The Houston Texans will be a better football team in 2022, and here are ways they will show that improvement.
On July 29, the Houston Texans are scheduled to open their 2022 training camp. What can we expect from the team this year?
When thinking about the upcoming 2022 NFL season for the Houston Texans, there’s excitement for the start of another phase of rebuilding the franchise, and all that can happen this year. Some feel the Texans will be the worst team in the NFL. That shouldn’t be the case, while others believe that Houston can be a surprise team, and even battle for a division championship.
That’s a tough one to believe right now too, as Houston still has to prove they can play better defense, run the football much better, and be an overall more consistent team when it comes to finishing games and being competitive for all four quarters … especially in the third quarter.
This is when the start of training camp comes into play, because for every team in the NFL — whether it be the reigning Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams, or the last-place Jacksonville Jaguars — all 32 teams need to have an organized and solid training camp to at least get off on the right foot in the early stages of the regular season.
Houston’s season can go a number of ways as the past two seasons have shown that with consecutive four-win seasons, but before all of that happens, let’s have a little fun and make some predictions … in fact, let’s make some BOLD predictions before training camp begins.
Next are three bold predictions for the Texans, one for offense, one for defense, and then a random prediction for either offense or defense.
Houston Texans: 3 Bold Predictions for 2022 before training camp starts
3. Texans QB Davis Mills will lead the NFL in passing yardage in 2022
Here is the deal with Texans quarterback Davis Mills … he is going to be better than many believe. Mills showed a lot of progression from the start of the 2021 season to the end of the same season that it is easy to trust him under center for the ’22 season, and hopefully beyond that, too.
One thing going into training camp and thinking about last season is Houston needs to throw the football to win games. If they can make their opponents respect their rushing game more than last season — OK, much more than last season — this is where Mills being the passing leader comes into play.
Houston doesn’t have to be the best running team in the NFL in ’22, but for Mills to have the opportunity to shine this upcoming season, Houston needs more first downs with their running game, and that will give the Texans’ offense more plays offensively.
The Texans averaged 59.4 plays of offense per game last season, putting them 30th overall in the NFL. In comparison, the Baltimore Ravens were first in the league in plays per game on offense with an average of 69.7.
Houston did improve their number of plays average in the final three games of the season to 60.7 plays per game, and that’s when the overall play of Mills was better. Mills can be a very nice quarterback for the Texans if given the time to throw passes.
He has an undervalued wide receiving trio with Brandin Cooks, Nico Collins and rookie John Metchie III, plus two tight ends working to be better players as well (Brevin Jordan and Pharaoh Brown), so if they get better, and the receivers play solid football, then Mills will get the passing yards needed to compete to lead the NFL in passing yards for the 2022 season.
2. Texans defense will force more turnovers in 2022
Last season, the Houston Texans’ defense forced 17 interceptions and eight fumble recoveries for a total of 25 takeaways, and for the 2022 season, Houston’s defense can do even better.
In ’21, Houston was ninth in the league in interceptions and 19th in fumble recoveries, so even with a defense that didn’t have the best players, and a few changes throughout the season, the unit was still decent in forcing turnovers as they were 12th overall in total turnovers forced.
Houston has worked this offseason to be better on defense with three rookies drafted in Derek Stingley Jr. (cornerback), Jalen Pitre (safety) and Christian Harris (linebacker) who will be difference makers, and more than that, they are talented enough to force turnovers on any given play.
Desmond King II was tied for the team lead in interceptions last season with three, as his ’21 teammate Lonnie Johnson also had three with the Texans, but he’s since moved on to the Kansas City Chiefs.
Christian Kirksey led Houston last season with two fumble recoveries, and with his return on the defense, that’s huge for Houston because the veteran can work with Harris during his rookie season to become an even better player than he was with Alabama.
All that needs to be said is this … with the Texans in their second season with Lovie Smith in charge of the defense, and with the rookie and veteran mix on the roster, don’t be surprised if Houston gains more takeaways with their defense in 2022.
1. Jonathan Greenard will be breakout player on team in 2022
The one player who showed improvement in 2021, but can — and will — do even more in 2022 is defensive end Jonathan Greenard. The defensive end has played in 25 games combined in his first two seasons in the league since being drafted 90th overall in 2020.
In his second season, Greenard had eight sacks, and that number can be much better in ’21 if his progression continues from year two to year three. In ’20 as a rookie, Greenard totaled one sack, but with his +7 sack improvement in ’21, the hope is that positive increases even more, because Greenard is a talented player.
Houston’s defense will be better overall as a unit than it was a season ago, and if that happens, then the prediction of Greenard being the breakout player of the unit will not only come to fruition, the boldest prediction of all is he’ll improve his sack total from ’21
That means if Greenard can play a complete schedule of 17 games for the first time in his career, and improves another +7 sacks this season, that would make his have 15 sacks in ’22. That would be a tremendous feat for sure, and these could be lofty expectations, but being his third year, the Texans really need him to be a breakout player for this defense to improve.
Houston has the core players to be a better defense than they were last season, and Greenard is one of those players that will make them a better unit. Saying he’ll have another seven-sack gain in ’22 is lofty, but it is also a bold statement that can happen if others on the defense improve their game, too.