Scout's Take: Houston Texans
Underrated: Jadeveon Clowney
His sophomore year of college, he had that highlight hit where he knocked out the running back, pops his helmet off, jumps up and recovers the fumble, so it was almost like people expected to see that on every single play in his junior year. And the people at South Carolina didn’t help his cause. He had a legitimate groin injury that the staff there minimized and acted like he was milking the injury. This guy competes. He plays the game the right way. He had microfracture, and that’s a surgery that takes awhile to come back from. The narrative is starting to roll that this guy is a bust, but when this guy gets on the field he can still be dominant. And he’s raw. This is where J.J. Watt can help him, in terms of work habits and understanding the nuances of defensive line play. Clowney is starting to come around and is going to have a hell of a year if he stays healthy. I think that will surprise some.
Overrated: Brock Osweiler
He’s an unknown commodity. He played seven games last year and went 5–2. When you look at the Broncos last year, they only threw 19 touchdown passes and won the Super Bowl. That lets you know how great this defense was that was carrying that team. The Texans also have a good defense, one of the better defenses in the NFL, but it isn’t the Denver defense. And the offensive system in Houston is more complicated for the quarterback, it puts more onus on him than the one that Denver runs. When you come off the bench as a second-round pick who hasn’t played, there really is not a whole lot of pressure on you. And now, when you get the big contract, the expectations and the pressure is a lot different. It will be interesting to see how he deals with that. How is he going to handle adversity?
Extra Point
This team has been competitive for years. They have had some of their best years with Matt Schaub and Gary Kubiak at the helm, a good defense and a staunch running game. They are making Brock Osweiler out to be the savior of the team, and some of it is just a narrative to sell, so they can sell PSLs and season tickets and luxury box seats. So they are saying, hey, we got our guy, and this is the guy we wanted. But with the expectations, and with Brock’s unknown temperament to handle those expectations, it is going to be interesting to see how this plays out. And Bill O’Brien has a totally different temperament than Gary Kubiak. How is Brock going to handle it when O’Brien is sticking a size 13 shoe up his a--? Gary Kubiak has a different way about him. Both ways have been effective, but it will be different and it could be something that Brock has a hard time adjusting to.
