in the league in Andre Johnson but he has trouble staying healthy at times. Behind Johnson was DeAndre Hopkins who had a pretty good year in his rookie campaign.
Their third wide receiver, Keshawn Martin, was fourth on the team in receiving yards with 253 yards and tied for sixth on the team in receptions with 22. Teams typically want more production out of their third receiver. Martin and Hopkins are both very young and have a lot of room to grow but this team could certainly benefit from signing a veteran receiver to help these two in their development.
A veteran receiver they will most likely be able to sign to a cap-friendly contract is Sidney Rice. Some other free agents they might be able to add are Golden Tate, Emmanuel Sanders, or James Jones.
Tight End
This is another need that isn’t extremely pressing for the Texans. But it’s a need, nonetheless. Especially in today’s NFL with the way offenses are run. More and more teams are getting athletic, pass-catching tight ends and some teams are getting two of them.
Right now the Texans have Owen Daniels as their first tight end and Garrett Graham, their third-leading receiver last season, is set to be a free agent. Making sure they have a viable option behind Daniels is important not only because it will make their offense that much more dynamic but also because Daniels has been injury prone throughout his career and they will need some form of an insurance policy.
The best bet for tight end is to just re-sign Graham but if they can’t reach an agreement with him they can sign a free agent like Jermichael Finley or #Brandon Pettigrew#. If the prices of those two get too high, they could always draft a tight end. In this draft class there are some extremely athletic and talented tight ends that can be had in the mid-late rounds.
Running Back
Their running back situation is almost identical to their tight end situation. Their primary back, Arian Foster, is a great talent but has had some serious injury concerns. Their backup, Ben Tate, is a very good but is set to hit the free agent market on March 11th.
If they can not get Tate to re-sign, they will be looking for an insurance policy on Foster in the form of another running back. This draft class is not very deep at the running back position so I don’t see them relying on that option. Two running backs they may be keeping their eyes on are Toby Gerhart and Anthony Dixon.
Nose Tackle
With the switch from the 4-3 front to the 3-4 front, they need different types of linemen in the trenches. They are switching from a 1-gap to a 2-gap lineman. With this switch they will need a pure nose tackle. Since they obviously plan on staying with this scheme for the foreseeable future, they will look to draft a 0-technique lineman to pair with JJ Watt for a long time. Some of the top guys at that position they might be able to get with their second round pick are Aaron Donald, Louis Nix, or Ra'Shede Hageman. Any one of those three paired with Watt on the line would be incredibly daunting for opposing offenses.
Outside Linebacker
According to the Texans’ depth chart they already have two quality outside linebackers, #Whitney Mercilus# and Brooks Reed. However, with the switch to 3-4, there is a good chance they move Reed over to inside linebacker since he is a much better fit there in this scheme. That would leave an opening at outside linebacker. They just signed Ricky Sapp to an extension so they might feel like he is their future at that position but he still needs some work. They might bring in guys like Shaun Phillips or Parys Haralson to plug in for situational pass rushing and to help bring Sapp along.
Kicker
Last year the Texans lost five games by a field goal or less. Their kicker, Randy Bullock, was also third worst in the league in field goal percentage at 74%. There’s no way they can go another season missing field goals at that rate. People make fun of kickers and say they aren’t real football players, but that doesn’t mean they aren’t important. Often times they’re the leading scorers on the team. Houston shouldn’t wait another season to see if Bullock can get over whatever was wrong with him last season.
They need to cut their loses and go in a different direction. This wouldn’t be a bad year to do that because a lot of veteran kickers are set to hit the open market. Some of those include Phil Dawson, Steven Hauscka, Adam Vinatieri and Dan Carpenter. Every one of these guys would be a better option than Bullock. Out of the aforementioned kickers, Vinatieri had the lowest percentage at 88%. That would be quite an improvement.
Although this may seem like a lot of needs that can’t possibly all be addressed, that isn’t the case. Some of their needs are extremely important while others are more ancillary. And while some of these needs can be addressed through the draft, others can be addressed through free agency. At 2-14 it’s going to take a lot of work to make the playoffs again but they’re not nearly as far off as other 2-14 teams in the past.