The Houston Texans are looking for a much better 2022 than 2021.
And they’re on their way to doing so. The Houston Texans are set to begin the first season under their newest head coach, Lovie Smith, no longer having to answer questions about Deshaun Watson and his future.
Last year’s 4-13 campaign was hard to watch in all facets. Thankfully each new year brings a bit of hope to all NFL teams, but the Texans could potentially have some big hopes. Especially given where they are as a franchise.
With Davis Mills set to get the whole season to prove he is the leader of the Texans, Houston is already in a position to win more games this season. But what are those reasons? Let’s get right into the first one.
The Houston Texans actually are committed to their head coach
Last year, it wasn’t a secret that the Texans weren’t necessarily bought into David Culley being the long-term answer. The least desirable place to coach heading into the 2021 season, Culley may have actually outperformed expectations.
Getting four wins out of that squad and a near upset of the New England Patriots caused some awkwardness when it came time to find a new head coach. However, with Lovie Smith getting the job, it seems like it’s more of a solid position than what Culley had.
Smith will get to see if he can help build the next “Bulls on Parade” defense.
Davis Mills will get the chance to start the entire 2022 NFL Season
When Davis Mills entered the Week 2 game against the Cleveland Browns last year, no one knew what to expect. We all know that Mills eventually became one of the better rookie quarterbacks in the league and that his upside and potential are limitless at this point.
Mills will benefit from Laremy Tunsil returning and Kenyon Green anchoring the interior. In addition, John Metchie, once healthy, will get a chance to prove that he’s still a dynamic weapon. On top of all this, running back help arrived in the form of Marlon Mack and Dameon Pierce.
All of this, combined with Pep Hamilton’s new offense, should utilize Mills’ deep ball more often, which hopefully, in turn, opens up the running game. The AFC South is pretty weak as a whole, and the Texans could make some noise if everything aligns.
The offense will be the reason this team sinks or swims in 2022.
Nick Caserio now has his regime installed
It always takes a while to get rid of the players that don’t align with the fit of what a general manager wants to do. But, after getting a premium of picks for Deshaun Watson and moving on from others like Justin Reid, Caserio now has the foundation of the team he wants.
Caserio’s draft in 2022 is on paper so much better than that of 2021. Of course, having two first-round picks helps that cause. But it’s also what Caserio did in the second and third rounds of the draft.
Those players like Jalen Pitre, John Metchie, and Christian Harris are all examples of great depth pieces found in the draft. Those all have a chance to start and make an impact on this team, and the undrafted free agents are also pretty impressive.
The Texans still have a long way to go, but they’re on their way to getting back to what they knew for the last decade, and that’s a winning culture.
Slowly but surely, the Texans are getting better.