Well, it's time for my kool-aid vote to cancel a hemlock vote. My early forecast was 3 - 5 wins. I think I'll bump this a smidge.
On offense we still don't have a proven star except for Tunsil at LT. But by moving Howard into the LG spot, and with the replacement of Nick Martin at OC with Justin Britt, the Texans are going to have a potent left side.
On the right side, Marcus Cannon will give us a veteran starter who should be an upgrade. By all accounts Max Scharping has improved his play from last season. Charlie Heck had a strong camp and, once he returns to active play, Lane Tayor could prove to be valuable veteran depth at RG.
At TE we are well set with Jordan Akins as an all purpose receiver and Pharaoh Brown as a blocker.
Some may disagree, but I think our receivers are a tight veteran group with Brandon Cooks, Chris Conley out wide and Anthony Miller in the slot. Backing them up we have rookie Nico Collins and veteran Danny Amendola.
Don't know quite how the running backs will shake out, but to start the season, I like Mark Ingram and Philip Lindsay sharing the load, with David Johnson in there somewhere. When we need one yard, David Burkhead may be getting the call. And then we have Scottie Phillips, our wild card. If he continues to run like he did during camp, he may be number one by the end of the season.
And that leaves QB. Tyrod Taylor did not perform up to my expectations during the limited snaps he had at camp. From what I heard on 610, this may have been because of the plain vanilla play calling by the coaches. But what I saw was a "noodle" arm. We have the receivers. Taylor is going to have to step it up and deliver a catchable ball to them.
It seems we may be a run heavy offense, but if Taylor can't pass effectively, our run game will be stopped.
Defensively. Our front four will be played on a rotational scheme, to keep everyone fresh and to wear down the opposing OL. Charles Omenihu, I'm calling it, will be a standout with double digit sacks, playing both outside and inside. When Omenihu moves inside, we have Whitney Mercilus on the outside, but he's another player who has missed practice time due to injury issues.
I was relying on Maliek Collins to be an anchor in the middle at LDT, but he's been having injury issues. Ross Blacklock backs him up. Vincent Taylor and rookie Roy Lopez are on the opposite side at RDT. We also have DeMarcus Walker.
I was counting on Jonathan Greenard to have a strong presence at RDE, but he's another player with lingering injury issues. Jordan Jenkins will apparently be the starter.
In spite of the several issues with injury, this positional group is deep and strong and should generate good pressure on opposing QB's. We should also be improved in run defense.
We'll have to wait and see how our linebackers are played, but we can expect more blitzing than in the past. Zach Cunningham will be at WLB, with Christian Kirksey moving into the MLB position as our defensive play caller. Kevin Pierre-Louis is at SLB. Kirksey and Pierre-Louis give the Texans an upgrade in speed at their positions. Cunningham is now left with less responsibility and will likely, as the WLB, be utilized more in blitzing, which supposedly is one of his strengths. He'll also be in a position to concentrate more, and improve on, on his pass defense responsibilities.
Our defensive backfield is the one, potentially, serious weak link in our defense. Justin Reid at FS is solid; with Eric Murrey and Lonnie Johnson holding down the SS position.
It's CB where the Texans are questionable. Terrance Mitchell will be on the right side and Desmond King on the left. King is a speedster and it will be interesting to see how he performs. Mitchell is a veteran, but is slow. Tavierre Thomas, Lonnie Johnson, Tremon Smith and Vernon Hargreaves all figure into the nickle and dime packages.
The success of our defense will depend on our coaching and the ability of our front four, and our blitzing, to put pressure on the QB. If opposing QB's have the time, they will take advantage of our weak backfield.
Our return game is going to be a strength, giving us field position. Andre Roberts is our return specialist with Desmond King backing him up.
Punter Cameron Johnston is a boomer and will be putting opposing teams' starting position deep on their end of the field.
We've lost our placekicker, Ka'imi Fairbairn, to IR for a few weeks. His replacement, Joey Slye, seems to have a strong leg but may be a bit inconsistent. We'll see.
With the exception of our CB's, I feel real good about this lineup. By this I don't mean we'll contend for a playoff spot. But... Jacksonville (twice), Carolina, New England, Arizona, Miami, New York Jets, Seattle. These are all teams we may, and can be, competitive against. I also think we have a chance of splitting with Indy, depending on their QB situation. This is nine potential wins.
So...my glass of kool-aid is going to predict 6 - 8 wins.