If you had told me the Houston Texans would be considered among the top ten teams one year ago, I would’ve thought we resigned J.J. Watt and he went into his prime 2014 form again. The fact that a rookie QB and DE can change the trajectory of a franchise is absolutely insane, but C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr. have proven their names are respected across the league. With C.J. Stroud specifically, many star NFL players have expressed their want to play with the improviser. Stefon Diggs, for example, enjoyed playing with Stroud so much during the Pro Bowl that he was rumored to have been asking people around the league what Houston was like before he was ultimately traded for in early April.

Offseason Improvers

The additions of star defensive end Danielle Hunter and running back Joe Mixon have also propelled the Texans to the high expectations they entail. Joe Mixon finished with 1034 rushing yards last year, which ranked eighth among all running backs. Hunter, on the other end, dominated the defensive front with 16.5 sacks, ranking fifth among all defensive ends. The addition of these key players in free agency, among other names such as linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair (who finished fifth in total tackles last year), has shown the identity that head coach Demeco Ryans and general manager Nick Caserio have built. Since the signing of Ryans and the hiring of Caserio, the Texans have built their team from the ground up, displaying the commitment the ownership has to the fanbase and the city of Houston. With a 10-7 finish to last year’s season, including an AFC South Championship banner and a playoff Wild Card blowout against the Cleveland Browns, the Houston Texans have since received their opponents for next season. With this success last year and the addition of new free agents, it is no surprise that the strength of schedule for the Texans has definitely increased from last year to this year, with having to face star quarterbacks and teams such as the Chiefs, Cowboys, and Lions.

Overall, however, the Texans should be able to hold their own, especially with these new additions to their offense and defense from free agency.

The Draft

Not only did the Texans get vital additions from free agency, but they also received many day-one starters from the draft. With their first pick in the draft, for example, they selected cornerback Kamari Lassiter from Georgia. At Georgia, Lassiter allowed zero touchdowns, 136 receiving yards in 408 coverage snaps, 15 catches allowed, and only a 38.5 reception percentage. The only concern with Lassiter is his less-than-ideal 4.62 40 time that he displayed in the NFL Combine this year, but there are some speculations from NFL personnel that his time was closer to 4.5-4.51. This was a stellar pick from the front office, as they recognized the need for players in the secondary that the Texans lacked on their roster.

The Texans also addressed their need at offensive tackle by drafting Blake Fisher from Notre Dame University. With this pick, the Texans are able to bolster their offensive line that was hurt for the majority of the season, and they are able to better protect C.J. Stroud, something that was needed in their AFC Divisional loss to the Baltimore Ravens. In this loss, the offensive line wasn’t able to give Stroud any time to create plays for his teammates, which led to the only touchdown being on a punt return. The Texans also drafted Safety Calen Bullock out of USC in the third round to further boost their secondary’s strength. The addition of the other rookies drafted (Cade Stover Ohio State University, Jamal Hill Oregon, Jawhar Jordan Louisville, Solomon Byrd USC, Marcus Harris Auburn, and LaDarious Henderson Michigan) will help the Texans win and hopefully repeat as AFC South Champions.

Overall Predictions

With the additions the Texans made over the off-season, the Texans will be better than last season and fans should be optimistic about the results the team will have. Since the schedule hasn’t been officially released yet, I don’t want to make direct predictions and I want to leave that for future articles; however, I do believe the Texans will end in the 12-13 total win range, which may secure them a bye in the first round of the playoffs and will definitely pose them in a favorable position to go far in the playoffs.