Vikings at Texans Depth Chart Preview 2020
Oct 2, 2020 18:10:47 GMT -6
Funkytown and suncoastvike like this
Post by Danchat on Oct 2, 2020 18:10:47 GMT -6
Both the Vikings and Texans limp into this game with a 0-3 record. Both teams have underachieved after each winning a single 2019 postseason game, but which will fall to 0-4? Let's see how this roster stacks up:
Line: Texans -4.5
Injury Report:
Vikings
CB Boyd - Doubtful
CB Hughes - Out
Texans
FB Gillaspia - Questionable
LB Kalambayi - Questionable
* My Thoughts *
Just going to throw this out there... the Texans' roster looks bad. Since taking over as GM, Bill O'Brien has mismanaged the roster, and has left it in this sorry-looking state. It also didn't help that the Texans had an insanely difficult start to their season, facing the 3 best AFC teams (Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers) in a row. The Texans thought they could compete by bringing back basically the same roster minus DeAndre Hopkins and have only 4 rookies on the active roster. The Laremy Tunsil trade really gutted their reserves.
Deshaun Watson is a very good QB, but he simply doesn't have a very good supporting cast and he has been left to carry the offense all by himself. He no longer has an elite WR to rely on, and his O-line has been bad enough that he's been sacked 13 times despite being a very elusive QB. Will Fuller is a burner who will have big games, but is also a threat to pull a hammy and become a non-factor. Brandin Cooks may be an Above Average player according to PFF, but he has been held below 4 catches and 25 yards twice this season, and was no longer a threat for the Rams in the second half of the 2019 season. Cobb is a fine slot receiver (he torched Mack Alexander in the Dallas game last year), but is only getting thrown to 4 times a game. The Texans use a rotation at TE and will play Akins and Fells a bunch. Akins has some speed but has yet to break out as a fulltime starter, and Fells is similar to Rudolph as he's a redzone threat and not much else.
David Johnson was acquired in the awful Hopkins trade, and he's been passable thus far. Their O-line simply hasn't blocked well enough for him, and he's no longer the type of HB who can transcend poor blocking. Duke Johnson has been great whenever he's on the field, but the Texans rarely use him. Their FB, Gillaspia, has played one snap. As for their offensive line, it's been rather offensive. The right side has been getting killed in pass protection, as Tytus Howard does not look like a 1st round prospect (I had him as a 3rd-4th rounder) and Fulton hasn't had a good season since 2016. C Martin has been a fine pass blocker but has stunk as a run blocker. LG Scharping has ranked near the bottom in both phases. Only LT Tunsil has played well, as he's currently PFF's 4th ranked tackle. He's been a good addition for Houston, but getting him for 2 1sts and a 2nd and giving him $22M a year was too much for a non-QB.
The Texans' defense looks like a disaster on paper. J. J. Watt is still a great player, but he's no longer in his prime. He's their only major threat in their front seven, as the rest of the D-line has underachieved. Omenihu has 2 sacks, but has been a sieve in the run game. Dunn has consistently ranked among the NFL's worst D-lineman for years. Blacklock is a talented 2nd round prospect, but he's only played 27 snaps so far. P. J. Hall has done well as a run stuffer - perhaps the Vikings should have scooped him up after their trade for him was negated by a failed physical.
Cunningham and McKinney make a good LB duo, but 3 games into this season PFF has them with very low scores. Mercilus simply isn't the player he used to be, with just 12.5 sacks his past 3 seasons. Scarlett has ranked near the bottom of edge defenders, and never profiled to be a good pass rusher in the first place. Jacob Martin is a quality rotational pass rusher who seems to be better than Scarlett.
The Texans' secondary was an issue last year, and it seems to have gotten worse. Roby ranked well by my CB Coverage rating, but PFF penalizes #1 CBs that follow #1 WRs. Outside of him, Hargreaves III has been a disaster and simply can't cover NFL WRs. Lonnie Johnson Jr. has played a bit of nickel and even safety, but has been terrible in coverage. Former Golden Gopher Eric Murray has started 2020 off well after having a bumpy career, with a very good tackling grade. Justin Reid is a quality strong safety, but has struggled with tackling this season.
Note that the Vikings missed Wednesday's practice due to a COVID scare, so the Texans have been able to prepare a bit more for this game.
Prediction: Vikings 34, Texans 30
Zimmer's MO is beating up on bad teams, and the Texans certainly qualify that. Houston has only had one non-blowout this year, and their defense stinks. With 68-75% of Vegas bettors choosing Texans -4.5, I feel somewhat confident picking the Vikings to win (for the first time this year - I'm 3-0 so far!) If Zimmer can't beat a bad O'Brien-coached team even with a beat-up Vikings roster, I don't think he has what it takes to be an NFL coach anymore.
Any thoughts?
Line: Texans -4.5
Injury Report:
Vikings
CB Boyd - Doubtful
CB Hughes - Out
Texans
FB Gillaspia - Questionable
LB Kalambayi - Questionable
* My Thoughts *
Just going to throw this out there... the Texans' roster looks bad. Since taking over as GM, Bill O'Brien has mismanaged the roster, and has left it in this sorry-looking state. It also didn't help that the Texans had an insanely difficult start to their season, facing the 3 best AFC teams (Chiefs, Ravens, Steelers) in a row. The Texans thought they could compete by bringing back basically the same roster minus DeAndre Hopkins and have only 4 rookies on the active roster. The Laremy Tunsil trade really gutted their reserves.
Deshaun Watson is a very good QB, but he simply doesn't have a very good supporting cast and he has been left to carry the offense all by himself. He no longer has an elite WR to rely on, and his O-line has been bad enough that he's been sacked 13 times despite being a very elusive QB. Will Fuller is a burner who will have big games, but is also a threat to pull a hammy and become a non-factor. Brandin Cooks may be an Above Average player according to PFF, but he has been held below 4 catches and 25 yards twice this season, and was no longer a threat for the Rams in the second half of the 2019 season. Cobb is a fine slot receiver (he torched Mack Alexander in the Dallas game last year), but is only getting thrown to 4 times a game. The Texans use a rotation at TE and will play Akins and Fells a bunch. Akins has some speed but has yet to break out as a fulltime starter, and Fells is similar to Rudolph as he's a redzone threat and not much else.
David Johnson was acquired in the awful Hopkins trade, and he's been passable thus far. Their O-line simply hasn't blocked well enough for him, and he's no longer the type of HB who can transcend poor blocking. Duke Johnson has been great whenever he's on the field, but the Texans rarely use him. Their FB, Gillaspia, has played one snap. As for their offensive line, it's been rather offensive. The right side has been getting killed in pass protection, as Tytus Howard does not look like a 1st round prospect (I had him as a 3rd-4th rounder) and Fulton hasn't had a good season since 2016. C Martin has been a fine pass blocker but has stunk as a run blocker. LG Scharping has ranked near the bottom in both phases. Only LT Tunsil has played well, as he's currently PFF's 4th ranked tackle. He's been a good addition for Houston, but getting him for 2 1sts and a 2nd and giving him $22M a year was too much for a non-QB.
The Texans' defense looks like a disaster on paper. J. J. Watt is still a great player, but he's no longer in his prime. He's their only major threat in their front seven, as the rest of the D-line has underachieved. Omenihu has 2 sacks, but has been a sieve in the run game. Dunn has consistently ranked among the NFL's worst D-lineman for years. Blacklock is a talented 2nd round prospect, but he's only played 27 snaps so far. P. J. Hall has done well as a run stuffer - perhaps the Vikings should have scooped him up after their trade for him was negated by a failed physical.
Cunningham and McKinney make a good LB duo, but 3 games into this season PFF has them with very low scores. Mercilus simply isn't the player he used to be, with just 12.5 sacks his past 3 seasons. Scarlett has ranked near the bottom of edge defenders, and never profiled to be a good pass rusher in the first place. Jacob Martin is a quality rotational pass rusher who seems to be better than Scarlett.
The Texans' secondary was an issue last year, and it seems to have gotten worse. Roby ranked well by my CB Coverage rating, but PFF penalizes #1 CBs that follow #1 WRs. Outside of him, Hargreaves III has been a disaster and simply can't cover NFL WRs. Lonnie Johnson Jr. has played a bit of nickel and even safety, but has been terrible in coverage. Former Golden Gopher Eric Murray has started 2020 off well after having a bumpy career, with a very good tackling grade. Justin Reid is a quality strong safety, but has struggled with tackling this season.
Note that the Vikings missed Wednesday's practice due to a COVID scare, so the Texans have been able to prepare a bit more for this game.
Prediction: Vikings 34, Texans 30
Zimmer's MO is beating up on bad teams, and the Texans certainly qualify that. Houston has only had one non-blowout this year, and their defense stinks. With 68-75% of Vegas bettors choosing Texans -4.5, I feel somewhat confident picking the Vikings to win (for the first time this year - I'm 3-0 so far!) If Zimmer can't beat a bad O'Brien-coached team even with a beat-up Vikings roster, I don't think he has what it takes to be an NFL coach anymore.
Any thoughts?
... and neither is this Chris guy.