The Most Impactful Move The Texans Made This Offseason

ESPN polled all their professional football writers and stitched together 32 snippets to provide the most impactful free agent move each team made. Let’s see what they have to say about your Houston Texans.

Most impactful move: Even with good seasons from Tyrann Mathieu, Kareem Jackson and rookie Justin Reid, the Texans allowed an average of 260 passing yards per game, which ranked 28th in the NFL in 2018. Safety Tashaun Gipson will replace Mathieu, who signed a three-year deal with the Chiefs, and will play alongside Reid, who impressed last season. The Texans hope Gipson will be especially effective against opposing tight ends. Last season, Gipson held Rob Gronkowski to two catches for 15 yards on four targets. For comparison, against the Texans in 2018, the former Patriots tight end had seven receptions for 123 yards and a touchdown on eight targets. -- Sarah Barshop

Key additions: Tashaun Gipson, safety; Bradley Roby, cornerback; AJ McCarron, quarterback

Key subtractions: Tyrann Mathieu, safety; Kareem Jackson, cornerback/safety

This move was listed as below average by the big bad sports monopoly. How does it feel to be with it? To know the truth. The real truth is that adding Gipson and losing Mathieu isn’t that impactful. The Texans replaced a mediocre player with a good one and save $5 million a year by doing so. Houston probably even got better by replacing Mathieu with Gipson as well. The safety group should once again be one of the better parts of this team.

The real answer is Bradley Roby. He is the most impactful move Houston has made this offseason. Adding a decent cornerback who can do somethings: tackle, play man coverage, press as long as he isn’t jamming, who is bad at other things, playing zone coverage, reading routes and breaking on the ball, is better than corner they have on the roster. Having Roby here instead of Shareece Wright is where the real impact is so far.