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5 teams emerging from offseason with new identities

Houston Texans/Instagram

It's difficult to win in the NFL without a strong identity and buy-in from every single player on the roster. In a league where the difference between winning and losing is often mere inches, identifying and maximizing your strengths is critical.

Below are five wayward franchises that remade their identities this offseason.

Texans - Faster

The Texans' embarrassing 30-0 home loss to the Kansas City Chiefs in the wild-card round set the wheels in motion for a radical overhaul of the team's stagnant offense.

Speaking of wheels, this year's Texans offense certainly has them. Nearly every addition was made in the name of adding speed and vertical explosiveness.

New quarterback Brock Osweiler is no threat to run, but he has a big arm and will drive the ball downfield in a way former quarterback Brian Hoyer failed to. Perhaps Osweiler represents the Texans' second shot at what the team hoped the troubled Ryan Mallett would become.

Around Osweiler is a remade offense that boasts the elusive Lamar Miller in the backfield and blazing fast rookie receiver Will Fuller as a deep threat opposite emerging superstar DeAndre Hopkins. As depth, the Texans added speedsters Braxton Miller and Tyler Ervin in the draft.

The 2015 Texans flamed out because their offense couldn't score when it counted. Blink and you might miss the 2016 Texans taking their best shot at redemption.

Titans - Tougher

All offseason, the Titans spoke of one goal: better protecting Marcus Mariota and establishing an identity as a tough, smash-mouth football team.

They emerged from the draft with the pieces to make it happen.

First, the Titans traded up to add mauling right tackle Jack Conklin. A walk-on in college who rose up to become a top-ten pick, the Titans hope Conklin's hard-nosed attitude and work ethic will rub off on the offense - and underachieving linemen Chance Warmack and Taylor Lewan, in particular.

Smash-mouth football needs a centerpiece in the backfield and the Titans added two of them. First, they were happy to take on DeMarco Murray's hefty contract from the Eagles. Then, they spent a second-round pick on reigning Heisman Trophy winner Derrick Henry.

It's Henry that has the best chance to transform the Titans' rushing attack into a feared unit. At 247 pounds with speed to burn, Henry could be a specimen unlike anything the NFL has ever seen.

Mariota was under constant assault as a rookie and had no running game to take the pressure off. This year, the Titans are set up to pound their opponents into submission.

Browns - Smarter

For the Browns, this offseason was all about a fresh start and new ideas.

In the front office and coaching staff, innovation abounds.

Not only did the Browns install a unique organizational structure, giving 39-year-old Sashi Brown final say over personnel despite his lack of experience and naming former baseball executive Paul DePodesta as the team's chief strategy officer, the team managed to lure Hue Jackson, perhaps the hottest name on the coaching market, to Cleveland.

The Browns plan to use DePodesta's "Moneyball" experience to forge an analytics-first approach to team building. We got our first look at what that means in the draft. It began with the Browns trading out of the second overall pick, rather than taking a quarterback, and compiling high-value future picks in the process. Then they traded back again, adding even more draft picks.

When the seventh round closed, the Browns' haul included 14 rookies (including five wide receivers), 2017 first and second-round picks and a 2018 second-rounder. That's precisely the influx of fresh talent this team needs.

The Browns still need to find a long-term solution at quarterback, but it seems they plan to put that off until the rest of the roster is restocked.

Eagles - Rebooted

Like the Browns, the Eagles spent some of their offseason shuffling out remnants of the old regime. Gone are DeMarco Murray, Bryon Maxwell and Kiko Alonso, all players that former coach Chip Kelly brought to Philadelphia in high-profile moves.

But the Eagles stopped well short of a Browns-style "burn it to the ground" approach. Several of the team's most important players under Kelly, including Sam Bradford, Zach Ertz, Lane Johnson and Vinny Curry, were signed to contract extensions, ensuring new head coach Doug Pederson will have a solid base on which to build.

Pederson is a familiar face to Eagles fans, having served as an offensive coach under Andy Reid from 2009-12. In many ways, his hiring is an attempt to return to days of past glory and forget the Kelly era ever happened.

Like a movie franchise gone off the rails, the 2016 Eagles have been rebooted. Bradford, the old star, will make a cameo appearance, but only to pass things off to new leading man Carson Wentz.

Jaguars - More versatile

With just two draft picks and what could be some of the best luck in the history of the draft, the Jaguars turned their biggest weakness into a strength.

In Jalen Ramsey, the Jaguars get an ultra-athletic defensive back with a nose for the football and a drive to be great.

In Myles Jack, who fell to the second round due to medical concerns, the Jaguars get a physical, technically sound tackler whose speed and range are truly rare for at his position.

Ramsey is expected to begin his career at right cornerback, but has the versatility to come inside to the slot or slide back to safety. He's the kind of movable chess piece that's all the rage among NFL defensive coordinators.

"Jack of all trades" is an apt descriptor for Jack, a converted running back who some teams reportedly believe has the skill set to succeed at safety. The Jaguars are expected to use Jack at outside linebacker as a rookie, but it might not be long before he's running the defense from the inside and wreaking havoc all over the field.

The addition of Ramsey and Jack, combined with the return from injury of 2015 first-rounder Dante Fowler, will allow the Jaguars to add wrinkles upon wrinkles of complexity to their defensive scheme.

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