The Texans may be short on talent entering 2021, but that doesn’t mean there’s a complete lack of playmakers on either side of the ball.
If there’s one good thing about a rebuilding football team, it’s the fact there’s going to be chances for depth players to become much bigger a part of the squad’s immediate future.
Not much is expected from the Houston Texans in 2021. In fact, looking around the league, most list Houston dead last in NFL power rankings, and it’s not too hard to predict the Texans to wind up with the No. 1 overall pick in next year’s NFL Draft.
Heck, even FanSided predicted Houston would win three games this year, and even that could be a stretch.
Especially if quarterback Deshaun Watson is absent for the entire season, and many think that’ll be the case in light of both his legal issues and frustrations with the front office.
Assuming Watson is out, the Texans offense will have to overcome quite a bit in light of first-year general manager Nick Caserio’s long-term rebuild. Perhaps rookie pass-catchers Brevin Jordan and Nico Collins make an impact early, but it’s premature to expect too much from them early on.
At least they’ll have their chances.
Houston’s defense might have been good enough to compete this season if it had a complementary offense, but that’s not the case. Low-risk moves like signing linebackers Kevin Pierre-Louis and Christian Kirksey help infuse veteran talent, but gone are the days when the Texans boasted one of the more formidable front-seven units in the league.
So, from a Week 1 vantage point, let’s predict how both the offensive and defensive starting lineups pan out.