Three Questions: 1. Will Andre Johnson’s trade demands be met? All signs point to the Texans keeping the frustrated receiver for the 2014 season and beyond. Houston Texans owner Bob McNair has said on numerous occasions that he wants to see the All-Pro retire as a member of the Texans. At the start of training camp, the 33-year old reported on time. 2. What direction will new coach Bill O’Brien take the offense? If his past experience at Penn State is any indication, O’Brien will rely on his running backs until he has faith in whoever the starting quarterback is to protect the football. The first-year coach will go through some growing pains with this Texans offense as he learns the ins-and-outs of the NFL, but there is talent to showcase on the offensive side of the ball. 3. How will Arian Foster respond after injury? As of now, Foster is cleared to play after missing half of the 2013 season. The prevailing thought from speculators is that he could be primed for a big year under a coach that prefers to run the ball. But if anything should happen to Foster, there is little depth at the running back position and a repeat of last year would not be out of the question. seven sacks and now has 13 for his career. The biggest addition to the defense though, could be new defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel. The former Kansas City coach and New England assistant has always had an eye for defense. To help teach his scheme, the Texans brought in veteran safeties Kendrick Lewis and Chris Clemons. The hope is that a new scheme under a new coach can improve a unit that finished near the bottom in the league in points allowed last season. Defensive Player to Watch While the defense runs through All-Pro defensive end Watt, Clowney should benefit from the attention that teams keep on the lineman. The Texans hope that Clowney can translate his Saturday success into production on Sundays. If he can make his presence known on the opposite side of Watt, he will force teams to pay attention to him. This will free up both players to wreak havoc in opponents’ backfields over the course of the season. In doing so, this will also ease the pressure on an already thin defensive backfield unit. The rookie’s play will have a lot to say in how far the Texans defense will go in the 2014 season. Texans Special Teams In a season that was basically his rookie year, kicker Randy Bullock converted 74.3 percent of his kicks. While not eye-popping numbers, he improved in the team’s final seven games. In those games, he did not miss a single kick, making 12 kicks including his longest of the season, a 51-yarder against the Oakland Raiders. The punt team is in good hands as Shane Lechler comes back for another season after coming over from the Raiders in free-agency the previous year. Lechler sported his cannon of a leg as he averaged 47.6 yards per kick in his inaugural season in Houston. Not only did he provide a boost to the punt team, he continued to develop chemistry with placekicker Bullock which helped to improve the kicking game over the final seven games of the year. TEAM ROSTER TEXANS DEPTH CHART OFFENSE QB Ryan Fitzpatrick Case Keenum RB Arian Foster Andre Brown FB Jay Prosch Toben Opurum WR Andre Johnson, DeAndre Hopkins Keshawn Martin, DeVier Posey TE Garrett Graham Ryan Griffin LT Duane Brown Bryan Witzmann LG Ben Jones Xavier Su’a-Filo C Chris Myers James Ferentz RG Conor Boffeli Xavier Su’a-Filo RT Derek Newton Tyson Clabo DEFENSE LDE J.J. Watt Jared Crick DT Jerrell Powe David Hunter RDE Tim Jamison Keith Browner OLB Whitney Mercilus, Jadeveon Clowney Terrance Lloyd, Quentin Groves ILB Brooks Reed, Paul Hazel Akeem Dent, Max Bullough CB Kareem Jackson, Jonathan Joseph Josh Victorian, Brandon Harris SS D.J. Swearinger Eddie Pleasant FS Kendrick Lewis Chris Clemons SPECIAL TEAMS P Shane Lechler PK Randy Bullock LS Jonathan Weeks H Shane Lechler KR Keshawn Martin
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