There is no doubt that one of the most exciting teams heading into the next NFL season is the Houston Texans as they showed last year a taste of what's to come led by rookie star C.J. Stroud and their offensive playmakers. However, the team was busy this offseason adding more firepower as Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans talks about the state of the team.
Houston made headlines when it was reported that they would be trading for Buffalo Bills star wide receiver Stefon Diggs, pairing him with Nico Collins and Tank Dell. Ryans sends a blunt message to the rest of the NFL about the goal for their receiver room to overwhelm any opposing defense according to DJ Bien-Aime of ESPN.
“We want to put defenses in binds, and I think with those three guys it allows us to do that because they are so different, and they can all do different things,” Ryans said. “But at the end of the day, they are all explosive finishers with the football, and that is what makes those guys great players. They can win on third down, and they can finish and get in the end zone, and that's what we look for at all skill positions on offense.”
Ryans talks his first impressions of Stefon Diggs on Texans
The Texans were already coming off of a season where another rookie stood out in Dell finished with 709 yards and seven touchdowns as he only played in 11 games since suffering from a broken leg. Plus, Houston's leading receiver in Nico Collins logged 1,297 yards and eight touchdowns on 80 receptions which led to a three-year, $72.75 million contract extension Tuesday.
Now with Diggs in the wide receiver room, it just makes the Texans that much more explosive as the 30-year old has been consistent every season to start with the Minnesota Vikings and the last four with the Bills. Ryans first impressions of Diggs through offseason activities has been nothing but positive.
“It's been really fun working with Diggs,” Ryans said. “You talk about a guy who's dialed in, a guy who loves football. It's been fun to work with him. It's been fun just to see the chemistry that starts to build in our locker room with him, our quarterback, the other receivers, offensive players, defensive players. He's going to be a really great fit with what we do here.”
Ryans answers concerns about Diggs second half performance
Last season, Diggs caught 107 passes for 1,183 yards to go along with his eight touchdown passes, but the disparity between weeks was concerning for most. Through weeks 1 to 9, he racked up 834 yards, 70 catches, and seven touchdowns, but through the rest of the season, he had 37 receptions, 349 yards, and only 1 touchdown, but Ryans looks at him “in totality.”
“We always go back to the tape and we look at a player in totality,” Ryans said. “We don't look at this amount of weeks, or those weeks, we look at the entire season, we look at the guy's entire career, what he's done, how he's been productive. [Diggs] has been an All-Pro player, he's been a Pro Bowl player, over 1,000 yards for multiple seasons.”
In any sense, the Texans are looking to be stacked heading into the second year with Ryans and Stroud at the forefront with a stacked wide receiver room and even bolstering the running back situation with Cincinnati Bengals star Joe Mixon. They are looking to improve after last season where they had a 10-7 record, winning the AFC South, but were eliminated by the Baltimore Ravens in the divisional round of the playoffs.
