The Houston Texans were bolstered by their trades in the 2019 preseason and until the regular season’s Oct. 29 deadline. The acquisitions of left tackle Laremy Tunsil, receiver Kenny Stills, and running back Carlos Hyde, dealt for on Aug. 31, helped propel the offense.
With a total of eight players acquired over the course of six trades between Aug. 8 and Oct. 21, the fascinating part is that these players were able to help out the Texans right away.
Coach Bill O’Brien admits that the coaching staff, scouting department, and personnel departments are putting in homework on prospective players, but the credit ultimately goes to the players.
“You give the players all the credit,” O’Brien told reporters Thursday. “The players get all the credit for coming in here and learning the system and understanding what we’re asking them to do, whether it’s Carlos Hyde to [cornerback] Keion Crossen to Laremy Tunsil to everybody else that was here right at the end of training camp, beginning of the season.”
Of the eight players, running back Duke Johnson had the most preseason time with the Texans as the club traded a conditional 2020 third-round pick to the Cleveland Browns for his services on Aug. 8.
Tunsil, Stills, Hyde, Crossen, who has been impactful on special teams, along with outside linebackers Barkevious Mingo and Jacob Martin were all acquired on Aug. 31, two days after the final preseason game and nine days before the season opener in New Orleans against the Saints on Monday Night Football. Cornerback Gareon Conely was added on Oct. 21 in a trade with the Oakland Raiders when the Texans were desperate for cornerback help.
“I think you give the players all credit for being able to come in here and be professional and get right to work and kind of learn our culture, learn our playbook and learn how we do things, and those guys have done that,” said O’Brien. “I think the players get all the credit.”
The Texans are hopeful their new pieces will be able to lift them past the Buffalo Bills Saturday in the AFC wild-card at NRG Stadium.
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