Predicting Top Offensive, Defensive Stat Leaders for the Houston Texans

As the Houston Texans try to build off their best season in franchise history, several key players will have to step up and guide the team towards a successful season.

These players have proven that they can be dominant at their positions and that they can will the Texans to victory in any given game.

Given the talent level of these athletes, it is more than likely that they will lead the team in the statistical categories pertinent to their positions.

Here are my predictions for the offensive and defensive stat leaders for the Houston Texans in the upcoming season.

Note: all predictions are made assuming the player will (perhaps unlikely) not miss any games due to injury throughout the season.

Passing Yards and Touchdowns: Matt Schaub

This one is a no-brainer. If Matt Schaub can stay healthy, which is clearly difficult recovering from a lisfranc injury, then he will lead the team in all the passing categories.

The question for Schaub, though, is just how many yards and touchdowns will he be able to throw?

While Schaub has proven that he can be an elite passer through his outstanding 4,770 yard season in 2009, the Houston offense is much different than it was back when the Texans achieved their first-ever winning season in franchise history.

The Texans offense runs through its rushing attack, therefore minimizing Schaub's opportunity to pass for heaps and heaps of yards. Also, Arian Foster and Ben Tate have given the Texans an effective red-zone rushing offense, which will limit Schaub's chances to throw for touchdowns inside the twenty. Last season, the Texans scored 16 rushing red-zone touchdowns compared to 11 passing touchdowns.

Even though Schaub's passing numbers may see a decline, his efficiency as a passer will continue to increase due to the multitude of easy completions that will be granted to him thanks to the play-action passing game.

Predictions: 4,000 yards and 23 touchdowns

Receiving Yards and Touchdowns: Andre Johnson

Another easy pick. Andre Johnson has been and will continue to be the Texans' No. 1 receiving threat whenever he is healthy. Furthermore, when he is not battling injuries, Johnson can be considered the best wide-out in the NFL.

If he manages to avoid the injury bug this season, Johnson could look forward to another year of putting up great numbers. In his nine-year career with the Texans, Johnson has led the team in touchdowns seven out of nine times and has led the team in receiving yards eight out of nine times.

In Johnson's seasons where he was not the leader in all of the receiving categories he was not completely healthy, including last season.

Barring any injuries, Johnson will undoubtedly be the headliner on all of the Texans' receiving statistics.

Predictions: 1,300 yards and seven touchdowns

Rushing Yards and Touchdowns: Arian Foster

Arian Foster has set the tone of the Texans' offense. Now, because of Foster, the offense lives and dies by the running game.

Since his breakout season in 2010, Foster has easily led the team in nearly every single rushing category. He won the NFL rushing title in 2010, leading the entire league in rushing yards and posted 1,224 yards in 2011, despite missing four games. In addition, Foster averaged the second-most yards per game with 94.2 yards.

Foster excels in Houston's zone-blocking scheme, due to his vision and one-cut ability, and this allows him to be mentioned as one of the best running backs in the NFL.

The one issue that Foster may face this upcoming season is his own offensive line. The zone-blocking scheme can only be successful if each offensive lineman executes his own duties to perfection and this could be an issue as the Texans have a completely new right side of the line.

Nevertheless, Rashad Butler and Antoine Caldwell should be able to transition well to being starters in the NFL with a full offseason to prepare and it is unlikely that Foster will see a dip in production.

Prediction: 1,450 yards and 13 touchdowns

Sacks: Brooks Reed

Brooks Reed burst out onto the scene last season with six sacks in less than a full season as a starting outside linebacker in his rookie year.

Now, with a full offseason to work with linebackers coach Reggie Herring, Reed should be able to polish up on his hand skills, which would add technique to his already dangerous athleticism.

Although Connor Barwin may seem like the obvious choice for leading this category, it is that very fact that could prevent him from doing so. Barwin will likely be forced to receive the most double-teams out of any of the Texans' pass-rushers due to the pass-rushing prowess he displayed last season and, while this will not be great for him, it will open up opportunities for both Reed and Whitney Mercilus.

Expect Reed to build off of an impressive rookie season with an even more astounding sophomore one.

Prediction: 11 sacks

Interceptions: Johnathan Joseph

While Johnathan Joseph has not been the consistent shutdown corner that he was for Houston last season throughout his whole career, he has been noticeably consistent in one very important category: interceptions.

Aside from his rookie season in 2006 and another season in 2008 where he was injured for the majority of the year, Joseph has totaled 17 interceptions in four seasons, which is an average of 4.25 interception per year.

Joseph, the ball-hawk, will continue to do for the Texans what he has done his whole career: grab take-aways.

Prediction: four interceptions

Tackles and Forced Fumbles: Brian Cushing

It is nearly impossible to imagine that any other player on the Texans will garner more tackles than the leader of the defense, Brian Cushing. The only other player that could possibly challenge him would be Bradie James and that could only happen if James is able to snap back into form and play like he did in Dallas with Wade Phillips as his head coach.

Last season, Cushing was miles ahead of any other player on the team in terms of the tackles category, gathering 20 more tackles than Glover Quin, the team's second-leading tackler.

Cushing manages to show his presence some way on nearly every single defensive play and his ability to weave and power through blockers allows him to record tackles at an electrifying rate.

Also, with the loss of DeMeco Ryans, Cushing will be expected to take on an even more prominent role in the Texans' defense, which may lead to him earning even more tackles.

In terms of forced fumbles, the category is really a toss-up for the Texans.

Last season, Cushing was tied with Jesse Nading for the team-leading two forced fumbles. Cushing, however, has a knack for hitting opposing ball-carriers brutally hard and his ability to display perfect-form tackles should give him an advantage in this category.

Prediction: 95 tackles and three forced fumbles