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This is the time of year that news is particularly scarce. Speculation is rampant and people are typing words with little to no intent other than content filler, so it’s no surprise that the “Offseason Reports” are still coming strong.
Over at Sports Illustrated, they did a piece on the AFC South. Here are a few tidbits regarding your Houston Texans:
In what areas did the team improve? This is going to be an unpopular opinion, but I kind of loved Houston’s additions in the secondary. Briean Boddy-Calhoun remains one of my favorite undersized players in the league and is an aggressive chess piece in a versatile scheme. The one-year deal for Bradley Roby was also strong, a buy-low option in a market where long-term deals are typically the norm. The former first-round pick started at least 15 games in each of his first five seasons.
Not quite sure that’s a consensus opinion, but it’s worth discussing. Next up, areas still in need:
What areas still need help/what does the team still need to do? The Texans needed to build their offensive line, if that wasn’t obvious by their draft battle plan. Tytus Howard and Max Scharping over the first three picks shows their path toward building a line for Deshaun Watson without microwaving the process in an absurd free-agent market (hello, Giants!). The number of hits and total sacks Watson took last year was astronomical, even after Bill O’Brien dialed back the designed runs.
And then, the ginormous question mark:
Biggest question heading into the regular season: The Texans’ concerns were clear: Replenish the offensive line and the secondary without jeopardizing the present. This team’s window, especially with Jadeveon Clowney on a franchise tag (and potentially dangled as trade bait), is closing, so it’s fair to wonder if management was aggressive enough in its approach. Once Watson demands a second contract, and once J.J. Watt and Clowney cannot both be retained, rebuilding will get a lot tougher.
What do you think? Agree? Disagree? Still have aspirations for omore roster moves? Want Clowney on lock?