Most of the focus on the Houston Texans has been bad; let’s face it. BetAnySports customers have undoubtedly seen the accounts of quarterback Deshaun Watson’s legal troubles, and they are bad enough that it could cost him the entire season.
As of this moment he is active and eligible, although he doesn’t want to play for this team and management doesn’t necessarily want him on the field.
It is simply an atmosphere of uncertainty, and even though they have been offered a couple of deals by other clubs, who were apparently willing to roll the dice, the Texans are looking for something better, but they may wind up with nothing at all.
In the interest of having someone to hold down the fort, Houston reached out to veteran backup (and sometime starter) Tyrod Taylor. They also took a shot at some upside by taking Stanford QB Davis Mills with the 67th pick in the draft.
And after a season in which they won just four games, it was time to drop some talent for salary cap considerations. You certainly saw that with JJ Watt.
Houston also named Nick Caserio as the new general manager, while David Culley, a 65-year-old lifetime assistant, gets the chance to be a head coach.
In the NFL Futures odds at BetAnySports, here are the numbers on Houston’s win total:
Houston Texans Under 4.5 Wins -190
Houston Texans Over 4.5 Wins +155
Culley doesn’t come in with a reputation as a “guru,” or as “new blood.” He’s just a guy who can steady the ship a little.
And he worked with Taylor in 2017 when he was the QB coach with the Buffalo Bills.
Taylor’s job, we presume, is to be one of those “game managers,” but to succeed at that kind of thing you’ve got to be able to control the ball one way or another.
Well, you can’t claim that the Texans don’t have some veteran talent in the backfield. David Johnson, Rex Burkhead, Philip Lindsay and Mark Ingram have all been great contributors elsewhere, and if just two of them can produce here, Houston could have something.
But the air attack does not threaten very much. And within the context of the other quarterbacks in the NFL, Taylor has to be considered below average. Jeff Driskel, who also has some starts in the NFL, is on hand as well.
The defense would appear to have a long way to go. Lovie Smith, who once coached the Chicago Bears to a Super Bowl berth, was named as the unit’s coordinator, fresh off a rather unsuccessful stint at the University of Illinois.
He’s got a big project on his hands. Houston surrendered the highest completion percentage of any NFL team, and they also gave up 5.2 yards per carry on the ground – worst in the league. Watt has gone through some injury woes in recent years, but he can be dominant when healthy, and his mere presence makes opposing offensive coordinators “game plan” against him. His loss is a big blow.
So what to make of this situation? Well, if Houston can run the ball successfully, they can be competitive in many games. But frankly, as we take a look at the schedule, we wonder where the wins are going to come from. In their non-division games, they’ve got to face Cleveland, Buffalo, New England, Arizona, the L.A.Rams, Miami, Seattle, the L.A.Chargers and San Francisco.
And another thing worth considering is whether they will turn to Davis Mills at some point in the season and find out how the future might look without Watson. Since Mills is looked upon as a “project,” the growing pains could be, well, painful.
It’s not an easy call, but we see the UNDER as a better way to go. And it may not take a lot of courage to lay the -1400 price that the Texans will miss the playoffs,as it is posted at BetAnySports, where you can get a whole lot more in the way of futures bets as well as wagering on the NFL games in progress through the facilities of Super Lines and Ultimate Lines. And remember that Bitcoin offers the easiest way to deposit – it’s fast and there are no transaction fees!
