Big decisions on horizon
Entering his first season in dual role, O’Brien has several key positions to fill
O’Brien must address pivotal positions as free agency looms.
As the Texans approach the start of free agency and continue to prepare for the draft, Bill O’Brien has decisions to make at key positions on both sides of the ball. Let’s start with the offense. Among O’Brien’s priorities will be to find a running back to replace Carlos Hyde, who’s coming off a 1,074-yard season, the best of his six-year career.
The Texans appear to have moved on from Hyde, who turns 30 in September, after they were unable to sign him to a new contract.
O’Brien, the coach/general manager, can look for Hyde’s replacement in a trade, free agency or the draft.
The free-agent class of running backs, led by Melvin Gordon and Kenyan Drake, isn’t impressive.
Trader Bill isn’t shy about making deals. He revamped his backfield last year by making two trades that worked out well.
During training camp, O’Brien wanted a back to come off the bench behind Lamar Miller. He acquired Duke Johnson from Cleveland for the conditional third-round pick the Texans received last week.
When Miller suffered a seasonending knee injury in a preseason game at Dallas, O’Brien sent guard Martinas Rankin to Kansas City for Hyde.
Hyde responded with his first 1,000-yard season. Playing behind Hyde, Johnson had 410 yards rushing, 410 yards receiving and five touchdowns.
The Texans need to add a receiver in the draft or free agency. It’s the deepest position in the draft. The Texans have one pick in the second round, one in the third and two in the fourth.
Because Will Fuller and Kenny Stills are entering the last year of their contracts, and Fuller has been unable to stay healthy, O’Brien should bring in another receiver. Two possible candidates could be the New York Jets’ Robby Anderson and Kansas City’s Demarcus Robinson.
Anderson, who ran in the 4.3s coming out of college, is a bigtime deep threat looking to cash in during free agency. He’s the closest receiver on the market to compare to Fuller. Because a free-agent receiver will want millions to sign, the Texans might be wiser to use the draft.
Last week, the Texans signed slot receiver/return specialist DeAndre Carter to a one-year extension. What could benefit the offense substantially would be for Keke Coutee to bounce back in his third season.
A rebound by Coutee could give quarterback Deshaun Watson another inside weapon.
Last season, Coutee had 22 catches for 254 yards (11.5 average). As a rookie, he had 28 for 287 (10.3). The Texans need for Coutee to stay healthy, become more consistent and play like he did as a rookie against Indianapolis. In two games against the Colts, he had 11 catches for 109 yards and 11 for 110 and a touchdown.
Another offensive position the Texans may look to upgrade is right guard, where Zach Fulton started the last two seasons.
Fulton, who has two years left on his contract, was part of a rotation late last season.
New England’s Joe Thuney is among the top guards in free agency, but it’s unlikely the Texans will shell out big bucks for a right guard to replace Fulton.
A position that won’t get a lot of attention is backup quarterback, a role AJ McCarron filled last season. His contract is up. If he doesn’t sign a new deal, O’Brien will have to find a new backup behind Watson. There’ll be no shortage of candidates once starters sign with new teams.
The Texans’ needs on defense are clear: pass rushers and cornerbacks. If they lose nose tackle D.J. Reader, finding a replacement will become a priority in free agency or the draft.
In free agency, the best pass rushers and cornerbacks are among the most expensive players. Ideally, the Texans will resign Bradley Roby before free agency begins to help the problem at cornerback. If they’re unable to re-sign Roby, it’ll cost them a lot more to sign a replacement from another team.
Roby, Gareon Conley and Lonnie Johnson Jr. would be the top three cornerbacks. Even if they bring back Roby, the Texans should use a second- or thirdround pick on a cornerback.
If they don’t re-sign Roby, the top corners in free agency are Dallas’ Byron Jones, Carolina’s James Bradberry, Denver’s Chris Harris Jr., Kansas City’s Kendall Fuller and Minnesota’s Trae Waynes. Jones and Bradberry could get more than $15 million a year.
Besides Reader, the best nose tackle in free agency is Pittsburgh’s Javon Hargrave. Like Reader, Hargrave is going to get a huge raise. If the Texans don’t re-sign Reader before free agency begins, expect him to sign with another team.
There are a lot of edge rushers who could be on the market. Ideally, the Texans would like to get an inside rusher, but they’re in short supply. The best — Kansas City’s Chris Jones and San Francisco’s Arik Armstead — should be re-signed or franchised.
Even though the Texans have been encouraged to work at home because of the coronavirus, they’re still working 24/7 on trying to keep players and getting ready to hit the ground running when free agency begins.