Typically when NFL power rankings have been released throughout the offseason, the Houston Texans are among one of the worst teams in the league.
The excuses are always the same. Davis Mills is unproven and wasn’t highly touted in the 2021 NFL draft. Lovie Smith is on his NFL third team and was pedestrian at best at Illinois. The Texans are running an outdated scheme on defense. However it is served, the Texans are just a bottom-5 team in the NFL.
However, Doug Farrar from the Touchdown Wire may have actually got it right in his latest power rankings wherein Houston places No. 24 overall.
Don’t look now, but a Texans team that has justifiably been the joke of the NFL for a while now is improving. We start at quarterback, where rookie Davis Mills exceeded expectations in 2021, allowing general manager Nick Caserio and his staff to throw their draft picks and free-agent dollars at other problems.
Houston is still light at receiver, and the offensive line has question marks, though left tackle Laremy Tunsil and first-round guard Kenyon Green should present a formidable left side — if Tunsil is healthy. The Texans did commit a bit of absolute larceny in the fourth round of the draft, where they stole Florida’s Dameon Pierce, our RB1, and Pierce is already making favorable impressions in training camp.
The secondary is where things could be really interesting for head coach Lovie Smith. The Texans already had underrated slot defender Tavierre Thomas, and in the draft, they picked up LSU cornerback Derek Stingley Jr., and Baylor do-it-all safety Jalen Pitre, who looks like a young Tyrann Mathieu. If Stingley balls out at his 2019 level, that’s a CB1 right there.
Yes, the Texans still have a lot of work to do with their roster. But they’re not quite the rudderless ship they used to be.
The Texans aren’t as horrendous as the Atlanta Falcons (No. 32). They are still better than the Jacksonville Jaguars (No. 30), who haven’t beaten Houston since 2017. They may also be a little closer to the best in the AFC South as the Indianapolis Colts (No. 17) and Tennessee Titans (No. 16) aren’t that far away.
After the Texans’ first preseason game, the results will actually be affected what’s on the field and not off-field perceptions, which means these may be the most realistic power rankings of the offseason.
