NFL countdown: Texans’ O’Brien a liability

This is the 12th in a series of 32 NFL team betting previews in 32 days leading up to the league’s Sept. 10 season opener. We’ll count down the teams from the lowest season win total to the highest.

Houston Texans coach and general manager Bill O’Brien does not have a fan at the Westgate.

“I hate Bill O’Brien. I think he’s an idiot,” sportsbook vice president of risk Ed Salmons said. “He’s a worse general manager than a coach, if that’s possible.”

O’Brien has led the Texans to the playoffs in four of the past five seasons, but his decisions on the field and his roster moves off it have drawn consistent criticism.

On the field, O’Brien was faulted for being too conservative when Houston held a 21-0 lead over Kansas City in the AFC divisional playoffs. O’Brien opted to kick a field goal instead of going for it on fourth-and-one at the Chiefs’ 13-yard line.

Houston went up 24-0, then was outscored 51-7 the rest of the way. Kansas City went on to win the Super Bowl.

In the offseason, O’Brien dealt star receiver DeAndre Hopkins to Arizona for running back David Johnson and draft picks. Hopkins has had more than 1,100 receiving yards in five of the past six seasons and has 54 career touchdowns. Johnson ran for 345 yards and two scores last season and has only cracked 1,000 yards once in his career.

“David Johnson is really washed up,” Salmons said.

O’Brien said he had to trade Hopkins after he asked for a raise that the Texans couldn’t give him.

Beyond O’Brien, one of the Texans’ biggest problems is that two of their best players, receiver Will Fuller and defensive end J.J. Watt, can’t stay healthy, Salmons said.

However, the Texans have one equalizer who could single-handedly keep them in the mix this season in quarterback Deshaun Watson.

Salmons said Watson is a “top-five” quarterback in the NFL entering his fourth season. He threw for 3,852 yards with 26 touchdowns and 12 interceptions last season and ran for 413 yard and seven more scores.

In advanced stats, Watson ranked seventh among quarterbacks in ESPN’s QBR and 12th in Football Outsiders’ DYAR metric. “He’s going to have to play out of his mind this year,” Salmons said.

The public is still lining up to back the Texans, though, with most of the bets on the team being on Houston over 7½ wins, Salmons said.

One bettor wagered on the Texans to go over their win total and to win the AFC South, then plunked down $5,000 at 80-1 on Houston to win the Super Bowl, Salmons said.

Contact Jim Barnes at jbarnes@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0277. Follow @JimBarnesLV on Twitter.