What to watch for 2014:
Houston Texans
Hopes were high heading into 2013. The Texans were picked by many to make a deep playoff run possibly head to the Super Bowl. Then the proverbial wheels fell off the bus. Matt Schaub went on to set a record 4 pick sixes in 4 consecutive games, the HC Gary Kubiak suffered a minor stroke during a SNF game, defensive leader Brian Cushing suffered a season ending freak injury for the second year in a row and numerous other starters on both sides of the ball went out. With great disaster comes great change: Enter Bill O Brien. Brien quickly fired the entire staff except for defensive line coach Bill Kollar and special teams coach Bob Ligashesky (fuck you Marciano!).
OFFENSE
The conservative ZBS scheme run for years by Gary Kubiak is now gone. O Brien brings in a more Patriots like attacking offense that will adapt to attack defenses at their weak points. Multiple tight end sets and a strong running game will anchor this new philosophy.
QB – Schaub was sent to the Raiders for a 6th round draft pick (lol) and TJ Yates was traded to the Falcons. Ryan Fitzpatrick was signed as a FA. Case Keenum was retained and Tom “Nic Cage” Savage was drafted in the 4th round. Fitz has already been named the opening day starter. While many laugh Fitz will not be asked to go out and win games single handedly but to be more or a game manager. In his defense Fitzgerald has never been on a team with as many skilled position players with talent. Keenum and Savage will battle for the back up job. From reports Savage has a gun for an arm but is lacking in reading and reacting quick enough. Pretty much the same goes for Keenum.
RB – Arian Foster returned excited after his offseason back surgery. He will be used more as a receiver out of the backfield which is something Kubiak got away from in 2013. Signed Andre Brown as a FA from the Giants, retained Dennis Johnson and drafted Alfered Blue from LSU. Blue has already impressed at camp and may overtake Brown as the #2 back behind Foster.
FB – Jay Prosch was drafted out of Auburn. Big, heavy hitting FB who fits what you need from that position in this offense. Also look for some of the TE’s to line up in this spot at times to cause mismatches for the defense.
TE – Long time TE staple Owen Daniels is gone. Texans retained FA Garrett Graham to go along side 2nd year TE Ryan Griffin, FA Zach Potter and drafted CJ Fiedorowicz from Iowa. BOB will use multiple TE sets to help crete mismatches with DB’s. Graham had a good season last year and Griffin really came on towards the end of the season. CJ is a big guy who was said to have under used catching ability at Iowa. He is a BIG guy who loves to block and has been referred to as “Baby Gronk” by many. Potter would make the team as a primarily blocking TE only.
WR – What was once the teams worst depth area after Andre Johnson has slowly evolved into a strength. Andre Hopkins showed many times last season why he was taken in the first round: Large hands, a great leaping ability and spectacular over the shoulder catches. Look for Devier Posey to have a possible break out season after he showed flashes at the end of 2012 before his achilles gave out. The slot WR position will be filled be either Keyshawn Martin or Nike Thomas. Look for rookies Uzoma Nwachukwu and Travis Labhart to also push for the slot position.
OL – What was once considered one of the best in the league fell to a shadow of its former self in 2013. Fortunately the anchors of those great lines still remain: Duane Brown (LT) and Chris Myers ( C ). The left side guard is currently being manned by 3rd year player Ben Jones. Xavier Sua’Filo was drafted in the top of the 2nd to man that spot but he missed OTA’s due to NFL regulations on graduating seniors. The right side is an entirely different story. RT Derrick Newton ( aka Hologram) was abysmal in pass protection in 2013. Turns out he was nursing an injury and has since dropped 20 pounds and has looked good in TC so far. RG should be manned by 3rd year Brandon Brooks but he has been on NFI since TC started but should return soon. David Quessenberry was expected to provide good depth with his versatility but he was diagnosed with lymphoma cancer at the start of TC. (#DQSTRONG!) Veteran Tyson Clabo was signed this past week to fill the depth chart but obviously is far behind due to no OTA’s
DEFENSE
The defense basically was “JJ Watt and some other dudes”. Wade Philips played an attacking , one gap, always blitzing and “What the fuck is a zone defense!?!?” scheme and is now gone. Romeo Crennel and Mike Vrabel bring in a sound scheme to maximize strengths and create mismatches.
DL – Well I could just say “JJ Watt biiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiitch” but then we would just be the 2013 Texans defense. The obvious lack of talent here was addressed via free agency and the draft. Jeoffery Pagan and Louis Nix III were drafted to beef up the d line. Ricardo Matthews and Jerrell Powe were brought in for their size as well to more fit Romeos two gap, 3-4 scheme. Both Powe and Matthews have looked good in TC this far and Pagan has impressed with his brute strength attacking the run and could push incumbent Jarred Crick for the starting DE spot opposite Watt.
OLB – Obviously this spot was addressed with the first overall pick, Jedaveon Clowney. Clowney is an athletic freak who has already shown in TC the burst off the line that will give offensive coordinators fits in the future. Opposite him is Whitney Mercilus. The 3rd year, former 1st round pick has underperformed in his first two years. Playing opposite both Watt and Clowney should give him ample opportunities to prove worthy of his draft slot. Right now you can slot OLB Brooks Reed at both OLB and ILB. He has been working in both positions on the defense along with Justin Tuggle which gives the Texans versatility to create the earlier mentioned mismatches. Brian Cushing should return soon from the season ending leg injury of last year. Cushing the is the leader of this defense and both times he has gone down for the season the defense severely lacked. He should be backed up by Akeem Dent, who the Texans received in the TJ yates trade and UDFA rookie Max Bullough who has impressed the coaching staff so far in TC.
S – Kendrick Lewis was brought in as a FA from KC due to his knowledge of Romeos defense. Right now he is penciled in as a starter alongside 2nd year player DJ Swearinger. DJ has a good rookie season but made obvious mental mistakes which cost the team at times. He has already impressed O Brien who has publicly stated that DJ needs to step up and be a leader on this defense. Both of them should be backed up by FA pick up from Miami, Chris Clemons and special teams standout Elbert Mack.
CB – This unit took a lot of heat from the media for last season collapse but ask yourself: how good are any corners in this league that are given no pass rush and allows QBs to run wild for more than 4 seconds before making a pass? Returners Johnathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson return. Joseph now admits to being fully healed from a lingering foot issue. Jackson is one of the not well known stars in this league. One moment Jackson will completely shut down Calvin Johnson for an entire half but the next game he will get a dumbass penalty flag for not turning his head. Its put up or shut up time for 3rd year slot CB Brandon Harris. He will be pushed by 2nd year, UDFA AJ Bouye who last season was impressing before an injury in TC. He has looked great in OTA’s and TC this year. Draft pick Andre Hal has also looked good in TC this year. With a good pass rush this is a pretty damn good secondary.
SPECIAL TEAMS
Texans have Shane Lechler at punter. No problems.
Kicker is another story. Incumbent Randy “Beercan” Bullock returns. At the start of last season Randy was terrible. He got some of his groove back as the season went on but still not as confident in him as I am with Lechler. Rookie Chris Boswell from Rice was brought in to challenge for the position.
WRAP UP
It’s a new day in Houston. Gone is the complete lack of accountability that went along with the Kubiak era. Players no longer get their position because of where they were drafted or if the HC likes them. O Brien has preached from the start that every person on this team will earn their spot or they won’t be here. He let fan favorites Owen Daniel, Antonio Smith and Danieal Manning walk. The new attitude and swagger that O’Brien brings in is refreshing and much needed. Yeah they didn’t address QB as early in the draft as some wanted but they didn’t let team needs outweigh the best pick available. After 2-14 you should have nothing but optimism as there isn’t much anywhere else to go but up. #BOB #VRABEL #ROMEO biiiiiiiitch!!