The 5 best quarterbacks the Houston Texans will face in 2023

The Houston Texans will face Trevor Lawrence and the Jacksonville Jaguars twice since they reside in the same division.  These two matchups will be huge for the Texans in 2023.  If they have any aspirations of getting into the playoffs, I think it will have to be as AFC South champions.  I don’t think a wildcard will come out of this division.

Trevor Lawrence came into his own last season, looking like a completely different quarterback, especially in the second half of the season.  With new head coach Doug Pederson in town to help develop Lawrence, he did what Urban Meyer was unable to do, coach an NFL team.

Lawrence threw more pass attempts his rookie year (602) than he did last season but more than doubled his touchdowns, with only 12 his rookie year to a solid 25 last season.  He also increased his yardage total from 3,641 to 4,113 yards last season.  Additionally, his completion rate went from 59.6 percent in 2021 to 66.3 last year.

By the time the season is over, we may very well be looking at Lawrence as the best quarterback the Texans will face all season.  But until proven, I have him fourth among the quarterbacks on their schedule.  The two matchups will take place in weeks three and 12.

This is one that some fans will probably look at me cross-eyed and question if I have any clue what I’m talking about.  Look, Burrow is good but I think there are better quarterbacks in the league, particularly two of them the Houston Texans will face in 2023.  I’m not taking anything away from Burrow but I think a lot of what he does is due to the talent around him.  Kudos to him for utilizing that talent to its fullest though.

We could go into the 2023 season and Burrow has a phenomenal season, winning league MVP and a Super Bowl too.  If that happens, I’ll be the first to admit when I’m wrong but let’s be honest, is there a team with a greater collection of talent around him?  And yes, you can probably say that about a lot of the great quarterbacks.

But look at Mahomes, people said he was going to regress due to the loss of Tyreek Hill.  The collection of receivers on the Chiefs was less than stellar, good but nothing spectacular.  Yes, he has Travis Kelce but everyone else was complimentary pieces.  You can say the same about Josh Allen, outside of Stefon Diggs, the rest of the receivers aren’t special.

That said, the Bengals will be a tough team for the Texans to beat.  Burrow is a very good quarterback, and the offense is elite with that trio of wide receivers.  This game takes place during Week Ten and the Texans’ secondary will have their hands full.

I know, I know, some people will look at this and say I'm crazy for not ranking Rodgers number one and that's fine, I get it.  But hear me out.  Rodgers didn't look all that special a season ago and he's 39 years old.  That wall is coming at some point, just like it did for Peyton Manning.

Many quarterbacks hit that wall without warning too.  One season they are just fine, then suddenly, they are a shell of their former self.  Rodgers tossed 26 touchdown passes last season, but his 2.2 percent interception rate was the fourth-highest of his career.  He threw for 3,695 yards in 2022.  Excluding 2017, when he only played in seven games, you have to go back to 2015 to find the last season he didn’t have more than 4,000 yards.

Like Carr, he’s headed to a new team, coming from Green Bay and joining the Jets for the 2023 season.  I’m not fully sold that Rodgers can be the same Rodgers that just won back-to-back league MVPs but given how good he’s been in the past and a solid collection of talent around him, I’m comfortable rating him as the second-best quarterback the Texans will face in 2023.

We can look forward to this matchup in Week 14.  At that point in the season, we’ll know if Rodgers is the Rodgers of old or if he’s hit that wall.  We’ll also know just how good the Texans’ defense will be and if the team will be solidly in the playoff hunt.