Houston Texans: These three areas must improve in 2015

Dec 28, 2014; Houston, TX, USA; Jacksonville Jaguars quarterback Blake Bortles (5) runs as Houston Texans outside linebacker Whitney Mercilus (59) defends during the first quarter at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

In 2014 the Houston Texans were not much of a pass rushing team, which is hard to realize considering defensive end J.J. Watt had 20.5 sacks and was an MVP candidate despite the team missing out on the playoffs.

Yet the rest of the team was less than adequate at pass rushing as the next highest sack total belonged to Whitney Mercilus, who had five sacks on the season.

Overall, everyone not named Watt combined for 17.5 sacks, giving the team a total of 38 on the season, landing them in 19th place out of 32 teams.

In the draft Houston did pretty much nothing to help improve this area, which was the same approach they used in free agency. No pass rushers of note were added, instead the team seems to be hoping for a return to health by outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney and a leap in production from Mercilus.

In fact the best Houston could hope for now is added attention to Watt and new nose tackle Wilfork will clear up more space for the young linebackers to operate.

Next: The most obvious need