30-year old QB Matt Schaub has been pretty solid for the Texans so far this year.  He has played in both of the Texans games and he has completed 38 of 53 passes (71.7%) for 450 yards with 3 TD passes and 2 INTs (100.4 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 6 times for 2 yards (0.3 ypc) for the Texans so far this year.  The Texans are running the ball so well this year that they have not needed Schaub to go out and win a game himself yet and that’s a good thing.

With Arian Foster on the bench with a hamstring injury, 23-year old Ben Tate took advantage of his opportunity against the Colts.  Tate missed all of last year due to a knee injury.  He started to make up for lost time against the Colts.  He carried the ball 24 times for 116 yards (4.8 ypc) with 1 TD run.  Tate has jumped right ahead of Derrick Ward on the depth chart and that is pretty amazing as Ward played pretty well for the Texans last year.  Tate is going to have a bright future with the Texans.

The Texans took 23-year old RB Ben Tate in the second round of the 2010 NFL Draft.  He blew out his knee and didn’t play a down for the Texans last year, so he’s trying to make up for lost time.  Tate has played in 2 preseason games for the Texans and he has 147 yards rushing on 20 carries (7.4 ypc) with 1 TD run.  He has also caught 3 passes for 27 yards (9.0 avg) so far in the preseason.  Tate has already pushed Steve Slaton down the depth chart and he now has his sites on Derrick Ward.

The Houston Texans probably like their situation at QB right now.  29-year old Matt Schaub started all 16 games for the Texans last season and he completed 365 of 574 passes (63.6%) for 4,370 yards with 24 TD passes and 12 INTs (92.0 QB Rating).  He also carried the ball 22 times for 28 yards (1.3 ypc) last year.  Schaub has now played in 92 games in his NFL career and he has completed 1,288 of 1,987 passes (64.8%) for 15,457 yards with 83 TD passes and 52 INTs (91.5 QB Rating).  Schaub has also carried the ball 142 times for 328 yards (2.3 ypc) with 2 TD runs so far in his career.  He didn’t miss a snap last season.

27-year old lefty Matt Leinart didn’t get into any games for the Texans last season.  He has played in 29 games so far in this NFL career and he has completed 340 of 595 passes (57.1%) for 3,893 yards with 14 TD passes and 20 INTs (70.8 QB Rating).  Leinart has also carried the ball 46 times for 90 yards (2.0 ypc) with 2 TD runs.  The Texans seem to like Leinart so he will likely be back for 2011.

27-year old Dan Orlovsky also didn’t get into any games for the Texans last year.  Orlovsky has played in 12 games in his NFL career and he has completed 150 of 272 passes (55.1%) for 1,679 yards with 8 TD passes and 8 INTs (71.3 QB Rating).  He has also carried the ball 7 times for 29 yards (4.1 ypc) in his NFL career to date.  Orlovsky is a very solid #3 QB so the Texans should keep him too.

VERDICT:  I don’t see any reason for the Texans to make any changes at QB for 2011.

28-year old TE Joel Dreessen has stepped up for the Houston Texans since Owen Daniels got injured.  In his last four games, Dreessen has caught 14 passes for 212 yards (15.1 avg) with 2 TD grabs.  He has played in 11 games overall this year and he has caught 22 passes for 336 yards (15.3 avg) with 4 TD grabs.  Dreessen has been a pleasant surprise for the Texans so far this year and they hope he keeps up the good work because they need him involved in the offense.

The plan was to lessen Jones’ responsibilites on special teams so he could focus more on offense.  It hasn’t really worked out that way so far this year.  Jones has returned 3 kickoffs for 76 yards (25.3 avg) and he has also returned 10 punts for 97 yards (9.7 avg) so far this year.  Jones has caught 18 passes for 190 yards (10.6 avg) with 1 TD grab in his first five games of the year for the Texans.  So in five games so far this year, Jacoby Jones has touched the ball 31 times overall and he has 363 yards total yards (11.7 yards per touch). 

25-year old strong safety Bernard Pollard has been a tackling machine for the Texans so far this year.  He has played in all six games for the Texans so far this season and he has 59 tackles, 1 tackle for a loss, 2 passes defensed and 1 forced fumble.  The Texans hope that he gets back to making the big impact plays that he did in 2009 with them.  Pollard played in 13 games for the Texans last season and he had 102 tackles, 7 passes defensed, 1.5 sacks, 1 forced fumble and 4 interceptions (121 return yards) with a TD return.  Pollard is leading the way for the Texans in tackles this season and that explains why they are giving up 410.5 yards per game this year.

Starting TE Owen Daniels is having knee problems once again this year.  He has caught 7 passes for 68 yards (9.7 avg) for the Texans so far this year.  Joel Dreessen stepped up last season while Daniels was out when he caught 26 passes for 320 yards (12.3 avg) with 1 TD grab.  Well, he’s at it again as he has caught 7 passes for 119 yards (17.0 avg) with 1 TD grab.  The Texans need Dreessen to keep up the good work because the TE has been a very important part of the Texans’ offense since Matt Schaub came to town.

24-year old RB Arian Foster has been named the AFC Offensive Player of the Month for September.  He earned the award by carrying the ball 69 times for 406 yards (5.9 ypc) with 3 TD runs and catching 8 passes for 96 yards (12.0 avg) in the Texans’ first three games.  Foster is building on his strong finish of last season as a undrafted free agent.  Foster started against the Patriots & Dolphins the last two weeks of 2009 and he carried the ball 39 times for 216 yards (5.5 ypc) with 3 TD runs and he also caught 3 passes for 26 yards (8.7 avg).  Foster appears to be a player on the rise as he has a HUGE upside.

25-year old DE Mario Williams seems to be living in the oppositions backfields so far this year.  He has 8 tackles, 4 sacks and 2 passes defensed already this year for the Texans.  Williams is taking his game to a whole new level which should have opposing QBs shaking in their shoes.  Williams played in 64 games in his first four years with the Texans in which he made 202 tackles, he defensed 7 passes, had 39.5 sacks and he forced 9 fumbles.  So much for the Texans making a mistake drafting Mario Williams over Reggie Bush.