On October 5, 2020, the Houston Texans fired their head coach/general manager Bill O’Brien, and this, my friends, was long overdue. I mean who trades away their most productive wide receiver, DeAndre Hopkins, for a 2nd string running back and some draft picks? Guess what… it didn’t work! …or how about O’Brien trading the Texans’ 2014 No. 1 draft pick, Jadeveon Clowney, to the Seattle Seahawks? That same day, O’Brien traded two first-round picks and a second-round pick to the Miami Dolphins; for left tackle, Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver, Kenny Stills. Now I don’t know about you, but isn’t the purpose of a general manager to put the best players out on the field? You don’t trade away your best wide receiver for draft picks; and you don’t trade your No.1 draft pick, either! You build around them! …but, what do I know?
Don’t get me wrong, during his 6 year tenure, O’Brien’s record as a head coach for the Texans was over .500 (52-48), he won four AFC South division titles, and only had one losing season – in 2017. It’s just that some of his decisions didn’t make sense. Maybe the stress was getting to him and he wanted an out? Did you know that if an NFL coach gets fired, he still gets paid? Now, if he quits, he gets nothing. So one begins to think…Did Bill O’Brien make these foolish moves, knowing that if it didn’t workout he would be fired? I am probably wrong, but only one person knows the truth; and that is Bill O’Brien. The moves he made as GM were just totally foolish in my opinion.
This season, DeAndre Hopkins, who currently plays for the Arizona Cardinals, has 39 receptions (off of 46 targets) so far, with 397 yards. That more than doubles the top wide receiver (18) on the Texans current roster. Now, the Texans traded Hopkins for David Johnson; who was an elite running back, before a couple injuries slowed him down. Right now, as I am writing this article, his average yards per carry is… 3.8; that is not elite, nor is it helping the team win games. So, tell me again why did you trade for him? Is it because Hopkins was due a new contract and the Texans didn’t have the money to pay him? All I know is if I were the GM, I would’ve made it my business to keep my top wide receiver and top quarterback together, because that there is my offense. Let’s go to the other side of the ball, which is defense. Jadeveon Clowney was the Texans No. 1 draft pick in 2014. He had some injuries, but nothing that kept him off the field for numerous weeks. Clowney and Watt made the Texans a top tier defense in the NFL; so trading him , before the 2019 season, didn’t make sense. Especially because what they got in return didn’t make them better, it actually made things worse… and defense was their strong point.
I will say, Bill O’Brien’s coaching career was decent. The team made the playoffs, and even won some playoffs games under his guidance, but he was a horrible GM. …trading away top players and draft picks for nothing. Whoever takes over this team now is in for an uphill battle – no draft picks and no money. It’ll be tough …good luck to whoever inherits this mess. Look at the bright side, Bill O’Brien still gets paid until the end of his contract, which ends in 2022. I wish I could land a job, screw it up, and still get paid!
