After years of patience and what seemed like a million sacks, the David Carr era finally ended for the Houston Texans. Carr, who had been the Texans’ quarterback since 2002, was let go and eventually signed with the Carolina Panthers.

To replace Carr, Houston traded for Matt Schaub, who spent the first three years of his career backing up Michael Vick for the Atlanta Falcons. Although the Texans needed a jolt after never winning more than seven games in a season with Carr at quarterback, how much does Schaub actually improve the team?

Schaub is an intriguing talent, but he’s only started two games in his career. In Schaub’s career, he has six touchdowns and six interceptions to go with 1033 yards while completing 53.3% of his passes.

Carr, on the other hand, threw for 59 touchdowns and 65 interceptions to go with over 13,000 yards while completing over 60% of his pass attempts. On paper, the upgrade looks to be slight, at best.

The Texans obviously believe that the difference while be more than slight, seeing as they signed Schaub to a 6-year, $48 million contract after receiving him in the trade from the Falcons. And for Houston to turn things around, they’ll need Schaub to live up to that type of money.

In addition to Schaub, the Texans brought in some other weaponry to try to turn their team around. Ahman Green, who spent the last eight years of his career with the Green Bay Packers, was signed to be the team’s new starting running back.

Although Green enjoyed a bounce back season last year, he too appears to be somewhat of a risk. Green totaled 1059 rushing yards and six total touchdowns last season, but averaged only 4.0 yards per rush and missed two games to injury.

In 2005, Green missed 11 games due to injury and when he did play, averaged only 3.3 yards per rush while failing to score a touchdown.

Green’s best season as a pro came in 2003 when he had nearly 1900 yards rushing to go with 20 total touchdowns. However since then, he hasn’t come close to matching those numbers.

At 30 years of age, the Texans hope that Green has a couple good years left. However, with the wear and tear that his body has taken over the years, it’s a stretch to say that Green could ever reclaim his 2003 magic.

In 2007, the Texans will likely win or lose based on their offseason gambles. While Schaub and Green are far from sure bets, they are right now the only hopes Houston has to ward off yet another losing season.

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