NFL QB Tiers: Where Do Houston Texans Rank (Without Deshaun Watson)?
Entering the 2021 season, it s not looking good for the Houston Texans at quarterback
Author:
May 10, 2021
HOUSTON Once in a blue moon, an average player takes the team far and eventually hoists is the Lombardi Trophy.
Most of the time, though, teams live or die by the quarterback play. How does this bode for the Houston Texans?
Not great … no matter how you look at the situation.
What s the 2021 NFL Draft in the books, and most of the major free agency moves complete, teams have a better idea of where they stand entering OTA s. Building around the quarterback could be the difference of having a solid roster or being a bad team.
Apr 28, 2021
Here’s the truth: All five of the quarterbacks set to be drafted on Thursday won’t become franchise guys. That’s not a slight to anyone in particular, nor can I predict today who’ll make it and who won’t (although I feel pretty good about the first guy).
The numbers bear that out. Some facts:
• Twenty quarterbacks went in the first round between 2011 and ’17. Eight made it to a second deal (one of those eight, by the way, is Blake Bortles). Two more (Jameis Winston, Marcus Mariota) had fifth-year options picked up. Ten either had their fifth-year options declined or didn’t last long enough for their teams to have made that call. And only two of the 20 (Patrick Mahomes, Deshaun Watson) remain with the teams that drafted them.
Photo by Justin K. Aller/Getty Images
With Ben Roethlisberger returning as Pittsburgh’s starting quarterback for the 2021 season, it’s worth examining his strengths and weaknesses at this stage of his career and considering how new coordinator Matt Canada might reshape the offense to accommodate them.
There’s no doubt Roethlisberger will be motivated to erase the memory of his play down the stretch last season, particularly the humiliating playoff defeat to Cleveland in which he threw four interceptions. Yet, at age 39, he is nowhere near the player he once was. And the Steelers, despite a defense that remains championship-caliber, are a team in transition on offense. By the time they take the field in September, they will have three or four new starters, a new line coach, a new quarterbacks coach and a new coordinator. Given all of that change, it’s difficult to predict what the offense might look and to what degree Canada will build it around his quarterback.
Originally posted on Sportsnaut | By Matt Fitzgerald | Last updated 3/10/21
Some NFL teams seem destined to fail during the 2021 season, and while there are some obvious, probable horror stories like the Houston Texans, there should be some surprise franchises that implode in spectacular fashion.
It happens every year. Whether it’s a playoff team from the prior season, a seemingly stable organization that takes a bad turn, or a team that collapses under high expectations, plenty of fan bases end up baffled at how bad their team fared.
Let’s look at the most notable NFL teams that seem the most likely to unravel in 2021 based on limited cap space, personnel deficiencies, uncertain quarterback situations and a variety of other key factors.