Houston Texans News: Tashaun Gipson released; Texans ‘losers’ in draft?

The Houston Texans news other than the 2020 NFL Draft is the franchise is making changes in the secondary with the release of an eight-year veteran.

As we all know, Houston Texans news never stops, and this week the Houston Texans have officially released eight-year NFL veteran safety Tashaun Gipson following his one season with the franchise.

In a one-sentence press release, the Texans news was Gipson was no longer on the roster, but to be honest, this move was one that the Texans needed to make because last season wasn’t so great for this team and player duo. In 14 games (all starts) with the Texans, Gipson had eight passes defensed, three interceptions and one touchdown to his credit.

According to Pro Football Focus, the safety was targeted 26 times by the opposing team, and they converted 19 receptions on those targets. He also totaled 53 solo tackles and had a season grade of 59.5. Compare that grade to the previous season when he was with the Jacksonville Jaguars, and Gipson in ’18 had a PFF grade of 70.7 in 16 starts.

It was simple for Gipson and the Texans: he regressed as a player in the secondary, and the Texans didn’t feel the need to keep him on the roster this season. The Texans’ strong safety depth chart now includes Eric Murray, Michael Thomas and Shalom Luani at strong safety, which is the spot on the roster Gipson had.

Houston Texans News: New York Post said Texans were “losers” in draft

Greg Joyce of The New York Post recently wrote about who he felt were winners and losers from the 2020 NFL Draft, and his opinion of the Texans draft was on the latter side as a “loser.”

Joyce said the following about the Texans draft, especially speaking about their first pick at 40th overall and not having a first-round pick at all:

"“They used it to take TCU defensive tackle Ross Blacklock, a solid pickup. But they didn’t have another pick until No. 90 (because they used their second-rounder to trade for Brandin Cooks after losing Hopkins) and only came away with five draft picks, none of which appear to be of immediate help.”"

Granted, the Texans draft might not have the most help for this upcoming season, but in all honesty, none of us know how good or bad this really is or can be. I don’t agree the Texans draft was one of the loser side because not only was their second-round pick Ross Blacklock a great choice at 40th overall, the selection of Jonathan Greenard was a nice pickup at 90th overall as well.

Don’t forget about Isaiah Coulter in the fifth round, because he’s a sleeper that the Texans could use this upcoming season as well at wide receiver, and he’s a player to be excited for. Sure, this draft on name recognition isn’t setting off any firework, but a closer look at the players drafted was a case of quality over quantity.

Houston Texans News: Draft picks for 2021 NFL Draft

HoustonTexans.com has an article on how many draft choices the Texans have for the 2021 NFL Draft. That number is currently at eight draft picks, with the earliest coming in the third round, followed by two picks in the fourth round, one in the fifth, three sixth-rounders and one final pick in the seventh round. The Texans will also receive compensatory selections early next year as well.

Any way it is said, the Houston Texans news has been plentiful as of late, and it will only get better whenever a deal is reached with quarterback Deshaun Watson for his potential long-term contract extension.