The Houston Texans are in trouble. Big trouble.
After trading star wide receiver to DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals for a penny on the dollar, the Texans may now lay claim to one of the weakest offenses in football.
Yes, Houston still has Deshaun Watson under center, which is nice, but then what?
The backfield is a mess. The receiving corps is shaky. The offensive line is an abject disaster.
Just how is Watson going to progress with the lack of weapons currently at his disposal?
With Hopkins' departure, the Texans are left with Randall Cobb, Will Fuller, Kenny Stills in Keke Coutee in the aerial attack. Cobb is solid, but he is not a No. 1. Fuller is frequently hurt. Stills is really a No. 3 receiver, and Coutee has not been able to stay on the field since entering the NFL in 2018 (and when he has been on the field, he hasn't been good).
Watson doesn't have a single truly dangerous threat in the passing game. As far as the Texans' running backs go? They picked up the declining David Johnson in the Hopkins deal, and Duke Johnson is still around.
Other than that, Houston has nothing any real significance in the backfield.
Yeah. This is not what Watson needed for his progression.
It was already bad enough that Watson had virtually no time to throw with the Texans' horrific offensive line. Now, you have taken away his top target in Hopkins, who also happens to be a top-three receiver in football. And you didn't even get anything worthwhile in return.
Make no mistake about it: things are about to get really ugly for Houston, especially in an improving AFC South division in which the Texans are now probably the worst team.
Think about it. The Indianapolis Colts just brought in Philip Rivers. The Tennessee Titans just made the AFC Championship Game. The Jacksonville Jaguars have an exciting young offense led by Gardner Minshew and a terrific group of receivers.
There is a legitimate (if not probable) chance that the Texans end up in last place, and that is in spite of having the best quarterback in the division.
Let's also remember that it's not like Houston has a great defense, either.
Really, the Texans are unreliable on both sides of the ball, which is absolutely inexcusable for a team that has one of the top quarterbacks in the NFL just entering the prime of his career.
If you're Watson, you are none too pleased right now, because Houston's front office is doing everything it can to not put him in a position to succeed.
He is still going to be under constant duress. The difference is that now, he won't even have Hopkins to bail him out. Now, Watson will be forced to depend on an injury-prone group of wideouts who aren't even all that impressive when healthy.
This is pretty much worst-case scenario for Watson and the Texans' offense heading into 2020, and I'm not sure the organization has the slightest clue in terms of how it can fix it.
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