During the month of June, the Last Word On Sports NFL department will construct a Mount Rushmore for each team. For this series, we will only consider players. Today, the Houston Texans are the focus.
As far as franchise Mount Rushmores go, there’s few teams with slimmer pickings than the Houston Texans. All the players I picked are still active, and one has been playing for only four seasons.
The youngest club in the NFL has made the playoffs only twice and is coming off its fourth winning season ever. With that said, Houston has fielded some good players in NRG Stadium. Here are the four who have best represented the franchise since its inception in 2002.
Houston Texans Mount Rushmore
Andre Johnson
After whiffing on David Carr with the first pick of the 2002 draft, the Texans hit the jackpot with the following year’s first rounder. Andre Johnson, who was taken one spot behind famed bust Charles Rogers, was a member of the ultra-talented University of Miami teams of the early 2000s.
Johnson has led the NFL in receptions twice and receiving yards per game three times while making seven Pro Bowls. He’s consistently been one of the top five receivers in the league for a decade, and is rather quietly 12th all-time in receiving yards.
He put a dent in his Texans legacy by bolting to the division-rival Colts this offseason, but his place as the most accomplished player in the young franchise’s history is firmly cemented.
Arian Foster
Foster is only 28 years old, but he’s already the Texans’ leader in rushing yards and is fourth in receiving yards. He’s also scored more touchdowns in his short career than Andre Johnson has.
The San Diego native has led the league in total touchdowns twice, and in 2010 he averaged 101 rushing yards per game and led the NFL with over 2,200 yards from scrimmage.
He’s been hurt in recent years, but Foster still produces, as he averaged 95 yards per game and 4.8 yards per carry in 2014. If he can remain healthy, which is a tall order for running backs these days, he could remain on Houston’s Mount Rushmore for many years.
Matt Schaub
The University of Virginia product is the least spectacular player on this list, though he has made two Pro Bowls. Schaub is here because he played the game’s most valuable position well enough to win.
The Texans have a .533 winning percentage when Schaub has started, and a .350 percentage when he doesn’t. He’s guided the team to two playoff appearances and has won a playoff game both times.
Schaub also led the NFL in passing yards in 2009, and is 10th all-time in completion percentage and 13th in passer rating. The latter stats are largely a product of the pass-happy era in which he plays, but are impressive nonetheless.
J.J. Watt
With two 20-sack seasons under his belt before age 26, it’s easy to forsee a Hall of Fame career for the man called “J.J. Swatt.”
He’s been named to three consecutive Pro Bowls and first team All-Pro squads. Watt has also led the NFL in Approximate Value twice, and has never missed a game. If he continues his streak of amazing play, Watt might be in the decade’s Mount Rushmore.
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