The Houston Texans have defied expectations to start the 2023 season. The Texans, who finished the 2022 season with just three wins have already passed that win total this season with four wins. Granted, we're only talking four wins, not 14, but it's still a huge jump. It took the team 18 weeks last year to amass three wins, but so far through nine, the Texans already have four.
Part of the reason for the success of the team has been DeMeco Ryans, the Texans' new rookie head coach. Ryans, who spent time with the team as a player in the 2000s returned to the franchise this past offseason, replacing Lovie Smith as the team's head coach. Under Ryans, the Texans have jumped up in terms of quality. The team is far more competitive and both the offense and defenses are greatly improved.
It's not just Ryans, obviously, as the team seemed to have landed the offensive rookie of the year in C.J. Stroud. Stroud has been everything the Texans could've hoped for after they drafted the quarterback second overall in the 2023 NFL Draft. The former Ohio State alum has out-played the first-overall pick, Bryce Young, and has led the Texans to the point where they may qualify for the playoffs.
And while the NFL is a two-way game, we decided it'd be nice to look at the five highest-rated offensive players the Texans have via Pro Football Focus. PFF is far from a perfect outlet, but they do provide a bit of an idea of what is going on. So we're going to look at who they have rated in the top five. This list will go from the fifth highest to the highest-rated player.