Houston Texans: Finding a positive this offseason

This hasn’t been the most positive offseason for the Houston Texans. In fact, there is a lot of negativity for this franchise since the Week 17 came to a close for the 2020 season. There have been many roster moves, trade requests, front office moves, coaching changes and off-the-field issues that have put a damper on what the future holds for the Texans.

The Houston Texans news cycle this offseason has had a lot of unhappy moments and has seen a legend of the franchise move out west for the 2021 season with another former Texans great. Again, it was more somber Texans news for a team that is in the middle (or start) of a rebuild.

This is not about all of the negativity that the Texans have put on themselves, and for good reason, but for a change let’s talk about some of the positives for the Houston Texans in the ’21 offseason and have a little fun.

One of the better moves made by the Texans so far this offseason was the re-signing of long snapper Jon Weeks. He has been with the franchise since 2010, so with this being his 12th season with the franchise, it is good to see him be able to compete for a roster spot as he’s a very good long snapper.

In 2020, Weeks played in 133 snaps on special teams, which was the same number of snaps he had in ’19 as well.

Texans news: Drafting Nico Collins was a positive addition to the roster

Drafting a 6’4 wide receiver named Nico Collins was the best move made by the Houston Texans in the 2021 NFL Draft. Though the Texans news coming out of the draft was the selection of Davis Mills, the selection of Collins was one to celebrate this ’21 offseason.

In four seasons at Michigan, Collins joins the Houston Texans after playing in 27 games with the Wolverines, including not playing in ’20. In ’19 as a junior Collins played in 12 games, finishing with 37 receptions for 729 yards. That season he had seven touchdowns, and he averaged 19.7 yards per reception.

In his sophomore season, Collins played in 13 games with 38 receptions for 632 yards (16.6 ypr) with six touchdowns.

Collins can help replace the spot vacated by Will Fuller, whom the Houston Texans didn’t re-sign, but the addition of Collins brings some much-needed excitement, especially with there being more than a few questions that need to be answered this offseason.

Though Collins might not be the answer to be “the superstar” wide receiver the Texans no longer have on their roster (remember the DeAndre Hopkins trade?), it will still be fun to watch Collins progress as a wide receiver his rookie season.

These are just two positives for the Houston Texans this ’21 offseason in an offseason filled with negatives, but even though a tough season is most likely waiting in ’21, there is still some positivity to have this upcoming season and future as well.