Sunday Night Football: Team needs for the New England Patriots and Houston Texans
By Jon Dove
2016 NFL Draft Needs for the New England Patriots and Houston Texans.
This week’s Sunday Night matchup will have a huge impact on the playoff race. The Houston Texans are trying to win the AFC South and the New England Patriots are still fitting for the No. 1 seed in the AFC. While this has been a good year for both teams they each have had their share of issues.
New England is on a two-game losing streak where they’ve been unable to find offensive consistency. The injuries to Julian Edleman, Rob Gronkowski and Dion Lewis have taken their toll. Tom Brady just doesn’t have reliable targets with those players out of the lineup.
However, even when this group is at full strength the offense could use a spark at wide receiver. The Patriots need to target an explosive target who can take the top off the defense. Thanks to the deflate-gate scandal, they’ll have to wait until after the 1st round to fill this need.
There should be several solid options available when the Patriots finally get on the board such as Ohio State’s Michael Thomas, Baylor’s Corey Coleman and Rutger’s Leonte Carroo.
The Texans are very fortunate to be in the playoff hunt based off their terrible start to the season. They get the benefit from playing in the terrible AFC South, but this team has turned the corner in recent weeks. The majority of their success can be credited to the defense which has taken their play to another level.
Despite the respectable play of Brian Hoyer, the long-term stability of the quarterback position is still a major question mark. Houston needs to bring in a young quarterback who has the talent to develop into a difference maker.
There are several quarterbacks that make sense for the Texans including Memphis’ Paxton Lynch, Michigan State’s Connor Cook and Penn State’s Christian Hackenberg. Most will want to push Hackenberg to the Texans because of his past relationship with Bill O’Brien.
However, Hackenberg has had his share of struggles this season and may head back to school for another year. Either way the Texans need to use an early draft pick on the quarterback spot.