The Houston Texans finished 4-12 in 2020. Their departing faces of the franchise have been Janus like with J.J. Watt going on friendly terms and Deshaun Watson going in the ugliest way possible.
Quarterback troubles. New identity on defense. A bevy of veterans signed in free agency to one-year and two-year contracts. The Texans are in complete rebuild mode, even if they don’t want to admit it.
Pro Football Focus’ Anthony Treash considers the Texans to have the 31st-best roster in a league of 32 teams.
Houston was one of the more interesting teams in free agency, handing out a plethora of cheap one- and two-year deals to veterans. They were essentially screaming “we are rebuilding,” which is the correct route. Outside of left tackle Laremy Tunsil, there’s nothing to get excited about down in the trenches. Wide receiver Brandin Cooks is fresh off ranking inside the top 25 in receiving grade, but he’s the lone reliable receiving threat on the roster. In the secondary, they have an above-average outside corner in Bradley Roby (17th among outside corners in coverage grade in 2020) but a full-blown liability opposite him in Vernon Hargreaves III (sixth-to-last in coverage grade among that same group). There’s not enough talent and far too many glaring holes.
If the Texans are 31, then who is 32nd? That means there has to be an NFL team worse than the Texans in terms of their roster ahead of the draft.
Enter the Detroit Lions.
Treash writes that the Lions don’t have any one position of strength, which appears true. However, they do have stability at quarterback with Jared Goff. The Texans have Tyrod Taylor under contract, but they also traded with the Cincinnati Bengals for Ryan Finley. There is also speculation Houston could take a project quarterback in the draft.
Where Detroit also bests Houston is draft capital. The Texans are 30th in draft resources while the Lions are No. 8 in the rankings.