The Houston Texans have two solid players to be the leaders at strong safety in 2020.
The secondary of the Houston Texans has a bit of a new look entering training camp of 2020, and that includes the depth chart at strong safety where Eric Murray and Michael Thomas are going to be leading the way at that position.
Last season, it was Tashaun Gipson who was the strong safety for the Texans — now with the Chicago Bears — where he finished with 34 solo tackles, eight passes defensed and three interceptions (one touchdown) in his lone season with the franchise.
That was last season, and the Houston Texans are looking ahead with Murray and Thomas. Those two will provide quality play for the franchise in 2020, and we also can’t forget about Jaylen Watkins either, who can play strong safety or free safety for the team too.
In this look at Murray and Thomas, both provide the Texans with a sense of reliability to the position as they enter the 2020 season. Murray played last season with the Cleveland Browns, where he totaled 13 solo tackles in 2019 in nine games played before injury. He also had one sack and one pass defensed.
From 2016-19, Murray played for the Kansas City Chiefs where he had five passes defensed in 2017.His lone career interception came during the 2018 season.
Houston Texans: Michael Thomas brings veteran play to roster
In getting to know more about Thomas, he’s a former Miami Dolphins safety and most recently New York Giants player. In ’19, Thomas had 30 solo tackles, and in 2018 he had two interceptions. Thomas is also coming off a season where he allowed 19 receptions on 23 targets as Pro Football Focus gave him a grade of 56.4 last season.
No matter what grades these players received and no matter their path to get to the Houston Texans, both Eric Murray and Michael Thomas make the secondary of the franchise better than they were a season ago.
Houston needed to improve at safety for the 2020 season, and they have worked to make it better, but the question that remains is how much better will this unit be? With the additions of Murray and Thomas, nobody can say the Texans haven’t tried.
The bottom line for the Houston Texans is the results will have to be on the field so the franchise can really have the success they covet after winning the AFC South title for the past two seasons.