Texans wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins played with four different starting quarterbacks and without a big threat at the other wideout spot, but still caught 111 passes for 1,521 yards and 11 touchdowns to help the Texans to the playoffs.
The Texans have worked to remedy both of those issues this offseason. Brock Osweiler is the new quarterback and Houston spent two of its first three draft picks on wide receivers. After the Texans added first-round pick Will Fuller and third-round pick Braxton Miller, Hopkins shared his excitement on Twitter.
“Ain’t no more double teams baby!” Hopkins wrote.
Fuller and Miller both have the speed to stretch defenses and open up other parts of the field for Hopkins. Fuller needs to be more consistent catching the ball and Miller is still new to the position, leading coach Bill O’Brien to point out that teams are going to make the rookies prove they can do it while discussing the motivation for the moves.
“Trying to get it where he could be more one-on-one and things like that,” O’Brien said, via the Houston Chronicle. “I think that’s what we’ve done with this offensive skill draft class. We’ve taken some guys that we think can really help us in space, help us at the receiver position and help us do a lot of different things, which in turn will help DeAndre and free him up a little bit more.”
Lamar Miller and fourth-round pick Tyler Ervin are new at running back, so there’s a lot of integration to be done before the season starts. If all comes together, everyone in Houston should be happier about the offensive situation than they were last year.