QB

Matt Schaub

(+) Has the best WR in the game to throw to (Andre Johnson) and won’t hesitate to use him in any situation
(+) Coming off a year with no health/injury problems
(+) Put up a huge season despite the complete lack of a running game, though the combo of Ben Tate, Steve Slaton, and Arian Foster should take some pressure off
(+) Houston is a big-time passing team (7th and 4th most passes in 2008 & 2009), Owen Daniels is back, and Jacoby Jones looks like a breakout candidate
(+) Schaub has improved on every statistical category for the last three years straight and he led the NFL in passing yards, completions, and attempts in 2009
(–) He’s always an injury-risk regardless of his healthy 2009
(–) Has a relatively tough fantasy playoff schedule (Bal, @Ten, @Den)

RB

Ben Tate

(+) Tate has the ‘every-down back’ capabilities that the Texans have been looking for
(+) Super-strong at a solid 220 lbs, yet he runs the 40 in 4.43 speed
(+) His competition for the starting job:  One player with a recently-fused neck bone (Slaton) and another player who was undrafted and has just 54 NFL carries under his belt (Arian Foster)
(–) Ben might have a tough time winning the starting job off the bat because he fell a bit behind at OTAs in May due to a hamstring injury
(–) One way or another, Tate will be playing in a pass-heavy offense

Steve Slaton

(+) Slaton has a real knack for catching the ball out of the backfield – could be a major PPR bonus-guy this year
(+) Houston’s solid pass attack will set up the run and defenses will struggle to find answers against this prolific offense
(–) Slaton isn’t built to handle a full workload – His coaches identified this & asked him to bulk up; a move that backfired as Slaton was less productive in his new frame
(–) Fumbling has been a concern for Slaton, particularly in the Red Zone, which is a quick trigger for any OC to call somebody else’s number in late-game opportunities
(–) Steve has a tendency to lose yardage on carries - 16 % of his attempts were losses last year (that’s dead last among RB’s with 100+ carries, OUCH)
(–) Major injury last season caused him to have two vertebrae fused… so it’s a risk that he’ll be able to play in a productive role this coming season
(–) Houston has a crowded backfield, and the clear desire to make it that way by OC Kubiak speaks volumes about the concerns Houston has relying on Slaton

Arian Foster

 (+) Has already been tabbed as the starter going into the Texans training camp
 (+) When given the chance to start over the final two games of 2009, Foster produced to the tune of 216 yards on 39 carries (5.5 YPC) and 3 TDs
 (+) Foster is a bigger back (6’1”, 222 lbs) that is built for 1st and 2nd down duty
 (+) Has just Ben Tate (a rookie) and Steve Slaton (coming off of neck surgery) to compete with for the full-time starter job
 (–) Arian had injury problems throughout his collegiate career and has seen action in just 4 professional games
 (–) The Texans drafted Ben Tate for a reason, and that reason is because Tate is simply a better all-around package
 (–) Foster doesn’t excel in any particular area of the game and is the not-so-proud owner of a fumbling problem

WR

Andre Johnson

(+) Johnson has top-5 tools in every way imaginable
(+) Schaub, who is on the brink of elite status, absolutely loves the guy, as proven by Andre’s league-leading 171 targets in 2009
(+) ‘Dre has never had 10 TD catches in a single season… that’s some serious motivation right there
(+) He’s looking to restructure his contract… just in case he needed a little more motivation
(+) It doesn’t matter if the top position-players around him do well statistically (2008 - Slaton, Walter, Daniels) or not (2009 – Slaton, Walter, Daniels), he still kicks ass
(–) The fact that he never actually HAS put up 10+ TDs is a bit disconcerting…
(–) …but really, there’s nothing bad about this guy.  The real “con” here would be that we can’t say the same about any other player in the league

Jacoby Jones

(+) Jones should see the field a fair amount and could produce nice numbers in a high-volume passing offense
(+) He’ll start out as the three behind Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter, but could easily take over the WR2 role at some point this year
(+) He is a nice big target and Coach Kubiak has been showering him with praise this offseason concerning his maturation process
(+) New OC Rick Dennison has been a pass-heavy play caller in his brief history as an OC, so we don’t expect the offense to change philosophy much
(–) Andre had some early injury issues, but those have subsided, and Walter has only missed two games in the last 6 years

Kevin Walter

(+) Currently slated to be the WR2 on a team that will do a lot of damage through the air
(+) Had 15 Red Zone targets last year, which was 10 more than Houston’s 3rd wideout, Jacoby Jones
(+) Houston does a great job of protecting Matt Schaub (7th overall in pass blocking)
(+) He will benefit from #2 cornerback matchups and light safety help over the top with Andre on the field
(–) With all the positives that come with being the WR2 on this team, Walter has not produced the numbers expected
(–) The Texans had him in the slot a lot last year which puts him looking for passes in shorter routes

TE

Owen Daniels

(+) Daniels was leading the league in TE targets and having the best TE fantasy season last year before he got injured
(+) When Andre Johnson is being double-teamed (or tripled), he’s Matt Schaub’s favorite 2nd option
(+) He’s one of the fastest tight ends in the league and a constant mismatch for linebackers
(–) The odds for a guy doing well coming off the 3rd ACL injury in his career can’t be too good
(–) Despite his speed, Owen doesn’t have ideal size for a tight end

-  The Houston Texans came off the 2008 season in which they finished 8-8 and began the 2009 season
          with expectations of finally reaching the playoffs
-  The Texans had an up and down season, starting 5-3, then losing their next 4, then winning their last 4,
          for the first winning season in team history
-  The Texans finished the season second in the AFC South with a 9-7 record just missing the playoffs
          because of tiebreakers with the other 9-7 teams
-  The Texans scored 388 points while allowing 333 points against

2009 Total Points Rank:         13th (106 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     2nd (8.7 pts/gm)

Neil Rackers (14 Games with Arizona in '09

2009 Total Points Rank:         23rd (85 tot pts)
2009 Average/Game Rank:     26th (6.1 pts/gm)

FR=Fumbles Recoverd, PA=Points Allowed, FP Rank=Fantasy Points Rank, FP/G=Fantasy Points per Game

2010 Texans Defensive Outlook...

Only two things come out of Texas, steers and offense.  Just don’t tell Mario Williams we say so.  You can tell Brian Cushing though, assuming he’s off the juice.

We have Houston ranked as the 18^th pass defense and the 12^th rush Defense going into this year.  It’s good enough to get them a playoff berth, but we’re not sold they should be in your lineup.  They ranked 25^th in sacks last year and 17^th in Turnovers with 27.  With 3 TDs and 2 safeties, they were able to sneak into 11^th overall as a Fantasy Defense last year, but we’re not quite sure how, and we’re not liking their chances to sneak in again. 

TDs and Safeties are way unpredictable, and we can’t justify putting them more than 14^th overall this season.  They’re a backup D at best.

-  Brian Cushing led the team with 134 tackles, DeMeco Ryans had 123
-  The Texans had 30 sacks last season
-  Leading sacker was Mario Williams with 9.0
-  How can the Texans continue to improve their pass rush and overall defense
-  Brian Cushing and Bernard Pollard led the team with 4 INTs each
-  Team forced 13 fumbles
-  Team forced a total of 27 turnovers

Team PYRO is hyper about Offensive Lines!  Understanding who will be blocking for the players on your roster is vital to your teams Fantasy success.  We take many factors into account when we rank these units, including weight, height, starts together as a unit, starts per year played, rushing average, sacks allowed, draft position, contact situation, pro bowl/all pro honors, Adjusted Line Yardage (ALY) and Adjusted Sack Rate (stats found at the link below).  O-Line Rank is one more piece of the puzzle that directs us towards delivering you a Fantasy Football Championship. 

Here is another great resource for looking at O-Lines…    http://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

The fantasy lifeblood of the players sitting on your roster boils down to one EXTREMELY important stat.  Drum Roll please……………………………  ATTEMPTS!!!!  Ahhhh, there, we said it.  Before you can make a play, you gotta have the pill in your hands.  It’s pretty simple really, in the immortal words of the maligned Keyshawn Johnson… “Just give me the damn ball”.  There is no “I” in the word “team”, but don’t fool yourself, it’s in the word rotisserie twice. 

For the QB, it’s Pass Attempts, for the RB, it’s Carries, and for the WR and TE, it’s Targets.  If you look at the players in the league who are amassing large quantities of points, they are the ones who are seeing the rock come their way the most often.  Sure, you have to be good enough to do something with the p-skin when you get it, but never forget, you can’t make a play until you have the pill in your hands. 

The PYRO Offensive scheme charts aim to deliver you perhaps the most important information you could attain before and after draft day; Will my player get the chances they need to put out or will they be shut out?  It really boils down to what the offensive game plan on Sunday is.  These charts should provide some perspective on which teams are going to live by land and which are going to live by air. 

By Air

-  Matt Schuab raked up the most passing yards in the league last season with one of the most potent
        passing offenses in football
-  The Texans finished last season ranking first in the league with 4,654 passing yards
-  Andre Johnson continues to be the top receiver in the league
-  Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones, and Andre Davis will provide depth in the WR corps
-  The TE position is solid when Owen Daniels can remain healthy
-  Steve Slaton is a very effective receiver out of the backfield

By Land

-  The Texans ranked 30th in the league with 1,475 yards on the ground
-  The Texans have a group of backs who can get the job done, the question is what back will get a majority
         of the carries  
-  Steve Slaton is currently listed as the teams starting running back
-  Ben Tate, a rookie from Auburn, will serve as teams primary back up but could get more carries
         as the season progresses
-  Arian Foster and Ryan Moats will provide depth at running back

RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number you see is Red Zone Touches (a pass attempt, a carry, or a target inside the 20 yard line).  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

% of Teams RZ Touches (Position Rank) = The first number is the players percentage of touches cut out against the total number of the Teams Red Zone plays called.  The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.  So, if Thomas Jones received a touch in 45 percent of the Jets Red Zone calls last year, and Knowshon Moreno received a touch in 38 percent of all the Broncos plays last year, Jones would be ranked higher at his position than Moreno would be.

RZ TD Success Rate (Position Rank) = The first number is the percentage of which an individual player was able to score a TD against his total number of touches.   The number in the parentheses is where this player ranks amongst the rest of the NFL at that position.

Why Should I look at this Chart?

We couldn’t possibly take up a whole minute of your valuable fantasy football research time babbling about the importance of Attempts for your team and then leave out Red Zone Tendencies.

Yep, same drill with these charts, only a lot more important if scoring TD’s is what you’re leagues about.  The PYRO Red Zone Tendencies chart delivers a touchdown focused microcosm of the Offensive Scheme section.

To score a TD, your player needs a touch (pass att, carry, or target), and when they get a touch inside the 20, great things can happen for your Fantasy teams total points line.

It’s really easy, touches are King and converting a touch in the red is Fantasy Gold.

PYRO 2010 Texan Leaders in the Red Zone...

1. Arian Foster
2. Andre Johnson
3. Steve Slaton
4. Owen Daniels
5. Jacoby Jones

Grade* = Team PYRO took this number directly from NFL.COM - not a number devised here by us, you know, your friends who don’t sleep?  In other words, proceed with caution knowing the source, but we thought it was at least a worthy effort and could help you gauge just how solid the teams draft was.  We hope it helps, we think it will.  (10 pt)

Draft Bits...

The Fantasy world is sleeping on RB Ben Tate.  With Steve Slaton and Arian Foster ahead of the 2^nd rounder, we think there is a significant chance he takes the starting job at some point.  A lot depends on Slaton's fumble-itis, but Tate can be had late and is playing in a hyper productive offense.

Team PYRO considers our Strength of Schedule data an essential part of building you a Fantasy Championship.  This data is integral in helping us rank our players each year.  So far, so good.  We go to GREAT lengths to deliver you this PYRO nugget and we know nobody else in the industry is putting forth this type of effort, which puts you at a great advantage if you have been using us as your fantasy football research outlet.  Our SoS considers three factors when determining rankings for schedules for the upcoming year:

1) 75% weight is applied to the strength of defense from the previous season.  This is determine by fantasy points given up (run and pass).  Easy right? Here's where Team Pyro goes deep: before we get to that number, we factor in the quality of teams that these defenses had to face (essentially, a strength-of-schedule for the prior season).

 
2) 20% weight is applied to Free-Agent, Trade, and Injury Returns that will help or hurt the team for the current year.  We rank each players impact to their former team (2008), sum it all up, and then rank each team accordingly.

3) 5% weight is applied to the NFL drafincoming rookie impact.  It's a challenge to successfully gauge a rookie's effectiveness (too many Jamarcus Russells out there) which is why we valued it so low.  Some teams not only drafted highly touted defensemen this year, but will be immediately filling deficient positions from '09 with rookies, and usually, anything is an upgrade when you are starting a rookie.

Chart Key =

Ranking:  1=easiest  32=toughest

QB's, WR's, and TE's

(INDY) Peyton Manning, Reggie Wayne, and Dallas Clark have the EASIEST passing schedule in 2010

(BALT) Joe Flacco, Anquan Boldin, and Todd Heap have the HARDEST passing schedule in 2010

RB's

(SF) Frank Gore has the EASIEST rushing schedule in 2010

(MIA) Ronnie Brown has the HARDEST rushing schedule in 2010

May 29, 2010

Signed CB Sherrick McManis.

May 12, 2010

Signed LB Danny Clark.

April 16, 2010

Signed OT Rashad Butler and G Chris White to one-year tenders.

March 10, 2010

Signed OL Wade Smith to a four-year contract.

March 8, 2010

Re-signed WR Kevin Walter and P Matt Turk.

February 10, 2010

Signed coach Gary Kubiak to a contract extension through the 2012 season.

February 8, 2010

Named Cedric Smith strength and conditioning coach. Promoted Perry Carter to assistant defensive backs coach.