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2020 TRAINING CAMP NOTES

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
The article is worth reading in entirety. I quote only a small piece within.

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McClain: How Texans will adjust to 80-man camp roster
John McClain , Houston Chronicle July 23, 2020


In the Texans’ case, coach Bill O’Brien and executive vice president of football operations Jack Easterby signed 85 players. They were keeping the other five spots open.

More than 100 veteran free agents remain unsigned as veterans prepare to report for COVID-10 testing and physicals so they can begin the conditioning part of camp next week.

For rookies — drafted and undrafted — and other players without NFL playing experience, there won’t be any joint practices or preseason games to get a coach’s attention. As O’Brien said before and after the draft, problems caused by the virus mean it’ll be a “veterans” season because rookies are at such a disadvantage.

Two things are tried and true when it comes to trying to impress O’Brien: Players better know the system, including the terminology, and they better show up in good physical condition. Not much irritates O’Brien more than players who make mental mistakes or report out of shape. And if you’re both and manage to not get cut, better head for the doghouse.
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
It's going to be a "veteran" season until the injuries start to be a factor. If the season is played in it's entirety and the Texans have the same kind of luck with injuries as they did last year, they might have a pretty good season.

Bill O’Brien and staff better learn to coach these youngster up. Just like you stated this team is always ridden with injuries every freaking year. So here’s the time to really do your jobs as well as the veterans players.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Thursday, Jul 23, 2020 03:56 PM
Charles Omenihu trained with Demarcus Ware this offseason | Daily Brew

Deepi Sidhu
TEXANS INSIDER AND LEAD WRITER

After a promising rookie campaign, the arrow had been pointing up for Charles Omenihu, but he didn't waste time working to improve his skills as a pass rusher.

The Houston Texans second-year defensive lineman trained with Dallas Cowboys all-time sack leader, DeMarcus Ware, this offseason. Omenihu posted some recent videos working on pass-rush moves with Ware, a nine-time Pro Bowler who retired in 2017 after 12 NFL seasons.


THE REST OF THE STORY
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Omenihu is gonna be a stud and eventual replacement for Watt. If we do have a season, I suggest you watch him closely. Blackson, Omenihu and Blacklock are the future. I heard a comment Jets want O for Jamal Adams.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
We've heard this from Watt and other players coming back from multiple major injury seasons, only to see a repeat of the past. Hopefully, this can be different. But with Watt's extensive injury history and the type of his injuries, I have to realistically remain skeptical.

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Texans' J.J. Watt says he feels as good as 2014-15 because of quarantine
Aug 1, 2020
BarshopESPN Staff Writer
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
We've heard this from Watt and other players coming back from multiple major injury seasons, only to see a repeat of the past. Hopefully, this can be different. But with Watt's extensive injury history and the type of his injuries, I have to realistically remain skeptical.

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Texans' J.J. Watt says he feels as good as 2014-15 because of quarantine
Aug 1, 2020
BarshopESPN Staff Writer
I'll believe it when I see it.
 

Texansballer74

The Marine
Corrosion Bill O’Brien says Watson is very instinctive and make great decisions. Behind closed doors do you think he’s telling Watson otherwise?
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
With Texans' Johnson & Johnson backfield, there's always a catch

John McClain , Houston Chronicle Aug. 6, 2020


The Texans have never had two running backs who can catch the ball as well as David Johnson and Duke Johnson.

In 2019, his last season with Arizona before being part of the DeAndre Hopkins trade, David Johnson had 36 catches for 370 yards, a 10.3-yard average, despite losing his starting job and missing three games because of injuries. He caught four touchdown passes.

In his first season with the Texans after being acquired from Cleveland, Duke Johnson had 44 receptions for 410 yards, a 9.3-yard average. He had three touchdown catches.

At times this season, coach Bill O’Brien and offensive coordinator Tim Kelly are going to utilize the Johnsons at the same time to create mismatches for the defense.

“We worked hard in the offseason to come up with different packages relative to some things we’ve done in the past, and some of those packages involve David and Duke,” O’Brien said Thursday in a Zoom conference call with the media. “Both guys can play on all three downs. They can run it and catch the ball out of the backfield.”

THE REST OF THE STORY
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
So BOB is only saying nice things to his player, just for the purpose to build his confidence? I highly doubt that, but if true, doesn't sound like a good coach. A good coach needs to be able to communicate to his players where they are weak and what to work on.
I'm sure BOB'S done this too.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Contract year looms for Texans' Zach Cunningham, LBs coach hopes for long-term deal
Aaron Wilson , Houston Chronicle Aug. 5, 2020

As Texans inside linebacker Zach Cunningham heads into the final year of his rookie contract, position coach Bobby King is hoping to mentor the Pro Bowl alternate for several more seasons.

Eligible for a rich contract extension under the NFL collective bargaining agreement, Cunningham could ultimately cash in with the Texans or somewhere else as a free agent.

No deal is imminent or necessarily in the offing this year, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
Contracts for inside linebackers have exploded in recent years, including $18 million per year for the Seahawks' Bobby Wagner, $17 million per year for the Jets' C.J. Mosley, $14.25 million per year for the Jaguars' Myles Jack, $14.25 million per year for the Falcons' Deion Jones and $13.54 million per year for the Panthers' Shaq Thompson.

So, retaining Cunningham won't be an inexpensive undertaking.
link
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Cunningham had a less than stellar season in 2019. He especially disappointed in coverage, something that he was specifically expected to excel in when he was picked.
 

banned1976

sleeper mode
Contract year looms for Texans' Zach Cunningham, LBs coach hopes for long-term deal
Aaron Wilson , Houston Chronicle Aug. 5, 2020

As Texans inside linebacker Zach Cunningham heads into the final year of his rookie contract, position coach Bobby King is hoping to mentor the Pro Bowl alternate for several more seasons.

Eligible for a rich contract extension under the NFL collective bargaining agreement, Cunningham could ultimately cash in with the Texans or somewhere else as a free agent.

No deal is imminent or necessarily in the offing this year, according to league sources not authorized to speak publicly.
Contracts for inside linebackers have exploded in recent years, including $18 million per year for the Seahawks' Bobby Wagner, $17 million per year for the Jets' C.J. Mosley, $14.25 million per year for the Jaguars' Myles Jack, $14.25 million per year for the Falcons' Deion Jones and $13.54 million per year for the Panthers' Shaq Thompson.

So, retaining Cunningham won't be an inexpensive undertaking.
link
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Cunningham had a less than stellar season in 2019. He especially disappointed in coverage, something that he was specifically expected to excel in when he was picked.
48, 73, 99 = # of solo tackles in successive seasons since arriving in the NFL. I’m not sure how successful he was at Vanderbilt in dropping back in coverage but I doubt he was drafted with that skill in mind. He was drafted to make tackles and occasionally rush the QB. If I ever believed he could replace John Simon as a coverage LB, I would be disappointment too but I never expected that from Cunningham. I’m a lot more disappointed in the architects responsible for assembling the mess that is the Texans defense. And then running it back! Because last season wasn’t embarrassing enough, I guess.
 

steelbtexan

King of the W. B. Club
Contributor's Club
48, 73, 99 = # of solo tackles in successive seasons since arriving in the NFL. I’m not sure how successful he was at Vanderbilt in dropping back in coverage but I doubt he was drafted with that skill in mind. He was drafted to make tackles and occasionally rush the QB. If I ever believed he could replace John Simon as a coverage LB, I would be disappointment too but I never expected that from Cunningham. I’m a lot more disappointed in the architects responsible for assembling the mess that is the Texans defense. And then running it back! Because last season wasn’t embarrassing enough, I guess.
Cunningham was drafted by the previous regime to be the coverage LB.

They drafted defense heavily in BOB's 1st yr as GM. What would you have done differently.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
48, 73, 99 = # of solo tackles in successive seasons since arriving in the NFL. I’m not sure how successful he was at Vanderbilt in dropping back in coverage but I doubt he was drafted with that skill in mind. He was drafted to make tackles and occasionally rush the QB. If I ever believed he could replace John Simon as a coverage LB, I would be disappointment too but I never expected that from Cunningham. I’m a lot more disappointed in the architects responsible for assembling the mess that is the Texans defense. And then running it back! Because last season wasn’t embarrassing enough, I guess.
Cunningham was drafted for his overall athletic ability. They specifically said that they had drafted him for coverage. That included coverage of receiving running backs as well as drop back coverages. His first year with the Texans PFF gave him a 93 grade in coverage. After that his coverage grades precipitously dropped to closer to 53. That aspect of his performance has been a great disappointment.
 

Double Barrel

Texans Talk Admin
Staff member
Contributor's Club
FMIA: 2020 NFL Training Camp In A Pandemic—A Day In Life Of Texans

On Thursday, I spent the day virtually with the Houston Texans, to see what a team is going through to prepare for a most unusual season. Talk about enlightening. My day included learning about facial-recognition software, John Lewis, Rock The Vote, a schedule accommodating five distinct teams-within-a-team, the mental guilt of players and staff about bringing the virus into a team, what the biggest adjustment to COVID camp is for a head coach, one hour (just one hour) spent together as a team all day, and a rookie from Penn State who seems pretty wise.

Full story
Very interesting to peek inside the current operations.
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Why Randall Cobb might be just what Deshaun Watson and Texans need
Aug 10, 2020

HOUSTON -- During his time with the Houston Texans, Deshaun Watson has never had a receiver like Randall Cobb.
Yes, he’s had DeAndre Hopkins, an All-Pro for the past three seasons, and, when healthy, the explosive Will Fuller. He's had deep threats, including the addition of Kenny Stills last year. But in his first three NFL seasons, Watson hasn’t had a reliable slot receiver, a player to get the ball to quickly.

In fact, Bill O’Brien hasn’t really had one since he took over as the Texans coach in 2014. Since then, Houston has had a long list of players who have not had very much success in the role: Damaris Johnson, Cecil Shorts, Braxton Miller, Bruce Ellington, DeAndre Carter and Keke Coutee. Coutee, a fourth-round pick in 2018, struggled in 2019 and was a healthy scratch for several games. O’Brien said the young slot receiver needed to be better with his attention to detail in practice.

Change of Scenery

Randall Cobb didn't post the same kind of numbers last season for Dallas as he did in his first eight NFL seasons with Green Bay. He averaged a career-best 15.1 yards per reception, but just 3.7 receptions per game, his fewest since his rookie season of 2011. He also had 6 drops, tied for fifth-most in the NFL last season.

YEARREC.YPCTD
20112515.01
20128011.98
2013*3114.04
20149114.112
20157910.56
20166010.24
2017669.94
2018**3810.12
20195515.13
*-played in 6 games; **-played in 9 games
In the last three years, Hopkins lead the Texans with 516 routes run from the slot. Fuller was second (306 routes) and Ellington was third with 265, according to ESPN Stats & Information. In comparison, Cobb has run the fourth-most routes the slot in the past three years, playing for the Green Bay Packers and then last season with the Dallas Cowboys. Cobb’s 1,384 routes are more than Hopkins, Fuller and Ellington combined from that position in the same time frame.

THE REST OF THE STORY
 

DocBar

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Cunningham was drafted for his overall athletic ability. They specifically said that they had drafted him for coverage. That included coverage of receiving running backs as well as drop back coverages. His first year with the Texans PFF gave him a 93 grade in coverage. After that his coverage grades precipitously dropped to closer to 53. That aspect of his performance has been a great disappointment.
How much of the drop in performance is due to lack of ability/play recognition and how much is due to poor scheme? For instance, I put most of Merci's drop in performance to him being used improperly due to scheme.
 

dream_team

Hall of Fame
48, 73, 99 = # of solo tackles in successive seasons since arriving in the NFL. I’m not sure how successful he was at Vanderbilt in dropping back in coverage but I doubt he was drafted with that skill in mind. He was drafted to make tackles and occasionally rush the QB. If I ever believed he could replace John Simon as a coverage LB, I would be disappointment too but I never expected that from Cunningham. I’m a lot more disappointed in the architects responsible for assembling the mess that is the Texans defense. And then running it back! Because last season wasn’t embarrassing enough, I guess.
I remember all of the draft profiles for Zach talked highly of his pass coverage skills. Here's just one example. Some quotes pulled from the profile:
  • "Gifted pass-coverage linebacker"
  • "Impressive man-coverage ability versus tight ends and running backs"
  • "Can drop into zone coverage"

https://walterfootball.com/scoutingreport2017zcunningham.php
 

CloakNNNdagger

Hall of Fame
Could he possibly be our own Maurice Jones Drew/Arian Foster hybrid? The issue that he would need to overcome/avoid is ankle injuries. In mid 2018, he suffered a grade 2 ankle sprain that had him miss games and limited him the remainder of the season. In mid 2019, he suffered what appeared to be a mild MCL sprain. However, after only 1 week of rehab, he suffered a significant compensatory grade 2 ankle sprain. The encouraging part is that both of his ankle sprains in 2018 and 2019 were lateral (low)ankle sprains..........not high ankle sprains. The not so great part is that lateral ankle sprains have a tendency to re-injure................With the high percentage (up to 75%) of initial lateral ankle sprains leading to repetitive sprains and chronic symptoms, it is imperative for him and the training staff to better understand how best to avoid recurrence. This would necessitate career-long rehab, and routine taping of the ankle or wearing of a brace at all times................the latter factors being a proven approach to minimize the recurrence of the injury.

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2020 Houston Texans Training Camp: Scottie Phillips Races To Daylight
Could the UDFA from Ole Miss force his way onto the roster?

By Mike Bullock Aug 11, 2020, 12:00pm CDT
 
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