Houston Texans are executing a deadly plan with their tight ends

The Houston Texans are executing a deadly plan with their tight ends as the offseason is well underway. What exactly is going on? Let’s examine.

Houston Texans fans know the team wants to be the New England Patriots of the south. Just by looking at the two young tight ends they drafted last year, you can see they want to recreate the deadly combo the Patriots had with Rob Gronkowski and Aaron Hernandez.

Simply looking at the offseason the Houston Texans have had so far, especially with their ongoing discussions with Pats’ general manager Nick Caserio for his services, everyone knows that the Texans model what they do after the Patriots.

That goes from the coaches all the way to the players they bring in and the roles that they play on the team.

If we look back to the time when the Patriots had both Gronkowski and Hernandez, NFL defenses were literally shaking when both players were on the field because of the mismatches both players caused.

On one end, you had Gronkowski who created mismatches because of his 6-foot-6, 265-pound frame as well as his pure strength. And on the other end, you had Hernandez who had considerable size; and most importantly, speed — he was capable of running a 4.64 40-yard dash — advantage on most plays as a tight end. To add on to that, both players had some of the best hands in the league.

Now let’s get back to the Houston Texans. After a horrific 4-12 finish by the Houston Texans in 2017, it was obviously clear that the tight end position was a position of weakness. So to counter the problem at hand, the Texans drafted Jordan Akins in the third round and Jordan Thomas in the sixth round.

What most fans did not realize at the time was, not only were the Texans trying to improve the tight end position but they were also trying to mimic what the Patriots did when they drafted Gronkowski in the second round and Hernandez in the fourth round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

With Thomas, you have the bigger, taller, and stronger — 6-foot-5 and 277 pounds — Gronk-type of tight end and with Akins, you have the size, speed — 6-foot-4 and 243 pounds — and position versatility mismatch that Hernandez brought on every play.

You could see it last year in their play, as Thomas consistently used his size and hands to win matchups. While Thomas used his size, speed, and hands to win in the slot, on the boundary, as a traditional tight end and even in the backfield.

The two have formed a bond with each other and are very confident. Arriving at the podium

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together smiling and laughing during their conversations with the media after minicamp practice this past Wednesday.

Additionally, when asked what the expectations were in year two with Deshaun Watson, Akins responded “touchdowns … touchdowns.”

Now, the Jordans were not as productive as Gronkowski and Hernandez were in their first year but taking into consideration that the Patriots duo was drafted higher, they also had a Hall of Fame quarterback in Tom Brady. Plus, he wasn’t sacked 62 times like Watson was — an NFL record — so I think that the Jordans did do a good job.

Furthermore, Texans fans need not worry about the future of the tight end position because the team drafted Gronk-lite in the third round of this season’s NFL Draft in Kahale Warring. Like Akins, he has the traits of both Jordans as he’s 6-foot-5, 252 pounds and can get up to a 4.67 while running the 40.

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Seeing that the Jordans made plays last year, are looking to improve on that and Watson entering his third season, the future looks bright.

What do you think about my theory? Please feel free to sound off in the comments section below.

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