Houston Texans Value of Things: Roses and Thorns Abundant vs. Colts

One of the most fun things that fans used to do was peruse the box scores of games the day after in the newspaper. As fantasy football became more popular, people had a reason for the interest. However, there was nothing quite like the fun of just looking at each game and seeing which players did well and which players didn’t.

The internet age has been a blessing and a curse as this is concerned. We lost something personal when we went away from waiting for the newspaper and switched to the instant gratification of the internet. However, we gained something in the sophistication of what we were able to do. For instance, Pro Football Focus (PFF) does grades for every single player at every single position.

PFF grades players by individual skills and overall with grades that typically fall somewhere between 30 and 90. Occasionally, you’ll see scores under 30, but most of the time they fall within that range. 60 is usually average for that particular skill with anything above that being good and anything being below that is not good.

What we want to do on Thursdays this season is take a look back at the Houston Texans’ previous week to see who performed well and who didn’t. Both are dreadfully important. We want to celebrate our successes even in the worst of circumstances. Moreover, if you start to see the same names week in and week out you know you have something to build on. Of course, the reverse is also true. Seeing the same names on the bottom indicate a position you likely will focus on during free agency or the draft.

Quarterback

Davis Mills— 67.7 (Pass), 60.0 (Run, Overall Rank: 11th out of 32

Ultimately, this was the same grade that the traditional quarterback rating came out as. I love it when different sources produce the same results. It means we are on the right track. Obviously, quarterbacking demands a different level of performance and consistency than the other spots. This is a good start overall, but we will see where he is each week.

Offensive MVP

Laremy Tunsil— 84.0 (Pass), 77.5 (Run), Rank: 1st out of 64

Obviously, people remember the guy that went unblocked on the strip sack, but overall it was a great performance for a guy we were all worried about. Tunsil seemed unengaged throughout the offseason and no one seemed to be too committed to him long-term. That might still be the case, but if he continues to grade out like this you could get a good first or second rounder for him before the deadline.

Offensive LVP

Justin Britt— 71.2 (Pass), 48.5 (Run), Rank: 32nd out 33

Britt narrowly avoided being DAL at center in week one. Simply put, if this team is going to run the ball with any consistency we can’t have guys getting pushed around like this. The good news is that Britt was always a stopgap guy and will not cost much to move on from. Obviously, this is only one week in 17, but the results don’t seem all that surprising when measured against last season. We might have met one of our first draft priorities.

Defensive MVP

Jerry Hughes— 68.0 (Run), 68.2 (Coverage), 86.6 (Pass Rush), Rank: 2nd out of 93

I’m going to go out on a limb and say that Hughes won’t be here too many more times this year. This would be Defensive Player of the Year territory and that would be a miracle at 34. However, if he can continue to flash this kind of performance overall it will be a revelation. He was absolutely great on Sunday and that is all that matters right now.

Defensive LVP

Kamu Grugier-Hill— 41.6 (Run), 43.3 (Coverage), 52.5 (Pass Rush), Rank: 68th out of 77

Hill was not as bad as Britt in a relative sense. He wasn’t as close to being the worst linebacker at least. Moreover, there were a few guys that are dishonorable mentions that could also go here. In particular, all of the defensive tackles outside of Maliek Collins had subpar performances. However, this will be an area where hopefully Christian Harris can offer something when he gets off of injured reserve.