Every-Thing Sports

Texans organization and fans need to get it together!

Jermaine Every
Jan 8, 2019, 7:04 am
It's time for a change Kirby Drive. Houston Texans/Facebook

Saturday evening, the Texans were eliminated in spectacular fashion at home. What's that? You don't think a 21-7 loss at home to the division rival Colts after winning the AFC South constitutes as "spectacular fashion?" THAT is exactly what I'm talking about!

I get so sick and tired of the "well that was good enough" mentality from some fans. It makes me sick. The organization isn't any better. As a matter of fact, they tend to feed into the foolishness with making a big deal of the division title banners and Bill O'Brien's infamous line "we went 9-7 and won the AFC South two years in a row."

That's a mediocre, happy to be average, participation trophy, progression of the wussification of America type of mindset. If that's OK with you, so be it. But that should NOT be the mentality of this organization. The fact that they held on to guys like Gary Kubiak and Rick Smith as long as they did before making a change was a sign that they prefer the devil they know rather than the one they don't.

But enough of the history lesson. We all know what this organization has done in its past. It's time to focus on the future. More specifically, it's time to focus on this offseason, which is currently under way.

First up is help in the coaching ranks. O'Brien has proven that he can't handle being head coach, play caller, and overseer. He needs someone to take the load off and help develop Deshaun Watson, as well as call plays. I made my case for Adam Gase already. But if he gets a head coaching job, I'd prefer they get an offensive coordinator that maybe has head coaching experience, or is an up and comer with new ideas and/or philosophies, Defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel is an old and he should've been replaced a long time ago. Right now, there are several former defensive coordinators and former head coaches that can fill that void.

General manager Brian Gaine did a good job last year in the draft. Free agency was another deal. With a first rounder this year, as well as two seconds, he should be able to find help along the offensive line, corner, running back, and wide receiver. He's also going to have a good amount of cap room to spend. Now is the time to prove your worth and either find good value, or hit a homerun or two and find the right guys to fill some of those positions I previously listed.

A couple other key components to furthering the success and expectations of this team comes from the media and fans. Too often the media lets this team make it by not asking the tough questions or holding them accountable. This mainly comes from those that are quite friendly with those on Kirby. Gow Media hasn't been treated as friendly by that organization. Even if we were, it wouldn't change how most, if not all, of us would cover this team. If the fans started to show their displeasure with the product by not spending, it would make the organization pay closer attention to the fan response. Sadly, the six years this city spent without an NFL franchise has conditioned most of the fan base to fall in line with whatever the organization spits out for fear of losing them the way Bud Adams took the Oilers, and their history, to Tennessee.

I'm not hating on this organization. As a matter of fact, it brings me great joy to see them succeed rather than fail as miserably as they have. I get more from the Texans having a measure of success than wallowing in their pity. But something has to change. This organization has been mired in mediocrity for far too long. "We went 9-7 and won the AFC South two years in a row" should be a thing of the past. I long for the day when "we lost a Super Bowl, but the last two we won lessens the sting" is ore of a thing. I'm not saying I should be a team executive either. I just want more and better for this team and this city dammit!

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome

Listen Live

Slow to make big moves hasn't equaled a drop in potential for Texans

Texans are better despite slow free agency

The Texans are better today than when the season ended. It isn't a huge improvement, and there is room for far more improvement, but they're better.

Despite some people's frustration with the Texans not making moves they really haven't missed out on much, the draft is where they will truly improve, and people aren't remembering how good, or bad, they were last season.

Tyrann Mathieu is not $20 million better than Tashaun Gipson. I don't even believe Mathieu was the right type of safety for the Texans. He was a mismatch problem on bigger players, specifically tight ends where Gipson thrives. Mathieu was the third best safety on the team last season not playing as well as Kareem Jackson when he was at safety or the total body of Justin Reid who impressed in his rookie season. While the leadership aspect can't be denied, the Texans praised repeatedly the locker room personality Mathieu brought, the team doesn't lack for leaders.

Gipson has had more success in recent years statistically than Mathieu and plays a different style. You'll notice far less tackles and no sacks to Gipson's stat line. He will be asked to cover more than Mathieu was and his success in recent seasons shows he can do that well. He hasn't had to clean up a lot of messes in the Jaguars secondary, Jalen Ramsey and A.J. Bouye held their own, his experience playing deep will hopefully help handle the lack of top talent at cornerback for the Texans.

Speaking of cornerback, if that is where Kareem Jackson was going to play for the Texans in 2019 then there is no loss whatsoever in seeing him leave. He was not good as a corner last year after a really solid start to the year as a safety. Bradley Roby is more physically gifted and took a prove-it deal to try to hit the market with more buzz than this year. I would have preferred Jackson sticking around as a safety but alas the Texans didn't seem to see his value there.

Wholesale changes on the offensive line did almost nothing to improve it last season so I am not sure why some fans and media have desired that again. Yes, they shouldn't have been outbid on Roger Saffold (Titans) by a division rival who has invested greatly in their offensive line. No, Trent Brown (Raiders) and his bloated contract wasn't the answer at left tackle. Matt Paradis is coming off a broken leg at the center spot though he would have been an upgrade at center.

It is clear help on the line is coming via the draft, a deep one along the line might I add. With three picks in the top two rounds there will be opportunities to find players to push Nick Martin, Senio Kelemete, and Julién Davenport and it isn't out of the question. Seantrell Henderson despite his new contract is pushed by a rookie as well. This is a fine plan as only Nick Martin was a top round pick of any of the Texans current offensive linemen.

Also, this team won 11 games last season. Don't let a disappointing playoff performance skew how this team played. Deshaun Watson is going to improve and that is the most important thing about this team. He won't take as many hits as he did last season with draft investment and improvement of players on the roster. The rookie tight ends have a year of seasoning under their belt. D'Onta Foreman and Keke Coutee should be healthy and eventually Will Fuller will return. The defense returns or has replaced key figures.

Acting like this is a team that had to spend money just because they had cap space isn't a smart way to look at this team. Typically a team sucks when they have this much cap space, the Texans didn't fall into that category. Is there still room for improvement? No doubt. There's also room to find multiple bargains, be a destination for a trade post-draft, and pay Clowney. Relax, this is a long offseason. The Texans are better today than last week.

SportsMap Emails
Are Awesome