For the first time in a while, the Houston Texans made some noise around the NFL for a good reason!
DeMeco Ryans, the 49ers defensive coordinator and one of the league’s most coveted head-coaching candidates, will return to the team that drafted him to become its new leader. Houston made a long-term commitment to Ryans, signing him to a six-year contract.
It’s a rare win for the Texans, who have seemingly dealt with nothing but negative news for the better part of the last decade:
- Controversy with ownership
- Bill O’Brien – DeAndre Hopkins trade
- Deshaun Watson – enough said there
- Dysfunctional front office situation
- Overall really bad team
For the first time in several years, it feels like the Texans at least have a real direction and purpose. Ryans will surely come in and revamp Houston’s horrid defense. He led the league’s best defense in San Francisco, and it probably won’t take too long for him to build something similar in H-Town.
In general, Ryans faces a pretty big offseason that will likely feature a flurry of free agent activity, as well as a potential new quarterback.
The Texans pick second in the draft, a spot that will likely yield them a new franchise face under center. Deciding between CJ Stroud and Bryce Young, and then whether to trade with Chicago to get up to number one, will be massive decisions with franchise-altering implications.
I fear that the Bears will hold that first pick hostage, even though they don’t necessarily need a quarterback, unless, of course, they decide to move off Justin Fields (would be asinine, in my opinion).
It could end up being a bidding war to get that 1/1 slot, and Ryans will likely play a key role in deciding whether to get involved. Regardless, staying put at two is guaranteed to get one of those two aforementioned guys.
I’m also very interested in tracking the Texans’ offensive coordinator search. Ryans is a heavily defensive head coach, so they’ll need to get that hire right. Whoever they bring in will have a massive influence on the new quarterback.
Overall, though, I love the hire. Frankly, the Texans are lucky that Ryans played for them and that his wife and her family are all from Houston, because otherwise, I don’t think he would have considered them at all.
The Texans have fired their head coach back-to-back years, and if you count Bill O’Brien’s departure and Romeo Crennel’s interim tenure, have gone through four head coaches in the last three seasons. That’s all on top of the well-known front office dysfunction and ownership controversy.
Nonetheless, the move seems personal for Ryans, and it’s clear he had his eyes on this job above all others. Hopefully for the Texans, that personal connection will help lead to wins on the field.
One thing the Texans do have is some young defensive talent. Last year’s first-and-second round picks, Derek Stingley and Jalen Pitre, are both incredibly promising defensive backs. Pair them with a third young star likely drafted with the Texans’ second first-round pick this year, and you start building the core of a really solid defense.
Ryans will certainly help those youngsters continue in their development, which will be a great development for the Texans.
Overall, Houston has a lot of decisions to make this season, and quite frankly, none of them are easy. They probably won’t get all of them right, but at least they got this one spot-on. DeMeco Ryans is clearly the right guy to lead the Texans forward. We’ll see how quickly he can turn them around.
Rating: 90/100… Inferno.
