The Houston Texans have to get better on offense.
While there were a myriad of reasons Houston went 3-13-1 last season, the offense is the chief reason. The Texans finished tied with the Indianapolis Colts for the second-fewest points and also second-fewest yards. Houston additionally had the second-most turnovers in 2022.
Aside from rookie running back Dameon Pierce barreling his way towards 939 yards and four touchdowns through 13 games, the Texans had hardly anything to show on offense.
The Texans took quarterback C.J. Stroud No. 2 overall in the 2023 NFL draft. Houston signed running back Devin Singletary in the offseason along with tight end Dalton Schultz. In addition to adding Robert Woods, the Texans also drafted third-rounder Tank Dell to partner with third-year Nico Collins.
According to Jared Dubin from CBS Sports, the biggest X-factor for the Texans offense this season isn’t even a player; it’s a coach, and that is offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik.
The Texans hired DeMeco Ryans as their head coach this offseason, and Ryans brought Slowik with him from San Francisco to Houston. As the passing-game coordinator for the 49ers, he was in charge of helping Kyle Shanahan marry his diverse run game to the pass, and he’ll have to bring that bag of tricks to the Texans. With Houston not having nearly the same pass-catching (or offensive line) talent that the Niners have, it will be a challenge for Slowik to replicate that success. But other Shanahan-system coordinators have been able to get pretty good results outside of San Francisco, so it’s certainly not an impossible task. We’re about to see if he and the Texans are up for it.
The Texans’ win total may not demonstrably improve over last year with a young roster and rookie coach, but the expectation is the offense should at least appear more explosive than Pep Hamilton’s unit from a year ago.
