Give the Texans some credit. They’re going for it. They’ve sent two first-round picks and a second-round pick to Miami for left tackle Laremy Tunsil and wide receiver Kenny Stills. This is a bold stab at moving up to the top of the AFC.
The Texans have been plagued by poor play at tackle. Tunsil provides gigantic relief on that front. He’s probably an above-average left tackle, and this addition gives them a much better chance of keeping Deshaun Watson healthy.
With the line they had, Watson looked like a disaster waiting to happen. The Texans allowed 62 sacks last year, and it doesn’t make sense to put your quarterback at that kind of risk.
With this addition, Watson reasonably should be the second quarterback drafted in almost every draft.
I think the Stills addition is also notable. He’s a good receiver, and he’s got a big salary, with a base of almost $7 million this year. He’s not just a throwaway guy in this deal.
The Texans have a nifty trio of receivers, but two of them have problems staying healthy – both Will Fuller (coming off torn ACL) and Keke Coutee. Stills gives them another viable receiver to plug into either of those roles. He has the jets to be an outside deep threat like Fuller, and he also has some experience playing in the slot. In all of Miami’s preseason games this year, Stills was playing in the slot.
Houston’s looking good.
Miami, on the other hand, is starting to look like a 1-15 type team. A real dumpster fire. They had one of the league’s best pair of tackles – Tunsil and JaWuan James (who signed with Denver) now they’re rolling out essentially nothing.
All through August, we’ve had Miami as the clear favorite to rank last in offense and last in scoring. Now they need to be lowered even further.
Of the last six teams to rank last in scoring, all but one of those offenses scored 23-24 touchdowns. That looks like a reasonable estimate.
With the trade of Stills, I’m figuring free-agent rookie Preston Williams has a realistic chance of leading the Dolphins in receiving.
| LOWEST SCORING TEAMS SINCE 2000 | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Year | Team | Points | RunPG | TDR | PassPG | TDP | TD |
| 2000 | Cleveland | 10.1 | 68 | 7 | 171 | 9 | 16 |
| 2001 | Cincinnati | 14.1 | 107 | 11 | 206 | 12 | 23 |
| 2002 | Houston | 13.3 | 84 | 6 | 165 | 11 | 17 |
| 2003 | Arizona | 14.1 | 96 | 5 | 204 | 18 | 23 |
| 2004 | Chicago | 14.4 | 102 | 10 | 165 | 9 | 19 |
| 2005 | Cleveland | 14.5 | 94 | 4 | 208 | 15 | 19 |
| 2006 | Oakland | 10.5 | 95 | 5 | 178 | 7 | 12 |
| 2007 | San Francisco | 13.7 | 92 | 8 | 168 | 15 | 23 |
| 2008 | Cincinnati | 12.8 | 95 | 6 | 167 | 11 | 17 |
| 2009 | St. Louis | 10.9 | 112 | 4 | 186 | 12 | 16 |
| 2010 | Carolina | 12.3 | 115 | 7 | 165 | 9 | 16 |
| 2011 | St. Louis | 12.1 | 104 | 7 | 204 | 9 | 16 |
| 2012 | Kansas City | 13.2 | 150 | 9 | 184 | 8 | 17 |
| 2013 | Jacksonville | 15.4 | 79 | 7 | 234 | 16 | 23 |
| 2014 | Jacksonville | 15.6 | 102 | 9 | 188 | 15 | 24 |
| 2015 | San Francisco | 14.9 | 97 | 7 | 228 | 16 | 23 |
| 2016 | LA Rams | 14.0 | 78 | 9 | 207 | 14 | 23 |
| 2017 | Cleveland | 14.6 | 107 | 11 | 221 | 15 | 26 |
| 2018 | Arizona | 14.1 | 84 | 9 | 180 | 15 | 24 |
—Ian Allan