Red Zone Play: Which Position Group On The Texans’ Roster Is More Important?

When you read what’s once again becoming an endless sea of free agent and mock draft prediction pieces from all corners of the sportsphere, it’s pretty obvious most fall into one of two camps. Either people feel Houston’s cornerback group is far more important than the offensive line, or they feel the opposite.

With that in mind, it’s time to see what you, the diehard core of Houston Texans fandom, thinks. Are you all in for an offensive tackle, or do you prefer to see opposing wide receivers tackled by a blue chip, shutdown cornerback?

Here’s a sales pitch for each school of thought:

HOUSTON TEXANS UPGRADE THE OFFENSIVE LINE

With the NFL slanting further and further towards the offense in an effort to make the game more exciting, the need to protect Houston’s first ever franchise quarterback is greater than it’s ever been in anytime in Texans history.

Additionally, with Bill O’Brien and new offensive coordinator Tim Kelly’s (or “Bill O’Brien, Jr.” as some in these parts refer to him) unrelenting commitment to the run game, having large, mobile bodies that can move the defensive front seven out of the way for Lamar Miller and company to gobble up yards is a need for sure.

If Ju’Wuan James can keep [NAME REDACTED] from taking a sack, imagine what he could do for Deshaun Watson.

HOUSTON TEXANS BOLSTER THE CORNERBACK GROUP

With stalwarts like Andrew Luck going against Houston’s secondary twice a year (or three times, in some cases), having shutdown corners who won’t allow T.Y. Hilton to run to the Hall of Fame from purely inside the confines of a division rivalry is seemingly a must.

Providing the few extra (split) seconds of coverage allows the Houston front seven to get to the opposing quarterback and notch those precious coverage sacks. With the new, unspoken NFL rule that you can tackle J.J. Watt on any given play if you happen to be an opposing offensive lineman, Watt, Jadeveon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus and the rest of Houston’s pass rushers need every competitive edge they can get to overcome the NFL’s bias against defense.

The argument can easily be made to support either way of thinking, but when the tampering period begins and the first round of the 2019 NFL Draft comes Houston’s way, they’ll need to focus on one or the other.

Thankfully, Houston has the cap space and draft capital to address both areas, but they can’t both be the #1 priority. If you were able to focus on one need for Houston, which would it be?

So Put on your virtual general manager hat and let us know which way you’d go in this poll, and then tell us the why behind the what in the comments section. Who knows? Maybe someone at NRG Park is reading and you could be the person to sway the future of Texans football.