Every-Thing Sports
Jermaine Every: 5 things the Texans must do this off season
Feb 6, 2018, 5:02 am
A healthy Deshaun Watson will be huge for the Texans. Tim Warner/Getty Images
Sunday night, we were witness to another great Super Bowl. Some prisoners of the moment characterized it as the best ever. The storyline of The Philadelphia Eagles’ head coach going from high school coach to Super Bowl winning coach in ten years was fascinating. But let’s get real. Houston Texans fans are waiting to see their head coach Bill O’Brien be the first seed from the Bill Belichek tree to blossom a fruitful harvest on its own.
Now that O’Brien has a general manager he seems to approve of in Brian Gaine, I’m interested in seeing what the two of them can accomplish together. This offseason will be particularly challenging because they’ll be working sans 1st and 2nd round picks in the draft. Aiding in the plans will be an estimated $52 million dollars in cap space (h/t spotrac). There are a ton of different moves needed to be made in order for the Texans to climb the mountain and be the next unlikely Super Bowl winner. Here are five of those moves I believe will help them get to the mountaintop presented in no particular order:
Sign Guard Andrew Norwell
Norwell is 26 years old and is one of, arguably the best offensive lineman on the market this offseason. Many would say anything is better than what they’ve had at guard. Some could argue that throwing big money at the problem may backfire like it has in the past. I advise them to go look at how this guy played in a system conducive to a mobile quarterback and reassess that notion.
Sign Wide Receiver Jarvis Landry
Sure “Juice” had an off-field incident involving domestic violence, but he’s also the kind of guy who could flourish opposite DeAndre Hopkins, or in the slot, that could help this team thrive on offense. He’s caught at least 84 balls every year, twice going over 100, for a Miami team that’s been less than stellar. Playing with Deshaun Watson and being closer to home may assist Juice in taking his career, and this team, to heights unheard of previously.
Invest In A Quality Backup Quarterback
When Watson went down, the offense went with him. Having a backup quarterback that can run the same offense would help things along should Watson not be ready for the beginning of the season, or if he should miss time due to injury. Seattle Seahawks backup Trevone Boykin could be a potential trade target for a relatively low price. Chase Daniel, Joe Webb, Josh Johnson, and possibly even Teddy Bridgewater are all potential targets in free agency.
Bolster Defensive Backfield
Whether it’s through the draft, free agency, or armed robbery, the Texans need to find help at corner and safety this offseason. Jonathan Joseph should be gone, Kareem Jackson should move fulltime to safety and Kevin Johnson has been vastly underwhelming. This leaves openings on the depth chart. Whether it’s Hopkins’ open recruitment of Malcolm Butler, finding a late round gem or a current guy on the roster stepping up, something needs to happen in the defensive backfield because opposing receivers are more open than Bissonnet street walkers on the weekend. EJ Gaines and Tre Boston also come to mind.
Trade A Star
Fred Faour wrote an article about trading Jadeveon Clowney. It may not be the popular thing to do, but he’s the best trade asset this team has to offer. Or perhaps it’s time to see what they can get for JJ Watt. He’s coming off two seasons lost to major injuries so he may not fetch much. The same can be said for Whitney Mercilus. Hopkins is out of the question given the cap hit they’d take after resigning him last season. Beyond those guys, the Texans aren’t in a position to move anyone else and expect anything significant in return. I’m sure there’s a team out there that’d be willing to part with some decent draft picks or players for one of those three pass rushers.
These are just five of the many moves the Texans can make. There are lots of holes on this roster to fill and most of them will not be filled this offseason. Luckily for them, the NFL is built on parity. There are teams who make complete turnarounds in one offseason. Most times it comes with the aid of hitting home runs with draft picks, especially the ones the Texans don’t have. Challenging as it may seem, it can be done. The best thing for fans is to pray Watson comes back healthy and stays that way for an entire season. If that doesn’t happen, all will be for naught.
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Through 20 games, the Houston Astros have managed just six wins and are in last place in the AL West.
Their pitching staff trails only Colorado with a 5.24 ERA and big-money new closer Josh Hader has given up the same number of earned runs in 10 games as he did in 61 last year.
Despite this, these veteran Astros, who have reached the AL Championship Series seven consecutive times, have no doubt they’ll turn things around.
“If there’s a team that can do it, it’s this team,” shortstop Jeremy Peña said.
First-year manager Joe Espada, who was hired in January to replace the retired Dusty Baker, discussed his team’s early struggles.
“It’s not ideal,” he said. “It’s not what we expected, to come out of the shoot playing this type of baseball. But you know what, this is where we’re at and we’ve got to pick it up and play better. That’s just the bottom line.”
Many of Houston’s problems have stemmed from a poor performance by a rotation that has been decimated by injuries. Ace Justin Verlander and fellow starter José Urquidy haven’t pitched this season because of injuries and lefty Framber Valdez made just two starts before landing on the injured list with a sore elbow.
Ronel Blanco, who threw a no-hitter in his season debut April 1, has pitched well and is 2-0 with a 0.86 ERA in three starts this season. Cristian Javier is also off to a good start, going 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA in four starts, but the team has won just two games not started by those two pitchers.
However, Espada wouldn’t blame the rotation for Houston’s current position.
“It’s been a little bit of a roller coaster how we've played overall,” he said. “One day we get good starting pitching, some days we don’t. The middle relief has been better and sometimes it hasn’t been. So, we’ve just got to put it all together and then play more as a team. And once we start doing that, we’ll be in good shape.”
The good news for the Astros is that Verlander will make his season debut Friday night when they open a series at Washington and Valdez should return soon after him.
“Framber and Justin have been a great part of our success in the last few years,” second baseman Jose Altuve said. “So, it’s always good to have those two guys back helping the team. We trust them and I think it’s going to be good.”
Hader signed a five-year, $95 million contract this offseason to give the Astros a shutdown 7-8-9 combination at the back end of their bullpen with Bryan Abreu and Ryan Pressly. But the five-time All-Star is off to a bumpy start.
He allowed four runs in the ninth inning of a 6-1 loss to the Braves on Monday night and has yielded eight earned runs this season after giving up the same number in 56 1/3 innings for San Diego last year.
He was much better Wednesday when he struck out the side in the ninth before the Astros fell to Atlanta in 10 innings for their third straight loss.
Houston’s offense, led by Altuve, Yordan Alvarez and Kyle Tucker, ranks third in the majors with a .268 batting average and is tied for third with 24 homers this season. But the Astros have struggled with runners in scoring position and often failed to get a big hit in close games.
While many of Houston’s hitters have thrived this season, one notable exception is first baseman José Abreu. The 37-year-old, who is in the second year of a three-year, $58.5 million contract, is hitting 0.78 with just one extra-base hit in 16 games, raising questions about why he remains in the lineup every day.
To make matters worse, his error on a routine ground ball in the eighth inning Wednesday helped the Braves tie the game before they won in extra innings.
Espada brushed off criticism of Abreu and said he knows the 2020 AL MVP can break out of his early slump.
“Because (of) history,” Espada said. “The back of his baseball card. He can do it.”
Though things haven’t gone well for the Astros so far, everyone insists there’s no panic in this team which won its second World Series in 2022.
Altuve added that he doesn’t have to say anything to his teammates during this tough time.
“I think they’ve played enough baseball to know how to control themselves and how to come back to the plan we have, which is winning games,” he said.
The clubhouse was quiet and somber Wednesday after the Astros suffered their third series sweep of the season and second at home. While not panicking about the slow start, this team, which has won at least 90 games in each of the last three seasons, is certainly not happy with its record.
“We need to do everything better,” third baseman Alex Bregman said. “I feel like we’re in a lot of games, but we just haven’t found a way to win them. And good teams find a way to win games. So we need to find a way to win games.”