Red Zone Play: Arm Chair Emperor

The two weeks after the Super Bowl are often the worst time of year for footballs fans (unless your favorite team just won it all). ESPN runs Junior College Water Polo matches. The NFL Network runs repeats of stuff like “Top Ten Sock Brands Worn By Punters In The 60s.” The standard online football outlets are full of conjecture, overbearing opinions, meaningless debates and absurd predictions. Since Houston isn’t in the Super Bowl this year, but it’s headed here to H-Town, it’s almost worse...

This time of year is the equivalent of leaving the beach and driving into a desert wasteland with no end is sight.

So, what is a fan to do?

Take stock, put on your Emperor of the Universe ™® hat, and start moving some pieces around the virtual chessboard that is the future of the Houston Texans.

While we can beat the dead horse of the 2016 Texans’ offense to death, or lament how if (insert multiple injured players) had been healthy this would have been the year, or wish that Brock Osweiler actually played like a franchise quarterback, it’s better to look ahead.

With that in mind, we’re going to invite you to come up with three moves you’d make for your Houston Texans if you were Emperor of the Universe ™®.

These moves can be personnel, coaching, scouting and scheme related. Even a total overhaul is permitted.

While most of the ideas will never come to fruition, they’ll take our minds off the desert of football life we’re entering right now.

Nothing is off limits.

Want to bring in a new owner? Spell it out on why, who, how, and what you foresee the new owner would deliver.

New GM? Head coach? Invent a new position in the coaching structure? Have at it.

Since it’s easy to say that Houston seems to be only a few degrees from championship caliber, the real wizards among you will make small, subtle, well-thought-out changes. But, since anything goes, feel free to blow it all up and start from scratch if that’s what you feel is necessary.

Putting my Emperor of the Universe ™® hat on, here’s what I’d do:

1 - Trade for a proven quarterback who has two to three good years left in him, even if it means giving up a chunk of the future. The defense is playing off-the-charts and the window for that unit to stay together is finite, so do what it takes to win now. Once winning becomes ingrained in the culture, what Houston trades away today will be inconsequential.

2 - Bring in some Pro Bowl caliber offensive linemen. Joe Montana couldn’t succeed in a continually collapsing pocket and Emmitt Smith couldn’t gain ground with holes that never open up. With two or three more Duane Brown caliber guys, this line would be way more than good enough to propel the ground game forward and give the passing game more room to breath.

3 - Hire a proven offensive coordinator who can do for the offense what Romeo Crennel did for the defense. Let Bill O’Brien stick to head coaching duties, motivating the team and teaching the position coaches and players so they continue to improve each and every day.

Remember, the goal is to get this team into the franchise red zone and keep them there for a minimum three to five years, so calculate your moves and let’s see how the Texans might fare under your guidance.