Houston Texans: Cornerback remains a concern moving into 2019

Houston Texans are going into the 2019 offseason with cornerback continuing to be a position that needs to be addressed sooner than later.

The Houston Texans cornerback depth has been a position of need since A.J. Bouye’s departure in 2017 free agency to the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans were betting in their 2015 first round draft choice,  Kevin Johnson to take the next step at cornerback and be the eventual successor to Johnathan Joseph. Johnson’s successful rookie season kept the Texans brass optimistic and convinced them to pick the fifth-year option in his rookie contract, but injuries have kept him off the field.

Since entering the league in 2015, Johnson has suffered foot, knee, hand, and head injuries. Johnson has suffered three concussions in the four seasons he has been with the Texans, and two in the last season alone. The $9 million he is slotted to earn is guaranteed due to injury, so it remains a possibility that the Texans are reluctant to pay him that amount of money after Johnson has only played in 49 out of the possible 64 regular season games.

Texans have Joseph, Johnson, Aaron Colvin, Deante Burton, Jermaine Kelly Jr, and Johnson Bademosi under contract at cornerback for 2019. Colvin was signed last offseason from the Jaguars with the impression that he would be the Texans solution in the slot, but he was seen as an afterthought with an ankle injury that kept him out of season for the majority of the season.

Colvin remained a healthy scratch in the playoffs as the Texans opted to go with veteran cornerback Shareece Wright. Bademosi proved to be an integral part of the Texans insurgence in the special teams last season, but he was less than ideal in coverage with the defense.

Kelly Jr. was drafted in the seventh round in 2018, but he missed the entire season due to injury. Burton was signed off of the Atlanta Falcons practice squad during the regular season and was making the transition from playing wide receiver in college to cornerback in the NFL.

The defense doesn’t have a lot of viable options at cornerback moving forward, and it could be one of the Texans priorities in free agency this upcoming March, and in the 2019 NFL Draft.