HOUSTON TEXANS (4-12)

Projected 2021 win total:

LAST YEAR: The Texans stumbled to an 0-4 start that cost coach Bill O’Brien his job. Romeo Crennel took over, but things didn’t get much better and the Texans finished 4-12 after winning the AFC South the previous two seasons. QB Deshaun Watson led the NFL with a career-high 4,823 yards passing, but his performance wasn’t enough to overcome a terrible running game and run defense. IMPORTANT ADDITIONS: Coach David Culley, QB Tyrod Taylor, QB Davis Mills, RB Mark Ingram, DL Shaq Lawson, RB Phillip Lindsay, LB Kevin Pierre-Louis, LB Christian Kirksey, WR Donte Moncrief, C Justin Britt, CB Desmond King, DT Maliek Collins, LB Joe Thomas.

IMPORTANT LOSSES: DE J.J. Watt, WR Will Fuller, ILB Benardrick McKinney, C Nick Martin, RB Duke Johnson, P Bryan Anger, TE Darren Fells.

NOTES: It has become increasingly likely that Watson won’t play this season. Watson’s future with the team is in question after 22 women filed lawsuits alleging that he sexually assaulted or harassed them. His relationship with the team was already tenuous before his legal problems after he requested a trade earlier this year, unhappy with the direction of the team. Without Watt, the face of the franchise for the last decade, the defense must establish a new identity. It will be up to young and talented players such as safety Justin Reid and linebacker Zach Cunningham, who ranked second in the NFL in tackles last season, to take ownership of the unit as it tries to bounce back from last season’s struggles.

EXPECTATIONS: It’s already shaping up as a difficult first season for Culley, a longtime NFL assistant in his first head coaching job at 65. It’s tough to imagine the Texans will be any better this season if Watson doesn’t play and with Watt, the three-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year, gone to Arizona.