The Texans can save Deshaun Watson by following the Colts’ example this offseason

The Houston Texans’ offensive line was woeful once again in their 21-7 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in the Wild Card Round. Deshaun Watson was sacked 62 times in the regular season — the most ever for a quarterback on a playoff team. On Saturday, he was sacked three times and the Texans allowed three more tackles for loss on just 16 rushing attempts. Oh yeah, Watson was hit eight times in the game as well!

Getting the offensive line right has to be the top priority for the Texans now that they’re officially transitioning into the offseason. Houston is projected to have $72 million in cap space this offseason and no one would blame the Texans if they spent every last penny of that $72 million on the offensive line.

Watson ran the ball eight times for 76 yards against the Colts — and even though most were on scrambles, he looked good doing it. His passing game was another story. He threw the ball 49 times and only managed to rack up 235 passing yards — just 4.8 yards per pass — and one touchdown.

He also had this interception to Kenny Moore at the end of the first quarter, which was an especially bad pass.

We do know Watson is adept at throwing the ball, though. Watson completed 68.3 percent of his passes and had a 103.1 quarterback rating in his second season in the league. His poor passer showing against the Colts can’t be completely chalked up to the offensive line, but it did play a huge factor. He was often rushed and had to make quick, short throws.

After the game, he noted that the pockets were tough to work with:

The way the Texans can fix their offensive line is by putting resources into the group — something they didn’t do last offseason.

Watching the Texans’ offensive line this season has been incredibly frustrating, but their performance makes more sense when you look at their lack of investment in it.

Here is the starting group that they walked into their playoff game with.

Left tackle: Julie’n Davenport, 2017 fourth-round pick
Left guard: Senio Kelemete, 2012 fifth-round pick on his third team
Center: Nick Martin, 2016 second-round pick
Right guard: Zach Fulton, 2014 sixth-round pick on his second team
Right tackle: Kendall Lamm, undrafted in 2015

Houston can’t even blame injury for its offensive line problems. The team lost one offensive lineman to injured reserve: Seantrel Henderson, a 2014 seventh-round pick from the Buffalo Bills.

To be fair, the Texans didn’t have a first- or a second-round pick to upgrade the line in the 2018 NFL Draft after trading up for Deshaun Watson in 2017 and trading away Brock Osweiler, but their collection of talent had to be somewhat alarming coming into the season.

This offseason, the Texans have a first-round pick for the first time in two years. They also have two second-round picks: their own and the one that they received from Seattle after trading left tackle Duane Brown last season.

With those picks, they should consider replicating what the Colts have done and invest heavily in the offensive line.

Compare that Texans line to what the Colts came into this game with.

Left tackle: Anthony Castonzo, 2011 first-round pick
Left guard: Quenton Nelson, 2018 first-round pick
Center: Ryan Kelly, 2016 first-round pick
Right guard: Mark Glowinski, 2015 fourth-round pick on his second team
Right tackle: Braden Smith, 2018 second-round pick

The talent that Colts have poured into their offensive line showed in their win over the Texans. They didn’t allow any sacks and only allowed one tackle for loss in the first quarter of the game. It’s been a similar story this whole season, but it wasn’t always that way in Indianapolis.

From 2012-16, Andrew Luck was sacked 2.2 times per game and the offensive line allowed 12.4 pressures per game, both third-highest in the NFL according to the ESPN broadcast. In 2018, those number were down to 1.1 sacks and 9.3 pressures per game, the lowest marks in the league.

The Colts made it a priority to protect Luck, who missed nine games in 2015 and another game in 2016 before sitting out the entire 2017 season with a shoulder injury. Houston needs to do the same for Watson. The Texans went 11-5 and won the AFC South with Watson for a full 16-game season. They went 4-12 when Watson’s rookie season ended prematurely due to an ACL tear.

Watson isn’t just a good player that the Texans should keep healthy; he’s their best chance of offensive success and an integral part of their future. He’s the most productive quarterback the Texans have had since Matt Schaub was hurling passes to Andre Johnson in the mid-2000s — keeping him healthy and upright is imperative, especially if they want to be more than a one-and-done in the playoffs.