A year ago, Carlos Hyde looked done. Hyde was getting buried on the depth chart in Cleveland, got traded to Jacksonville and did nothing, and then signed with the Chiefs but couldn’t make their roster. It looked like the end of the road for Hyde. Except the Houston Texans traded for him in an odd trade where they actually gave up an offensive lineman which they very much need. For Houston, the Hyde trade is paying dividends when it never looked possible. Carlos Hyde is having a renaissance season with the Texans.
Hyde is somehow the lead back for a team that’s probably going to make the playoffs. He’s also averaging 4.8 yards a carry on the season. Hyde has touted the rock 174 times for 836 yards. That has to be beyond what Houston thought they were getting. While Hyde isn’t helping a ton in the passing game, he is a great one two punch with Duke Johnson.
Hyde is giving the Texans better production than they were actually getting with Lamar Miller. When Miller tore his ACL, the Texans had no backs. Miller failed to run for 1,000 yards in the previous two years with Houston. Hyde should eclipse that mark this year. Sometimes you’re one injury away from being a better football team. Hyde has proven that.
The Texans have mostly been the Deshaun Watson and DeAndre Hopkins show. While Hyde isn’t perfect, he’s at least providing a stable rushing threat. Add in Laremy Tunsil, Kenny Stills, and Will Fuller and the Texans are starting to look dangerous. Now defensively, that is a different story. Hyde is at least doing his part to help the offense. Something that I didn’t really see coming.
