Houston Texans: 2014 What To Expect On Offense

The tight end position is often considered the second most complicated position in a O’Brien offense (QB being the most complicated). Think New England Patriots with Gronkowski and Hernandez. You’ll see a tight end lined up at wide receiver, running back, and full back. Expect the Texans to draft another tight end or pick up another one in free agency.

When it comes to quarterback play, we all know he coached Tom Brady. But I don’t want to talk about that guy. In fact, there really needs to be a cap limit on how many times Tom Brady’s name is allowed to be seen on the internet, in one day. When someone goes over the cap amount, their punishment should be brushing Brady’s hair. While Tim Tebow explains to them, how he’s going to be a “REAL NFL QUARTERBACK”, one day.

During his tenure at Penn State, his starting quarterbacks were coached Matt McGloin and Christian Hackenberg.

Matt McGloin made his first NFL start against the Houston Texans, and won. McGloin didn’t win another game as a starter the rest of the season. He quarterback play was decent, other than the game against the Kansas City Chiefs, where he rifled off 4 interceptions.

While O’Brien was coaching McGloin at Penn State, he did a stellar job. McGloin only threw 5 interceptions the entire season. That’s impressive. Although going back and looking at game tape, you’ll see that McGloin was very fortunate, that some of his passes weren’t picked off.

Christian Hackenberg, had a good year as a true freshman under O’Brien. It will be interesting to see how progresses during his sophomore year.

Both quarterbacks aren’t the fastest guys on the field. Most NFL scouts don’t even consider McGloin to have NFL size. But both McGloin and Hackenberg are smart, are leaders on the field, and they get the job done.

The Texans new offensive system will need a quarterback to stretch the field with their arm, hurry the team to the line of scrimmage with his leadership, make smart reads, and be elusive when it counts.

When you take all that in consideration, there wasn’t a chance in hell, Matt Schaub was going to be playing for the Texans uniform next season. Other than he subtle leadership qualities, there were very little upsides to Schaub’s game.

His reads were predetermined, and he doesn’t have an elusive bone in his body. Stretching the field, ha, please. Add that in with his inability to call the right audible. Kubiak allowed Schaub to call audibles at the line, but they were all preset audibles. So same formation but only able to change the play to; run, pass, or play-action. Schaub didn’t demand more control of the offense. He was afraid to make adjustments at the line of scrimmage on his own.  That just wasn’t going to fly with O’Brien.

Out with the Schaub, and in with Ryan Fitzpatrick. I do expect Fitzpatrick to make a strong push for the starting job. But I don’t expect him to be the Week One starter.

While everyone has focused on getting rid of Matt Schaub and who the Texans are going to draft with that first pick, Case Keenum‘s name has flown under the radar. Which is understandable to an extent.

I do think overlooking Keenum’s intangibles and how they fit better in an O’Brien offense over Fitzpatrick, is something worth mentioning. I don’t think that Keenum got a fair shot at the quarterback position. Mostly because, Kubiak didn’t really adjust his system to fit Keenum. Then there was that shifty offensive line. Duane Brown couldn’t stay healthy to save his life last season, and Derek Newton was Derek Newton.

I’m not saying that Keenum will ultimately win the job at quarterback, but I don’t think that he should be overlooked quite just yet.

Like most people, I do think that it will likely be whoever is drafted by O’Brien. He knows what he’s looking for in a quarterback. A versatile, smart, elusive player with strong leadership. For the most part each quarterback in the draft has one or two of these qualities. But you can see what sets them apart when you look at their cons.

Tier 1 Quarterback Draft Prospects:

Teddy Bridgewater – faced a lot of weak competition in college, and there are concerns on his delivery.
Blake Bortles –  underdeveloped as a quarterback, and takes a lot of risks.
Johnny Manziel – downsides are his height and question marks on his commitment to the game.

Tier 2 Quarterback Draft Prospects:

AJ McCarron – doesn’t have a big arm and was never forced to make big plays.
Derek Carr – throws off his back foot and played in a weak conference.
Zach Mettenberger – slow, and is coming off an ACL tear.
Jimmy Garoppolo – careless with the football and forces throws.

You can see why there is such a struggle when it comes to determining who the Texans will draft at quarterback. There really isn’t one that stands out more than the other.

Moving on to wide receiver position. Expect to see a slot receiver in the mix. DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson are going to be your one and two lined up on the outside. That’s not going to change.

When determining who takes over in the slot position, you’re either looking at Keshawn Martin or DeVier Posey. Keshawn Martin’s inability to hold onto the football is alarming. That and he’s not going to bring the heat, when it comes to blocking. So he’s not my first choice at slot.

Posey who’s better at blocking, should be moved into the slot. If he’s able to stay focused on his route while running in the middle of the field, I expect him to thrive in the new offense. What to keep in mind is that O’Brien is going to look at each player and how much they can do on the field. Posey brings a more versatile presences on the receiving end. He can be lined up in a handful of different spots. Pair that with his ability to be physical on the line.

Back when O’Brien was the Running Backs Coach for Georgia Tech, Joe Burns a running back on the team at the time, once said about O’Brien – “he’s (O’Brien) not afraid to run anything with any personnel…”

Besides the holes at quarterback and offensive line, I think the offensive side of the roster might not be too far way from doing some intriguing things. At the very least, expect to be entertained on offense next season.

Houston, welcome to culture shock, are you ready?

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