Running back Carlos Hyde was part of the flurry of trades the Houston Texans made Saturday to bolster their 53-man roster, but the club did not make the transaction to replace Lamar Miller.
According to coach Bill O’Brien, the Texans traded offensive lineman Martinas Rankin to the Kansas City Chiefs for Hyde to add to their depth at running back, not put Hyde atop the depth chart as the starter as Miller was.
“Obviously, losing Lamar, hard to replace Lamar, we’re not trying to do that, we’re just trying to add depth to that position and we think Carlos can possibly do that,” O’Brien told reporters Monday at NRG Stadium.
Hyde has collected 3,300 rushing yards and 26 touchdowns on 827 carries through 64 career games with the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, and Jacksonville Jaguars. The former Ohio State Buckeye was having a productive season with the Browns through six games when he tallied 382 yards and five touchdowns on 114 carries. The front office shipped him to Jacksonville to encourage then-coach Hue Jackson to play rookie Nick Chubb more.
O’Brien likes what Hyde could bring the Texans, not only as a runner, but also in the passing game.
Said O’Brien: “Carlos, I think, is a solid first-, second-down runner, can help you in the passing game. I think there’s a number of things he can do. I think that he’s got good size relative to that position and he’s had production in the past. I think that he’s had a good career and we were glad to be able to add him here.”
The Browns also had another current Texans running back, Duke Johnson, on their roster in 2018 along with Hyde. However, O’Brien did not want to get into how the two would be used in the Texans’ offense.
“Two totally different players, so I really don’t want to get into the details of that but definitely different players,” O’Brien said.
Hyde caught 119 passes for 667 yards and three touchdowns in his career. Johnson seems to be more suited for the passing game as he has caught 235 passes for 2,170 yards and eight touchdowns since Cleveland drafted him in the third round in 2015.
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