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Texans Training Camp Preview 2023

Observations from Day 4


“C.J. Stroud was dealing with some ugly protection today. The pocket was messy and led to some weird throwing angles. Some were completed and some fell incomplete. Tank Dell’s quick routes helped Stroud on a few occasions. Stroud took to the podium after practice. He stressed he didn’t care who worked with, the work now is about learning and maximizing the reps. He praised the offense saying he “fell in love” with the playbook. Stroud mentioned there were some long nights getting through the offense.”

This is slightly concerning. I’m curious to know who was getting beat.
 
TheRealJoker said:
Cashman has always been a talented player, he is just undersized and has to stay healthy. Stud ST player. I think he is in a competition with Wallow especially for that back end roster spot.
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Undersized? Perhaps on other teams and other defenses. The Texans have about 10 LBs in camp and, with a couple of exceptions, are 6'1"- 6'-2" in height and most are under 235# in weight. So Cashman is right there what the Texans are looking for, sizewise, in their LBs. Injuries? In 2020 had some hamstring issues and in Oct 2021 had a Grade 3 Inguinal groin tear. After signing with the Texans in 2022, I don't see any medical issues.
 
TexansFan15 said:
Observations from Day 4


“C.J. Stroud was dealing with some ugly protection today. The pocket was messy and led to some weird throwing angles. Some were completed and some fell incomplete. Tank Dell’s quick routes helped Stroud on a few occasions. Stroud took to the podium after practice. He stressed he didn’t care who worked with, the work now is about learning and maximizing the reps. He praised the offense saying he “fell in love” with the playbook. Stroud mentioned there were some long nights getting through the offense.”

This is slightly concerning. I’m curious to know who was getting beat.
Click to expand...

Concerning that our D is going wreak havoc?

lol
 
TheRealJoker said:
Maybe i’m overanalyzing the reports but i’m concerned that the offense’s highlights each day come against Stingley. Maybe its the only big play he allows an entire practice? But I’ve seen reports of Collins day 1, Brown day 2 and now Hutchinson making big plays against him. And they aren’t exactly the Jefferson, Chase, Hill and Adams tier of WRs in the league.
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I'm right there too. It's super early in the process but worth keeping an eye on as we're all expecting a big leap this year out of Stingley.
 
https://twitter.com/x/status/1685778608605028352


Will Anderson Jr has been beyond advertised. There was a stretch of 3 plays today that coaches were gushing over. They can't wait for the pads to come on with him.
- The defensive front has been disruptive. To the point it's impacted some of the work the offense would like to get done.
- Jalen Pitre is the talk of the new staff. His instincts are off the charts. It's no stretch in Pitre and Ward, Houston could have one of the best safety duos in the NFL.
- What has stood out about Stroud is how mature he is. C.J. is still just 21 years old and carries himself like a vet.
- This defense will fit Stingley really well. Allow him to be the physical player he is and will play to his strengths. He needs to fix a few bad habits he developed while in last year's system.
- WR John Metchie is rusty from a football standpoint, but the ability to be a real playmaker is there. Everyday of camp is important in getting him back after roughly 18 months of not playing.
- Overall the WR room has questions. They're young and there are a lot of different types of players. That needs to get sorted. But the run game is everything and Houston believes they will be able to do that well.
- It was fun to see some drills you don't normally, if ever, see. I love a young staff with different ideas. This is one of them.
- It was great to be back in Houston. You can actually feel the change created by DeMeco Ryans. No lie. It's pretty remarkable.
- It was really hot.
 
Number19 said:
Undersized? Perhaps on other teams and other defenses. The Texans have about 10 LBs in camp and, with a couple of exceptions, are 6'1"- 6'-2" in height and most are under 235# in weight. So Cashman is right there what the Texans are looking for, sizewise, in their LBs. Injuries? In 2020 had some hamstring issues and in Oct 2021 had a Grade 3 Inguinal groin tear. After signing with the Texans in 2022, I don't see any medical issues.
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Maybe undersized was the wrong phrasing. Moreso the lack of length. He has t rex arms at 30 1/8”.

Projected starters Perryman 31 7/8”, Harris 32 1/8”, and Kirksey 32 3/8” are more the prototype for NFL LBs. I posted an article awhile back about arm length and LBs. 32” arms appear to be the threshold for pro bowl LBs. There are outliers of course but you don’t build a team around those players.

As far as injuries are concerned… he dealt with injuries each year on the Jets. That’s 3 of 4 years of his pro career. He was healthy for 14 games total his first three NFL seasons. Last season he was finally healthy and a stud ST player. Being unhealthy for 3 of your first 4 pro seasons does indeed warrant concern about a player staying healthy.
 
Last year’s draft class has as much work as this year’s rookies it seems.

Stingley needs to break bad habits.
Green needs to get healthy.
Metchie needs to break off rust.
 
TexansBull said:
Last year’s draft class has as much work as this year’s rookies it seems.

Stingley needs to break bad habits.
Green needs to get healthy.
Metchie needs to break off rust.
Click to expand...

Getting all three for a healthy season would add even more improvement to the overall roster. Every bit of talent helps on this team and they are three of the most talented.
 
TexansBull said:
Last year’s draft class has as much work as this year’s rookies it seems.

Stingley needs to break bad habits.
Green needs to get healthy.
Metchie needs to break off rust.
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I think Metchie is doing fairly well for not having played for 18 months.

Green I honestly don’t have high hopes. I wasn’t happy with that pick. I would’ve preferred someone else, but I hope he’ll prove me wrong.

With J Jo in the building, I hope Stingley develops well and he’ll be the lockdown corner we were hoping for. Otherwise I’d be open to some Kool-Aid next year.
 
Carr Bombed said:
Damn Tunsil looks like he was sculpted just to play tackle in this life. Stroud's lucky.. not many rookies get blessed with starting their career with a blindside protector of his caliber. A lot of rookie's careers are ruined, because they didn't have a protector at all. I can't believe some people actually wanted to trade this guy. :smiliepalm:
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Some still do.

Counting those dollars for the McNair's.
 
TexansFan15 said:
Observations from Day 4


“C.J. Stroud was dealing with some ugly protection today. The pocket was messy and led to some weird throwing angles. Some were completed and some fell incomplete. Tank Dell’s quick routes helped Stroud on a few occasions. Stroud took to the podium after practice. He stressed he didn’t care who worked with, the work now is about learning and maximizing the reps. He praised the offense saying he “fell in love” with the playbook. Stroud mentioned there were some long nights getting through the offense.”

This is slightly concerning. I’m curious to know who was getting beat.
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Can I get some of my $ back?

Cal
 
zshawn10 said:
This was awesome; thank you for sharing. That's why it sounds silly that Mills has an edge up or it's tied in the QB competition between him and Mills
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Great review. Most of what the radio says is D looks good and O looks kinda bad. I think it will take a bit longer to gel and have the playbook down on O. We will see when pads are on if the OL vs DL play alters as well as how well the skill positions handle DBs and LBs.
 
Another rookie stood out to me today and that was former TCU star Dylan Horton. The past few days during team drills, I've seen him use violent hands to get free, even without pads. But, today, he was even better, in my estimation. During pass rush one-on-ones, he was a move-a-minute. If one of his moves didn't hit immediately, he was ready for a counter. He won inside and then won with some power. During team drills, he nearly tackled the running back with the tight end as he shut down a run play his way.


I'm going to go to another rookie because it was the only rep of one-on-one's with the WR and the DBs that I saw - Xavier Hutchinson made one heck of a catch after blazing past a defensive back for what would've been a long TD catch. He made it look easy too. Then, after practice, who was working on routes and catches with QB Case Keenum? Hutchinson. When he was drafted, I just knew he had baller capabilities and I hope this continues.

I spent most of my time watching OL/DL one-on-ones so I didn't see hardly any of the fly guys one-on-one passing session. I missed the first couple of reps, but the first rep of OL/DL that I saw was DL Hassan Ridgeway powering through an interior lineman easily to the QB. It's not unlike what we've seen all week, but on the second rep, Ridgeway started to bull rush, got the OL on his heels then swiped/ripped through to get a clean win. What a unit he is, my goodness.

Will Anderson Jr. is super explosive and fun to watch, but on his three reps, he slipped off the edge. He can play so low to the ground and bend that edge, but he didn't have his feet under him to power through that offensive tackle's outside arm. But, BUT one thing that I like about Will is that he can line up inside and rush against guards, winning with power, speed and/or quickness. He did that one time and it was clear that he's just as comfortable swapping paint with guards in pass rush situations.

One of the best matchups all day was OL Shaq Mason against DL Roy Lopez Now, I feel like it's a great rep when I can see flashes from each side and this was one of those reps. Roy used his hands to get to Mason's inside and I thought Roy was going to get hip-to-hip with Mason. He then could've powered through and past for the sack. But, Mason was somehow able to drop his inside arm, slid his quick feet to the left and regathered to square up on Roy. Then, Lopez countered back the other way. Mason then slid that way. That rep was like a tennis rally, each guy landed haymakers from the baseline back at the other.

When that rep was over, I said to no one in particular, that rep was as good as I've seen from a Texans interior OL in a while. Yet, Lopez pushed Mason the entire way. I can still see that whole rep in my head and it was glorious.


I like the feel that OL Tytus Howard has out on the edge as he continues to grow into that position. He's finally staying at his natural position and he's much more calm and poised. In his rep against DL Jerry Hughes, he let Hughes get into him a bit, but Howard never panicked, sat down and anchored against Hughes to keep him from getting to the QB.

Another rookie that I enjoyed watching was Kilian Zierer, the first year OL from Auburn. He had to take some reps against some salty guys, with a few OL still banged up, and he more than held his own. I've seen DL Jacob Martin work his favorite move a ton against tackles and get clean to the QB, but on one rep later in the drill, Zierer caught Martin clean on that move and slowed him up before Martin could get to the QB.

It seemed like DL Thomas Booker IV had more reps than anyone on the field combined. He had a couple of stout bull rush moves that put OL in the backfield.

OL Juice Scruggs had a couple of strong, solid reps in those one-on-ones as well. He went against DL Kurt Hinish, who has seemingly mastered one of the hardest moves for a pass rushing DL. But, when he got in position to throw that move on Scruggs, the rookie OL from Penn State trapped Hinish's arm in place and locked it in to keep Hinish from making headway into the backfield.

The OL that probably impressed the most on Sunday was Jimmy Morrissey. On one rush, he took his left hand and got it latched on the defensive rusher. He then locked out, sat back on his haunches and didn't budge an inch. I wrote "79 locked up (insert defensive jersey number here)" a couple of times in my notebook. He's naturally strong and has built in leverage, so rushers struggle against him.


Hinish was able to win big against one interior offensive lineman a little later in the drill.

I did get my head up in time to the video board, which was replaying the WR-DB one-on-ones, to see rookie WR Jared Wayne make an excellent HANDS catch on a dig route over the middle. He did that thing where he snatched the ball out away from his body and then held it there as the DB ripped and tugged at it. Had he brought it into his body, there's a good chance that he would've had it knocked away. Didn't happen due to those vice grip hands of his.

The first play of team drills, QB Davis Mills dialed one up DEEP to WR Nico Collins but Jalen Pitre "on-the-spot" was directly in the path and was the closest Texan to the football. Pitre wouldn't have gotten a PBU but he deserved one having such great coverage.

The fourth play of that first team set, DL Roy Lopez completely stuffed a zone cutback run. That's what he and his mates have been doing for the first four days.

When QB C.J. Stroud stepped under center, he threw one of the most gorgeous passes I've seen him make in this training camp…and there have been a few of those. He had fellow rookie WR Tank Dell on a sail route to the sideline. So, Stroud lofted the ball to the one spot where Tank, and only Tank, could make the catch. DIME TIME as Stroud layered that ball perfectly to Dell on the near sideline.


On the very next play, the aforementioned Dylan Horton completely stuffed a tight end, shed said blocker and shut down a run play in the backfield.

On the next play, though, QB Case Keenum found WR Jared Wayne on a bootleg throw. That was exactly how bootleg is supposed to look.

A few plays later, the Texans ran a play they haven't shown in practice much, but as soon as they tossed the ball to the running back, LB Christian Harris burst through as quickly as possible to tag off on the RB two steps into his path. Man, THAT was explosive.

On the next play, QB Davis Mills appeared to throw over the middle to Robert Woods, at least that's what I first thought. But, after the ball sailed over Woods' head, I thought wow, what a bad throw that was. It wasn't, though, as Mills had eyes for WR Tank Dell behind him who made a wonderful sliding, rolling catch.

On the first play of the following team period, Stroud layered a wonderful seam throw to TE Dalton Schultz but DB Jimmie Ward made one heck of a break on the ball and broke up the pass. Schultz stayed down on the field and scared everyone, but he seemed okay later in practice. But, Ward's explosive break on the ball? Ridiculous.


Then, Stroud ripped one to WR Robert Woods on the very next play. That was an NFL throw for the completion.

Then, the Blake Cashman show started. The Texans LB is as fast as anyone on the defensive side of the ball and showed it on the next rep. He ran step-for-step with TE Brevin Jordan on a seam route and knocked away what was a beautiful pass. On the next play, Cashman spied the tight end on a route that the offense was hoping that he wouldn't. Mills threw it in that direction and wanted it back immediately. Cashman picked off that pass. Back-to-back plays, Cashman stole the show, and the ball.

It was great to see DL Derek Rivers destroy an edge blocker against a run play. He tossed a TE out of the club on a run toward him, which turned the run back into two charging DL. He is such a pass rush problem, but run defense like THAT will round out his game for sure.

The last play of that team drill was a tremendous pitch and catch between new found friends Case Keenum and Xavier Hutchinson. The rookie pass catcher ran a dig route and as soon as he got to the middle of the field, Keenum lasered one right into his chest for the completion.

A few reps later, Will Anderson Jr. and Roy Lopez ended up in the lap of QB C.J. Stroud on a straight dropback. Stroud could barely get it to his checkdown on that play.


The first rep in the third team session was the best ball I've seen Davis Mills throw in quite some time. He had TE Brevin Jordan on a seam route. Brev was motoring too and Mills put that throw in the only spot where Jordan could make the catch. He did and the offense had a beautiful first down.

On the next rep, Stroud got early pressure on his right side. So, he looked to checkdown to TE Eric Tomlinson. But, at the last minute, Tomlinson slid back inside. I don't know if Stroud knew that was happening but as he was just about to let the ball go, he flicked it in that direction for the completion.
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Harris Hits: Training Camp Observations Day #4

www.houstontexans.com


https://twitter.com/x/status/1686016703681941504
 
Do we not have practices where coaches tell team we want a failing o-line or failing d-line to see how qb’s/receiver’s respond or CB’s linebackers. I would certainly think this would be normal some days without the public watching even realizing. You got to have some practices, especially on offense of under duress because those days will happen throughout the season.
 
Rodgers has some game, but the handwriting was on the wall. Classy move by the Texans to let him catch on elsewhere. The six guys making it are set imo - Woods, Metchie, Dell, Hutch, Nico, and Noah Brown. In the event of an injury, they can go 5 to start, or there are options in camp (Wayne, Sims, Camp)...plus cuts from other teams to consider.

The depth is there at WR. I just don't see that one #1 stud that can be a lifeline for the QB. If there's a true #1 available next year in the draft, I'd take him and I think that WR room would start to look a lot better. Right now, the WR roster looks like a mile wide, and an inch deep. That's a problem.

https://twitter.com/x/status/1685750110485983232
 
pirbroke said:
Do we not have practices where coaches tell team we want a failing o-line or failing d-line to see how qb’s/receiver’s respond or CB’s linebackers. I would certainly think this would be normal some days without the public watching even realizing. You got to have some practices, especially on offense of under duress because those days will happen throughout the season.
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IMO that is highly unlikely.

Not only is that wasted reps for two units, but you run the risk of somebody getting hurt.

Thats just not the way things are done at practice.
 
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