Texans’ special teams set for a big bounce back in 2017
By Peter Manfre
The Texans have often had a horrendous special team’s unit, but with a bevy of weapons paired with a young coach, this year’s unit is set to change that.
When the Houston Texans signed former New England Patriots standout special teamer Larry Izzo last offseason, the move was met with excitement.
Last year’s unit finished the season ranked dead last on FootballIOutsiders.com’s ranking of the NFL’s special team units.
That excitement left fast-almost as fast as this Tyreek Hill touchdown against the Texans in week one of last season.
Thankfully, that touchdown was reversed due to a holding penalty. Your view on the Texans’ special teams unit should also be reversed heading into 2017.
Starting with their scheme, Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien said after the third day of OTA’s that they will try to simplify things and allow their players to play fast.
With the talent the Texans have on that side of the ball, they should be able to dominate.
Houston has one of the most talented group of players on special teams, from returners to coverage men.
The coverage unit is filled with complimentary pieces.
If there was one aspect that Izzo excelled in last season, it was finding and developing unknown players into special team stars.
Starting with the Texans’ coverage unit, they have the duo of Brian Peters and Corey Moore.
Peters had a down year and finished tied with Corey Moore with 12 special team tackles.
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Jones, who signed with the Texans last October, led the unit with 14 tackles.
Now infuse more young talent.
The Texans added talented tacklers in undrafted free agent Dylan Cole and second round selection Zach Cunningham this offseason. With a healthy recovery, K.J. Dillon looks to be a key player as well.
Add in athletic freaks in Lonnie Ballentine and recently signed veteran Sio Moore and you’ve got some real speed along with the sure tacklers already on the roster.
To be a sound coverage unit, a team needs a healthy mix of talents. With the players mentioned above, the Texans can infuse experience and talent to handle and swallow up any would be return men they face in 2017.
Now to the returners.
Izzo described his group of returners as “full of juice. They all have a lot of juice and can move,” he said during an interview after OTA’s that was posted on HoustonTexans.com.
Braxton Miller, Will Fuller, Tyler Ervin, Wendall Williams, and Akeem Hunt all fall into that “juice” category.
Juice? Check. Speed? Check. Talent? Check.
The issue last season is the last common theme with these players; inexperience. They all just completed their first complete NFL season. At the same time, health played a big part for players like Fuller and Miller.
A successful punt returner often times has different traits than a kick returner, believe it or not.
A punt returner needs to have elite agility and vision to shift his way through traffic. That is the most important trait.
A kick returner needs to have elite speed above all else.
The Texans have two great fits for punt returner in both Fuller and Miller.
If the Texans choose to utilize their speedy first and third round selections from the 2016 NFL Draft, they could find a bona fide stud in the punt return game.
Kick returns are much more dangerous so I do not expect the coaches to put Miller and Fuller back on kickoffs.
Fuller showed plenty of production on punt returns last season, as he took his first career punt back for a touchdown.
That leaves Ervin, Hunt, and Williams left for kick returns.
Ervin got the bulk of the kick returns last year but did not show enough to make everyone believe he is the guy.
Williams came in last season with talk of his 4.32 forty-yard dash time on everyone’s mind. He reminds me of the only true return man the Texans have ever had; Pro Bowler Jerome Mathis.
Both Williams and Mathis stand at 5-foot-10 and weigh 185 pounds. Both also have an extra gear when they hit their stride.
Williams will have to prove himself throughout training camp and the preseason, but he has the most potential of all the returners to be the guy to get the job done in 2017.
The Texans have a young coach famous for his special teams play when he had pads on.
Houston has a coverage unit with a great mix of experience, sure tackling, versatility, and athleticism.
They also have a bevy of speedsters capable of taking it to the house at any given moment.
The kickers.
The Texans have one of the greatest punters in the history of the NFL in Shane Lechler.
They also have a very accurate Nick Novak to battle second-year kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn for the kicking job.
Jon Weeks is a veteran long snapper, and his value as one of the top five long snappers in the league plays a huge part.
With Lechler and Weeks seemingly set to play for the Texans until they decide to hang it up, the only question here is who will win the kicker position?
Most bets are on Novak, who set Texans’ franchise records in field goals made and field goal percentage last season.
Novak’s biggest flaw however is that he lacks power. That’s where Fairbairn comes in.
The former UCLA Bruin and 2015 Lou Groza award winner forced a touchback on 72.6 percent of his kickoffs in college. Fairbairn also connected on a 60 yard field goal against rival Cal in his last season at UCLA.
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Fairbairn was also consistently accurate from inside 40 yards. He made 41 straight kicks of such distance or less. He only missed four total kicks in his four years at UCLA- with three of them coming in the fourth quarter.
Faibairn spent his rookie season on injured reserve after suffering a quad injury. Now healthy, there will be a kicker battle in camp.
2017 will have bigger story lines for the Texans, but don’t overlook the uprising of the special teams unit.
As O’Brien often says, there are three phases to the game- offense, defense, and special teams.
The Texans’ special teams unit this coming season has the ability to be the best we have ever seen in Houston.