Which is better for the Houston Texans: Draft picks or Laremy Tunsil?
The Houston Texans a couple years ago made a franchise altering decision when the front office decided to trade two first round picks (2020 and 2021), a second round selection (2021), Johnson Bademosi, and Julién Davenport to the Miami Dolphins for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, wide receiver Kenny Stills, a 2020 fourth round pick and a 2021 sixth round pick.
Some of that has already been paid by the Houston Texans as the first round pick they traded to the Dolphins (26th overall) for ’20 was used by Miami in another trade with the Green Bay Packers, eventually leading them to drafting cornerback Noah Igbinoghene from Aubrun with the 30th overall selection.
This year the Dolphins received the third overall pick from the Tunsil trade, and the second round pick will be the 35th overall selection. The Texans have since released Stills, and the fourth round pick the Texans gained for this past April’s draft was traded away as well by Houston.
So basically the important part of this trade resulted in the Houston Texans receiving a franchise left tackle in Tunsil for what became Igbinoghene in the first round last year for Miami, the third overall pick this year, and the 35th overall pick in 2021 as well.
That is a lot to give up for any player, but on the other hand having a franchise left tackle is very important because protecting franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson is the most important part of this trade, and the reason for the trade in the first place. The season before Tunsil, Watson was sacked 62 times to lead the NFL.
Now as the Houston Texans unsuccesful season is over — they finished 4-12 overall — one must ask was this trade worth it? Would the Texans have been better off keeping their draft picks, and finding a solid left tackle in the draft last year, or through other ways of obtaining players like a different trade or free agency?
Houston Texans News: Two seasons so far with Laremy Tunsil
Laremy Tunsil has played the 2019 and 2020 seasons with the Houston Texans since they made the blockbuster trade for him to become the franchise left tackle. Since then he’s signed a contract that will keep him with the Texans through the 2023 season at which he will be 29 years old. There is an out after the 2022 season which leaves the contract at three years, $57.85 million for $3.25 million in dead cap space for the Houston Texans according to spotrac.com.
Tunsil earned $10.85 million this past season playing left tackle for the Texans, and in 2021 he’s scheduled to earn $16.15 million, followed with a 2022 season at $17.85 million. In 2023 Tunsil is on the books to earn $18.5 million then he becomes a UFA in 2024.
This $66 million contract for Tunsil was a deal made without an agent, plus Tunsil made the deal with now former general manager (and former head coach) Bill O’Brien.
The former GM was fired after an 0-4 start to the 2020 season, and Houston has just hired Nick Caserio as the new general manager of the Texans this past week, so one must wonder what type of deal Caserio would have made with Tunsil.
As for the matter at hand, Laremy Tunsil in his time with the Texans has played in 28 of a possible 32 regular season games in the past two seasons, playing in 14 games in each of the past two years. Tunsil has never played in all 16 games at any point of his now five-year NFL career, but he’s been a success on the field nonetheless.
Before the 2020 season, Tunsil was voted on by his peers as the 66th best player in the NFL of the Top 100 list. In his two seasons with Houston, Tunsil has been selected to two Pro Bowls, the only two selections of his career.
Laremy Tunsil in two seasons with the Texans has also allowed only five sacks with three allowed in ’19 and two allowed this past season. Tunsil has played in 1,732 offensive snaps the past two seasons for the Texans, and according to Pro Football Focus, Tunsil graded at 75.8 in 2019, and in ’20 his PFF grade was 75.4.
Also in 2019 Tunsil was a member off the Sporting News All-Pro Team, a first-team selection at offensive tackle, but was one player worth what was the future of the franchise at the time?
The “future of the franchise” is now the “present of the franchise” as the 2021 NFL Draft is where Miami will really cash in as the Texans were the third worst team in the NFL standings this season.
Houston Texans picks will help Miami to keep rebuilding
The Houston Texans played so poorly they allowed the Miami Dolphins to gain the third overall pick in the upcoming 2021 NFL Draft and that is unacceptable for this franchise. The Texans have many issues, and are in need of some different players on defense, and elsewhere on the roster, so losing that many high selections is tough on the Texans at the moment.
Remember the Dolphins traded the Houston Texans’ 26th pick to the Green Bay Packers for more picks, eventually selecting 30th overall and choosing cornerback Noah Igbinoghene.
Miami was one spot away from earning a playoff spot in the current NFL playoffs, they finished 10-6 overall, and now have a third round pick they can do a lot with, plus the 18th overall pick they earned. The Dolphins can make the selection of basically any player they want — as they drafted Tua Tagovailoa in the first round last year so no QB is needed — or they could trade down with the No. 3 overall pick and gain even more draft assets to add to their roster.
From building for the future, the Dolphins won the Laremy Tunsil trade, but in defense if the Houston Texans they knew what their decision cost them.
With Tunsil the Texans gained a franchise left tackle who they already knew was the “real deal” and would protect Deshaun Watson and keep him healthy, which he has. Watson played in all 16 games last season, and in ’19 he played in the first 15 games, and the Texans starters were held out of the ’19 regular season finale.
Miami also gained a left tackle in the draft last year in Austin Jackson, and though he’s not Tunsil, — Jackson allowed four sacks in 2020 — the Dolphins were still were able to fill the left tackle spot with potential as they rebuild their roster.
What Miami will do with the third and 35th overall picks in this year’s draft will be very interesting, but looking at the roster of the Houston Texans it is clear they could have really used those two early draft picks to find some playmakers, especially on defense.
Houston Texans and the 2021 NFL Draft
As of this writing the Houston Texans have hired a new general manager, still don’t have a head coach, and won’t make a draft pick until the third round, but that could all change in the coming weeks.
Losing the third overall pick and the 35th pick really hurts the Houston Texans because they need to fill voids so much on defense, especially on the defensive line and the secondary.
J.J. Watt next season is in the final year of his contract and it will also be his 11th season in the NFL. Watt could possibly be traded to another team this offseason and the Texans could gain some sort of draft pick from that possible deal, but that conversation is down the road in the coming months.
The secondary of the Texans was at fault as well in 2020 because they never seemed to be on the same page, or even looking at the same playbook. Houston’s secondary was disappointing as an entire unit. It is obvious that changes need and will be made, so an early draft selection would have been great to have this April.
The offense of the Houston Texans isn’t out of this conversation either because the rushing game was terrible, and one of the very worst — the 31st ranked rushing yards per game offense — as they averaged 91.6 yards per game rushing, finishing with 1,466 total rushing yards as a team.
In 12 games, running back David Johnson — whom was a part of the DeAndre Hopkins trade — was the leading rusher for the Houston Texans with 691 yards on 147 carries, averaging 4.7 yards per carry. Next was quarterback Deshaun Watson with 444 yards on 90 carries in 16 games for 4.9 ypr. Johnson finished with six rushing scores, and Watson had three.
Again, if the Texans would have had last year’s first round pick, and the two upcoming first and second round choices possessed by the Dolphins, things would be a lot different for the Houston Texans. Again, the deal comes back to Watson and how healthy would he have stayed without Tunsil on the offensive line?
Houston Texans: Draft picks are greater than one player, right?
As much as Laremy Tunsil has been needed and praised for his work while with the Houston Texans, the team managed to win an AFC South title and and playoff game his first season, but in ’20 the results have taken a massive turn for the worse as a whole for the franchise.
The Texans were one of the more under performing teams this past season, didn’t live up to any potential. Even with Laremy Tunsil having a solid season, plus Deshaun Watson putting up his best numbers to date — being the passing yardage leader in 2020 — the Texans still saw their head coach fired after four games, and the team only gain four wins because of a roster that needs some work and new faces to compete.
This past season was tough to watch the Houston Texans on the field, and this draft will be even tougher to watch if they don’t find a way to draft before the third round. If they don’t the Texans franchise will get even worse than a 4-12 record.
There are still many important decisions to make for the Houston Texans, like who will be the next head coach.
Ultimately when looking back at the Laremy Tunsil trade, and knowing what this ’21 pick has become, as much improvement Tunsil brought to the Houston Texans offensive line, that many picks — especially a third overall pick — just seems too much when really looking back at the deal.
As the Houston Texans work on fixing their roster with their new GM, they should be thankful to have Tunsil on their offensive line, but a left tackle could have been drafted in ’20, and Houston would still have two Top 35 picks for this upcoming April’s draft, and that is what makes this decision so hard.
The bottom line is Tunsil is an elite offensive tackle, but the draft picks would help the team more as an entire franchise moving forward, as the Texans need to be better than a four-win team moving forward into the 2021 offseason, and they were a four-win team with two of the better players at their respective positions.