Grade The 2017 Houston Texans Defense

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School is for nerds. Grades are bad. How can you really measure someone’s ability to learn? I ask this while I rub paste all over myself.Authentic Haason Reddick Jersey

the Houston Texans, it’s always fun after the season to go back and evaluate how the team performed. After we talked about the offense yesterday, let’s talk about the defense.womens Budda Baker Jersey,In the case of your favorite football team,

18th, the Texans have finished 4th, 8th,The Texans’ defense plummeted from where we are accustomed to seeing them. Going back to 2012, 6th, and 9th in defensive DVOA. This year they fell all the way to 23rd. They had a pass defense DVOA of 19.2% (25th) and a run defense DVOA of -9.9% (12th).Authentic Markus Golden Jersey,

The Texans didn’t have the secondary that they had last year to overcome injuries to J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus. This version of this defense needed the front seven to cover for a defensive backfield that would have an older Johnathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson (who is a great defender but a bad cornerback...thanks again, for that one), Dead Coach,This wasn’t all that surprising.womens Chad Williams Jersey, and a scrap heap safety.womens Chandler Jones Jersey

the Texans’ best player last season and yes, they should have franchise tagged him. Instead, Johnson was a disaster. He had a great rookie season and was alright last year before injuries ruined both seasons.womens Markus Golden Jersey, But this year, and he was awful when he got back. Football Outsiders’ Premium Charting Data had K-Jo ranked 152nd in yards allowed per pass, 150th in success rate,What was surprising was how bad Kevin Johnson was this year.womens T. J. Logan Jersey The Texans were counting on him to take over for A.J. Bouye, he was awful before he injured his knee in Week Two against Cincinnati,Authentic Chad Williams Jersey, 145th in yards traveled per pass attempt, and 152nd in yards after the catch. Gross.

womens Haason Reddick Jersey and the Texans lost to Seattle and New England because of it. Vrabel didn’t scheme to his opponent well and did things like play man against the horizontal crossing route offense that the Jaguars utilize by getting their quick receivers running full speed in space.Authentic Dorian Johnson Jersey, Mike Vrabel struggled in his new defensive coordinator role. He started the year being too cute in trying to generate a pass rush when he had three players that can win blocks on their own. The team continued to play Cover Four while struggling to pass off receivers correctly,Additionally, I was never all the way here for Vrabel being good at this immediately. Calling plays and game planning is much different than teaching linebackers about hand placement after a first step in a pass rush.Authentic T. J. Logan Jersey

the Texans still had talented run defenders in Jadeveon Clowney, Benardrick McKinney, and D.J. Reader. Those guys could carry a front seven filled with fourth quarter preseason players.womens John Brown Jersey,What also wasn’t surprising was the run defense. Despite losing Watt and Mercilus,

Benardrick McKinney being a mountain, Zach Cunningham learning how to tackle in one summer, and watching Kareem Jackson tackle. Aside from those things,It wasn’t all bad in 2017. I liked Jadeveon Clowney becoming the best run stopping defensive end in football, though...take a plunger to my ear and suck the rest of it out of my brain.Authentic John Brown Jersey

I would give the Texans’ defense a ‘D’. They underperformed when they were healthy. They didn’t put their players in a position to succeed. Too many players dropped off.womens Dorian Johnson Jersey,Overall,

For the first time since 2010, the Texans fielded a bad defense.Authentic Budda Baker Jersey

What about you? What grade would you give the Texans’ 2017 defense?Authentic Chandler Jones Jersey