Last season, the Houston Texans were a big feel-good story in the NFL. Coming off a 3-13-1 finish in 2022, not much was expected out of them in 2023.
But with new head coach DeMeco Ryans and rookie sensation C.J. Stroud leading the way, the Texans blasted a path toward a 10-7 record and a first-place finish in the AFC South.
Stroud quickly emerged as one of the game’s best quarterbacks, and he delivered clutch heroics on more than one occasion during the season.
In the playoffs, they dismissed the Cleveland Browns in the wild-card round before falling to the Baltimore Ravens. That led to high expectations for 2024, and those expectations rose even higher when Houston traded for four-time Pro Bowl wide receiver Stefon Diggs.
The team suddenly has one of football’s best wide receiver rooms, and Ryans let it be known that those wideouts will be a problem for the rest of the league.
“We want to put defenses in binds, and I think with those three guys it allows us to do that because they are so different, and they can all do different things,” Ryans said. “But at the end of the day, they are all explosive finishers with the football, and that is what makes those guys great players. They can win on third down, and they can finish and get in the end zone, and that’s what we look for at all skill positions on offense.”
Diggs is joining a wide receivers corps that already included Nico Collins and Tank Dell, both of whom proved their worth last season.
Collins produced 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns in 2023, numbers that greatly dwarfed what he had done in his first two seasons. Dell, meanwhile, put up 709 yards and seven touchdowns in 11 games before a fractured fibula ended his season.
In March, the Texans also traded for running back Joe Mixon, who made the Pro Bowl in 2021, and his presence in the backfield should make them even more unpredictable.
Ryans served as the San Francisco 49ers’ defensive coordinator for two seasons before coming to Houston, so he should also be excited about the addition of pass rushers Danielle Hunter, a four-time Pro Bowler, and veteran Denico Autry. Ryans will also get to reunite with another new addition in linebacker Azeez Al-Shaair.
The Houston Texans are building something that could potentially be special, and perhaps they will have something to say about how the AFC will be won as soon as this coming season.
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