NFL PREVIEW: 2020 HOUSTON TEXANS

BY ADAM GREENE

Key Additions: WR Brandin Cooks (trade), RB David Johnson (trade), WR Randall Cobb (free agent), S Michael Thomas (free agent), LT Brent Qvale (free agent), S Jaylen Watkins (free agent), S Eric Murray (free agent)

2020 NFL Draft: DT Ross Blalock, TCU (round 2), LB Jonathan Greenard, Florida (round 3), OT Charlie Heck, North Carolina (round 4), CB John Reid, Penn State (round 4), WR Isaiah Coulter, Rhode Island (round 5)

Projected Offensive Starters: QB Deshaun Watson, RB David Johnson, WR Will Fuller V, WR Brandin Cooks, WR Kenny Stills, TE Darren Fells, LT Laremy Tunsil, LG Senio Kelemete, C Nick Martin, RG Zach Fulton, RT Tytus Howard

Projected Defensive Starters: LDE J.J. Watt, NT Brandon Dunn, RDE Charles Omenihu, WLB Whitney Mercilus, LILB Benardrick McKinney, RILB Zach Cunningham, SLB Brennan Scarlett, LCB Gareon Conley, RCB Bradley Roby, SS Jaylen Watkins, FS Justin Reid

K: Ka’imi Fairbairn

P: Bryan Anger

Head Coach: Bill O’Brien

2019 Record: 10-6, 1st place AFC South

A Look Back: The Texans did the same thing they always do in 2019. They meander through the season, feasting on a weak AFC South schedule while losing nearly every key match up with a winning team on their schedule on their way to a winning record. To be fair, the rested starters in their final game, a 35-14 loss to the AFC runner-up Tennessee Titans.

Of Houston’s 10 regular season victories last year, only three were over teams that finished over .500. Now, they were good wins, to be sure. They beat both the Titans (in their first match up_ and the Kansas City Chiefs with Patrick Mahomes at QB, so it shows you the pure talent on that Texans squad. Of course, all it did was make the heartbreak of their playoff wilt that much worse.

J.J. Watt missed half the season, but showed up when it counted for that postseason run. Dehsaun Watson solidified himself as one of the NFL’s Top 5 quarterbacks (yeah, I wrote that) with a spectacular season, completing 67.3 percent of his passes for 3,852 yards, 26 touchdowns, 12 interceptions to go with seven rushing touchdowns.

2020 Projection: But Watt and Watson are the problem, here, because as long as those guys suit up, the Texans have no impetus to make a coaching change. A change they desperately need. O’Brien isn’t the guy and never has been. He’s awful, but he’s accidentally implemented the Mike McCarthy coaching success strategy of having an elite quarterback help him keep a job long after his expiration date.

Worse than that, O’Brien is in charge of personnel and has made one stupid trade after another, tossing one of his three superstar players, DeAndre Hopkins, out the door this offseason for the desiccated remains of David Johnson. Brandin Cooks is a good wideout when he’s healthy, but on his best day he’s not Hopkins.

2020 Projected Win Total: 10-6. Barring catastrophic injuries to its stars, this team just has too much talent to post a losing record. Any other coach than O’Brien would have this team competing for a Super Bowl championship. With O’Brien, this is what you get. The odds at over 7.5 wins pay at -110 and 10-14 victories pays at +250. The books, for whatever reason, don’t like the Texans as much as I do and I get it, but Watson and Watt can make things happen all on their own, regardless of how bad a job O’Brien is doing as their head coach.

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