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Pro Football Focus and the Texans Week 7

Pro Football Focus and the Texans Week 7
Jonathan Joseph had a big grade last week. Bob Levey/Getty Images

Pro Football Focus grades each individual player's performance and assigns them a grade. All 32 teams use Pro Football Focus. 

Each week we will take a look at some of the good and bad from the Texans and a look at the upcoming opponent as well. They also do great fantasy analysis and draft coverage as well. You can join Pro Football Focus here.

Johnathan Joseph - 92.3 Defensive Grade

Besting his season-best from last week Joseph jumped up 12 points for his new season-best defensive grade. He allowed just four catches on 10 attempts for 51 yards. He, of course, had the game-winning score for the Texans as well. Joseph had a history of knocking off the rust a few weeks into the season. 

Deshaun Watson - 32.4 Offensive Grade

His worse game since New England. He only had one scramble in this game which could be him taking care of himself but that is part of an element of his successfulness as a quarterback. Two interceptions hurt the grade and with Jacksonville coming up this isn't the time to be struggling to throw the ball. 

Zach Cunningham - 90.7 Defensive Grade

This is by far his best game of the season. He had 12 tackles to go along with just two yards allowed when he was targeted by the opposing offense. Cunningham is warming up with his two best grades of the season the past two weeks and with a team that will have to run the ball to keep Bortles from hurting them he could clean up again. 

Julie'n Davenport - 21.8 Pass Blocking Grade

This was not a good one for Davenport after he was decent the week before. He allowed nine total pressures resulting in three sacks. With Jacksonville's furious pass rush coming up, they're the sixth best according to PFF, Davenport is going to have to get a lot better in a hurry. 

Blake Bortles - 70.3 Offensive Grade (Season)

He is the 20th best quarterback when it comes to grading out regular starters in the league. He's coming off his worst yardage performance of the season as the Cowboys stuffed the Jaguars offense at every turn. He's tied for the league lead in interceptions with eight, five of them in the past two weeks. He's the third most in quarterback scrambles though so the Texans need to keep an eye out for him bailing himself out. 

Jacksonville Jaguars - 68.3 Coverage Grade (Season)

This is startling when you consider they were the second best in the league last season with 93.9 coverage grade. I was shocked when I saw them 17th in the league in coverage grade. Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye are having huge down years so far compared to their normal production. Safety Barry Church is playing the worst he has played in three years. They have just three interceptions after finishing second last year with 21 total. There are some holes to be taken advantage of for sure. Their pass rush is down too, they are sixth so far this year, but that is only a slight drop off from last year when they were the best compared to the coverage drop off.

As always, you can join Pro Football Focus here.

 

 

 

 

 

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The Texans are the class of the division. Photo by Tim Warner/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans received a lot of praise for their moves in free agency across various outlets. And for good reason, most people believe the team got significantly better with the additions of Danielle Hunter, Azeez Al-Shaair, and Denico Autry among others.

But there's another factor to consider this offseason. How much have the other teams in the AFC South improved?

When looking at the PFF grades in free agency, the Colts received a B-minus. Most of the Colts moves this offseason involved spending a lot of money re-signing their own players. Which is great in theory, but it's hard to improve the overall quality of your roster when you're bringing back players that were already there to begin with. A lot will be riding on player development for the Colts to see a big jump this season. A healthy quarterback wouldn't hurt either.

The Jaguars have made some big additions financially this offseason by signing receiver Gabe Davis and defensive tackle Arik Armstead. They also lost the top receiver on the market, Calvin Ridley, to the Titans. Gabe Davis wasn't able to establish himself as a reliable No. 2 receiver with Josh Allen throwing him the ball in Buffalo. So it's hard to believe he'll take the next step in Jacksonville. Their best move of the offseason might have been retaining edge rusher Josh Allen by using the franchise tag on him. So what did PFF think of Jacksonville's offseason? They received a B-minus, just like the Colts.

The Titans have a lot of turnover heading into the 2024 season, and not just on the roster. They have a new head coach in Brian Callahan, who's looking to revamp Tennessee's offense. Early in free agency, they agreed to terms with former Cowboys running back Tony Pollard, signing him to a 3-year deal at $8 million per season. Which is more money than the Ravens are paying for Derrick Henry, who left the Titans in free agency. Calvin Ridley was the most notable addition to the squad, he received a 4-year, $92 million deal. And while this could be viewed as an overpay, at least he gives the Titans' offense some upside. Their receiving corps looks a lot more dangerous with Ridley added to DeAndre Hopkins and Treylon Burks.

They also spent big at the center position, adding Lloyd Cushenberry on a 4-year, $50 million contract.

Because the Titans spent a lot of money on some highly coveted players, PFF gave them a B.

Now that brings us to the Texans. The Texans re-signed some of their own players like Dalton Schultz and Noah Brown. But they also made some big splashes with Hunter, Autry, Al-Shaair, and Joe Mixon. But the Texans spent their money in a more conservative way by not handing out many contracts over two years in length.

The Texans managed to add the best pass rusher in free agency with Hunter, but it's only a two-year deal. The overall talent level is going up on this roster, and GM Nick Caserio isn't having to sign players to long contracts that could come back and haunt him.

That's why we're seeing post-free agency power rankings coming out with Houston in the Top 10. And that's also why PFF gave the Texans an A for their moves in free agency.

Be sure to check out the video above as Craig from Sports Talk Extra takes an in-depth look at PFF's grades for the AFC South, and much more!

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