Grade The Houston Texans’ Offseason So Far

It’s Friday. Friday, that day you were dreaming of back on Monday, is finally here. With the conclusion to the week having arrived and the carrot of free time dangling in front of you finally being in your possession, let’s open the floor and see what you have to say.

Bleacher Report graded every team’s offseason so far. They gave the Texans a D-. This is what they had to say:

What they needed to do

The Houston Texans have to find a way to better protect young franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson. Everything else is secondary. Literally—the defensive backfield needed a bit of a makeover this offseason as well, especially as Tyrann Mathieu and Kareem Jackson hit free agency.

What they did right

They had little choice but to bring back stud pass-rusher Jadeveon Clowney on the franchise tag. While they lost Mathieu and Jackson, they replaced them with starting-caliber defensive backs Bradley Roby and Tashaun Gipson.

Where they went wrong

The Texans downgraded at both corner and safety, Clowney’s $16 million franchise tag number didn’t make it easy to operate and they’ve yet to do anything to improve the offensive line. That could change if they bring in Donald Penn, but they should have found a way to be in on Trent Brown, Ja’Wuan James, Ty Nsekhe or Daryl Williams. It’s not as though they’re out of cash.

What they should do now

They have to sign Penn and install him at left tackle before setting up a competition between Julie’n Davenport, Seantrel Henderson, Martinas Rankin and an early-round rookie at right tackle.

Personally, I’d give the Texans a C. I think they made the right move signing Tashaun Gipson instead of paying an exorbitant amount for Tyrann Mathieu. Bradley Roby is fine; it’s like replacing Kareem Jackson with a Kareem Jackson who covers better but doesn’t tackle as well. We’ll have to wait and see on Briean Boddy-Calhoun. The signing of Darren Fells should let players like Jordan Akins and Ryan Griffin play more of a pass catcher role instead of asking them to make blocks they struggle to make. Franchise-tagging Jadeveon Clowney was the right answer; now the Texans need to lock him up.

But the Texans still have around $44 million in cap space. They have Deshaun Watson on a rookie contract. The time to win is now. They should have gone after an interior rusher, and they still should. The secondary will be better, but it won’t be able to have success on their own. They should have outbid the Titans for Roger Saffold so they finally had a player who can block the second level and give Lamar Miller the chance to actually break tackles. They have been too conservative in an offseason where it was time to be aggressive.

The night is still young. There are other things to do, people to see, and avenues to explore. That being said, at this time, how do you feel? What grade would you give the Texans’ offseason so far?