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2015 Depth Charts Update: Houston Texans

HST Off

HST Def

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Notes

 

  • The big question for the Texans offense, is who winds up as the team's starting quarterback. They've added Brian Hoyer, but he struggled mightily in Cleveland in 2014, finishing the year as our fifth lowest graded signal caller. His competition, Ryan Mallett, finally started a game last season but played hurt in his second and final game leading to a -8.3 passing grade against Cincinnati.

 

  • Losing Andre Johnson at wide receiver hurts, despite his level of play dropping significantly in 2014. DeAndre Hopkins has emerged as their number one receiver, but they have so little else at the position. We liked Jaelen Strong coming out of Arizona State, and they'll need him to produce early to help the offense out.

 

  • J.J Watt's role on defense leads to him playing as an edge defender a lot of the time, but the big concern in Houston, is where the rest of the pass rush comes from. Big things were expected from Jadeveon Clowney when they drafted him with the first overall selection in the 2014 NFL draft, but injuries kept us from seeing much from him in his rookie season. Whitney Mercilus has graded negatively in each of his three seasons in the league as a pass rusher, but they'll need one of those two to come up big in 2015.

 

  • The addition of Vince Wilfork helps out the middle of that defensive line however. Despite his advancing years, Wilfork is still stout against the run and will solidify the defense inside Watt. Finishing 2014 as our sixth highest graded 3-4 defensive end against the run, he can still contribute plenty to this defense.

 

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