Houston Texans Morning Huddle–Offseason Report Card
By Josh McSwain
Here are your daily Houston Texans stories for Friday:
AFC South offseason report cards by Bill Barnwell, ESPN
"The AFC South has been a laughingstock for years now, but there are signs of a turnaround brewing. Each of the division’s four teams has a reason to believe they have a franchise quarterback under center, although Andrew Luck is the only passer who really qualifies as something close to a finished product. The Colts were the most disappointing team in the NFL last season, which resulted in a relatively wide-open divisional race before the Texans rode a 6-2 second half to the divisional crown."
Well, he gave three of the four teams the same grade so take it with a grain of salt. I would give the Colts the worst offseason of the group.
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Everything’s Faster in Texas by Peter King, SI.com
"Often in covering NFL teams, we listen to what teams say rather than watch what they actually do. Normally, this is a mistake, because NFL teams are well-trained, even when the sky falling, at saying all is well. This spring, all we’ve had to do is watch the moves made by Houston to see the Texans knew their offense was simply not playoff worthy in 2015, and major surgery was vital."
It is true that speed was lacking overall last year. There weren’t any gamebreakers out of the backfield and Nate Washington had become a shell of what he used to be. The Texans certainly addressed that.
Texans Reign in Jeopardy by Greg Rajan, Houston Chronicle
"NFL Media analyst Gil Brandt, best known for his role as the personnel director who helped build the Dallas Cowboys’ powerhouse teams of the 1970s, has the Texans listed as his third-most vulnerable 2015 division winner heading into next season."
Well, in a division where the winner was 9-7, I can’t be surprised at this. However, Brandt saying he likes Jacksonville more than Houston is interesting. While the Jaguars have added a lot of pieces this offseason, we have seen big spending in free agency not work before. See the Eagles in 2011, most of the Redskins under Dan Snyder and even spending sprees from the Jags past involving guys like Jerry Porter and Bryce Paup, among others. The Colts are getting Andrew Luck back, but what version of him will we see? Is he going to be the 2014 version that looked like he was ascending to the same level as the elites or the 2015 version who couldn’t stop turning the ball over? The answer will determine much in the fate of the AFC South this fall.