Dynasty Capsule: Houston Texans

Eric Olinger

texanscapsule

As part of the premium content package, we’re again unveiling dynasty capsules for every team in the NFL leading up to free agency and the NFL Draft. This year, we’re again going to do a follow-up on all the teams after all the free agency and NFL Draft movement to assess the impact of any players teams have gained or lost. Since these capsules are always done as a simple snapshot in time, we figured that was the best way to tackle the off-season and provide ultimate value for our subscribers. All in all, we’ll have close to 500 player profiles found in these capsules over the off-season.

We continue our path through the NFL with the Houston Texans.

Quarterbacks

Ryan Mallett

Even though Mallett isn’t under contract with the Houston Texans at the moment, he is expected to re-sign and be the week one starter in 2015. The team traded for 6’6” pocket passer just before last season began and started two late season games before tearing a muscle in his chest. Once viewed as Tom Brady’s eventual successor, Mallett has always been a player fantasy owners have monitored because he was pretty much on the trade block ever since he was drafted. Former Raiders and Browns GM Mike Lombardi always said he would have been the first quarterback selected in the 2011 draft had it not been for his off-field troubles. Re-signing Mallet’s big arm would also be ideal for Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins.

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Ryan Fitzpatrick

On the flip side to Mallet is Ryan Fitzpatrick. He is a weak armed game manager who is currently under contract, but not expected to remain with the team. He started off 2014 with a 6-6 record before being benched in week 11 for Mallet. When he re-gained the starting job after Mallet’s injury, he produced the least likely six touchdown game in league history in week 13. He finished the year with 17 touchdowns and eight interceptions in 12 games while averaging a very depressing 207 yards per game. With players like Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins and Arian Foster on the field, that’s unacceptable. With so many teams struggling to find quarterbacks, Fitzpatrick will land on his feet somewhere, possibly with the Jets, Browns or Rams.

Tom Savage

Entering his second season as a pro, Savage will be 25 years old by the time training camp rolls around. There was a lot of misdirection and rumors of Savage being “coveted by numerous teams” entering last year’s draft and thoughts were he could have gone as early as the top of the second round. Instead, he lasted until pick #135 in the fourth round. He definitely looks the part at 6’4”, 228 pounds but never put up eye popping stats in college. Some of that could be due to the fact he transferred twice, going from Rutgers to Arizona to Pitt. Of all the quarterbacks here, Savage is truthfully the only one guaranteed to be on the opening day roster. Most likely he will battle Mallett throughout the off-season to be the team’s starter.

Running Backs

Arian Foster

Full disclosure, I’m a big time Arian Foster fan and went to bat for him many times over the last two years while everyone was putting him out to pasture. After his 2013 season ended after eight games due to injury, he responded in a huge way in 2014. In 13 games he racked up 1,246 rushing yards, a 4.8 yards per carry average and posted eight touchdowns on the ground. Through the air he added 38 receptions for 327 yards and five more scores. His 95.8 yards per game were the second highest rate of his career.

An electric and eccentric talent, Foster will undoubtedly be the unquestioned feature back heading into 2015. The team may look to add to their stable in a very deep running back class but the most likely scenario is the Texans running Foster into the ground and then discarding the used up vet in 2016. As we saw in 2014, having a top tier option at running back was a luxury not everyone was lucky enough to have. The Foster hate will undoubtedly creep back up this summer but I, again, have little doubt he will be a RB1 again for the upcoming season.

Alfred Blue

Physically similar to Foster, Blue failed to produce when given the opportunity last year. He averaged just 3.1 yards per carry on 169 rushes and those numbers were helped out by his week 11 outlier of 36 carries for 156 yards. A bit of a workout warrior, Blue will likely stick around for another year and fight for scraps behind Foster, probably with a rookie.

Jonathan Grimes

If the Texans do draft a runner early this year, it will tell us everything we need to know about their feelings towards Grimes. He’s entering his fourth season out of small school William & Mary and was once a deep dynasty sleeper who never materialized.

Wide Receivers

Andre Johnson

Even though the city of Houston was thrilled to see Matt Schaub leave town, there was one man who clearly was not – Andre Johnson. Struggling to find any chemistry with Ryan Fitzpatrick, we thought things were going to change when Ryan Mallett got his chance. We all know how that turned out. Johnson didn’t have his first 100-yard game until Case Keenum’s week 17 start where he racked up ten catches for 134 yards and a score. His 62.4 yards per game and three touchdowns were his lowest since 2005. In the past, the Texans repeatedly neglected to add a complement to Johnson and he was force fed targets relentlessly. Now, with DeAndre Hopkins in town, the Texans have deemed Johnson as expendable, telling him he can facilitate a trade or expect to be released. Depending on where he lands, Johnson should maintain PPR relevancy as a high target chain mover. As was the case most of his career, it would be great if he could find a way to score more touchdowns, but I doubt he’ll suddenly figure it out.

DeAndre Hopkins

Hopkins made all the strides you want from a player going into year two. More impressive was the fact he did it with a quarterback situation constantly in flux. He put up useable fantasy stats fairly consistently, including a nine catch, 238-yard, two touchdown explosion in Ryan Fitzpatrick’s “come to Jesus” game against Tennessee in week 13. He finished the year with 76 catches, 1,210 yards and six touchdowns. This was good enough to finish as the WR15 in PPR leagues, 13 spots ahead of teammate Andre Johnson.

Make no mistake, the torch is being passed in Houston right now. Hopkins will draw opposing team’s top corners and he’ll need Johnson and Foster to keep teams honest. The Texans aren’t as bad as their record indicates. Bill O’Brien is a really good coach and once he gets “his guys” in there they’ll be breathing down the Colts’ neck beards.

Damaris Johnson

The de facto third wide receiver in Houston, the “other” Johnson makes his living mostly on special teams. An undersized speed guy at 5’8” and 175 pounds, Johnson was able to catch 31 balls for 331 yards and a touchdown in 2014 – those will most likely go down as career highs. The team need to add another legitimate receiving option behind Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins because the cupboard is bare here.

DeVier Posey, Keshawn Martin

Posey was an exciting deep dynasty flier at one point but hasn’t ever put it together at the pro level. Martin is just another special team guy who took a step back in 2014. Both should face major competition for their roster spots in 2015. They shouldn’t be near fantasy rosters.

Tight Ends

C.J. Fiedorowicz

Even though his rookie year wasn’t anything special, the arrow is still pointing up for Fiedorowicz. He’s a big ol’ boy at nearly 6’6” and 265 pounds with a 4.7 second 40-yard dash time. That’s a lot of meat moving real quick. Coach O’Brien like to operate out of the “12 formation” with one running back and two tight ends on the field, so even as a rookie, Fiedorowicz nearly 500 snaps but managed to only catch four passes for 28 yard and one score. Rookie tight ends historically struggle in their first year in the league so I wouldn’t bail on him yet. He’s still worth stashing as a TE3 in dynasty leagues with the hope of him eventually being the third pass catching option in Houston.

Garrett Graham / Ryan Griffin

Graham and Griffin both played the “move” tight end role in O’Brien’s offense but neither managed to catch more than 18 passes in 2014. Both are big bodies at 6’3”, 243 pounds and 6’6”, 254 pounds, respectively. It seems like Houston is collecting underachieving small wide receivers and mountains at tight end. If Houston doesn’t draft another tight end this year, Graham and Griffin will both be flier options as TE3’s but will probably once again cancel each other out.

Follow me on Twitter @OlingerIDP.

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