Bill O’Brien Does Bill O’Brien Things
Yes. We here at Touchdown Wire are going to keep using this photo until Bill O’Brien gives us reason to stop doing so.
And yes, we have written about this before, but the fact remains that O’Brien traded one of the game’s premier wide receivers in exchange for basically a second-round pick and a big contract running back in David Johnson. Yes, in the year 2020, with everything we know about big contract RBs and how the passing game is king. It flies in the face of everything we have begun to understand about the positional value – or lack thereof – of running backs as opposed to WRs.
You could literally hear minds exploding at Pro Football Focus and on Twitter.
The Houston Texans tried to address the wide receiver position in the wake of the move, acquiring Randall Cobb in free agency. Cobb is a nice piece, a slot receiver (he saw 90.4 percent of his snaps in the slot last season) who can complement a wide receiver group well. But he cannot be asked to replace Hopkins, who was used primarily on the outside a season ago.
Also, while the Houston Texans used 11 offensive personnel most of the time a year ago (60 percent of their snaps) 12 offensive personnel was their second-most utilized package. The Texans used that two-tight end package 34 percent of the time, behind just the Philadelphia Eagles, the Minnesota Vikings and the Tennessee Titans. How Cobb fits into that grouping will be interesting to watch, given his experience playing out of the slot.
Coach O’Brien, we want to stop using this photo. Please give us reasons to do so.