It may come as no surprise to Houston sports fans that the Texans may have the worst roster in the entire NFL.
So says ESPN at least. According to ESPN’s Ben Linsey, who looks at the biggest strength, weakness, and X-factor for the Texans, the problem’s with Houston’s roster can be found with their offensive line.
Biggest weakness: Houston’s defensive line ranked dead last in PFF overall grade as a unit (47.0) in 2020. And that was despite J.J. Watt earning an 85.4 overall grade on more than 1,000 defensive snaps. It’s hard to have much optimism surrounding this group with Shaq Lawson stepping in for Watt. The Texans will need younger players, such as Charles Omenihu and Ross Blacklock, to take big steps forward if their defensive line is to be anything other than the NFL’s worst such unit again this season.
The biggest strength on the Texans’ roster is left tackle Laremy Tunsil, who has proven to be a tremendous pass protector in the last two seasons with two Pro Bowl selections to show for it.
Houston’s wild-card is quarterback Tyrod Taylor, and Linsey notes that the former Pro Bowler was a three-year starter for the Buffalo Bills before becoming a backup.
One of the biggest problem’s with Houston’s roster is the abundance of transient players who are on one-year contracts. The Texans don’t particularly have players they can rely on for the long-term. Positions that may be “solved” for 2021 will come up as a need to be addressed in 2022.
However, first-year general manager Nick Caserio says churning the roster is part of the nature of pro football.
“25 to 30% of the team is going to be new anyway,” Caserio told “Payne & Pendergast” on Sports Radio 610 [KILT-AM] on June 14. “So, again, what you try to do is look at what you’re dealing with right now with your team and each year is different. Each team is going to be different.
“We’ve added a number of new players to our team. I think that’s been talked about throughout the course of the spring. So, again, we just try to do what we felt was best for our situation.”