The Houston Texans made key investments on the offensive side of the ball throughout the 2022 offseason, but it wasn’t enough to convince national pundits.
According to Judy Battista from NFL.com, the Texans were missing from her list of teams that “significantly helped” their quarterback throughout the offseason. The top team on the list were the New York Jets.
General manager Joe Douglas has surrounded Zach Wilson with the kind of talent that Sam Darnold never saw. This offseason, he completely overhauled the tight end room, signing C.J. Uzomah and Tyler Conklin before drafting Jeremy Ruckert. He also drafted the best running back in the class in Breece Hall and — in the biggest addition — spent the No. 10 overall pick on Garrett Wilson, a threat via yards after the catch and downfield passes. And don’t forget the signing of guard Laken Tomlinson, addressing an offensive line need. It all comes down to Wilson’s development, of course, but it’s hard to imagine the Jets being 28th in scoring again.
It is true the Texans’ tight end room is about the same as last year’s with Brevin Jordan entering his second year, Pharaoh Brown returning along with Antony Auclair, and the fifth-round selection of Oregon State’s Teagan Quitoriano.
However, Houston made as big of commitments to the rest of their skill positions as the Jets did. Quarterback Davis Mills has a young stud to hand off to in fourth-rounder Dameon Pierce. Houston got a downfield threat in John Metchie in the second round. Not only did Houston sign a guard with familiarity with the new offensive line coach in A.J. Cann, but the Texans also spent a first-round pick on Texas A&M’s Kenyon Green. For the first time since at least 2020, the Texans have clarity on what their starting offensive line looks like as opposed to spending offseason workouts and training camp cobbling together the best five-man combination.
The Jets made their acquisitions in the absence of existing talent. The Texans have two weapons Mills has formed cohesion with in receivers Brandin Cooks and Nico Collins.
As far as the Texans have fallen since 2019, the last time they won the division, the more they will get overlooked until they start stacking wins.
