The Houston Texans debuted as the worst team in the NFL in the most recent Peter King power rankings, but that is not the consensus across the sports world.
According to Sam Monson from Pro Football Focus, the Texans were able to have positive results in the offseason as the team moves towards completing the rebuild. They were the second team listed in the “rebuilding” category.
The Texans were able to finally start their rebuild by trading away Deshaun Watson for a huge haul of draft picks. That move happened too late in the day for them to be big players in free agency, so the project really started in the draft. Davis Mills flashed some surprisingly good play as a rookie, and he’ll get, at least, another season to show he can be a future starter, but this project has really only just begun.
Coach Lovie Smith told reporters May 24 during organized team activities at Houston Methodist Training Center that he was pleased with the competition that was on display throughout offseason workouts.
“We have good competition throughout at a lot of positions, so this work, just love it as much as anything,” said Smith. “You get a chance to see the initial group that we put out there, but don’t put too much into who’s getting reps right now, who isn’t. We don’t have first, second, third teams right now. We kind of have a starting rotation and as much as anything, we want everybody to have an opportunity to show us who they are.”
Across the rest of the AFC South, the Jacksonville Jaguars were ahead of Houston at No. 27. The Tennessee Titans were No. 17. The Indianapolis Colts placed No. 15. Both teams were placed in the “eyes on the playoffs” category.