The Houston Texans had a tough ending to their 2019-2020 season as they squandered a 24-0 lead over the reigning Super Bowl Champions, Kansas City Chiefs. Then, they started the offseason with a shockingly horrible move by sending three-time First-Team All-Pro wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, to the Arizona Caridnals in return for running back David Johnson and a second-round pick.
However, they did make a great move by locking up quarterback Deshaun Watson to a new four-year extension worth $160 million and traded for wide receiver Brandin Cooks from the Los Angeles Rams.
Let’s take a look at the big additions and losses for the Texans this offseason.
Key Additions: WR Brandin Cooks, RB David Johnson, and WR Randall Cobb
Key Departures: WR DeAndre Hopkins, D.J. Reader, S Karl Joseph, and RB Carlos Hyde
Side note: With this series, I have decided to shake it up and will name the starters, strongest position, and weakest position for each team.
Offensive Starters:
- QB: Deshaun Watson
- RB: David Johnson
- WR: Brandin Cooks
- WR: Will Fuller V
- WR: Randall Cobb
- TE: Darren Fells
- LT: Laremy Tunsil
- LG: Senio Kelemete
- C: Nick MArtin
- RG: Zach Fulton
- RT: Tytus Howard
Defensive/Special Teams Starters:
- LDE: J.J. Watt
- NT: Brandon Dunn
- RDE: Charles Omenihu
- LOLB: Whitney Mercilus
- LILB: Benardrick McKinney
- RILB: Zach Cunningham
- ROLB: Brennan Scarlett
- CB: Bradley Roby
- CB: Vernon Hargreaves III
- S: Eric Murray
- S: Justin Reid
- K: Ka’imi Fairbairn
- P: Bryan Anger
Strongest Position: Linebacker
The Texans have a ton of talent at linebacker. The unit is led by Mercilus and Cunningham. Mercilus has 50 career sacks and is a great pass rusher. Cunningham, who just received his own contract extension this offseason, has become a top linebacker in the league the past couple years with back-to-back season with at least 100 tackles. The linebacker core for the Texans is one of the league’s best and is going to be the anchor of the Texans defense.
Weakest Position: Offensive Line
Over Watson’s three-year career, he has been sacked 125 total times, including 62 times during the 2018 season. The line got an upgrade by acquiring Laremy Tunsil from the Dolphins before last season, but Watson was still sacked 44 times a year ago. The line also lacks depth, which is crucial. The team’s with the deepest and strongest depth are most successful and the Texans are in bad shape when it comes to depth on the offensive line.
With the offseason that Houston had with dealing away their best player, the Texans are going to take a step back in 2020. Even though I don’t expect the Texans to win the division, the Texans can still win it if they get hot with the wide open AFC South.
