Houston Texans must build up roster to hang with Colts

The Houston Texans won the AFC South in 2018, but if they don’t improve, they won’t repeat in 2019.

Houston started out 0-3 before coming on strong to finish 11-5 before being blown out at home in the Wild Card round. The team that beat it, the Indianapolis Colts, began the campaign at 1-5 but finished at 10-6 and smacked Houston up and down the field before losing to the Kansas City Chiefs in the Divisional round.

With the Colts expected to have a league-leading $109 million in cap space and ample draft picks to boot, they are going to make improvements. Last year, Indianapolis was still building up Andrew Luck’s right shoulder. As it turns out, Luck is finally healthy and he was joined by the league’s best rookie class, led by All-Pros linebacker Darius Leonard and guard Quenton Nelson.

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Considering how poised Indianapolis is to ascend, the Texans have to figure out ways to improve.

Houston has considerable cap space as well, although it has some free agents of its own to pay first. From my understanding of the situation, outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney will receive the franchise tag, soaking up approximately $15 million of cap. Safety Tyrann Mathieu is also hitting the market along with veteran cornerback Kareem Jackson. If general manager Brian Gaine wants to retain either, they won’t be cheap.

Looking at the Texans roster and the $78 million of cap room, there are obvious needs. Deshaun Watson, J.J. Watt, Whitney Mercilus, DeAndre Hopkins and Clowney are all fantastic, but the drop-off is swift and steep beyond them.

To fix this, Gaine needs to attack multiple areas of the team. The offensive line has been a mess for years. Houston could do worse than adding left tackle Trent Brown and guard Rodger Saffold in free agency. The line would immediately become a strength while keeping Watson upright after seeing him take a league-worst 62 sacks in 2018.

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Additionally, the Texans must address adding weapons. Outside of Hopkins, there is Will Fuller coming off a torn ACL and little else. Golden Tate would be a terrific get, and tight end Jared Cook would be a smart signing as well. In the secondary, Houston would do well to retain Mathieu and then sign a corner, potentially Ronald Darby.

Holding off the Colts won’t happen with the current roster being brought back as is. The Texans must find ways to upgrade on both sides of the ball through the draft and free agency. Anything less, and Houston is going to be fighting for a wild card spot for years to come.