The Houston Texans can climb back to top of the AFC South with win
By T.A. Mock
An improved secondary could be the last piece
Last year’s offensive line was one of the worst units I can recall in recent years. The Houston Texans brass apparently agreed as they completely revamped the entire line as there were four new starters to start the season.
Five games into the season, the Texans have had to use five or six different combinations since then. So, this unit’s struggles were to be expected as these guys figure it out. To be sure, they’ve improved as the season has gone on. According to Pro Football Focus (subscription required), Julien Davenport has graded out as a 55.4, Senio Kelemete at a 58.9, Nick Martin at a 60.8, Zach Fulton at a 58.1, and Kendell Lamm at a 60.3.
Those numbers actually are all considered average this season so the offensive line hasn’t been terrible. The struggles were to be expected so they can’t really be considered disappointing. However, there has been a unit that has been extremely disappointing at that’s the pass coverage.
Kareem Jackson has taken his transition to safety extremely well and is grading out at a 79.6 total grade and 90+ run defense grade. He also has the team’s best coverage grade at 70.5. Tyrann Mathieu and Justin Reid have both been pretty good grading out at 70.2 and 64.4, respectively. So, the safety position hasn’t been that bad. However, the corners have been atrocious.
Trending. Keke Coutee is taking the offense to the next level. light
Johnathan Joseph did not look good at all the first four weeks of the season. He was showing his age and why he shouldn’t have been a number one corner anymore. But, that began to change last week when he balled out against the Cowboys posting an 80+ coverage grade, only allowing one reception for eight yards. He also added two pass breakups.
Shareece Wright and Aaron Colvin, though he didn’t play last week, have been worse and haven’t had rebound weeks yet. They’ve struggled mightily and there isn’t much help behind them. Kayvon Webster and Kevin Johnson have both been placed on IR and the rest of the depth is largely unproven.
That being said, if Joseph can continue his resurgence and lead the rest of this unit to improve this unit has the ability to take off. Especially with the pass rush up front the Houston Texans defense has. So, with decent offensive line play and an improved secondary could allow this team to ascend to the top of the division.