Houston Texans News: Hyde and the Eagles; No confidence from oddsmakers

The Houston Texans news for today consists of Carlos Hyde possibly headed to the Philadelphia Eagles, and oddsmakers not believing in the Texans to three-peat.

When one looks at The Action Network and the Texans news there, the first thing that is an attention grabber is the futures category, and the Texans being projected to be third place this season in the AFC South.

The two-time reigning AFC South champion Texans are projected to be at +300 for their odds to win the AFC South this season, trailing the Indianapolis Colts at +125 and the Tennessee Titans at +165.

Granted on paper everyone loves the Colts to win the AFC South, especially now with veteran quarterback Philip Rivers under center as he continues on with his career after spending every season since 2004 with the Los Angeles Chargers. The Colts are a very talented team, but they weren’t the same team last season without Andrew Luck.

There are also the Titans who were one win away from making the Super Bowl game last season. For the Titans it was a matter of being hot at the right time as they defeated the Baltimore Ravens in the Divisional Round, and put heavy pressure on the Chiefs in the AFC Championship Game as well.

It is understandable where the oddsmakers see the Texans after the offseason that has happened, but the franchise is still better than what some believe. The Texan will be better than believed if the offense stays healthy, and the secondary plays better than last season.

Those are two very big ifs, but it is hard to count out a team that has Deshaun Watson at quarterback because his playmaking ability can make the Texans a better overall team than what many expect from this franchise in 2020.

Houston Texans News: Carlos Hyde could join the Eagles

In his one season with the Houston Texans, Carlos Hyde did a very nice job and rushed for over 1,000 yards in a season as he was a last minute replacement for Lamar Miller who was injured late in the preseason.

Now a free agent this offseason, the Texans passed on the veteran Hyde, and from the looks of things he could be joining the Eagles for the ’20 season. According to reports, like the one by Sports Illustrated this week, it says the following about Hyde and the Eagles:

"“The Eagles could be in the market for another Blount type signing. Their target appears to be Carlos Hyde. The former second round pick from Ohio State, the 57 player taken overall, in 2014, is reportedly on the Eagles’ radar.”"

Hyde can still be a nice asset to an offense and last season he proved he can still go as a starting running back. Hyde did great for the short time he was with the franchise before the start of the season. He became the first running back for the Texans since Lamar Miller in 2016 to have a 1,000-yard season rushing, so Hyde did what he needed to do in Houston.

Houston Texans News: Bill O’Brien ranks in middle of pack in NFL coaching

Patrick Daugherty of Rotoworld ranked every NFL coach and made it into a list, and guess where Texans head coach Bill O’Brien came in at … that’s right near the middle of the pack at 17th overall.

There are no complaints with this ranking whatsoever as he’s been able to keep the Texans at the top of the AFC South lately, but those Texans teams also underachieved in the playoffs.

Since 2014, O’Brien has a 52-44 overall record as a head coach, and that could be a little better to be honest. In the Rotoworld article is says the following about O’Brien:

"“Nothing about the man or his football team makes sense. I am not expecting that to change in 2020.”"

That sentence is true, and some of the on-the-field decisions are still baffling, an the off-the-field decisions still are confusing too.

Who knows exactly what O’Brien has up his sleeve for this season, but whatever it is, at least it might be exciting for Texans fans for 2020.