The Texans have signed 28-year old Rex Grossman to a 1-year, $620,000 dollar contract.  Grossman played in 4 games for the Bears last season and he completed 32 of 62 passes (51.6%) for 257 yards with 2 TD passes and 2 interceptions (59.7 QB Rating).  He also carried the football 3 times for 4 yards (1.3 ypc) last season.  Rex Grossman is very adept at throwing the long ball but he has problems on the short stuff often throwing the ball right to defensive players.  Grossman has now played in 36 games in his six year NFL career and he has completed 521 of 962 passes (54.2%) for 6,164 yards with 33 TD passes and 35 INTs (70.2 QB Rating).  Grossman has also carried the ball 55 times for 80 yards (1.5 ypc) with 3 TD carries in his career.  Grossman will likely beat out Dan Orlovsky for the #2 job on the Texans in 2009 but it’s not for certain.  Still, this was a good move for the Texans as they got Grossman at the right price.

The Houston Texans really need Matt Schaub to stay healthy with Sage Rosenfels getting traded to the Vikings in the off-season.  Schaub definately has big time talent as he has a good throwing arm and he’s careful with the football.  The Texans can finally get over the 8-8 hump if Schaub plays a complete schedule which is something he’s never done in the NFL to date.  The new backup QB is Dan Orlovsky who served the same role for the Lions last season.  Orlovsky got a lot of playing time in 2008 but he obviously didn’t win any games.  Still, the overall talent will be better around him this season so he would probably be close to a average QB if forced into duty.  2nd year QB Alex Brink will be around again in 2009 to hold a clipboard.  He’s a dink and dunk type passer without much of a arm.

PROJECTED GRADE FOR THE 2009 SEASON:  B-

The Texans have signed undrafted free agent running back Arian Foster to a 1-year deal.  Foster played in 47 games (33 starts) in his 4 year career at Tennessee.  He carried the ball 650 times for 2,964 yards (4.6 ypc) with 23 TD runs in college.  He also caught 83 passes for 742 yards (8.9 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  Foster is a big guy at 6′0″, 232 pounds and he runs a very quick 4.45 40 yard dash.  Foster has a chance to make the Texans and we’ll see what he does with it.

The Houston Texans have signed undrafted free agent running back Jeremiah Johnson to a 1-year deal.  Johnson played in 40 games (14 starts) in his 4 years at Oregon and he carried the football 349 times for 2,336 yards (6.7 ypc) with 30 TD runs.  He also caught 36 passes for 303 yards (8.4 avg) with 1 TD grab at Oregon.  Johnson is a tad on the slow side running a 4.55 40 but he makes up for it on Game Day as he’s much faster with someone chasing him.

The Houston Texans reached a little bit in picking DE Connor Barwin in the 2nd round when most experts had him pegged for the 4th or 5th round.  In his first three seasons at Cincinnati, Barwin has a TE but he excelled after converting to defense as a senior.  Barwin played in 14 games (all starts) for the Bearcats last season and he made 53 tackles, had 16 tackles for a loss, had 11 sacks and he batted down 8 balls.  Barwin is a tad small for DE at 6′3″, 253 but he’s fast (4.64 40).  Barwin is raw but he has a nice upside.