'Another Long Year': Texans Ranked Too Low in Power Rankings?

After a strong offseason, the Houston Texans still find themselves towards the bottom of 2023 power rankings.

With training camps across the NFL officially underway, fans are starting to get the first glimpses of their favorite teams. From superstar rookies to new veterans, there is a lot to be excited about as the calendar prepares to flip to August.

Well, unless you're the Houston Texans that is. Despite an eventful offseason, which saw Houston put together a strong showing at the draft and land instant-impact veterans, DeMeco Ryans and company have landed at No. 31 overall in Bleacher Report's 2023 power rankings.

Claiming it will be "another long season" in Houston, they had zero love lost for the Texans' roster. The question that needs to be asked, though, is this - is Houston's roster really that bad?

No, it isn't a perfect roster and still has plenty of room for improvement. But Rome wasn't built in a day and a rebuild of this magnitude takes time. What matters is they're making the necessary steps to be contenders once again.

Taking quarterback C.J. Stroud second overall before trading up for outside linebacker Will Anderson Jr. with the third overall pick showed that the Texans are serious about exiting the rebuild sooner rather than later. 

Going back a year to 2022 and the Texans landed three franchise building blocks. They bolstered the secondary with cornerback Derek Stingley Jr. and safety Jalen Pitre while landing a workhorse in running back Dameon Pierce who will make life easy for Stroud. 

Jumping back to the present, Houston also put in the effort to build a strong group of signings in free agency this offseason. Signings of tight end Dalton Schultz, as well as the receiver duo of Robert Woods and Noah Brown, show the desire to improve on offense. 

Not stopping there, the Texans went out and traded for veteran offensive lineman Shaq Mason. Not only will Mason help stabilize the trenches, but he provides a mentor to second-year lineman Kenyon Green - another first-round pick from last year that showed flashes as a rookie. 

It is entirely likely that this season is another step in the rebuild for the Texans, with young players adjusting to the NFL while rookies deal with growing pains. And yes, ranking them No. 31 is probably a fair assessment. 

However, their roster is not nearly as bad as it is made out to be - with the potential to be one of the NFL's most underrated as the season develops. 

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You can find Connor Zimmerlee on Twitter @Connorjz98

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