When the Rams signed Robert Woods to a $39 million contract back in 2017, some felt they overpaid for a receiver who had never finished a season with more than 700 yards in four years with the Bills. However, he turned out to be a huge part of Los Angeles’ success over the course of the next five seasons, helping the offense go from one of the worst in the NFL under Jeff Fisher to one of the most explosive with Sean McVay.
Woods is now a member of the Houston Texans, a team that has missed the playoffs in the last three seasons and has won 11 total games in that span. Yet, Woods is confident the Texans will be a pleasant surprise this season.
He sees similarities between the 2017 Rams and this year’s Texans team under first-year coach DeMeco Ryans.
“I think a lot of hungry players, hungry coaches,” Woods said of the Texans. “I feel like this is a similar situation to when I came to L.A. with a young McVay. Some say it was a rebuild. I feel like it was just a team buying into your coach, believing in the coach, believing in the system, and I think Coach Ryans has that here. Got a lot of young players buying into this defense, into this culture, and we can change this environment.”
In his first season with the Rams, Woods quickly set a career-high with 781 yards in just 12 games, also matching a career-best with five touchdowns. The Rams made the playoffs in the first year of McVay and Woods’ tenure, proceeding to reach the Super Bowl twice in five years.
It’s hard to say the Texans will have the same level of success under Ryan, but Woods knows a thing or two about offenses in rebuild mode so perhaps he’s onto something.
