There are several different reminders of what an outstanding job the team of Houston Texans general manager Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans have done in rebuilding the roster, and putting the franchise in position to contend for a Super Bowl.
There are any number of positional power rankings with scattered Texans listed, including the NFL Top 100, which will ultimately include six Houston Texans this season. The eye test works, too. Watch these Houston Texans at an open practice, and you don’t have to be a football fan to notice the ferocity and intensity they all bring to practice every day.
One of my favorite exercises, though, that we see in the offseason is ESPN’s “Future Power Rankings,” in which ESPN ranks how all 32 teams are set up for future over the subsequent THREE seasons, by rating all 32 teams in the following categories — roster (other than quarterback), quarterback, head coach, and general manager. (NOTE: Up until 2023, they also included the draft as a data point.)
Looking at ESPN’s results for this exercise over the last four years paints a picture of a fantastic rebuild. Here is the synopsis:
2022 —27th overall
OVERALL ROSTER (minus QB) — 32nd
QUARTERBACK – 25th
COACHING – 28th
DRAFT – 1st
FRONT OFFICE – 15th
2023 — 29th overall
OVERALL ROSTER (minus QB) – 30th
QUARTERBACK – 23rd
COACHING – 25th
DRAFT – 15th
FRONT OFFICE – 32nd
2024 — 6th overall
OVERALL ROSTER (minus QB) – 5th
QUARTERBACK – 5th
COACHING – 7th
FRONT OFFICE – 10th
2025
OVERALL ROSTER (minus QB) – 8th
QUARTERBACK – 9th
COACHING – 12th
FRONT OFFICE – 10th
Most of these trajectories make sense. Bill O’Brien left the roster in shambles after he was fired in 2020, so the roster being ranked 32nd and 30th in 2022 and 2023, respectively, before jumping into the top 10, makes sense. Similarly, until we knew what exactly the Texans had in C.J. Stroud, it made sense for that position to reside in the bottom quartile, before moving into the top 10. Same with coaching and DeMeco Ryans.
The most interesting category is the front office, which basically means “Nick Caserio.” I’m guessing his 2022 score of 15th was largely based on the haul he got back for Deshaun Watson in the trade with Cleveland. Then, in 2023, Caserio plummeted to 32nd, dead last. This was obviously an atrocious job of evaluating the GM, because the roster went from 30th to 5th in one year. Caserio has since settled in as one of the better GM’s in football.
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