Coaches are not great at admitting mistakes. It makes their already short-term shelf life more tenuous. They are even worse at ripping bandaids off. That wasn’t the case this Tuesday when the Texans parted
ways with starting Safety C.J. Gardner Johnson. The news comes one day after CJGJ posted on Twitter:
The tidal wave of news, snippets from inside the locker room, and analysis has aired internal grievances which have led to the Texans first 0-3 start since 2020 (Bill O’Brien was fired the next week after going 0-4). While the news has shined light on the what isn’t functioning well inside NRG, how the defense will evolve without a starting safety is still unclear.
Houston has run three safety sets almost exclusively in 2025. Whether that’s been a successful strategy is well in doubt, but it goes to show how fed up DeMeco Ryans and the defensive staff were with C.J. Gardner-Johnson.
“When you see a big play that happens on our defense, somewhere along the lines, there’s a bust in communication,” – DeMeco Ryans on Monday when taking to the media.
The problem is, Houston doesn’t have a clear-cut replacement for CJGJ. The only other safety on the roster is M.J. Stewart, who has played five total snaps for this defense. Stewart did step in last season, but he was the fifth safety on the roster… not a starter.
According to Football Insights on Twitter/X, the Texans run zone coverage 80% of the time, with Cover 3 and Cover 4 consisting of 56% of all defensive snaps. These defenses always require two or three safeties to function properly. By removing CJGJ from the equation, they must change their coverage tendencies to accommodate for the change in player personnel.
The other option is rookie safety Jaylen Reed. Reed was placed on Injured Reserve (IR) after his ankle injury on August 2nd during training camp. The injury was much less devastating than initially thought when he was carted off the field. He will be available to return Week 5 according to Sharp Football Analysis.
The two options, Reed and Stewart are still not the best case scenario… at least not from an ethical standpoint. The last safety option is Jimmie Ward, who was recently removed from the commissioner’s exempt list after a grand jury decided not to indict him last week.
Ward was arrested on suspicion of third-degree felony domestic violence. He is still not fully healthy due to an offseason foot surgery, but depending on his recovery he could be available to replace CJGJ. Potentially his health and availability is why the Texans made such a drastic decision.
Houston can of course switch to running considerably more three linebacker sets than three safety sets. This would inject Christian Harris back into the defense, who has only played 14% of defensive snaps this season. Harris’ remarkable 2023 season feels like a distant memory. The Texans are remarkably deep at linebacker. Not only Harris, but free agent signee E.J. Speed could step in to fill the void left by CJGJ.
The Texans defense hovers above a 50 in Coverage grades… among the worst defenses in the league for a group anticipated to be among the best. Compare that to the Texans second best Pass Rush Grade (behind Myles Garret… I mean the Cleveland Browns) and the secondary has certainly been a limiting factor to Texans success.
What happens for the next 14 games will determine how the Texans approach the next several seasons with C.J. Stroud at the helm. This is one of the final seasons with him and Will Anderson Jr. under rookie contracts. Cutting CJGJ may be the first step in the right direction to salvaging this season.
