Although it ended in a heartbreaking postseason loss, the Houston Texans had a largely successful 2019 campaign.
The Texans went 10-6 in 2019, that included a Week 17 loss that saw them bench their starters. They also went on to win a game in the Wild Card round of the playoffs against the Buffalo Bills.
Houston even jumped out to a massive 24-0 lead over the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round. They ended up losing that game 51-31 though.
Still, 10-6 with a playoff win is a solid season. Especially considering some of the pieces Houston has in place that has to make you believe they will only get better from here.
Who got better in 2019 though? Here are the three players that improved the most for the Texans over the past year.
Deshaun Watson
Deshaun Watson was a tough one to include. The reason for that is the simple fact that many already considered him a star before the season.
Watson cemented that title though, as the quarterback went on to have another phenomenal year.
Playing in just 15 games, Watson tied his career-high with 26 touchdown passes. He added in 3,852 yards and a 67.3 completion percentage. Oh and 413 rushing yards and a new career-best with seven rushing touchdowns.
Most importantly, Watson had some big games at the end of the season. Games that show he can handle his own against any defense and show up in big pressure games. That included a massive performance against the New England Patriots in December, and the playoff win over the Bills.
Watson is the franchise quarterback, and his improvements in 2019 were noticeable.
Vernon Hargreaves III
The Texans did not have Hargreaves all season. Which made it difficult to put him on the list. In the six games (eight if you count the postseason) the cornerback played with Houston, he earned his spot though.
Hargreaves was with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to start the year. Despite being a first-round pick back in 2016, it appears they lost hope in his potential in 2019 though.
Houston scooped him up on a flyer. And no, Hargreaves was not some revelation that changed the game for the Texans. He was solid though.
The cornerback absolutely made some mistakes, but he also had big plays. At 24, he showed improvement in 2019 and has a lot of time to improve more. Houston took a chance and Hargreaves proved it was worth it.
Jahleel Addae
Houston's secondary has it's issues. Jahleel Addae was a nice standout performer for a chunk of the year though.
Like Hargreaves, I won't pretend like Addae is a superstar that will change the franchise. He's a really nice piece to have though.
Over his final seven games, Addae had two games with an interception and a pass deflection. He also had two of his three highest tackle totals on the year.
It was pretty clear that he was improving as the year went on, and with more playing time was getting better in coverage and against the run.
Addae is someone Houston might want to keep around as he proved he could be very valuable to the team in 2019.
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