Houston Texans: Why the team should trade for LeSean McCoy

It’s Week Two of the preseason, and the Houston Texans are at the point where wide receiver depth is already a concern, they’ve facetiously got 200 running backs on the roster and Tom Savage is the QB1 for the next four weeks until he inevitably gets injured.

Let’s face it, the Houston Texans going into a season with Alfred Blue and Lamar Miller at running back, while not the worst fate, isn’t exactly an ideal situation.

Every team in the AFC south has made huge moves to better position themselves to compete, excluding the Jacksonville Jaguars and that whole Quarterback thing they have going on. You’ve also got a team in the AFC East who is clearly competing with the New York Jets in the Sam D’Arnold sweepstakes with the Buffalo Bills and rumors are that Tyrod Taylor and LeSean McCoy are available, just a week after the team traded Sammy Watkins to the Los Angeles Rams.

Going back to the Steve DelVecchio article referenced in the above link, the Bills are not going after wins at this point in time. After trading Nickell Robey-Coleman and Watkins last week, along with the Bills flamboyantly signaling that winning is not the focus this season, there is no reason for the Houston Texans to not go after a Pro Bowl running back.

Yes, Shady is 29-years-old which is that terrifying age for running backs in the NFL, but you’ve got 26-year old Miller who has never quite reached the potential that teams thought he had and 26-year-old Alfred Blue who — let’s face it — is just a guy. As far as expenses, Miller is an $8.5 million cap hit in dead money for 2017, Blue is under a under a million dollar cap hit. Shady is slightly less than Lamar Miller.

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In McCoy’s nine seasons, he has gone over 1,000 yards five times including five pro bowls. In Miller’s five seasons, he has had only two seasons where he reached the 1,000 yard mark. Most Houston Texans fans will not need to be sold on the value of adding a running back of the caliber of McCoy.

In reality, adding a player such as Shady opens the door for Deshaun Watson to start Week One. Sure, the most important player on offense is saying that Savage should be the starter, but everyone has to be concerned about how long that actually lasts.

The offensive line is a weak point, but as the old saying goes, a good running game fixes offensive line problems. Adding a Pro Bowl running back to an offense with a great rookie QB and a Pro Bowl wide receiver will open all sorts of running lanes. The defensive line won’t be able to blitz non-stop since they have the risk of the deep throws to Hopkins and Braxton Miller, since the D-Line won’t be blitzing every play. Shady will definitely have a lot of running room.

With how desperate the Bills are to get something of value for Shady in this off season, a combination of a 2nd or 3rd round pick for next year’s draft and Lamar Miller should, in theory, be more than enough to get Shady from them.

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As a fan, would you rather watch Savage, DeAndre Hopkins, and Miller go to war against the deadly AFC South? Or how about Watson, Hopkins and McCoy?

Go ahead and take your pick.

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