Ranking Texans’ Biggest Positional Needs This Offseason

Of all the areas to nitpick around the Texans' roster heading into this offseason, the running back spot may be the position to circle as the one Houston's front office needs to get ironed out before the 2026 arrives.

Sure, fourth-round running back Woody Marks stepped in as a quality RB1 as the season went on, but his limitations were made clear when held to 17 yards on 14 carries in New England. Joe Mixon can be explosive when healthy, but who knows when he'll be truly ready to take the field for Houston again?

The Texans desperately need to establish a stronger running game behind C.J. Stroud next season, which finished in the bottom 12 of NFL rushing offenses for yards gained (1,852) and tied for the NFL's second-lowest in total rushing touchdowns (9).

Expect the Texans to prioritize that running back spot this offseason, whether that be in the first two days of the draft or by spending in free agency.

2. Center

After a 2024 campaign of disarray on the offensive line, the Texans saw much better results in the trenches in just one offseason of work.

Aireontae Ersery continuously improved as Houston's left tackle, Tytus Howard was a plug-and-play vet at either left tackle or right tackle, and Ed Ingram could be slated to return to Houston in free agency after a productive year at right guard.

But if there was one area of that five-man unit to improve, it might be the center position. Jake Andrews was a serviceable veteran holding down the fort in his first year with Houston, but finished as PFF's 26th-graded center (61.6) among 40 eligible players, combined with being ranked 31st at his position for run-blocking grade (59.5).

Combine those numbers with the brutal fumbles and errors on the snap that took place in the Texans' Wild Card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and there's a chance Houston could be eyeing the center spot as an area worth addressing this offseason––potentially with an experienced veteran from free agency.

3. Safety

It's hard to pick apart the Texans' elite defensive personnel that ranked atop the NFL in most important defensive stats this past season, but one area of that unit that Houston might look to improve is the back-end of their secondary.

While the Texans' elite corner duo on the boundary, combined with the skillset of Jalen Pitre and Calen Bullock, took care of business throughout the season, the other safety spot in their nickel package was a revolving door throughout the 2025 campaign.

Houston started the season with C.J. Gardner-Johnson on the back-end before releasing him to free agency after three games. That turned to M.J. Stewart as the main man to hold down the safety spot opposite of Bullock before he went down with a season-ending quad injury.

In due time, rookie Jaylen Reed broke out onto the scene as the next starter before getting hurt in Week 13 against the Indianapolis Colts. Then came a couple of practice squad elevations to get the call-up in the final few weeks of the regular season. That's not to mention Jimmie Ward, Houston's injured veteran safety, who hasn't had a status update on his return in months.

Therefore, it wouldn't be surprising to see the Texans prioritize finding stability in the back-end of their secondary to make this unit even better and deeper. But considering Houston finished as the NFL's second-best scoring unit in the NFL (17.3 PPG), those ups and downs at safety clearly didn't cause much disarray for DeMeco Ryans and Matt Burke anyways.