Th Houston Texans made headlines with their decision to trade wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals this offseason. Regardless, offensive coordinator Tim Kelly is optimistic that they have managed to gather the necessary pieces to help fill the void.
The Texans made efforts to alleviate Hopkins' departure by signing wide receiver Randall Cobb and acquiring wide receiver Brandin Cooks from the Los Angeles Rams. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, Kelly feels confident with the new personnel in their receiving corps:
“When you look at the people we have in our offensive unit, we have a lot of explosive players, guys with unique skillsets, guys who have produced at a high level in this league … We have guys who have won consistently for a long time scattered throughout that room. Those guys have produced with a great mindset who are coming in with a chip on their shoulder.”
Kelly added that having versatile running backs like David Johnson and Duke Johnson adds much more flexibility to the playbook.
‘It opens up the play-calling. When you have guys that are versatile it allows you to open up and be creative.”
The Texans were able to secure some established names to help make up their receiving corps with Cooks and Cobb joining Kenny Stills and Keke Coutee. Meanwhile, a healthy Will Fuller could serve as a viable No. 1 option for quarterback Deshaun Watson in the passing game. Unfortunately, his track record with durability leaves room for plenty of concern.
Cooks has already acknowledged that Houston will be relying on a committee to replace Hopkins. Interestingly enough, head coach Bill O'Brien may have inadvertently created a chip on his shoulder as well by shipping him to Arizona.
Aside from the passing game, Kelly will need to get the Texans some bang for their buck from the Johnson-and-Johnson pairing if they hope to justify the decision to add the back and subtract Hopkins. His comments indicate that he plans to make full use out of their skill sets as runners and viable pass-catchers out of the backfield.
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