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Five Positions The Texans Still Need To Address Post-Free Agency

Even with the spending spree, the Houston Texans still have holes to fill and cracks to patch.

By David Corzo
Is John Simon good enough to hold off the Texans from adding another OLB?
Is John Simon good enough to hold off the Texans from adding another OLB?
Scott Halleran/Getty Images

Tania Ganguli of ESPN thinks the Houston Texans aren't quite done looking at free agent wide receivers, but it was such a busy week in comings and goings, that it's definitely worth checking out the make-up of the depth chart and analyzing what's left to be done. The lads over at OurLads.com have an up-to-date projected chart for us to look at.

Pos No Player 1 No Player 2 No Player 3 No Player 4 No Player 5
Offense
LWR 10 Hopkins, DeAndre 13/1 13 Johnson, Damaris W/Phi 82 Martin, Keshawn 12/4 19 Labhart, Travis CF14 17 Nwachukwu, Uzoma CF13
RWR 00 Shorts, Cecil U/Jax 11 Posey, DeVier 12/3 16 Bonner, Alan 13/6 2 Davis, Jace SF14
LT 76 Brown, Duane 08/1 70 Adams, Jeff W/Ten 73 Yeatman, Will R/Mia
LG 71 Su'a-Filo, Xavier 14/2
C 60 Jones, Ben 12/4 67 White, Cody CF12 78 Ferentz, James SF14
RG 79 Brooks, Brandon 12/3 77 Quessenberry, David 13/6
RT 75 Newton, Derek 11/7 74 CLABO, TYSON SF14 72 Witzmann, Bryan CF14 74 Feiler, Matt CF14
TE 88 Graham, Garrett 10/4 87 Fiedorowicz, CJ 14/3 84 Griffin, Ryan 13/6 81 Denham, AD CF14
QB 00 Hoyer, Brian U/Cle 15 Mallett, Ryan T/NE 3 Savage, Tom 14/4
FB 45 Prosch, Jay 14/6
RB 23 Foster, Arian CF09 28 Blue, Alfred 14/6 41 Grimes, Jonathan W/Jax 22 Malena, Ben SF14
Defense
RDE 99 Watt, JJ 11/1 98 Browner, Keith CF12 92 Finau, Tevita SF14
NT 00 WILFORK, VINCE CC/Hou 92 Nix III, Louis 14/3 95 Powe, Jerrell SF14
LDE 93 Crick, Jared 12/4 97 Pagan, Jeoffrey 14/6
SLB 51 Simon, John P/Bal 64 Brown, Kourtnei SF14
LILB 56 Cushing, Brian 09/1 54 Mohamed, Mike SF13 53 Bullough, Max CF14
RILB 57 Tuggle, Justin CF13 52 Tarpinian, Jeff SF13
JACK 59 Mercilus, Whitney 12/1 90 Clowney, Jadeveon 14/1 65 Ankrah, Jason CF14
LCB 25 Jackson, Kareem 10/1 34 Bouye, AJ CF13 26 Morris, Darryl W/SF 20 Rolle, Jumal P/GB
SS 36 Swearinger, DJ 13/2 35 Pleasant, Eddie CF12 37 Aubrey, Josh SF14 42 Parks, Terrance SF14
FS 00 Moore, Rahim U/Den 39 Ballentine, Lonnie 14/7
RCB 24 JOSEPH, JOHNATHAN U/Cin 29 Hal, Andre 14/7 31 James, Charles SF14

So after taking a look, here are the Texans' five biggest needs, to be addressed in the NFL Draft or otherwise.

5. Wide Receiver - Like Ganguli suspects, the Texans shouldn't be finished evaluating the WR spot. Cecil Shorts is versatile enough to play inside and outside, but the team appears to have no confidence at all in DeVier Posey. He was a healthy scratch from the active roster for most of the season.

4. Inside Linebacker - It's Brian Cushing and the Street Free Agent Experience. Mike Mohamed performed admirably at both inside spots and was the typically the only LB on the field when the Texans used dime personnel (six DBs, four DL, 1 LB). Cushing will be a whole year removed from his most recent knee injury, lending us hope that he'll return to a stronger form in 2015. Until he does, the entirety of the group is league average at the very best.

3. Outside Linebacker - Brooks Reed's departure leaves John Simon and... practically no one else opposite Whitney Mercilus and Jadeveon Clowney. Simon, a fourth-round pick in 2013, contributed nicely when asked to last year, but the position is begging for high end talent to take advantage of all the attention Vince Wilfork and J.J. Watt will demand.

2. Guard / Center - We saw plenty of Ben Jones in 2014; we saw bits and pieces of Xavier Su'a-Filo. Neither player inspired much confidence, though there is still potential. Regardless, with Chris Myers gone, Jones is the heir apparent for center, letting XSF slide in at guard. Both players need top-tier competition to compete with. David Quessenberry making a return after undergoing treatment for lymphoma would be amazing, but can't be counted on.

If Ryan Mallett, Brian Hoyer, and/or Tom Savage are expected to play well, the offensive line has to be squared away, particularly against inside pressure.

1. Quarterback - It's the most important position, and the Texans have a ton of questions left to answer here. Until they find a sure-fire starter for the next five years, they need to address it until they get it right. They've probably checked this box as "addressed" for 2015, but it'll remain the biggest need until someone steps up.

What say you, Texans fans? Agree with my list? Did I omit something entirely? Let us hear it.

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