2023 NFL Predictions: AFC South

Before the start of the season, we will post NFL division-by-division predictions for the 2023 NFL regular season and postseason.

Instead of projecting an outright winner and loser in all 272 regular-season games, we've assigned a win probability to each team in every game and totaled them up.

The four AFC South teams are projected to win the fewest games combined among the four AFC divisions, and only the NFC West is projected to win fewer combined games than the AFC South in our full-season projections.

See where the Texans stand in our 2023 AFC South Predictions

2023 Fantasy Football Projections: Houston Texans

Our Fantasy Football Projections will be viewable by both position and team.

Below you will find our 2023 fantasy football projections for the Houston Texans.

MORE: Fantasy football projections for more NFL teams

QUARTERBACKS

Player	Att.	Comp.	Yards	TD	INT	Rush	Yards	TD	Points
C.J. Stroud	524.7	327.9	3646.7	18.89	14.17	44.3	181.6	1.33	219.23
Davis Mills	33.5	21.1	224.5	1.19	0.99	5.3	14.8	0.11	13.9

C.J. Stroud: Stroud has consistently earned praise from his coaches and teammates throughout the offseason. Unsurprisingly, he's been officially named the Week 1 starter against the Baltimore Ravens. An accurate passer when given time in the pocket at Ohio State, Stroud consistently made plays outside of structure against the Georgia Bulldogs in the College Football Playoff. He's off the fantasy radar in single-QB redraft leagues, but he should increase the overall efficiency of Houston's offense in 2023.

MORE: Continue reading our 2023 Fantasy Football Projections: Houston Texans

Houston Texans: 2023 NFL Schedule

Below you will find the weekly NFL regular-season schedule for the Houston Texans in 2023.

MORE: 2023 NFL Strength of Schedule

Week	Date	Opponent	Time (ET) / Tickets
Week 1	Sun., Sep. 10	at Baltimore Ravens	L 9-25
Week 2	Sun., Sep. 17	vs. Indianapolis Colts	L 20-31
Week 3	Sun., Sep. 24	at Jacksonville Jaguars	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 4	Sun., Oct. 1	vs. Pittsburgh Steelers	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 5	Sun., Oct. 8	at Atlanta Falcons	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 6	Sun., Oct. 15	vs. New Orleans Saints	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 7		BYE
Week 8	Sun., Oct. 29	at Carolina Panthers	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 9	Sun., Nov. 5	vs. Tampa Bay Buccaneers	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 10	Sun., Nov. 12	at Cincinnati Bengals	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 11	Sun., Nov. 19	vs. Arizona Cardinals	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 12	Sun., Nov. 26	vs. Jacksonville Jaguars	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 13	Sun., Dec. 3	vs. Denver Broncos	4:05 PM / Tickets
Week 14	Sun., Dec. 10	at New York Jets	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 15	Sun., Dec. 17	at Tennessee Titans	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 16	Sun., Dec. 24	vs. Cleveland Browns	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 17	Sun., Dec. 31	vs. Tennessee Titans	1:00 PM / Tickets
Week 18	Sun., Jan. 7	at Indianapolis Colts	TBD / Tickets

MORE: Houston Texans historical W-L records - Houston Texans historical head-to-head records

Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule (SOS)

How easy or difficult is the fantasy football schedule for Houston Texans players?

Fantasy Football Strength of Schedule by position:

Houston Texans Mock Draft Roundup 1.0

Throughout the year and leading up to the 2024 NFL Draft, we will update our Houston Texans Mock Draft Roundup showing picks for the Houston Texans from several prominent sites and draft analysts.

The following are picks in recent mock drafts for the Houston Texans:

EDSFootball - Kevin Hanson (5/9)

17. Michael Hall Jr., IDL, Ohio State

The Texans traded up to select disruptive edge Will Anderson Jr., and now they get a disruptive presence on the interior. Hall Jr. had 7.5 tackles for loss and 4.5 sacks last season for the Buckeyes.

CBS Sports - Josh Edwards (5/8)

20. Brock Bowers, TE, Georgia

Houston has Dalton Schultz on a one-year contract but can upgrade the position at a cheaper rate.

ESPN - Todd McShay (5/4)

17. Maason Smith, IDL, LSU

The Texans traded their own first-rounder, but they still have the Browns' pick. Receiver could be in play, but I like the fit for Smith here. He looked great as a freshman in 2021 but tore his left ACL in the 2022 opener. If he returns to form next season, he could be a Day 1 pick. At 6-foot-5 and 300 pounds, he has good size and quickness, and he managed four sacks from the interior during that '21 season. Sheldon Rankins and Maliek Collins could both be headed to free agency, which would open up a spot inside. Few teams were worse against the run last season than Houston, which gave up 5.1 yards per carry.

The Athletic - Dane Brugler (5/2)

20. Joe Alt, OT, Notre Dame

In Alt and Blake Fisher, Notre Dame has a pair of offensive tackles to keep on the radar for next year's draft class. Alt is a former high school tight end, and his father, John, was an offensive lineman and first-round pick of the Chiefs in 1984.

MORE: Continue reading our 2024 Houston Texans Mock Draft Roundup

Houston Texans - 2023 Draft Results

The table below are all of the 2023 NFL Draft picks selected by the Houston Texans.

Round	Overall	Player	Position	School
1	2	C.J. Stroud	QB	Ohio State
1	3	Will Anderson Jr.	EDGE	Alabama
2	62	Juice Scruggs	C	Penn State
3	69	Tank Dell	WR	Houston
4	109	Dylan Horton	EDGE	TCU
5	167	Henry To'oTo'o	LB	Alabama
6	201	Jarrett Patterson	C	Notre Dame
6	205	Xavier Hutchinson	WR	Iowa State
7	248	Brandon Hill	S	Pittsburgh

More: 2023 NFL Draft Results - Houston Texans Draft History

2023 NFL Power Rankings: Houston Texans

Throughout the 2023 NFL season, we will compile a consensus NFL Power Rankings that averages the rankings of all 32 NFL teams.

Below you will find a Week 3 roundup for the Houston Texans in our consensus 2023 NFL Power Rankings.

ESPN -- Rank: 31

Player: CB Steven Nelson
Current contract situation: Under contract through the 2023 season

The Texans gave Nelson a small raise in August but no long-term extension. Through two games, he has an interception and another pass breakup. If he maintains this level of play for the rest of the season, will the Texans extend him before the end of the season or let him test free agency? Allowing him to test free agency could leave the Texans with a void or questions at cornerback going into 2024. -- DJ Bien-Aime

NFL.com -- Rank: 31

There's only so much silver lining a franchise can inlay after an 0-2 start, which was preceded by 11 victories over the previous three seasons. But it's hard not to give Houston credit for fighting back against the Colts with a group that entered the game missing both starting safeties, both starting tackles and two interior O-linemen (and replacement safety Eric Murray was hurt on Sunday). Probably the brightest part of the 31-20 loss was rookie QB C.J. Stroud, who gutted through a right shoulder injury throughout. He overcame an early fumble to throw for 384 yards and two TDs despite taking six sacks and at least nine hits. But can the Texans protect him? That's what has to keep DeMeco Ryans up at night.

Continue reading Houston Texans NFL Power Rankings Roundup

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