A few months ago, a day or so after the start of the 2015 NFL free agency period, I was listening to a sports radio show and a caller made a comment as to the fact that a team couldn't win a championship without continuity on its roster, coaching staff and organization. In particular, he opined that no team could be successful with so much upheaval on a roster. I remembered that call as the off-season continued and often wondered how accurate he was. At first glance, I didn't think it was on point, but decided to put it to the test.
So, I compared the 2015 probable starting lineup for the Texans and the starting lineup in October 2013. Less than two short years ago, how much turnover actually has taken place in that short time
frame?
2015 Houston Texans PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Ryan Mallett/Brian Hoyer (Matt Schaub)
RB - Arian Foster
FB - Jay Prosch (Greg Jones)
WR - DeAndre Hopkins
WR - Cecil Shorts/Jaelen Strong/Nate Washington (Andre Johnson)
TE - Owen Daniels (Garrett Graham)
LT - Duane Brown
LG - Xavier Su'a-Filo (Wade Smith)
C - Ben Jones (Chris Myers)
RG - Brandon Brooks
RT - Derek Newton
DE - JJ Watt
DT - Vince Wilfork (Earl Mitchell)
DE - Jared Crick (Antonio Smith)
OLB - Whitney Mercilus
ILB - Brian Cushing
ILB - Akeem Dent/Mike Mohamed/B. McKinney (Joe Mays)
OLB - Jadeveon Clowney (Brooks Reed)
CB - Johnathan Joseph
S - Rahim Moore (Ed Reed)
S - Eddie Pleasant/Stevie Brown (DJ Swearinger)
CB - Kareem Jackson
12 different starters (6 on offense, 6 on defense)
A little more than half of the starting lineup was turned over, with six each on offense and defense. Knowing the league turns rosters/lineups over frequently, I didn't think that was significant but needed a comparison.
How does the Texans roster churn relate to the rest of the AFC South? Well, Indianapolis, the AFC South champs the past two years, has turned over ⅔ of their starting lineup in just under two years. The results for the three other AFC South teams are below.
2015 Indianapolis Colts PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Andrew Luck
RB - Frank Gore (Vick Ballard)
WR - T.Y Hilton (FB - Stanley Havili)
WR - Andre Johnson (Reggie Wayne)
WR - Donte Moncrief (Darrius Hayward-Bey)
TE - Dwayne Allen/Coby Fleener
LT - Anthony Castonzo
LG - Jack Mewhort (Donald Thomas)
C - Jonotthon Harrison (Samson Satele)
RG - Todd Herremans (Mike McGlynn)
RT - Gosder Cherlius
DE - Kendall Langford (Cory Redding)
NT - Josh Chapman (Aubrayo Franklin)
DT - Arthur Jones (Ricky Jean-Francois)
OLB - Trent Cole (Erik Walden)
ILB - D'Qwell Jackson (Kelvin Sheppard)
ILB - Jerrell Freeman
OLB - Robert Mathis
CB - Greg Toler
S - Mike Adams (Antoine Bethea)
S - Dwight Lowery (LaRon Landry)
CB - Vontae Davis
14 different starters (7 on offense, 7 on defense)
2015 Jacksonville Jaguars PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Blake Bortles (Blaine Gabbert)
RB - Toby Gerhart (MJD)
WR - Allen Hurns (FB - Will Ta'ufo'ou)
WR - Marqise Lee (Cecil Shorts)
WR - Allen Robinson (Stephen Burton)
TE - Marcedes Lewis
LT - Luke Joeckel
LG - Zane Beadles (Will Rackley)
C - Luke Bowanko (Brad Meester)
RG - Brandon Linder (Uche Nwaneri)
RT - Jeremy Parnell (Eugene Monroe)
DE - Tyson Alualu
DT - Jared Odrick (Roy Miller)
DT - Sen'Derrick Marks
DE - Chris Clemons (Jason Babin)
OLB - Dan Skuta (Russell Allen)
MLB - Paul Posluszny
OLB - Telvin Smith (Geno Hayes)
CB - Demetrius McCray
S - Jonathan Cyprien
S - Sergio Brown (Dwight Lowery)
CB - Dwayne Gratz (Will Blackmon)
15 different starters (9 on offense, 6 on defense)
2015 Tennessee Titans PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Marcus Mariota (Jake Locker)
RB - Bishop Sankey (Chris Johnson)
RB - Dorin Dickerson (Collin Mooney)
WR - Kendall Wright (Nate Washington)
WR - Justin Hunter (Kenny Britt)
TE - Delanie Walker
LT - Taylor Lewan (Michael Roos)
LG - Andy Levitre
C - Brian Schwenke (Rob Turner)
RG - Chance Warmack
RT - Byron Stingily (David Stewart)
DE - Ropati Pitoitua
NT - Sammie Hill
DT - Jurrell Casey
OLB - Derrick Morgan
ILB - Wesley Woodyard (Akeem Ayers)
ILB - Avery Williamson (Moise Fokou)
OLB - Brian Orakpo (Zach Brown)
CB - Perrish Cox (Alterraun Verner)
S - Da'Norris Searcy (Bernard Pollard)
S - Michael Griffin
CB - Jason McCourty
13 different starters (8 on offense, 5 on defense)
That's right, 42 starting lineup changes in just under two years for the Colts, Jaguars and Titans in total. But, what about the last two year's champions - the Patriots and the Seahawks? Glad you asked.
2015 New England Patriots PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Tom Brady
RB - LeGarrette Blount (Stevan Ridley)
RB - James Devlin
WR - Brandon LaFell (Kenbrell Thompkins)
WR - Julian Edelman
TE - Rob Gronkowski
LT - Nate Solder
LG - Tre Jackson (Logan Mankins)
C - Bryan Stork (Dan Connolly at G)
RG - Ryan Wendell
RT - Sebastian Vollmer
DE - Rob Ninkovich
DT - Alan Branch/Malcom Brown (Vince Wilfork)
DT - Sealver Siliga (Chris Jones)
DE - Chandler Jones
LB - Jamie Collins (Brandon Spikes)
LB - Jerod Mayo
LB - Dont'a Hightower
CB - Logan Ryan/Malcolm Butler (Aqib Talib)
S - Patrick Chung (Steve Gregory)
S - Devin McCourty
CB - Justin Green/Bradley Fletcher (Alfonzo Dennard)
10 different starters (4 on offense, 6 on defense)
2015 Seattle Seahawks PROBABLE Starting lineup (2013 starter)
QB - Russell Wilson
RB - Marshawn Lynch
FB - Derrick Coleman
WR - Doug Baldwin (Sidney Rice)
WR - Jermaine Kearse (Golden Tate)
TE - Jimmy Graham (Zach Miller)
LT - Russell Okung
LG - Alvin Bailey (James Carpenter)
C - Patrick Lewis/Lemuel Jeanpierre (Max Unger)
RG - JR Sweezy
RT - Justin Britt (Breno Giacomini)
DE - Michael Bennett (Red Bryant)
DT - Tony McDaniel
DT - Brandon Mebane
DE - Cliff Avril
OLB - Bruce Irvin (O'Brien Schofield)
ILB - Bobby Wagner
OLB - KJ Wright
CB - Richard Sherman
S - Kam Chancellor
S - Earl Thomas
CB - Cary Williams (Brandon Browner)
9 different starters (six on offense, three on defense)
In all, it's clear that change is inevitable in this league and it was interesting to look at how often teams have changed, even in less than two years time. Thinking back to that caller's assertion, he wasn't wrong from the standpoint that an organization thrives under continuity but it doesn't stand in the way of winning and winning big.
