Rebuilding the mess left behind by Bill O'Brien in Houston was always going to be a big task. And it's one that Texans general manager Nick Caserio says is still "in the infantile stages."
The 2-10 Texans rank dead last in the NFL in passing offense, rushing offense, offensive touchdowns, rushing yards allowed, and third-to-last in points allowed.
"Nobody's happy with where we are," Caserio said Tuesday on SportsRadio610. "All of us take responsibility. Quite frankly, none of it's been good enough. We haven't played well enough, we haven't coached well enough, I haven't done a good enough job from the team-building perspective."
It hasn't been all doom and gloom though.
The rookie class, especially when considering Houston didn't have a pick until the third-round, has been productive.
Quarterback Davis Mills has shown promising signs and statistically ranks in the middle of all rookie QBs. For a third-rounder who made just 14 college starts, he's shown glimpses of his talent.
Receiver Nico Collins and tight end Brevin Jordan have both flashed when given the opportunity, while defensive tackle Roy Lopez has already carved out a starting role and linebacker Garret Wallow has become a core special teamer.
There have been other standout performances. These include linebacker Kamu Grugier-Hill, defensive tackle Maliek Collins, and cornerback Taverre Thomas have all proven shrewd free agency signings, while defensive end Jonathan Greenard has had a breakout year.
"We've had pockets in some things that have gone well, we've had some players play well, but the bottom line is collectively we haven't all performed well enough and all of us have to take responsibility and we're all accountable," Caserio said. "I'd say the reality is, if I'm being candid, we knew, I knew, that this was a pretty massive undertaking when I took over in January, that there was a lot of work to be done."
Inheriting a team with no head coach, a mismatched and mismanaged roster and salary cap, and of course the Deshaun Watson situation, it seems fair to describe his job as a "massive undertaking."
"Am I discouraged? No, Absolutely not," Caserio said. "Are we disappointed on how we've played or some of the outcomes of games? Absolutely. That's all part of it. But the only thing we can do is just focus on moving forward, try to fix some problems that we have in place and just try to make some progress here over the next five weeks or whatever it is and then once the offseason comes we'll evaluate where we are and ultimately we'll just try to make the decisions that we feel are best for our team."
Now that the Texans have been officially eliminated from playoff contention, it's set in stone that their offseason will essentially begin after their final game on Jan. 9 against the Tennessee Titans. This means that fans are roughly a month away from seeing what "decisions" Caserio feels is best for the 2022 Texans.
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