Offense

Defense

A Tale of Two Teams

Perhaps no team was a bigger disappointment in 2010 than the Houston Texans. Following an impressive end to the 2009 season, many pro football experts and media had the Texans as their preseason playoff darlings. Heading into the bye week Houston sat atop the AFC South with a 4-2 record, but it quickly unraveled from there. A historically bad pass defense caused the club to give away games and helped lead to a second half collapse that saw them lose 8 of 10 games and end the season with a 6-10 record.

In a bit of a surprise, the Texans are returning both Head Coach Gary Kubiak and General Manager Rick Smith. There’s no questioning that Kubiak is a skilled offensive coach. His offense finished third if the NFL in total yardage and helped Arian Foster to emerge as the 2010 NFL rushing leader.

The Texans problems were on the other side of the ball. The team finished in the upper half of the league in rush defense, but that number is deceptive. The league worst pass defense caused teams to continually torch the inexperienced secondary. A lack of consistent pass rush also contributed to the defensive woes. With only 30 sacks, opposing quarterbacks had far too much time to stand in the pocket and pick apart the coverage. In a bid to improve their most glaring weakness, the Texans hired  Wade Phillips to install his 3-4 defensive scheme.

Fantasy Recap

• Arian Foster certainly delivered on the promise he showed with two late starts at the tail end of 2009. The former un-drafted free agent from Tennessee led the NFL in rushing yards (1,616), total yards from scrimmage (2,220), and touchdowns (18).  He will enter the 2011 season as the universal #1 running back pick in all of fantasy football.

• Andre Johnson battled a bum knee all season but still managed to put up his usual outstanding numbers. Despite missing three games, he still finished 6th in the NFL in both receptions (86) and receiving yards (1216). Johnson turns 30 this year but remains a hugely consistent and productive target that should still be the first wide out selected in nearly every fantasy football league again in 2011.

Team Needs:

• Houston let Dunta Robinson go to Atlanta as a free agent and drafted Alabama’s Kareem Jackson to replace him. Jackson looked hopelessly overwhelmed as a rookie. Second year player Glover Quinn followed up his promising rookie campaign by struggling badly in 2010. In 32 combined starts, Jackson and Quinn only managed to intercept five passes. No doubt the Texans will target a physical cornerback in free agency or early in the 2011 NFL Draft.

• One key to switching from a 4-3 to a 3-4 defense is to plug a huge, physical defensive lineman in above the center to shut down running lanes and demand constant double teams to allow the defensive ends to beat one on one coverage and get to the quarterback. As this is a new position to the Texans, they are likely to address this with a veteran free agent. Since the 2011 NFL Draft appears to have a very deep class of defensive lineman, Houston will likely be looking for defensive line depth in the 2nd or 3rd rounds.

• Safety was no less of a concern for the Texans secondary. Veterans Eugene Wilson and Bernard Pollard didn’t intercept a single pass all season. There are talks of moving CB Glover Quinn to fee safety, but the Texans will certainly be targeting a ball-hawking safety either through free agency or the first half of the Draft.

• Andre Johnson’s greatness can’t be overstated. He constantly demands double coverage and still puts up huge statistics. Opponents are able to try to blanket Johnson because the Texans haven’t had a real threat to line up opposite of him. Though Kevin Walter has been a good contributor, Jacoby Jones has largely been a disappointment. Drafting a big downfield threat with good hands, and moving Walter inside would make a very good Texans passing game even more dangerous.

Draft Prediction:

The Texans have the 11th pick in the 2011 NFL Draft. If Nebraska cornerback Prince Amukamara is available, he likely would be too good to pass up. In a dream scenario the club could also add the draft’s second best nose tackle if Baylor’s Phil Taylor were to slide into the second round. Another prospect to keep an eye on for the team is Boise State wide receiver Titus Young. Young is smallish (5’11″ 174) but has drawn favorable  comparisons to DeSean Jackson as a potential downfield threat and return man…something the Texans have needed for quite some time.