WORTH THE GAMBLE
Let's discuss why the Texans should sign Josh Gordon if reinstated
Jun 23, 2020, 4:04 pm
Image via:WikiCommons
Josh Gordon, an All-Pro receiver in 2013, filed for reinstatement last Wednesday seeking another chance in the NFL. In December, the league suspended the 29-year-old wide receiver for violating its substance-abuse policy for the fifth time since 2013. In an interview with his lawyer, Adam Kenner, Tom Pelissero of NFL Network announced that Gordon's most recent relapse in 2019 was due to the death of his brother. Since that time, Gordon has installed the right team around him to make sure he stays on the right path.
If the league grants his request, Gordon will enter the free agency pool as an unrestricted free agent. He spent the 2019 season as a member of the Seattle Seahawks, recording seven receptions for 139 yards (19.9 AVG) in five games prior to his suspension.
Gordon is still one of the most gifted players in the league despite playing only 63 games in a span of eight seasons. He has tallied a career 4,252 reception yards (17.2 AVG) on 247 catches and 20 touchdowns, after the Cleveland Browns selected the Baylor prodigy in the second round of the 2012 NFL Draft.
Nearly all 32 teams could use Gordon's on-field talent to enhance their roster, but only a handful should risk adding the 6-foot-3 wide receiver given his off-field troubles. Of all the teams who should look to acquire the low-risk-high-reward receiver, the Houston Texans should be near the top of the list. Joining his hometown town team may be enough to keep the Houston native in good measures both on and off the field, while contributing to the Texans potential success in 2020.
Houston lost a lot this offseason by trading DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals. Not only did they lose arguably the league's best receiver, but their No. 1 target since 2014. Head coach and general manager Bill O'Brien did a reasonable job rebuilding the receiving core, but the additions of Randall Cobb and Brandin Cooks may not be enough to fill the absence left by Hopkins' jettison.
In 2019, Cobb and Cooks recorded a combined 1,411 receiving yards (14.5 AVG) on 97 catches with five trips to the end zone. When compared to Hopkins, the four-time Pro-Bowler pulled down 104 catches for 1,165 receiving yards (11.2 AVG) and seven touchdowns in what was considered a "down season" last year.
If the Texans were to sign Gordon, he would be another substantial option who can further O'Brien's attempt to replace Hopkins. As a deep threat receiver who can create plays in double-coverage, Gordon possesses the skill set that would make him Houston's most talented wideout, and one that complements the play style of Deshaun Watson.
In his lone All-Pro season in 2013, Gordon showcased flashes of his high ceiling with 1,646 receiving yards (18.9 AVG) on 87 receptions and nine touchdowns in 14 games. That same season, he became the first player in league history to record 200 or more receiving yards in back-to-back games as a member of the Browns. Even in the most troublesome years of his career, Gordon was still a force to be reckoned with while on the field. Prior to his suspension, he posted a total of 1,007 receiving yards (16.2 AVG) on 60 catches in 17 games, during his two-year stint as a member of the New England Patriots.
With D-Hop out of the picture, Will Fuller has the opportunity to become Houston's No. 1 receiver. He has ingrained himself as the Texans' best playmaker averaging 14.3 yards per catch in 42 career games. Unfortunately, his ability to stay healthy makes it unenviable for Fuller to play a full 16-game season. Since 2017, he has only appeared in 28 out of a possible 48 games played due to a myriad of injuries.
There are also health concerns surrounding Kenny Stills (hamstring) and Brandin Cooks (concussion) — as the two receivers batted recurring injuries that limited their on-field production in 2019.
Health is the most vital concern surrounding the Texans' receiving core next season. And at this stage of his career, Houston should be willing to pay no more than the expected $2.0 million to sign Gordon as an affordable insurance policy. If either of the Texans' four receivers misses a significant amount of time due to injuries, Gordon can fill a void that will be a daunting task for the likes of Isaiah Coulter, Keke Coutee and Andre Carter.
With the amount of time missed due to multiple suspensions, Gordon may never live up to the high expectations he set during his first two seasons in the league. However, when mentally stable, he has been a constant nightmare for the opposing teams' secondary throughout his career. And if given the opportunity to join the likes of Cobb, Cooks, Fuller and Stills, the Texans will have multiple weapons heading into the new season while helping Gordon re-establish himself as one of the league's most prolific receivers.
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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.”