LOOK OUT WORLD! THE HOUSTON TEXANS HAVE ARRIVED! Last year was the first season for Head Coach DeMeco Ryans, QB CJ Stroud and DT Will Anderson.  This team surprised everyone by winning the AFC South and making the playoffs, then handedly beating the Browns in the first round. It’s hard to slow down the Texan hype train going into 2024.  So let’s not do that! I want to speed it up.  It’s not hyperbole to say this is the best roster the Texans have ever had and their best chance of winning a Super Bowl going into the preseason.  Their flurry of offseason moves shows us they believe this as well as they do their best to capitalize on the rookie window with both Stroud and Anderson. So let’s dive into them. 

They started by adding to that defensive front with Anderson: they signed DE Danielle Hunter to a two year, $49 million deal, DE Denico Autry to a 2 year, $20 million deal (stealing him from division rival Titans), and DE’s Derek Barnett and Mario Edwards, Jr. along with DT Folorunso Fatukasi to vet minimums.  That’s some serious beef and speed upfront. The Texans set a franchise record for sacks last season with 43, and there is a very good chance this group breaks that record again.  They didn’t stop there on defense! They also added LB Azeez Al-Shaair (also a former Titan), LB Neville Hewitt, CB Myles Bryant, CB CJ Henderson, CB Jeff Okudah, CB Lonnie Johnson, Jr. and CB Desmond King.  In the draft, they also added Kamari Lassiter (2nd round, DB from Georgia) and Calen Bullock (3rd round, Safety from USC). Houston 100% understood the assignment this offseason. They struggled at DB and LB last year and so they did everything they could in FA and the draft to address it.  They were also very smart in how they spent this money over the next 2-3 years as a lot of these contracts will be off the books when it’s time to pay Stroud.  

On offense, the two major headlines were trades to add WR Stefon Diggs (WR9 last season) from Buffalo and RB Joe Mixon (RB6 last season) from Cincy.  They also retained TE Dalton Schultz (TE10 last season) for 3 years, $36 million and WR Noah Brown (WR67 last season) for 1 year, $5 million.  That’s on top of a skill-player group that already includes Nico Collins (WR12 last season), Tank Dell (WR39 last season), vet Robert Woods (WR76 last season), Jon Metchie III (WR138 last season), Ben Skowronek (WR155 last season) and Dameon Pierce (RB55 last season).  Behind Shultz at TE, they also have Brevin Jordan (TE44 last season), who showed flashes at the end of the year and rookie Cade Stover, who they drafted in the 4th round and played with Stroud at Ohio St. Stacked is an understatement.  It’s hard to remember a second year QB in a better situation.  The vibes in Houston are the best they have been since before the Astros were caught stealing signs and James Harden was winning MVP’s for the Rockets.  

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