Texans’ Progress: Building a Better Roster and Taking Risks in the Draft

The Houston Texans were still in the middle of a rebuild, but that didn’t mean progress wasn’t necessary. Chairman and CEO Cal McNair was asked about the teams’ improvement through the offseason and the draft, and he had good things to say.  This was likely a huge relief for General Manager Nick Caserio after he chose to try and go all in this year.

McNair said, “Well, I think you just have to look at the roster, and I think it’s a better roster this year. Very competitive. You want to have competition at each of those spots on the roster. I see a lot of progress and a lot of good things on the way.” As most of you know, Houston snagged quarterback CJ Stroud as the number two overall pick in the draft. Grabbing a potential franchise cornerstone was the biggest need moving forward. Then right afterwards, Caserio traded their number 12 overall pick and next year’s first-rounder to move back up to the number three spot to grab Will Anderson, the pass rusher. Two of the best players available both went to Houston early on without them having to give up a tremendous amount.

This isn’t even mentioning that new head coaching hire DeMeco Ryans will bring his new system to a team that desperately needs a new look and identity moving forward. But Ryans and the rest of the Texans franchise are excited about his new additions. Caserio had his future in so much doubt through the offseason that he had to openly say, “I’m not leaving”, just to get reporters to stop asking about his desire to remain with the team. 

Stroud is likely to be the starter immediately, assuming he doesn’t do anything stupid off the field. The only other quarterbacks on the roster are Davis Mills and the veteran Case Keenum. Simply put, Stroud will be number one and do whatever he can to help the Texans not become the worst team in the league again. 

If everything goes right with these picks and Houston wins a few more games than last year, we might see Caserio maintain his aggressiveness throughout next year’s offseason. However, if the team suffers from the same problems and a few of their big moves don’t work out the way that they had hoped, Caserio will be a likely candidate to be replaced sooner rather than later. It’s a big year for him and the remainder of the Texans franchise, but it’s a good sign that CEO McNair is pleased with how the roster looks. After all, he’s likely sick of the team’s underperformance lately, possibly Caserio. Hopefully, the Texans have significantly more to cheer about this year than in previous campaigns.