Houston Texans: Now is the time to play Scottie Phillips

Since the Houston Texans traded Mark Ingram II the New Orleans Saints, and since Phillip Lindsay and David Johnson have been disappointing to say the least, it is now time to try someone different at running back. That player is Scottie Phillips.

The Texans honestly have no reason not to give Phillips more reps at running back, and to be completely honest in this discussion, going into the season, the feeling – at least from this viewpoint – was that Lindsay was going to be the surprise running back, and through the first seven games that has not been the case whatsoever.

One somewhat positive for Johnson is he’s averaging 3.9 yards per carry, but that’s with only 27 attempts for 104 yards.  He has rushed for only two first downs, he’s not had a single carry over 13 yards, and he has more fumbles (one) than rushing touchdowns (zero).

Lindsay this season has 38 rushes for 97 yards with one touchdown, and his best rush of the season was 35 yards a couple games ago against the Indianapolis Colts. So his 2.6 yards per rush this season would be much worse if not for that huge run. In fact, against the Colts, Lindsay rushed for 39 yards the entire game on seven carries.

Without the 35-yard run, Lindsay on his other 37 rushes has 62 yards, averaging 1.68 yards per carry. What else is there to say about the Texans rusher?

Some aren’t happy the Texans traded Ingram because he’s such a good person and quality teammate. That is great, but the Texans did gain a draft pick for him, and to get any return for a 31-year-old running back on a one-year deal, the winner for the future is the Texans.

The Saints regained a player they know can help them in various situations as they fight for a playoff spot, and the Texans aren’t going to the playoffs anytime soon and are still rebuilding the roster from the ground up.

Texans: Why not give Scottie Phillips a chance?

What can it hurt to see what Phillips can do for this offense? The Texans’ offense hasn’t scored a touchdown in three of the past four game, and are coming off a performance against the Arizona Cardinals where their five points scored came from the special teams and defense.

The Texans in Week 7 last Sunday had 25 yards on seven carries from Johnson, nine yards on six carries by Ingram, and eight yards on two carries from Lindsay. That’s terrible running, terrible play-calling, and terrible blocking, and all of that means it was terrible offense.

Phillips doesn’t even need to start, but how can it hurt the Texans to give him some sort of opportunity to prove what he can do in a regular-season game? This Sunday, the Texans face the Los Angeles Rams, and it’s going to be a very tough game for the team from Houston, but they need to change some things up on offense, so this is where Phillips fits in.

The Texans do this every year no matter who the coach is, where they get stuck in a stagnant offense, they become predictable, and they lose games. The past two seasons have shown that, and Phillips would be a bit of fresh air.

Phillips might not even produce positive yardage, and he could struggle like the rest of the running back roster, but there is no way this team knows what Phillips can do without giving him a chance in a regular-season game to see how talented he is.