Houston Texans
2010 record: 6-10
Last playoff appearance: No playoff appearances
General Manager: Rick Smith (month after 2006 draft – current)
Head Coach: Gary Kubiak (2006 – current, 37 – 43 overall record as head coach)
Offensive Coordinator: Rick Dennison
Defensive Coordinator: Wade Phillips
Defensive Alignment: 3-4
2010 NFL Rankings:
OFF: 24.4 PTS (9th) 386.6 YDS (3rd) 259.0 PASS (4th) 127.6 RUSH (7th)
DEF: 26.7 PTS (29th) 376.9 YDS (30th) 267.5 PASS (32nd) 109.4 RUSH (13th)
Jeremy’s Outlook: Every team preview for the Texans this season will start out something like, “Will the Texans finally break through and make it to the playoffs,” or “Time for the yearly expectations for the Texans to break out…” Blah, blah, blah. Not this one (although, technically, it already has). Houston has a new defense: the 3-4. Now, the two players on the Texans who are most deserving of high pre-season expectations are Mario Williams and 2011 first round pick JJ Watt. The two will be two key players under the new 3-4 defense installed by new coordinator Wade Phillips. The big question is how will Mario Williams adjust to his new position. How much will he be moved around and schemed up in certain situations? The possibilities are endless and that’s what makes Williams such a dangerous edge rusher. I’m expecting him to thrive in the 3-4 under Phillips. As for Watt, he’s been taking reps with the first team in training camp from the get go. He’s a playmaker and will definitely grab some offensive line attention early on in his career.
I have two concerns with the Texans as a team. The first is whoever starts at nose tackle will have to be able to eat up enough blockers and garner enough attention to keep blockers away from Watt and the other rushers. The coaching staff thinks that Shaun Cody or Earl Mitchell will be able to hold down that spot. We’ll see which one comes out as the starter. But if that position isn’t solid, the 3-4 isn’t as effective as it can be. Concern number two is the secondary, which was so awful last season, that the Texans’ bull mascot left a turd on the field, but no one noticed the difference. The Texans made two key offseason acquisitions to help the situation: safety Daniel Manning and corner Jonathan Joseph. I think they’ll drastically help the secondary.
As for the offense, it’s going to be just as potent as it always is. The only loss was pro bowl fullback Vonta Leach. Andre Johnson dislocated his finger in practice early in training camp, but he’ll only miss a few days. He’s expected to be perfectly fine. Running back Arian Foster will be looking for a new contract after a pro bowl season. Other than those minor areas of concern, the Texans will be powerful on offense yet again.
Prediction: Can we all fall for it again? It seems like the past 3 seasons it’s been expected of the Texans to make the playoffs. Well, the new defense, free agents, and maybe some rookie contributions could push the Texans through their glass ceiling. However, it’s time for the predictions to be fulfilled and the expectations to become achievements. My prediction is 11-5 and they unseat the Colts at the top of the AFC South. I’m sick of reading the same preview every year for this team…
Projected Starting Lineup:
QB: Matt Schaub
RB: Arian Foster
FB: camp competition: James Casey/Lawrence Vickers
WR: Andre Johnson
WR: Kevin Walter
TE: Owen Daniels
OT: Duane Brown
OT: Eric Winston
OG: Wade Smith
OG: Mike Brisiel
C: Chris Myers
DE: JJ Watt
DT: camp competition: Shaun Cody/Earl Mitchell
DE: Antonio Smith
OLB: Mario Williams
MLB: Brian Cushing
MLB: DeMeco Ryans
OLB: camp competition: Connor Barwin/Brooks Reed
CB: Jonathan Joseph
CB: Kareem Jackson
S: Daniel Manning
S: Glover Quin
K: Neil Rackers
P: Brad Maynard
Fantasy Performers:
1. Arian Foster RB
2. Andre Johnson WR
3. Matt Schaub QB
4. Neil Rackers K
5. Owen Daniels TE
2011 schedule:
1 Sep 11 vs. Colts 1:00 PM Tickets
2 Sep 18 at Dolphins 4:15 PM Tickets
3 Sep 25 at Saints 1:00 PM Tickets
4 Oct 02 vs. Steelers 1:00 PM Tickets
5 Oct 09 vs. Raiders 1:00 PM Tickets
6 Oct 16 at Ravens 4:05 PM Tickets
7 Oct 23 at Titans 1:00 PM Tickets
8 Oct 30 vs. Jaguars 1:00 PM Tickets
9 Nov 06 vs. Browns 1:00 PM Tickets
10 Nov 13 at Buccaneers 1:00 PM Tickets
11 Bye
12 Nov 27 at Jaguars 1:00 PM Tickets
13 Dec 04 vs. Falcons 1:00 PM Tickets
14 Dec 11 at Bengals 1:00 PM Tickets
15 Dec 18 vs. Panthers 1:00 PM Tickets
16 Dec 22 at Colts 8:20 PM Tickets
17 Jan 01 vs. Titans 1:00 PM Tickets
Free Agent Acquisitions:
Lawrence Vickers FB (Browns) – 2 yrs, 3 million, 500,000 signing bonus
Jonathan Joseph CB (Bengals) – 5 yrs, 48.75 million, 12.5 signing bonus
Daniel Manning S (Bears) – 4 yrs, 20 million
Brad Maynard P (Bears) – 1 yr
Free Agent Losses:
Vonta Leach FB – Signed by Ravens
David Anderson WR – signed by Broncos
Zac Diles MLB - Signed by Rams
Amobi Okoye DT – signed by Bears
Eugene Wilson S
Matt Turk P – Signed by Jaguars
Re-Signed:
Matt Leinart QB - re-signed – 2 yrs, 5.5 million
Derrick Ward RB - re-signed – 1 yr
Jacoby Jones WR - re-signed – 3 yrs, 10.5 million, 3.5 million guaranteed
Owen Daniels TE - re-signed – 5 yrs, $22 million
Rashad Butler OT – re-signed –
Kasey Studdard OG – re-signed –
Damione Lewis DE - re-signed – 1 yr
Shaun Cody DT – re-signed – 2 yrs
Picks in 2011 NFL Draft (overall draft grade: B+):
Rd 1, Pick 11 (11) J.J.Watt DE, Wisconsin – I liked Cameron Jordan better, but Watt is still a great pick that was projected to go in the mid-first.
Grade: B Rated: 14
Rd 2, Pick 10 (42) Brooks Reed OLB, Arizona – I preferred to hold off on ranking him as a first rounder on my value board, but put him to Green Bay in my final mock. Reed played end at Arizona, but showed the athleticism during workouts to be able to move to linebacker in a 3-4.
Grade: A Rated: 38
Rd 2, Pick 28 (60) BranDon Harris CB, Miami (FL) – listed at 5-11 by The U, but at combine he measure in at 5-9. Those two inches dropped him from being a potential first rounder. Looks most like a good nickel back now. He had a subpar bowl game against Notre Dame, too. That’s why he dropped, but in my opinion, he played bigger. He was a projected first rounder for a reason during the regular season, wasn’t he?
Grade: A Rated: 40
Rd 4, Pick 30 (127) Rashad Carmichael DB, Virginia Tech – Rashad Carmichael DB, Virginia Tech – Better in zone coverage. Has very good speed and awareness.
Grade: A Rated: 139
Rd 5, Pick 13 (144) Shiloh Keo DB, Idaho – two-time team captain at Idaho. Tough player who will contribute on special teams, but will probably see action at safety for the weak Texans’ secondary.
Grade: C+ Rated: 210
Rd 5, Pick 21 (152) Taylor Yates QB, North Carolina – TJ Yates QB, North Carolina – Gary Kubiak said Yates reminded him of Matt Schaub. Yates moved himself to become a draftable player with a very good senior season.
Grade: C+ Rated: 226
Rd 7, Pick 11 (214) Derek Newton OL, Arkansas State – has the long arms and agility to potentially become a left tackle, but has to improve his strength and technique quite a bit before that’s ready to happen. Excellent value here.
Grade: A Rated: 177
Rd 7, Pick 51 (254) Cheta Ozougwu DL, Rice – Mr. Irrelevant is another player to help the Texans convert to the 3-4 defense.
Grade: B Rated: NR
2010 Stat Leaders
Matt Schaub 365-574 63.6% 4370 YDS 7.6 YPA 24 TD 12 INT 92.0 RTG
Arian Foster 327 ATT 1616 YDS 4.9 AVG 16 TD
Andre Johnson 86 REC 1216 YDS 14.1 YPC 8 TD
Neil Rackers 27-30 90.0% 57 LNG
Bernard Pollard 111 TCK
Mario Williams 8.5 SCK
Troy Nolan, Glover Quin, Jason Allen 3 INT
Out of Season Storylines (Because there is no offseason)
Wade Phillips Added As Defensive Coordinator