The Houston Texans are still at least a couple years away from being involved in discussions about deep runs into the postseason, and thus, perhaps even further away from being involved in game previews on Super Bowl weekend. For the last three Januarys, we’ve at least had a head caching search to follow!
Hopefully, THOSE days are over, too. DeMeco Ryans appears to be the first head coaching hire since Bill O’Brien in 2014 to be hired for the long haul, and not sacrificed after one season. For now, we take pleasure in two things — hiring DeMeco Ryans and the Texans carrying at least a sliver of relevance at the annual NFL Honors show, where awards for the most recent season are handed out.
In particular, there were three unveilings on Thursday night that mattered to Texans fans — would Andre Johnson make the Hall of Fame class for 2023, would new head coach DeMeco Ryans win Assistant Coach of the Year, and would Dameon Pierce win Angry run of the Year for murdering seven Jacksonville Jaguars on one play in Week 5 of this past season?
Well, two out of three ain’t bad, I guess. The only problem is the one honor the Texans probably really were hoping for was the one that was missed. Let’s look at all three and how they played out, starting with the two bits of good news:
DeMeco Ryans named 2022 Assistant Coach of the Year
In his second year on the job as defensive coordinator for the San Francisco 49ers, Ryans was the overseer of the best defense in all of the NFL for the second straight season. The defense was great enough to where the offense could withstand injuries to its top TWO quarterbacks, and the team could still go on a 12 game winning streak to close out the regular season and into the first two games of the postseason, before losing to the Eagles in the NFC title game. On January 31, Ryans was named head coach of the Texans after just six seasons as either a position coach or coordinator, a meteoric rise by any measurement.
Dameon Pierce named “Angry Run of the Year”
All season long, Pierce was the best thing about the Houston Texans. On the night he was drafted, we immediately revealed himself to be the most fun member of the rookie class. For the first two months, he was the Texans’ best player, and if he hadn’t gotten injured with five weeks to go in the season, he likely would have been right there in the mix for the NFL’s offensive Rookie fo the Year Award. So Pierce was unable to get mention for that honor, but he did take home the vaunted golden scepter for the most ANGRY run of 2022, his one man steamrolling of the Jaguars’ defense in Week 5:
Andre Johnson snubbed for 2023 Hall of Fame class
As fun as it is to see DeMeco Ryans and Dameon Pierce being recognized for their greatness, this one hurts. I was really hopeful that Andre Johnson would get in this go round, but not only was he snubbed after making it down to the final ten candidates, but neither of the other wide receivers amongst the finalists — Reggie Wayne and Torry Holt — were selected either. I expressed my concern last week that, if Andre Johnson didn’t get in this time, he might be waiting a while, and that concern is exacerbated by the fact that ZERO wide receivers went in this time. Both Wayne and Holt have waited far longer than Johnson, so they are likely in front of him in line to get in. Now, I think it’s a coin flip that Johnson goes in before J.J. Watt in 2028. (Watt will go in easily on his first year of eligibility.)
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2023.
