2024 offseason primer: How do Texans top their surprising 2023 playoff run?

From 3-13-1 in 2022 to 10-7 in 2023, it didn’t take head coach DeMeco Ryans long to turn the Houston Texans from punching bag of the AFC South into the division’s top dog.

Not only did the Texans get into the playoffs, they ran roughshod over the Cleveland Browns during Super Wild Card Weekend and earned the franchise’s third playoff win in the last 10 years.

With both the NFL Offensive and Defensive Rookie of the Year winners in quarterback C.J. Stroud and edge-rusher Will Anderson, respectively, the Texans have the foundation of a team with sustainability as a playoff contender for years to come. Now, the next question the franchise has to answer is how does it take the next step toward Super Bowl contender status?

Here’s what you need to know about Houston’s offseason:

PROJECTED 2024 CAP SPACE:  $69.6M (sixth-most in NFL)

FREE AGENTS | Offense: RBs Devin Singletary and Dare Ogunbowale; WR Noah Brown; TE Dalton Schultz; OTs George Fant, Charlie Heck and Josh Jones; OGs Michael Deiter and D.J. Scaife; Centers Scott Quessenberry and Keaton Sutherland

Defense: DEs Derek Barnett, Jerry Hughes and Jonathan Greenard; DTs Sheldon Rankins, Teair Tart, Hassan Ridgeway; LBs Denzel Perryman and Neville Hewitt; CBs Steven Nelson, Tavierre Thomas and Kris Boyd; Safeties Eric Murray, Adrian Amos and Kareem Jackson

Special teams: Kicker Ka’imi Fairbairn, punter Cameron Johnston

Outlook: With nearly $70M in cap space, there’s a good chance the Texans bring back everyone they want who played an important role on this year’s team including Singletary, Brown, Schultz, Fant, Deiter, Greenard, Rankins, Hughes and Nelson.

But if there was an order of priority, Greenard and Schultz would be at the top, followed by everyone else. Schultz caught 59 passes for 635 yards and five touchdowns, and he was Stroud’s safety net when his receivers weren’t open and the pocket was breaking down. Greenard led the team with a career-high 12.5 sacks and added 53 pressures and 28 hurries. Without him, Houston’s pass rush is average at best. 

2024 DRAFT PICKS: Round 1 (No. 23 overall, via Cleveland) | Round 2 | Round 3 (via Philadelphia) | Round 4 (via Cleveland) | Round 4 | Round 7 (via New Orleans) | Round 7 | Round 7 (via Kansas City)

TOP DRAFT NEEDS (in order): CB, DT, RB, S, OL — Baltimore ran for 229 yards and two touchdowns in its 34-10 win over Houston in the AFC divisional round, so bolstering the defensive line with a big-bodied run stuffer might not be a bad idea. Texas defensive tackle T’Vondre Sweat (6-foot-4, 362 pounds) or Miami’s Leonard Taylor (6-foot-3, 305 pounds) both make sense with the 23rd overall pick, if that’s the direction Houston goes.

If not defensive line, I’d expect the Texans to beef up their secondary with either a playmaking cornerback like Oregon’s Khyree Wilson or Georgia’s Kamari Lassiter, or perhaps a ball-hawking safety like Miami’s Kamren Kinchens (11 interceptions the last two seasons) or Washington State’s Jaden Hicks (three interceptions, 11 passes defensed the last two seasons).

DRAFT PROSPECTS TO WATCH: Kamari Lassiter, CB, Georgia; Khyree Jackson, CB, Oregon; Kool-Aid McKinstry, CB, Alabama; Jonathon Brooks, RB, Texas; Blake Corum, RB, Michigan; Trey Benson, RB, Florida State; T’Vondre Sweat, DT, Texas; Leonard Taylor, DT, Miami; Brandon Dorlus, DT, Oregon; Jaden Hicks, S, Washington State; Kamren Kinchens, S, Miami; Tyler Nubin, S, Minnesota; Jackson Powers-Johnson, C, Oregon; Troy Fautanu, OT/OG, Washington; Graham Barton, OT/OG, Duke

THREE 2024 STORYLINES TO WATCH:

• Who’s the starting running back next season?
• How does Houston weaponize its cap space to build around Stroud?
• Will a big 2024 springboard offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik into a head-coaching gig?