The Houston Texans shelled out this past offseason in hopes of developing a well-respected offense.
Just one example would be the contract given out to ex-Bronco Brock Osweiler, which measures out to $72,000,000 over four years per Spotrac. Houston signed Osweiler on the basis of the small sample of Osweiler’s playing time. He was largely limited to being thought of as an understudy to Peyton Manning while with Denver; but the Texans organization thought the 6’7″ signal-caller was much more than just a backup.
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Osweiler did get partial chances to prove himself in games, and in the seven games that Osweiler started last season, the former ASU Sun Devil had a 5-2 record. More than that, projecting his stats over a 16-game season, Osweiler charted out to 4,183 yards, nearly 21 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and a 62.2 completion percentage. This spoke volumes to Houston, which last season saw a playoff team, albeit with four different starting quarterbacks. Houston signed Osweiler with the intention of finally having a franchise quarterback that the organization has long sought.
Furthermore, do not blame the Houston front office for lack of trying to field talent all around their new quarterback. In the 2016 draft alone, the team spent their first three round picks on players who could very well make a large impact on offense. Their first and third round picks were both wide receivers, Will Fuller and Braxton Miller, respectively. Will Fuller is a tremendous deep threat for Osweiler’s gifted arm and Braxton Miller, if coached correctly, could turn out to be an explosive game-changer. Rounding out the rest of the receiving corps with DeAndre Hopkins, Cecil Shorts, and Jaelen Strong, this should be a unit to be feared.
The Texans also spent their second round pick on an offensive lineman out of Notre Dame, Nick Martin, who projects (via Ourlads) to be the team’s starting center come opening day. Along with their draft picks, Houston also signed Lamar Miller as their starting runningback. Miller will only be 25 this coming season and still looks to improve on back to back seasons where he averaged at least 4.5 yards per carry and eight rushing touchdowns.
Houston is in hopes that Osweiler can finally lead their team to be a continuous favorite in the AFC. The organization has spent multiple picks and quite a bit of money ensuring that the quarterback will have plenty of help around him, the only thing now to do is to wait and see how Osweiler will play in 2016.