TEXANS SQUAD SHOW: Who Should The Houston Texans Be Targeting To Improve Their Roster In 2026?

18 comments

1. Get Tyler linderbaum

2. Gary won a championship when he left Houston

3. We just need to get bona fide IOL and RB depth. If our run game is consistent, we can beat anybody

4. Stan speaking facts Caley was decent until an actual competitive defense came to town. He is just not innovative he runs a very old school bland offense with no explosive plays

5. Trade CJ to Tampa and whatever else for Baker Mayfield and bring him back to Texas. We need an actual lion at quarterback not a cowardly lion.

6. Houston should have been the Seahawks in the SUPERBOWL BECAUSE OF CJ STOUD

7. You are right about some things Stan but not about the Patriots.. Seattle Seahawks🏆

8. Let’s me real. C does everything on the online. With that being said,
   Drop the bag on Linderbaum
   Draft a RG and sign a solid above average LG and then get depth.
   Sign a RB and Draft a RB
   Extend shultz & draft a TE
   Trade for a WR or draft one.
   Boom botta bang

9. If that Superbowl game didn't flip the switch for C J …..then he dead ) he gotta be turned on by that game. 💯

10. Nick Caley is a Joke. Jake Andrews gets worked like a little chump.

11. Stan ignore the Chumps.

12. Agree with Stan…it feels like we're "good" with the most basic winning formula (running the ball/controlling the clock/managing the game and defense). That can and sometimes does win at the highest level, but you almost have to have an elite defense and even that probably won't be enough to win it all 90% of the time. It's just as important to recognize game situations better and be able to adapt in real time, make teams pay more when they blitz, use zone blocking personnel most of the game, but throw in a gap scheme specialist at the goal line/short yardage situations where we just need to move guys back and get a yard or two. We can get more from our players. We also need to establish the ability to make more explosive "chunk" plays than we do. We really don't have the personnel outside of Nico to create mismatches. Marks might literally be our 2nd most "dangerous" player right now. Maybe Higgins. We're probably bottom 1/3 in the league in this area. Schultz had a good year and led the team in receptions, but he doesn't scare anyone, and if/when Nico is out, teams can focus more on Schultz and can really limit his effectiveness over the course of the game. Higgins has shown some promise, as has Noel…but nothing so far to give us "star in the making" vibes yet. I can't stress enough how badly we need that on this team right now and at every offensive position group. Kirk had a great game against Pittsburgh, but he's a free agent and I don't think the Texans will (or should) pay him what he's likely going to command.

    As much as improving the o-line is our biggest priority, we also really need at least one more playmaker on this offense…preferably two. If Nico is out, we're going to struggle against damn near anybody. We need a legit #1 RB first and foremost, but we could really use another star WR or TE as well.

    If Makai Lemon drops to 13 or 14, I would start offering teams our 59th pick to move up to get him. Get Pregnon or whoever we like at guard at 38 if the value is there, then maybe get Jadarian Price if he's available at 69 or Kaytron Allen in the 4th. I would even consider getting both of them as Marks took quite a beating this year and may not be the same dude next year. That would give us great depth should anyone get hurt.

    If we're willing to spend Cade Mays money, we might as well spend a little more and get a huge upgrade in Linderbaum, plus he's been more durable over his career. Doing so would allow us to be set at that position, and there will be no need to draft a center and potentially reach to do so or alter our strategy to account for that position. Not that you can predict injuries, but Mays has missed games every year except 2024 since he's been in the league, plus his final two years in college. In the spirit of George Carlin, we need an injury prone center like we need a yeast infection. Here's what I would do this offseason…

    Get the best OC we can get…someone who can recognize talent and get the most out of Stroud.

    Cut Mixon, Edwards, Dell, Patterson, Scruggs and a few others.

    Let Ingram, Harris, Kirk, Chubb, Speed, Fatukasi and Townsend walk. Don't need to be paying our punter $3 million/year.

    Restructure who he have to restructure to do the following:

    Extend Anderson, Hunter, To'oTo'o and Togiai.

    Re-sign:

    Rankins
    Naquan Jones
    Settle
    Barnett
    Autry
    Trent Brown
    Myles Bryant
    M.J. Stewart

    Probably around $30 million/year to re-sign all of them.

    Sign:

    Tyler Linderbaum, C from Baltimore
    Josh Jones, T from Seattle
    Brady Christensen, G from Carolina
    Dalton Risner, G from Cincinnati
    Tyler Higbee, TE from the L.A. Rams (especially if Caley is still here)
    Leo Chanel, LB from Denver
    Jaylinn Hawkins, S from New England if possible

    Probably around $45 million to sign all of them.

    I would go all out this year with the huge salary cap raise. Then here would be one "ideal draft scenario" with that free agency class. If Makai Lemon drops to, say, 15, I would give Tampa Bay our 59th pick to move up to get him.

    15) Makai Lemon, WR, USC
    38) Emmanuel Pregnon, LG, Oregon
    69) Jadarian Price, RB, Notre Dame
    106) Keylan Rutledge, RG, Georgia Tech
    128) Kaytron Allen, RB, Penn State
    165) JC Davis, OT, Illinois
    201) Sam Roush, TE, Stanford
    243) Brett Thorson, P, Georgia

    No way in hell it ends up like that…pretty much every one of those players will likely be drafted right around or just by that time. This would be our roster, though, going into next year…

    QB: Stroud/Mills
    RB: Price/Allen/Marks
    TE: Schultz/Higbee
    WR: Collins/Lemon/Higgins/Noel/Hutchinson
    LT: Ersery/Jones/Davis
    LG: Pregnon/Christensen/Howard
    C: Linderbaum/Andrews
    RG: Risner/Rutledge/Christensen
    RT: Howard/Jones/Davis

    This would give us so much more firepower and depth across the board. Even if Pregnon turns out to be a bust, we got Josh Jones, who could step in at RT and put Howard back at LG. We'd still have Trent Brown for emergencies if something happens to Ersery and Jones fills in at LT.

    LE: Anderson/Autry
    DT: Rankins/Jones
    DT: Settle/Togiai
    RE: Hunter/Barnett
    LB: Al-Shaair/To'oTo'o/Chanel
    DB: Stingley/Lassiter/Pitre/Bullock/Hawkins

    Sign me up for that. That might do it, folks.

    I will say the other player I would trade up for is Kayden McDonald, the DT from Ohio State. If he falls around 18-20 range, I'd start offering our 69th pick to move up to get him. He's an absolute monster and to think about him on our d-line is straight up scary.

    I'm sure I'll (we'll all) have a different "ideal scenario" come draft day…but I really would go pretty big again in free agency this year and make one big splash to get Linderbaum. Not Cade fucking Mays. Tyler fucking Linderbaum. We do need fillers, no doubt. There is value in "average," but we also need difference makers. If we're gonna pay $12 million/year for Mays and his injury history, we might as well pay Linderbaum $18 million/year and upgrade this very important position of pretty dire need with an absolute stud and possibly transform this entire o-line. He's one of the best in the business and he's been durable. That said, this does seem like a pretty good year for centers in the draft. Maybe they get Connor Lew or Jake Slaughter, but if they do, they goddam better work out this year. Linderbaum is such a proven commodity and we don't have years to waste. The time is now. This is the arguably the most important offseason in Texans history. They have to get this offense rolling.

13. Nick Caserio should be in the Hot Seat 🤷🏽‍♂️

14. We have to copy the Seahawks approach. We need a great offensive coordinator to get this offense right . If not , it will be the same story next year

15. No Nicco too !

16. Improvement in coaching in the offensive side of the ball is the easiest way for the Texans to take the next step. If they just run it back with the same philosophy and a few minor free agents and low first and day 2 picks it will be the same result next year.

17. O line from in the draft has to be the next step

18. All I want to say is Go Texans!