In a word? No
Can new Texans WR Randall Cobb soften the Hopkins departure?
Mar 16, 2020, 11:36 pm
In a word? No
The Texans got to work trying to replace DeAndre Hopkins late Monday.
Cobb has had four 100+ yd games since 2015.
— Raheel Ramzanali (@The_Raheel) March 17, 2020
DeAndre Hopkins had six last year. https://t.co/shGSW5Pgky
Last year for the Cowboys Randall Cobb played primarily from the slot position and amassed 828 yards and three touchdowns for Dallas. It was his first season playing for the Cowboys and he managed two 100 yard games twice.
The #Texans have agreed to terms with WR @rcobb18 on a 3-year $27M deal with $18.75 guaranteed #Texans @nflnetwork
— James Jones (@89JonesNTAF) March 17, 2020
This is a bad deal. Cobb will be 30 before the season starts and hasn't been regularly productive in almost two seasons. His contract checks in around the same as Adam Humphries of the Titans and John Brown of the Bills. Both are much younger or far more productive than Cobb.
The fear here, and the Texans have done nothing to dispel the notion, is Houston is viewed as an ATM. Agents will likely use the Texans to drive up the price on players or just milk them for exaggerated contracts.
Randall Cobb primarily played in the slot last year.
— Cody Stoots (@Cody_Stoots) March 17, 2020
So did DeAndre Carter.
So did Keke Coutee.
The #Texans have three slot receivers and two outside guys who missed games.
The Texans now have three wideouts who played primarily slot receiver in Cobb, DeAndre Carter, and Keke Coutee. Considering Carter just got extended, this is likely the end for Coutee. The former fourth round pick flashed his rookie year but never got out of the O'Brien doghouse as injuries and then a lack of cohesiveness in the offense doomed him.
The #Texans top three wideouts (Fuller, Stills, Cobb) have played in about 72 percent of the possible games over the past two seasons.
— Cody Stoots (@Cody_Stoots) March 17, 2020
Fuller - 19/34
Stills - 29/34
Cobb - 24/32
Remember Stills left more than a few games for long stretches with injuries.
The Texans don't have depth at wide receiver and their top pass catcher, Will Fuller, has never played 16 games. In fact, this trio has five 16 games seasons combined, the same number DeAndre Hopkins had in his career.
Wyatt Langford homered with a career-high tying four hits and Adolis García added a solo shot to lead the Texas Rangers to a 7-3 win over the Houston Astros on Friday night.
The Rangers jumped on Lance McCullers Jr. (2-4) early. There were two outs with the bases loaded in the first when Evan Carter’s single to right field knocked in a pair to put the Rangers up 2-0.
The AL West-leading Astros cut the deficit to 2-1 when Cam Smith scored on a groundout in the bottom of the inning.
García homered for a second straight game with one out in the third that made it 3-1. Carter walked with two outs before a single from Jake Burger. Jonah Heim’s double to right field scored them both to extend the lead to 5-1.
McCullers allowed six hits and five runs in three innings as Houston’s losing streak reached a season-high four games.
Langford’s blast came with two outs in the seventh to push the lead to 7-3.
Jack Leiter (5-6) yielded five hits and three runs while striking out six in 5 1/3 innings.
Christian Walker singled to open Houston’s fourth before Victor Caratini’s home run to right field got the Astros within 5-3.Burger was replaced in the middle of the sixth inning with discomfort in his left quad.
Houston’s top prospect, second baseman Brice Matthews, went 0 for 4 with with three strikeouts in his major league debut.
Heim’s two RBI double in the third that pushed the lead to four.
The Rangers forced McCullers to throw 36 pitches in the first inning.
Houston LHP Framber Valdez (10-4, 2.90 ERA) opposes RHP Jacob deGrom (9-2, 2.29) when the series continues Saturday.