2020 Houston Texans Midseason Report

The Houston Texans are 2-6. Their season is exactly halfway over, though it’s been over for a month now from a win-loss perspective after an 0-4 start. With just two wins this season, the Texans don’t have much to play for, except player development and getting Deshaun Watson more live reps in empty and spread sets.

To mark this day, ESPN published a midseason report for each team around the league. You can read the entire article here. This is what they had to say about your Houston Texans.

Biggest question left to answer: Is there any young talent the Texans can build around aside from quarterback Deshaun Watson and offensive tackle Laremy Tunsil, especially on defense? Perhaps Houston’s biggest problem is that despite being tied for the fourth-worst record in the NFL, the Texans can’t depend on a high first- or second-round draft pick in 2021 because they traded those away to the Miami Dolphins last season. On both sides of the ball, there is a lack of young, talented players still on their rookie deals. The rest of this season should be a platform for young players to show they can play a role in the team’s long-term plans.

Who is playing for his job in 2021? David Johnson. The veteran running back was acquired in the now-infamous trade that sent wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason, with Houston taking on Johnson’s whole contract, worth more than $11 million. Johnson has not played up to the trade or the contract this season — he has 408 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 103 attempts — and unless he turns that around in a major way, it seems unlikely the Texans will want to pay his $9 million salary in 2021. If Houston cuts Johnson this offseason, it could save $6.9 million.

Final record prediction: 4-12. The schedule is certainly easier than the first half was, with games against the Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers and Packers already out of the way, so finishing with a 4-12 record would mean that Houston goes 2-6 the rest of the way. — Sarah Barshop

Everything Sarah says here is spot on. The only thing that matters this season is what the kids do. David Johnson is playing for his job, but it feels like that job has left the building; he has been a negative as a running back and has failed to miss tackles often this year. Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb, Darren Fells, Zach Fulton, and Will Fuller are all players who could be playing for the opportunity of being on the next Texans team.

4-12 isn’t unreasonable. I’d expect Watson to pull at least three more wins out with games still remaining against the Lions, Bengals, and Bears. Hopefully they can upset the Colts at least once to go .500 over the final half of the season and 6-10 on the year.

What do you think the Texans’ final record will be?