The Houston Texans finished the 2023 season with a 10-7 record and made the playoffs for the first time since 2019. They would go on to beat the Browns with a score of 45-14 before losing to the Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs. Despite losing by 24 points in the divisional round – it was an insanely successful season for the Texans all things considered. This was a team that 12 months prior – was getting clowned for beating the Colts in week 18 of the 2022 season – causing them to miss out on the number one draft pick. But a lot of things changed in a year. Demeco Ryans built a culture from the ground up, they drafted not just one, but two franchise cornerstones in CJ Stroud and Will Anderson, and their offensive coordinator looks to be a future head coach in Bobby Slowik. I don’t think anyone could have seen this type of year coming from the Texans and even in the best case scenario – the thought process was that if everything goes right – they’ll win 7 games and have something to build on entering 2024. But they didn’t listen to that. And despite starting 0-2 – the Texans had one hell of a season and their future is very very bright. And the question now is – how far can they go this year? Well, we’re going to break it down in today’s video. Now let’s begin
And we are starting today’s video by breaking down what the Texans did in free agency – both in terms of who they lost – and who they acquired. They lost a few defensive starters in free agency in Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman as both went to Minnesota. Both players are solid and it wasn’t going to be easy to replace those guys – but Houston did – which we’ll get to in a minute. They also lost defensive tackle Sheldon Rankins, running back Devin Singletary, and veteran tackle George Fast. Those were the main losses for the Texans in free agency last year – and they even lost punter Cameron Johnston who signed with the Steelers – but the losses for them in free agency – when you factor in who they signed – were minimal. They brought in Danielle Hunter on a 2 year $49 million dollar contract with 48 of the 49 being guaranteed – and why I like this signing in particular – is – because of how good of a player Danielle is, and how little risk it is long term. When you first hear that 48 of the 49 million dollars was guaranteed – you probably think that’s a lot more than how most free agent contracts are structured – and you’d be right – but Danielle’s contract isn’t going to limit what they’re going to be able to do moving forward. They’re not going to be unable to pay any of their young players – whether it’s CJ, Will, Tank – or whoever – simply because they gave him all of this guaranteed money. Not only that – but Danielle is an upgrade from Jonathan Greenard. And being able to get after the quarterback is obviously critical – but it’s even more amplified in the AFC. Danielle had an 80 pressure season last year and finished 5th in the NFL in sacks with 16.5 He also led the league in tackles for a loss with 23. And despite Danielle having been in the league since 2015 – he was the youngest player in the NFL for his entire rookie year and believe it or not – he is still in his 20’s. Granted he will turn 30 in October of this year – but the point is – there is a very real possibility Danielle can be a 3 or 4 year starter for the Texans if everything goes right. And because of this – I thought losing Greenard ended up being a great outcome for them. They also brought in talented linebacker Azeez Al Shaair to essentially replace Cashman. I like Azeez a lot and we went over him during the Titans team preview – but he’s a very talented linebacker and I would expect him to be all over the field for the Texans – like he was for Tennesee last year. And heading into the year – obviously the Texans offense gets a lot of love – and that’s going to happen when you have a rookie quarterback have the year CJ Stroud did last year – but the Texans defense was very good too. And they quietly finished 11th in points per game allowed last year and I would think – after improving the defense this offseason – that they’ll be close to there again. I also really liked the Denico Autry signing for the Texans and Denico is a player who is a good veteran pass rusher who knows his role and will play it well. He is 34 years old so that is a slight drawback as there will probably be a decline at some point – whether that’s in 2024 or 2025 is to be determined – but putting Denico inside when you have Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter on the outside is a very favorable situation for any defensive tackle. Let alone a guy who’s been around for a while and a guy who is quietly working on 3 straight seasons with 50 or more pressures.
The Texans also signed veteran corner Jeff Okudah and Okudah was the number 3 overall pick back in the 2020 draft. Jeff hasn’t had a great career – obviously as he is on his 3rd team in 5 years – and this is one big concern I have with the Texans in 2024 – and that’s their secondary – specifically at the cornerback position. The Texans made a lot of improvements from 2023 to 2024 and that’s big for a team that’s in the rookie quarterback contract window and for a team that won 10 games last year. And being able to get after the quarterback with two great pass rushers in Will Anderson and Danielle Hunter is huge – but they have to be able to hold up in the back end of the defense and this is where I worry. Nickel is the new base as teams are playing with 3 corners on the field more than they ever have to counter the 3 receiver sets opposing offenses use and I know we’ve brought it up in other team previews – but this is why corner play is so critical for teams in today’s era. It’s not enough to have one elite corner – which I think the Texans do have in Derek Stingley Jr – and another ok corner that can hold his own. You almost need two good – or even two great corners just to be able to not get exposed on a weekly basis. And the Texans corners after Stingley are Okudah, nickel Myles Bryant, Mike Ford, and 2nd round rookie Kamari Lassiter. I think the Texans have done a phenomenal job in terms of rebuilding their football team over the past few years – especially where they were when GM Nick Caserio took over. But I would ask Texans fans – how do you feel about the secondary entering the year outside of Stingley and Jalen Pitre of course. Because for as fun as the Texans season was last year at times – they still finished 23rd in passing yards allowed which is something I would expect to continue this year. Credit where it’s due – the Texans run defense last year was great.
They finished 2nd in yards per carry allowed as opposing teams averaged just 3.5 yards per carry and they allowed just over 1,600 yards rushing in 17 games. They also had 10 games where they allowed 100 yards or less rushing during the 2023 regular season. What I think is also particularly impressive for the 2023 Texans – that I very much expect to carry over into 2024 – is they allowed 100 yards or more rushing in each of the first 4 games last year. And after that – they allowed 100 yards or more as a team just 3 times in the final 13 regular season games. I have zero concerns with how this team is going to play up front and to be completely honest – I would be pretty surprised if this team doesn’t finish in the top 10 in rushing defense for the second straight year. But I think it’s an insane gamble to enter the season with how thin the Texans are in the secondary. Especially when you play teams outside of your division like the Bills, the Packers, the Jets, the Lions, the Cowboys, and the Chiefs – all of which can pass the football at a high level. But the positive spin for this is – it’s not like the Texans are entering the year not knowing their secondary is a weak point on their roster. And there was a reason they spent a combined $69 million dollars between Danielle Hunter and Denico Autry – both of which were nice additions. The positive spin here is there’s a very real chance the Texans have two players have 65+ pressures in Danielle Hunter and Will Anderson. Will Anderson had 59 pressures in his rookie year and if he plays all 17 games – I would be shocked if that number goes down considering he did that as a 22 year old rookie. Guys get better with time in the trenches and when you think about Will going up against Laremy Tunsil in practice and being able to learn from a veteran in Danielle Hunter – the Texans pass rush is going to be fierce – which on turn – will limit how long the DB’s have to cover opposing receivers. Their run defense will also be great so what the Texans gameplan – a lot of the time will be – will be to stop the run and force opposing teams into 3rd and 6 + situations – and let Danielle and Will pin their ears back and get after the quarterback. And despite the concerns I have with the secondary – good luck stopping both of those guys – truly. And as long as the secondary can be serviceable – not elite – and certainly not awful – but serviceable – they’re going to be a damn good defense.
