The Houston Texans entered the NFL in 2002 following a massive push by the late Bob McNair to bring professional football back to the city of Houston. Previously, the Oilers represented the city from 1960-96 before Bud Adams ripped the team and it’s beautiful Columbia Blue (don’t get J.J. Watt started) jerseys away to take to Nashville.
In the team’s relatively short 19-year history, the Texans have been the definition of mediocrity. The team was unable to make the playoffs until their 10th season in 2011, finally winning the AFC South after a neck injury kept Peyton Manning from playing a snap that year. After the disastrous 2013 season that cost Gary Kubiak his job, the Texans started to find habitual success with Bill O’Brien, adding division titles in 2015, 2016, 2018 and 2019.
However, it was during those 10 fruitless seasons when the Texans embarked as an expansion franchise that something happened to the fan base. They learned how to celebrate all the same despite their mediocrity. Without a franchise quarterback, and thus without any chance at a Super Bowl title, the city idolized players such as Andre Johnson, Arian Foster, Brian Cushing and Duane Brown. Their awards, Pro Bowl nods, and All-Pro selections brought joy to a relatively joyless franchise.
Everything changed for the Texans in 2017. A draft day move-up for Clemson product Deshaun Watson and his subsequent seven-game explosion before a devastating ACL injury shifted the course of Houston’s franchise. With No. 4 in a Battle Red uniform, the Texans were Super Bowl contenders. With Watson running the offense, the Texans would not be discounted in any contest. In short, with the magician under center, anything was possible.
This is certainly a new reality for Houston fans. The last franchise quarterback seen by Clutch City was Warren Moon, who left the Oilers for Minnesota in 1994. For context, the salary cap was not even implemented until the that season. It was a long time ago and an experience many Houston sports fans have either forgotten or weren’t alive to see.
All the same, the return of a franchise savior at quarterback dictates a change in mentality and how the team is viewed. The player-worshiping vitriol of the team’s first decade has reared its ugly head in full force this past month, as the fan base has decided to collectively explode over the Deandre Hopkins trade. This is the attitude of an expansion franchise or of an also-ran.
When you have the quarterback, history dictates that no receiving weapon, nor other portion of the offensive system, should hold the team hostage.
Let’s examine some examples from the past decade of how winning franchises with franchise quarterbacks act regarding the prioritization of their receiving weapons. Specifically, the model employed by one of the most dominant AFC franchises of the 21st century: The Pittsburgh Steelers. To begin, Ben Roethlisberger has been the face of the Steelers since 2004, winning Rookie of the Year in 2004 and his first Super Bowl in 2005. Pittsburgh is, coincidentally, notorious for finding and developing excellent receiving talent in the draft.
How have they treated homegrown talents that have pursued large contracts In 2012, following consecutive Pro-Bowl appearances, Mike Wallace was allowed to walk and sign a mega-contract with the Miami Dolphins. In 2014, Emmanuel Sanders was told to walk away and signed with Manning and the Denver Broncos. In 2019, following a massive fallout with management, the Steelers chose to offload Antonio Brown to the Oakland Raiders for a mere third and fifth rounder in that year’s draft. Nobody, especially on the exterior, was bigger than the system.
What about a more recent example? Similar to Bill O’Brien, Pete Carroll only managed to navigate the Seattle Seahawks to early playoff round and division titles before finding Russell Wilson in the third round of 2012’s draft. How has Seattle operated since finding a star? Players such as Doug Baldwin, Jermaine Kearse, and Tyler Lockett have headlined catching passes for Wilson. In terms of allotted capital, Baldwin represented the biggest contract number by signing an extension that made him the sixth-highest paid wide receiver before the 2016 season. Meanwhile, major investments in receiving weapons, such as first round picks to acquire Jimmy Graham and Percy Harvin, are almost universally considered to have been failures.
Beyond just these two teams, look at Tom Brady and what the Patriots have deemed necessary for him to win or the bevy of pass catchers that have headlined as Aaron Rodgers’ top weapon in Green Bay. There is a strong argument that winning football games isn’t about the exterior. Do you have someone, a quarterback, that you can go say “win us the game”? Those are the league’s most successful teams.
Winning franchises and dynasties, historically, invest in between the tackles. On offense, cap prioritization must go towards the offensive line and locking down the franchise quarterback. The Texans are Watson’s team. It is not wise to invest $20 million in a receiver when so many other gaps exist on the team. Talented players outside of No. 4 will always be important, however it is time to shift how the fan base thinks about success and what constitutes winning. Hopkins’ 1,378 receiving yards and career-high 13 touchdowns contributed nothing towards a 4-12 disaster season in 2017. It was the injection of Watson, as Hopkins’ statistical contribution held virtually constant, that changed virtually the same team into one that won 11 games the next year in 2018.
Everybody enjoys having a Pro Bowl wide receiver and watching highlight-reel, one-handed grabs. However, the goal posts in Houston are shifting as we speak. The time to celebrate efforts such as J.J. Watt’s four touchdown receptions in 2014 or Hopkins being named a three-time All-Pro must take a backseat. These are still wonderful accomplishments and make things enjoyable for fans. However, moving forward this franchise will be judged on winning playoff games. To do that, Houston will have to spend wisely and make tough decisions regarding depth and positional priority for Tim Kelly and Anthony Weaver’s schemes.
You can’t pay everyone and you certainly don’t have to when things are steady under center. As Dr. Seuss wrote, “Don’t cry because it’s over, smile because it happened.” Texans fans moving forward will have to grow up as they accept a new, but markedly better, reality of a franchise that has a quarterback. Houston has never been able to compete by building around one player.
Embrace the growing pains, Texans fans.
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