The Houston Texans improved this offseason immensely. There are still holes, like on the offensive line (Tytus Howard) and the secondary (Jimmie Ward), but for the most part, this team looks better in 2024 than it did in 2023. It is a long season though and guys will perform better and worse throughout the year. So it's too early to say for sure who is and isn't a great piece of the team.
That said, after just one week, the Houston Texans are regretting replacing Blake Cashman with Azeez Al-Shaair. Cashman wasn't retained by the Texans in the offseason and instead joined his fellow former teammate Jonathan Greenard in Minnesota with the Vikings. The Texans wanted Al-Shaair on the team, signing him away from the Tennesee Titans. That signing, coupled with the potential that Henry To'oto'o and Christian Harris have seemed to be all the team needed to justify moving on from Cashman.
After one week, however, that looks like a mistake. Al-Shaair had five tackles and a pass deflection in Week 1 against the Colts. Yet, Pro Football Focus gave him a score for the week of just 43.1. A miserable score for someone who is supposed to be an upgrade over Cashman. Al-Shaair's PFF score was the fourth worst on the Texans' defense for the week.
Cashman, on the other hand, posted a PFF score of 74.0 and had six total tackles for the Vikings in week one. A lot of the Vikings played well, and Cashman had the eight-highest score on the defense, which included 10 players with a grade of 68.0 or higher. Ironically, it was in the one area where both men needed to excel where the core difference relies.
Al-Shaair scored just 47.8 against the Colts passing game, while Cashman scored 67.6 against the Giants passing game. Neither man played great or even good quarterbacks in Week 1, so to see Al-Shaair struggle, doesn't fill me or others with a lot of hope. Cashman was arguably the best coverage linebacker the Texans had in 2023 and they let him go. If Al-Shaair doesn't improve, then they'll have to let a good player like Cashman go for less than nothing.
Hopefully Al-Shaair rebounds in Week 2 against the Chicago Bear. A task that seems likely on paper.