Houston Texans Hall of Shame: Worst breakup and more

After celebrating what Houston Texans players could end up in the Hall of Fame someday, we’ve switched gears to look at some of the more forgettable players and moments in franchise history.

Worst breakup: Deshaun Watson

What was worse, the ugly nature of Watson’s exit or the fact that it took over a year for the nightmare to finally end?

This story started with Watson’s demand to be traded due to his frustration over the fact that he wasn’t involved in the team’s search for a new GM. Then the QB refused to return calls from the front office and scrubbed the team from all of his social media. Houston initially told teams it would not trade the franchise QB, but allegations of sexual assault eventually led to the team dealing the polarizing QB to the Browns for a haul of draft picks. 

Worst draft pick: Defensive tackle Travis Johnson

2015 first-round cornerback Kevin Johnson had a strong case here, but ultimately, it’s hard to argue against the underwhelming four seasons Travis Johnson spent in Houston. Drafted 16th overall in 2005, Johnson was supposed to stabilize the defensive line.

Instead, the Texans got just two sacks, 16 tackles for loss and one interception from the disappointing defensive lineman. He never logged more than 41 tackles in a season and was out of the league six years after being drafted. 

Worst free-agent signing: QB Brock Osweiler

Ahman Green and Ed Reed made this one interesting, but it’s hard to pick anyone other than Osweiler here, considering how expensive this mistake was and how badly it blew up in Houston’s face. In 2016, then-general manager Rick Smith signed the 25-year-old Osweiler, who had all of seven starts and 275 pass attempts in the NFL, to a four-year, $72 million contract.

Despite his 8-6 record as Houston’s starter, Osweiler was benched in the second quarter of a Week 15 game after completing 6-of-11 passes for 48 yards and two interceptions. Backup Tom Savage led Houston back from a 13-0 deficit to pull off a 21-20 win. 

Osweiler threw for fewer  than 200 yards in seven of his 15 starts in Houston, had nine games with a completion percentage under 59 and threw more interceptions (16) than touchdown passes (15). He was so bad that Houston gave up a second-round pick to the Cleveland Browns to take his bad contract off its books.