Houston Texans: What will LB Sio Moore and WR Dres Anderson mean

The Houston Texans have to move on from some the negative influences that were challenging their reputation.

What am I talking about?  A couple of days ago, the Houston Texans parted ways with linebacker Max Bullough and wide receiver Keith Mumphery.  Both, although likely not intentionally, were causing a firestorm on the public relations front for the team.  As I’ve asserted before, the Texans have an informal “no-nonsense” policy on conduct that’s detrimental to the team.

Both Bullough and Mumphery were putting that theory to test.  Bullough had already been suspended for four games because he tested positive for illegal PEDs.  Mumphery was at the center of allegations of sexual misconduct.  Both stories were gaining steam — especially Mumphery’s — and the team just wanted to be rid of all that mess.  The Houston Texans certainly didn’t feel they were worth a roster spot.

But let’s talk about who they think were roster spots.  According to the Houston Chronicle’s Aaron Wilson, the team has signed two players to fill the vacancies:

Sio Moore is veteran linebacker that has bounced around a bit over the past couple of seasons, appearing with the Indianapolis Colts, Kansas City Chiefs and most recently with the Arizona Cardinals.  Wilson mentions that the 6-1, 245-pound defender has the ability to run the 40 in 4.65 seconds and eke out a 38-inch vertical leap.

But according to Pro Football Focus, Moore was one of the top 10 linebackers — he was ranked 6th — available this off season, so the fact that the Texans were able to snag him is certainly good for the team.  PFF gave him a grade of 76.7 for last season because of his knack to be able to stop the run.  However, they mention that his pass rushing abilities are less than desired.  But with all of the talented pass rushers that we have now, I don’t think that’d be much of an issue.  Stopping the run is something we’ve needed to improve upon and I think Moore will help with that.

The former third-round pick out of UCONN will help provide a steady hand and vet presence in the locker room.  That’s certainly something the Texans value in a player.  He amassed 50 tackles — 15 assisted — with two forced fumble and one pass defensed over nine games last season (seven starts) in 2016.

Dres Anderson is an 2015 undrafted free agent out of Utah.  Some had him projected to go late in the draft but he was never selected.  Lance Zierlein wrote that he’s good at creating separation in most scenarios, he’s a run blocker but his hands can be a liability.  He mentions that 18.6 of passes thrown to him over last two seasons with Utes were drops.  Wow. Up until the point of signing with the Texans, he had been on the San Francisco 49ers and Chicago Bears practice squads before being released.

The 6-2, 190-pound receiver has had a career riddled with injury but he was able to catch 134 balls for 2,077 yards (15.5 yards per catch) and 17 touchdowns at Utah from 2011-14.  His peak season was in 2013, where he had 1,002 receiving yards off 53 catches.

But apparently Anderson has impressed enough in OTAs to warrant the Texans to sign him.  It’s worth to mention that he’s the son of Flipper Anderson, who played in the NFL for 10 seasons.

Next: Why Max Bullough and Keith Mumphery were shown the door

What do these signings mean for the Texans?  It certainly gives us depth on the roster and obviously these guys have something in terms of their talent that the Texans like.  Moore will be inserted in the lineup immediately but it remains to be seen what will be done with Anderson with an already-crowded wide-receiving corps.

We’ll have to see.

Go Texans.