In January of 2021, Nick Caserio was faced with what those of us on the outside may have deemed an easy decision: remain with the Patriots as the director of player personnel or become the general manager of the Houston Texans, a team that Caserio’s former Patriots cohort Bill O’Brien had just finished dismantling in a reported attempt to get fired.
Another one of Caserio’s former co-workers, current Texans executive of football operations and former Patriots team chaplain Jack Easterby, had been engaging in skullduggerous attempts to hire Caserio away from the Patriots since at least June 6 of 2019. Caserio was hired by the Patriots as a personnel assistant in 2001 and worked his way up through the ranks. It’s easy to mock Caserio choosing a more difficult situation over Bill Belichick’s Patriots, but no one can blame Caserio for having aspirations to be one of 32 people at the top of his field.
Prior to Caserio’s arrival in Houston, O’Brien traded away all-pro receiver Deandre Hopkins for pennies on the dollar. Franchise quarterback Deshaun Watson requested a trade only a few weeks after Caserio was hired before Watson became embroiled in on-going sexual assault allegations and lawsuits. Franchise stalwart JJ Watt was granted his release in order to play for a contender. Before any of that, the Texans’ resident “yes man” and self-proclaimed harbinger of holiness Jack Easterby, who claims MLK as a role model but reportedly exclaims racist stereotypes in meetings with Houston’s majority-black roster, was put on blast in a bombshell Sports Illustrated report.
Caserio has inserted himself into the most poorly run organization in the NFL, tasking himself with upending a culture of mistrust. That’s not even to mention the task of retooling a roster without any first or second-round picks in his first draft, only $10M in cap space entering the offseason, and not exactly many bullets in his holster to work with.
The one chip Caserio does have is Watson, who is still on the Texans’ 53-man roster but has been inactive each of the first four weeks of the season.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, the Texans are still waiting for the right offer for Watson.
It makes sense why Caserio would string out holding onto Watson when teams like the Dolphins, Jets, and Eagles are loaded with draft picks they could potentially send to Houston for Watson. It makes more sense to hold off and see exactly how high the draft picks Houston would get actually are.
Regardless, Watson represents the one chip Caserio has to clean up the mess Bill O’Brien made in Houston.
Here are three more aspects of the Houston Texans to keep an eye on this Sunday…
The Easter Bunny
Speaking of Easterby, what the h*ck happened to him? Not a peep has been heard of Easterby since Jenny Ventras and Greg Bishop of Sports Illustrated dropped their scathing investigative piece about Houston’s chief charlatan. The last time Easterby’s name came up in any newsworthy maner was this past May when Caserio told Houston’s SportsRadio 610 that Easterby is in no way involved in scouting or personnel decisions. Caserio said Easterby is involved with “indoctrinating” rookies into the Texans’ program, which somehow sounds worse.
Keeping up with Cooks
Passed around the NFL like a warm beer in a college freshman dorm room, former Patriots receiver Brandin Cooks currently holds the Texans’ “someone has to catch passes” belt. Despite being a constant casualty of poor planning by various front offices, Cooks has remained fairly consistent at every stop he’s made in the NFL. This season Cooks is tied for fifth in receptions and is sixth in receiving yards despite catching passes from Tyrod Taylor and rookie Davis Mills. He’s also been a downfield monster, trailing only Tyreek Hill in the total amount of yards passes have traveled in the air before catches.
Think Belichick can get him for a fifth round pick?
The Ground Below
The Texans would have the best running backs room in the NFL if the year were 2018.
Of the Mark Ingram, Phillip Lindsay, David Johnson, and Rex Burkhead platoon, Ingram has the highest rushing yards per attempt at a whopping 3.3. Burkhead has a total of -1 rushing yards on the season (two less than Davis Mills), while Lindsay and Johnson have combined for less than 100 total yards on the ground.
Their offensive line and lack of any other threat since Tyrod Taylor’s injury aren’t exactly doing the room any favors. Houston’s offensive line is averaging less than a yard before contact per rushing attempt.
Other Storylines:
In addition to Caserio, Easterby, Cooks, and Burkhead, former Patriots Marcus Cannon, Danny Amendola, and AJ Moore are on the Texans’ active roster while Derek Rivers is on the practice squad.