Texans Roundup: 2 Offensive players of interest for ’22

There are a couple new Houston Texans to watch this offseason who will help the team.

New additions happen every season in the NFL, so for the 2022 Houston Texans, they have added players to the roster who weren’t on the team when they finished 4-13 last season.

Two players on offense who have joined the roster who are players to keep an eye on for the 2022 season are players who have had some tough injuries to overcome recently in their career. If healthy, though, they will make the Texans a much better team than they were last season.

Those players are rookie wide receiver John Metchie III and veteran running back Marlon Mack.

Both have had to overcome tough injuries as Metchie is still recovering from an ACL tear suffered during the College Football Playoff National Championship game in January, and Mack had to overcome and recover from an Achilles injury from Week 1 of the 2020 season.

If both players can return to close to 100-percent, then the Texans are in store for a surprise season because Metchie in the slot can become a special player, and if Mack gets back to where he was in 2018 and 2019, then he’ll be the best Texans rusher in recent memory.

Looking closer at Metchie III, he has the ability to become a household name for many NFL fans by his play on the field. At Alabama, Metchie in 2020 and 2021 had the following receiving seasons:

2020: 13 games, 55 receptions, 916 yards, 16.7 yards per reception, six touchdowns.

2021: 13 games, 96 receptions, 1,142 yards, 11.9 yards per reception, eight touchdowns.

For his entire career with the Crimson Tide (three seasons), Metchie totaled 155 receptions for 2,081 yards with 14 touchdowns, as he averaged 13.4 yards per reception in those three seasons at Alabama.

Granted, the NFL will be much tougher than playing at the collegiate level, but the Texans have a player who can help re-energize the offense into a unit who can put some fear in opponents in ’22.

Texans: Marlon Mack has much-needed veteran experience

Speaking of putting fear into opponents, Marlon Mack at running back for Houston has the chance to make the opposition actually respect the rushing game of the Texans, because last season for most of the schedule that wasn’t the case.

Rex Burkhead was the most consistent rusher for the Texans last season, so even though he has an important role on the roster, he shouldn’t be the best running back on the team. General Manager Nick Caserio this offseason is taking a chance on Mack to be that player who lifts the Houston rushing game to a respectable level.

Mack is a former 1,000-yard rusher, and he played very little in ’21 due to the brilliance that is Colts running back Jonathan Taylor. Mack became expendable to Indianapolis, and that worked out well for Houston as Mack is now the penciled-in starter at running back when training camp arrives.

Metchie and Mack can spark the offense of the Texans, they can make the unit respectable, and hopefully they can be big reasons for this team to win more games than they have the past two seasons.

Time will tell how all of this turns out, but in late May on the pages of the Toro Times, optimism is high and the excitement is hard to contain as we all wait for the ’22 season to begin.