Houston Texans: Replacing DeAndre Hopkins & adding draft picks among tasks that await next GM

Nicholas McGee

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Houston Texans: Replacing DeAndre Hopkins & adding draft picks among tasks that await next GM image

The 2020 NFL season is only a month old and the Houston Texans are already looking to the future following the firing of Bill O'Brien. 

O'Brien was this week relieved of his duties as head coach and general manager of the Texans after an 0-4 start, which followed on from a series of questionable personnel moves.  

Only one team, the 1992 San Diego Chargers, has started 0-4 and gone on to make the playoffs, meaning the Texans are likely playing for pride under interim head coach Romeo Crennel. 

Jack Easterby has taken on the GM role in an interim capacity, but what will O'Brien's long-term replacement in the front office have on his docket? 

Here we look at the tasks that await the new GM in the 2021 offseason.


Replace DeAndre Hopkins

O'Brien's decision to trade Hopkins for a second-round pick this year, a 2021 fourth and running back David Johnson was a move that played a significant role in sealing his fate. 

While quarterback Deshaun Watson's play has not really dropped off without Hopkins - his 8.5 yards per attempt average through four games is the highest of his career - the Texans' offense is predictably worse off without the All-Pro wide receiver. 

The Texans were 52-42 in games with Hopkins and are now 0-6 without him. They averaged 22.1 points in the 94 games Hopkins played for the franchise, but have put up just 17.8 points per game minus his services.

Hopkins helped the Texans rack up 343.8 total yards per game during his time in Houston, with their production in that regard dropping to 304.3 yards per game when he has not featured. 

As one of the game's top young quarterbacks, Watson can mask plenty of the Texans' failings, but the impact of losing a receiver of Hopkins' calibre was always going to be significant. They must repair the damage from a needless trade next offseason.

Shore up the protection

Another of O'Brien's headline moves was the 2019 deal for left tackle Laremy Tunsil, which saw Houston send two first-round picks, a second-rounder and a pair of players to the Miami Dolphins. 

Tunsil, widely regarded as one of the league's top players at the position, was signed to a three-year, $66million extension in April. Yet the numbers suggest the Texans' offensive line has actually declined since his arrival. 

Indeed, between 2014-2018 the Texans rushed for 120.2 yards a game (fifth in the NFL) and gave up an average of 2.63 sacks (24th in the NFL). 

Since 2019, however, the Texans' rush yardage average has dipped to 115.2 (15th), while they are conceding 3.25 sacks per game (31st). 

Tunsil is also the most penalised player in the league since 2019, having been flagged 16 times. Yet it is unlikely the Texans will give up on a player in whom they have invested so much, both financially and in terms of draft capital. 

The challenge for whoever is running the Texans in the offseason is to identify the key weaknesses in the trenches and ensure Watson has the protection to realise his MVP potential.

Reverse the defensive decline

The 2019 offseason also saw the trade of Jadeveon Clowney to the Seattle Seahawks.

A first overall pick in 2014, Clowney has never quite lived up to the billing as a pass rusher, but the drop-off by the Texans' defense following his exit has been stark.

Between 2014 and 2018, the Texans ranked in the top 10 in the NFL in opponent points per game (21.3), opponent total yards per game (329.9), opponent rush yards per game (99.3) and opponent passing yards per game (230.6). 

In the 20 regular-season games they have played since the start of the 2019 campaign, the Texans have allowed opponents to average 25.6 points, 389.3 total yards, 133.2 rushing yards and 256.1 passing yards. They rank in the bottom half of the league in all four categories. 

Whether Clowney would have prevented that decline is open for debate but, with J.J. Watt struggling to stay healthy in recent years, this is a defense that lacks difference-makers - something that must be addressed in 2021.

Acquire draft capital

The list of tasks for the next general manager of the Texans is lengthy, but O'Brien's replacement in that role will not be able to succeed in repairing the roster without acquiring draft capital. 

Perhaps the most damaging result of O'Brien's tenure as personnel chief is the lack of draft picks he has left them. 

The Texans do not have a pick in either of the first two rounds of the 2021 draft as a result of their trade with the Dolphins, which looks particularly costly given their first-round pick would be fourth overall if the season ended now. 

Houston needs to supplement an ageing and - outside of Watson - mediocre roster with premium young talent. The best way to do that is to acquire picks.

After the mess O'Brien has left them, it will take some creative roster reconstruction from his successor to put the Texans in contention for a first NFL title. 

Nicholas McGee