Houston Texans Revamp Offense With Additions Of Lamar Miller, Brock Osweiler

The Houston Texans made a couple of major moves on Wednesday, as the team announced that they had signed two big-name free agents. The team agreed to terms with Lamar Miller, who was arguably the best running back on the market, and Brock Osweiler, a young quarterback who is loaded with potential. Thanks to these moves, it looks like Bill O’Brien will have a new-look offense that could carry the team to new heights in 2016.

Last season, the Texans were the biggest surprise of all the playoff teams. Despite using four starting quarterbacks, the team managed to win the AFC South, a division that was largely thought of as an easy win for the Indianapolis Colts. O’Brien proved he has what it takes to be a quality NFL coach, but his personnel was still not quite right. Now, he has a couple of new playmakers.

The addition of Miller is the bigger of the two signings. The Texans had released the franchise’s all-time leading rusher, Arian Foster, earlier in the week because he could never stay healthy. In fact, Foster’s health was part of the reason why the Texans stood no chance in the playoff game. Without him, the team simply did not have a solid starting running back. That will change with Miller in the fold.

Miller has had a consistent four-year career thus far, and he was an underutilized weapon for the Miami Dolphins. In the past two seasons, Miller has averaged 5.1 and 4.5 yards per carry while totaling nearly 2,000 rushing yards and 16 touchdowns. He was remarkably consistent, especially considering how bad his offensive line was, but he never got more than 216 carries.

That will certainly change in Houston. Miller is going to be a workhorse back, and he should develop into a star. He has not had any major injuries during his career and has only missed one game in the past three seasons. He is going to be an upgrade over Foster simply because he will be so reliable.

The Osweiler signing will also benefit the Texans. He is still relatively unproven but looks like he will be able to develop into an NFL starter. He is definitely an upgrade over Brian Hoyer and will be a good fit in O’Brien’s offense. If he can use his big arm to repeatedly get the ball to DeAndre Hopkins, then the offense will already be in better shape than it was last season.

Provided that the Texans did not overpay for Osweiler, it was a good move. The team can use him for a few years, draft a developmental guy like Christian Hackenberg and, if Osweiler fails to pan out, they can move on from him. If he does, then the team will have gotten a steal and will be in good position for a Super Bowl run over the next couple of years.