FanHouse Charles Spencer

For the fans of those teams whose seasons are done, FanHouse is doing an offseason roadmap for all the NFL teams. This is the one for the Houston Texans.

The most important thing to read for Houston Texans fans going into the offseason is the last press conference of the season given by coach Gary Kubiak. Like with last year's end of the year presser, he basically gives a roadmap of what the priorities are for the team going into next season. I will sum this up and discuss:

1. Player Acquisitions. If you are looking at Texans priorities, focus on left tackle, running back and corner back because that is what Kubiak does in the presser. There's plenty of positions of need (a true free safety, a nose tackle, and a functioning defensive end opposite DE Mario Williams), but the areas he mentions are probably of the highest need.

Though he claims he is hopeful running back Ahman Green will be back healthy with the team, he recognizes that consistency of who is running the ball is crucial for the team. "Game time decision" isn't who you want as your starter at running back, especially when running the ball is a priority for the team. Kubiak says that he needs to find some younger players at this position.

When Texans #1 receiver Andre Johnson strained his knee in Week 2 against the Panthers, estimates on his return were as long as five weeks. The Houston Chronicle is reporting today that it is likely that Johnson won't be back until the November 18th home game against New Orleans.

Uh-oh.

The Texans have a history of providing overly positive assessments to fans of when players will come back. See e.g. Tony Boselli, Domanick Davis/Williams, Charles Spencer. Hopefully, Johnson's situation is not in that league of unhappy results. For an additional information about Johnson's injury, please check out my September discussion.

The Texans have been able to throw the ball in Johnson's absence even without a functioning running game, but his presence is particularly missed in the red zone. If they can't figure out how to improve red zone scoring in Johnson's absence, field goal kicker Kris Brown is going to have a lot more opportunities like he did against the Dolphins.