Houston Texans hit reset, believe Deshaun Watson is enough

The Houston Texans created a gaping hole by trading DeAndre Hopkins but hitting the reset button shows they believe Deshaun Watson is enough.

The last time we saw the Houston Texans, they were blowing a 24-0 lead to the eventual Super Bowl champions. They have a lot of offseason work to do in order to shore up this defense, and that would still be true if a number of important pieces weren’t heading for free agency. As it stands, Houston needs to make some big decisions this spring and summer.

Free agent-to-be Bradley Roby was re-signed, but Jonathan Joseph is still a free agent. It seems unlikely he returns. Joseph is getting up there in age and may not garner a starter’s workload anymore. Defensive tackle D.J. Reader is also a free agent. Along with some depth pieces, that is a lot of snaps heading out the door on a defense that already wasn’t living up to big-name expectations.

Burying the lede here a bit, because on offense things look drastically different. Only the running back position was supposed to be in flux with free agency pending. Lamar Miller and Carlos Hyde are free agents, leaving the position up to Duke Johnson alone. Johnson has no guaranteed money on his deal, and his release could save the Texans $4 million.

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That was all before Houston “addressed” the running back spot by caving in the entirety of its offense. One of the best wide receivers in football, DeAndre Hopkins, was sent out the door essentially for David Johnson and a second-round pick. This would have been a fascinating trade entering 2017. In 2020, Johnson is arguably a net negative in a trade considering his contract and his production the past three seasons.

The hole left in Houston’s offense means the team is hitting reset. It also means they believe a lot in Deshaun Watson. He can do it all and must now without a proven star in his arsenal.

Dan Salem and Todd Salem debate the Houston Texans in today’s NFL sports debate.

Todd Salem:

Instead of building around Hopkins and Deshaun Watson, the Texans now have Watson paired with two receiving running backs and no clear No. 1 option on the outside. By default, that top billing falls to Will Fuller.

Fuller was a potential cap cut before this Hopkins trade. He has so much potential but can’t stay healthy. Fuller is still just 25 years old and has put together incredible stretches of production, but he hasn’t played more than 11 games in a season anytime in the last three years. His career-high in receptions came in last year’s 11 games: 49 catches.

Despite his ceiling, the production likely does not match the cost if Fuller’s expected to miss a quarter of the season at minimum. Fuller’s release would have saved the team more than $10 million in cap space. Cutting Kenny Stills would have saved another $7 million. Instead of jettisoning all of or any of Duke Johnson, Fuller, and Stills, O’Brien sent Hopkins away and added David Johnson’s money. Huh?

With no second-round pick, the team will be waiting quite a while to make a selection in the NFL Draft. It is already out its first-round pick after the Laremy Tunsil/Stills trade with Miami. With so much work to do defensively, it’s certainly not ideal to also pull a reset with the offense around your star quarterback.

O’Brien had been roundly criticized as being a bad general manager even before this Hopkins trade and sacrificing most of the 2020 draft. He likes to pull win-now moves for questionable talent. He also, apparently, can’t get along with great locker room guys such as Hopkins.

This had felt like a franchise on the rise even as it scuffled in the postseason. That was due almost entirely to its peerless star duo. That duo has been split in half, and Houston will be hard-pressed to recover. If another season ends prematurely, the coach O’Brien should have beef with the GM O’Brien about not setting him up for success, and both will likely be out of work.

Dan Salem:

Many people deserve the benefit of the doubt, but O’Brien is not one of them. His Texans have yet to get over the proverbial hump, despite playing in a very winnable division season after season. On first look the Hopkins deal is horrible, but in Houston’s defense, the team was ranked a mere 15th in passing offense last season. It’s hard to imagine them getting better without the league’s best wide receiver, but they weren’t exactly dominating with him.

Perhaps O’Brien believes his team’s success hinges solely on the shoulders of Watson. He’s a star quarterback who can throw to anybody, a la Tom Brady. Despite the truth of that statement, having a player like Hopkins changes literally everything about your offense and its production.

Johnson has the potential to be great but is not coming off a great season. The draft is deep at wide receiver, but banking on finding a diamond in the rough with a late-round pick is foolish at best and self-destructive at worst. Houston has a problem.

It’s certainly a good idea to get as much as possible for a player if you don’t believe it’s worth paying them for a longterm contract. The reality is not so simple, because one has to believe Houston could have gotten more draft capital for Hopkins.

Johnson had to have been a coveted asset of O’Brien — why else would he make this particular move? A vintage Johnson will change the Texans’ offense, likely for the better as Watson ages. But no one is putting money on Johnson having a vintage season in 2020. No one.

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I still like Watson’s Texans as a whole this season, but Tennessee and the Philip Rivers led Colts are certainly going to stand firmly in their way of repeating as AFC South champions. Losing your second-best player is never easy and fans have every right to be upset over this one. This is now your football team and thankfully the AFC is still well within reach. Kansas City is obviously the team to beat, but everyone else is in the exact same spot.

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