NFL Analyst Predicts Texans as 'Most Improved' AFC Team
The Houston Texans are entering the 2023 season with excitement and decent expectations for the first time since 2019. Few have the Texans competing for a playoff spot, but the consensus believes that Houston will be an improved team.
However, Good Morning Football panelist Devin McCourty went even further with his Texans prediction.
"I'm taking the Houston Texans as my most improved AFC team," McCourty said in a recent Good Morning Football broadcast.
McCourty believes the rookies and new additions will be the leaders in winning a few more games this season.
"You go out there and bring in (edge rusher) Will Anderson Jr., (quarterback) C.J. Stroud, (receiver) Tank Dell and a veteran like (receiver) Robert Woods to lead the room," McCourty said. "This is a team that might double their win total. It may only be six, but to me, that is much more improved."
McCourty explained that the Texans' three-year "turmoil" will end with this new group of players.
"At the end of this season, we may look at them and say 'Alright, they're going in the right direction and winning a few games,'" McCourty said.
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Regardless, the Texans' improvement ultimately rides on the shoulders of new coach DeMeco Ryans.
After two stellar years as the San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator, Ryans became the hottest name in the head coach hunting market and was hired by the Texans on Jan. 31. Ryans pulled the strings behind the 49ers' No. 1 scoring defense in the league, allowing an average of 16.3 points per game.
Ryans brought 49ers offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik with him to develop Stroud, Dell, and many more young pieces on that side of the ball.
Slowik conducted a unique offense in San Francisco, as the 49ers ran the ball on 48.65 percent of snaps, the sixth-highest rate in the NFL. Second-year running back Dameon Pierce is widely expected to breakout under Slowik's system, especially after being Houston's main offensive weapon last season.
The Texans' "most improved" campaign begins on Sept. 10 against the Indianapolis Colts.
