However, those prospects changed when former General Manager Bill O’Brien thought it was wise to trade All-Pro WR DeAndre Hopkins, for David Johnson and a 2020 2nd round pick. While BOB has made numerous questionable decisions, none were more polarizing than this trade. Reports are that the two had constant rifts and the final straw was when Hopkins asked for a raise, despite having three years left on his contract.

Personally, I was furious with the move and called for the firing of BOB at that very moment. Unfortunately, we were stuck with trying to believe in his vision for the offense, sans Hopkins. While I’ll admit I tried to get on board with the idea of Watson not having to force feed Hopkins, rather spreading the ball around to whoever was open, I should’ve listened to the experts. After the trade, SBD had the Indianapolis Colts as the favorites, with the signing of Phillip Rivers playing a huge role as well.

As the offseason went on, the Texans odds fell further and further as BOB’s free agent decisions were maddening as well. He quickly extended OLB/DE Whitney Mercilus to a 4 year, 54 million dollar contract. He also overpaid for backup safety Eric Murray, handing him 3 years, 18 million and WR Randall Cobb 3 years, 27 million. Don’t just take my word for it, ask any Texans fan and they will tell you about their disgust with these deals. By July, the Colts odds had reached +120 while the Texans fell below +300.

Another reason for the Texans odds falling is due to our lack of premium draft picks. The Jaguars had 2 first round picks, the Titans had 1 and the Colts traded theirs for Pro Bowler Deforest Buckner. While BOB had traded our 2020 1st round pick (and 2021) for Laremy Tunsil. While he is the best Left Tackle in the NFL for my money, investing that much capital into one player makes it hard to continuously add talent over the years. Thus, by the start of the 2020 season, the Colts had the best odds, followed by the Titans, Texans and Jaguars bringing up the rear.

The landslide continued throughout the first four weeks of the season, with the Texans falling to 0-4. Every loss was magnified by the fact that the AFC South was coming out of the gates hot. The Colts now sit at 3-1 and the Titans are 3-0, undefeated as their game vs the Steelers was postponed. Even the lowly Jaguars are seated higher than the Texans, at 1-3, which truly exposes just how poor of a job BOB has done over the offseason.

Here are the updated odds of the AFC South race, as of October 6th. It’s been a long fall for the Texans, and we should use this as a reminder of how important it is to have qualified people run a football team. As the Texans enter a new era, Jack Easterby, Executive Vice President of Football Operations must be fired as well. He was BOB’s right hand man and complacent with every poor decision made, thus he deserves blame as well. His lack of football knowledge and experience will only replicate the disaster that has been the 2019-2020 offseason. We cannot let him ruin the Texans like BOB has.