Ranking and grading the Houston Texans uniform variants from least impressive to most impressive

The Houston Texans have finally unveiled their new uniforms for the upcoming 2024 season and they're far better than expected. After the leaks of the away uniforms, a lot of fans clowned on the uniforms for looking far too like prior uniforms released by other teams. Namely the Atlanta Falcons. Well, as it turns out, the uniforms are far crisper and far more exciting than anything we had hoped for.

Though, some are less impressive than others, and that's ok. The Houston Texans combined the classic look that they've largely kept since the team's inception in 2002, while also updating the alternate looks to be more stylized and unique to really anyone else's on the market.

The combination of the two styles, old and new, really made the uniforms pop and stand out against one another, not only exciting the fanbase but unifying it too. Not all fans wanted bombastic new uniforms, while other fans did. The Texans combined the two ideas and combined them into a showcase that represents the past, present, and future of the Texans.

That said, we're going to rate them against one another as we try to conclude which ones are the best and why. Before we begin, however, let's just point out that these aren't perfect, but they are fantastic. I'll explain my criticism, albeit minor, as we go through these item by item. They are fantastic, but if we had control of the decision, we would've done things a bit differently.

No. 4 - The Standard Aways

The Houston Texans' away uniforms are arguably the most simple and basic of them all. The colors are different than what we've seen before, with a white jersey and a darker color for the pants and helmets. In the past, it used to be a deep, dark blue, but now it appears as though the new color scheme is closer to black, giving it a look to that of the Chicago Bears.

The color isn't something I'm too excited about but the jersey's design is crisp and new. The numbers are sharp and sleek and the text stands out against the white backdrop of the uniforms. The helemets have a fantastic logo and have had it since its inception, maintaining it was the right call.

While we want to see some more unique designs with the franchise's uniforms, having alternates embrace an alternate logo on the helmet is the way to go, that way the more standard uniforms can still rock and maintain the identity that's been developed and cultivated since 2002.

What makes these the least impressive is the simple color scheme, however, and the lack of anything flashy. While these are necessary in a sense, because they connect the fandom to the beginning of the franchise, that doesn't mean they match the stellar look of the new designs.

Grade: B

No.3 - The Standard Homes

The standard home designs are pretty in line with what we've seen for the last two decades, albeit with some different aspects. The new home color scheme is closer to the original than the new home aways, with it being a far more obvious, but deeper shade of blue. The dark blue has been the backbone of the Houston Texans' color palette for decades. Keeping it once again connects the old and the new, bringing together ears.

The style of the uniform matches that of the new away uniforms, with that sleek new lettering and fantastic stylized number design.

The white pants were a great touch, as you'll see as move on to the new alternates, it's nice to break up the colors some. The white pants still have the blue and red of the Texans logo, but it looks to be a two-color stripe on the side of their thighs. Highlighted by the Texans logo at the top, serving as almost an exclamation point.

It was a wise move to keep most of the iconic look of the prior uniforms that the Texans used, as it keeps the tradition alive while embracing the future.

Grade: B+

No. 2 - The Alternative Blues

This is where we start talking about some negatives a bit more. Yes, this is my second favorite look, but it is also my most disappointing. I'm not well up on the rules of jerseys and colors, and how many different colors can be used for the jerseys, but the Houston Texans missed out big time with these ones.

Still a deep blue color, the uniforms have the same look as the others, but this one is modified with a different simple to the helmets. It's here where things shine most. The "H" is an incredible-looking logo, but it's the color scheme of the logo that has me enchanted. The light blue and deep red is a perfect combination and one that both harkens to the past of the city, namely with the Houston Oilers, and the present with the Houston Texans.

It's bold, dynamic and it's stellar. While the "H" itself is fine, the color scheme makes it pop

What I have issues with is that they didn't do enough of that light-blue coloring on the uniforms. That would have popped so well. A missed opportunity. Another missed opportunity is the singular color for both the jerseys and the pants, it makes everything look more like pajamas than football attire.

I think had they switched up the blue pants, with the red pants for our top selection, thins would look a lot sharper.

Grade: A-

No. 1 - The Alternative Reds

The red alternates are by far my favorite designs. The blue and home designs have the same jersey design, while the white and red ones share another. This is most obvious on the shoulders, where it looks to have a Toro's horn wrapping around that portion of the jersey. That's something else I wish was more uniform with all four of the variants.

The red just pops, however. Red isn't a very common look among NFL teams, and so to see more of it is great. One could argue that teams like the Arizona Cardinals make us want to see less of the red jerseys but paired with this deep blue, the red really pops like nothing else we've seen in the NFL today.

The helmet's logo is also top notch, with the Toros horn taking the place of the Texans bull symbol that we've seen for over two decades. It's a great switch-up and helps make the red uniforms feel so much more imposing.

Yet, the gripe I have with these is again the single-color look of the jerseys and pants. The same red color gives it an odd pajama-like look that is hard to not notice. It doesn't make these bad by any means, these are fantastic, but if I were doing these, I would have either done that light blue we saw on the prior helmets or the blue from the all-blue alts we saw previously.

Still, A-tier level design work here. The Texans should be proud of how fresh these look as a whole

Grade: A