Carlos Hyde produced a career-high with 1,070 rushing yards in the Houston Texans attack in 2019.
While the former 2014 San Francisco 49ers’ second round would not return to Houston, the production showed what a backlash could do in Houston’s attack.
This line of thought is what coach and general manager Bill O’Brien used to gamble when building the 2020 roster. Rather than using the club’s second or third round selections to take back a youngster’s run, O’Brien traded three-time All-Pro receiver DeAndre Hopkins to the Arizona Cardinals and took the former 2016 All-Pro running David Johnson on.
If Hyde could get 1,000 yards in this offense, what could Johnson do?
To date, 479 yards and four touchdowns on 121 have run 10 games – barely half of what Hyde was able to achieve in Houston.
To score Houston’s four wins, the Texans had to saddle up quarterback Deshaun Watson and ask him to play at the elite level. He didn’t have a running back to bolster him, like he had the year before. If Watson couldn’t keep up, the Texans were toast.
The New Orleans Saints have proven the importance of having a running back who can take the quarterback’s heat away. Drew Brees threw two interceptions and not a single touchdown in the Saints’ 52-33 victory over the Minnesota Vikings on Christmas Day. However, Alvin Kamara had the back of the team when he scored six hasty touchdowns and an NFL-record tying run.
Rather than ditching one of the best receivers in the game because the organization didn’t want the distraction of a contract break, the Texans could have kept Hopkins and drafted AJ Dillon, Zack Moss or La’Michal Perine. They might be able to trade and jump past the Baltimore Ravens and take JK Dobbins. Instead, Houston is getting older in the backlash, asking their franchise quarterback to do even more than he had to do in 2019.
The Texans don’t have a run game that can take the pressure off Watson in any capacity. The new general manager and new coach must figure out a way to do this if Houston is to participate in future playoff races again.