Heading into free agency and the NFL Draft, the biggest needs for the Houston Texans are a franchise quarterback and a running back. After five different players saw time under center in 2015, head coach Bill O'Brien made it clear the team needs a better starter in 2016 while a decision on Arian Foster will put the run game into focus as well. With the No.22 pick in the NFL Draft, the Texans will need to pick one of the two positions to focus on in the first round.
The run game could be up first for Houston. According to Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle, Foster is expected to get released at the start of the offseason. The running back is set to turn 30 while being owed $6.5 million in non-guaranteed money. That makes him an easy cut for the team, but leaves them very short-handed at the running back position. Behind Foster, Alfred Blue put up 698 yards of offense which was good, but not great. Getting a workhorse back in place could be the best option for 2016. Derrick Henry, Ezekiel Elliott and Kenneth Dixon are the best options in the draft. The Texans will draft late in the second round meaning all of those players could be gone by then. If the Texans know they want someone like Henry, they will need to get him with the first pick.
Selecting a quarterback will be tough for Houston considering the options are limited. According to the Houston Chronicle, the Texans will not likely reach on players like Carson Wentz, Jared Goff and Paxton Lynch who are not guaranteed to be successful despite being the highest ranked prospects entering the draft. If the Texans draft a quarterback, the Houston Chronicle believes Dak Prescott, Jake Coker, Kevin Hogan or Christian Hackenberg will be the favored targets.
There is still a chance free agency has something to offer Houston. Sam Bradford is the best available quarterback this offseason. Houston would be a desirable landing spot for Bradford considering their defense is set and they have top receivers like DeAndre Hopkins to throw to. However, the Philadelphia Eagles could retain him on a franchise tag. That would leave Houston with Johnny Manziel or Robert Griffin III while overpaying on Brock Osweiler is also an option.
The last option for Houston in terms of a quarterback is Tom Savage. Drafted in the third round two seasons ago, Savage has barely been seen. The quarterback spent this year on injured reserve with a shoulder issue. He is an unknown in terms of talent considering the sample size on him is small. Savage is hopeful that he can be an option for the "franchise quarterback" O'Brien says he needs and he intends on putting in the work to get there.
"I had a plan for each week," Savage said, via the team website. "It was beneficial to kind of take a step back and get an outside view of what's going on. I always had these little game plan packages that I could work on and kind of learn from. So I kept them all, and I've got all my notebooks ready, and I'm ready to go."
