How Astros player power rankings just took a surprising twist
WILD TURN OF EVENTS
13 June 2023
The Houston Astros are already a third of the way into the season, and one of the pleasant surprises has been the play of utility man Mauricio Dubon.
Dubon was a critical piece to the puzzle, with Jose Altuve missing a chunk of the season from a fractured thumb. Not only did he hold down second base in Altuve's absence, but he's continued to play well enough to deserve playing time even after Altuve's return.
Mauricio has made some terrific plays in the outfield and has the highest batting average on the team.
Another player that has shocked us this season is Jose Abreu. Abreu has shown some signs of life recently, but overall has been a big disappointment at this stage of the season.
Be sure to watch the video above as we discuss which players have been the most valuable so far this year, and what we should expect moving forward.
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The Houston Texans head to Green Bay this weekend to play in one of the most highly anticipated matchups of the season.
On offense, the Texans will look to maintain the boost Joe Mixon and Dameon Pierce provided to the running game last week against the Patriots.
Despite Houston's success with the ground game against the Pats, there are some concerns. Most of the production came from two explosive runs. They ranked in the Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Despite the volume against New England, Houston's run game on Sunday:
Ranked Bottom 5 in success rate (26.9%) and Top 10 in stuff rate (23.1%) amongst all teams in Week 6.
Lots of inefficient runs with huge gains sprinkled in-between. Is that sustainable? #HTownMade
— John Crumpler (@JohnHCrumpler) October 15, 2024
Air it out
The passing game once again will go through Tank Dell and Stefon Diggs with Nico Collins sidelined. Dell received a large portion of the downfield work that Collins had been doing.
Tank posted the highest route win rate and average separation score for Houston in Week 6, per Jacob Gibbs, and Fantasy Points Data.
In what should be a high scoring game, expect Dell to be Stroud's main target downfield.
What about the defense?
The Texans defense is 30th in EPA against play action, so don't be surprised if that's how the Packers will try to get some big plays down field.
D'Angelo Ross stepped in at corner with Kamari Lassiter injured last week. He lined up at the left corner spot, where Packers receiver Christian Watson will likely run the majority of his routes this week.
With Derek Stingley lining up outside on the right, he'll be facing Romeo Doubs a majority of the time. We expect Doubs will have a quiet day and the Packers will target Watson against Ross, and Jayden Daniels in the slot versus Jalen Pitre.
Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has been dialing up the blitz more and more. And that looks like a good idea once again this week, as Love is 28th in QBR when blitzed this season.
What does Vegas think?
The Packers are favored by 2.5 points, with the total set at 47.5 points.
There are so many more angles to cover in this exciting matchup. Don't miss the video above as we break it all down! And head to the SportsMap Texans YouTube channel right after the game as we react live!
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