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Pre-season...Game 2...Detroit Lions!

beerlover

Hall of Fame
Pretty good pre-season game from both teams. O’Brian has not lost the locker room, players play hard and want to make this team.

Howell sure does seem better than other backs. Mitchell should make it because if return ability. Rankin looked good at Center.
 

Honoring Earl 34

Something Witty !
Got to go to the game and really surprised with the OL starting the game . My biggest take away that maybe you can't see on TV is Jordan Thomas needs to get a lot more physical as a receiver . He's on the bubble .
 

beerlover

Hall of Fame
Got to go to the game and really surprised with the OL starting the game . My biggest take away that maybe you can't see on TV is Jordan Thomas needs to get a lot more physical as a receiver . He's on the bubble .
Despite that, I'm disappointed they went out and drafted a "project" TE in the 3rd. Bigger fish to fry and better players available at positions of need like corner/edge rusher/rb. I'm intrigued with Jerell Adams> Would keep him on 53 man roster and PUP Warring. Then Texans added Darren Fells a complete TE in the offseason, he makes the team. Both Jordans (maybe they can trade Thomas) in another confusing run of draft fodder who probably make the cut anyway.
 

Max

Veteran
The OL has talent. We just have to find the right spot for all these guys. I really like Fulton at center -- his weight advantage over Martin shows with not giving up ground and standing up the NT for the Guard to move him. Howard wasn't able to run block/move the NT as well as Scharping but Howard appears to be a better pass blocker. I'd like to see more of Roderick Johnson -- he looked good today. He gets upright in pass protection more than I'd like to see. It didn't hurt him today though and I'd like to see how he does against better talent. He does quite well in run blocking w/ leverage and he's definitely earned the opportunity for more playing time to prove if he can be the guy IMO. Henderson played well also. Hoping that the OL isn't looking good just because we're playing inferior talent, but even if that's the case, there's depth on the OL that we haven't had under BOB where guys like Martin, Mancz, Kelemete and Davenport can be backups (where they belong) if they all make the team. Overall, I'm optimistic that we're going to see better pass protection this year. Goal line running will probably continue to be an issue as it doesn't appear that we're going to move the DLine much but overall, I'm optimistic that we're going to be much better on the OLine this year.
 

Max

Veteran
I noticed Shakir was taking snaps at Center after Fulton came out. Curious if they try him in the starting lineup w/ Fulton at Guard and Howard at LT, w/ Johnson the swing T. If we had a beefy Center that allowed Fulton to move to G, I think we'd be able to move the DLine better and have a better running game.
 

Max

Veteran
Got to go to the game and really surprised with the OL starting the game . My biggest take away that maybe you can't see on TV is Jordan Thomas needs to get a lot more physical as a receiver . He's on the bubble .
Didn't notice Jordan as a receiver needing to be more physical, but definitely noticed it with run blocking. A couple of times, the OL had everyone blocked and Thomas' block blew up the run play. Hopefully he gets his head in the game because he's got the physical tools to be a stud.
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
Observations from the highlights. www.youtube.com/watch?v=24lLvj_NXms

  • The Lions pass rush is anemic. It was one of their top needs in the offseason. They got Trey Flowers, but he is rehabbing from shoulder surgery and didn't play.
  • Sharping is freezing his man. He looks like a veteran with one exception at 2:00 where he committed his only rookie whiff (Fulton bailed him out). He'll be a permanent fixture in the O-line of the future.
  • As someone else mentioned, Howard was still playing like a guard when he got moved to tackle. He wasn't executing the footwork of a tackle because he wasn't recognizing when the defender was shifting to the edge.
  • Fulton was playing like the best Texans center since Chris Myers. Make this change permanent, O'Brien.
  • 1:07 - Texans called a hot read against a blitz. This was the pass to Hopkins in the EZ deflected by Slay. A sign of things to come from Tim Kelly? We should hope. The Texans lack of blitz-beaters and hot passes were a point of endless frustration in 2018.
  • 1:15 - Lions play nickle, show a lifeless pass rush, and Hopkins doing what he does for the TD.
  • 3:18 - Howard at LG, he gets beat by leverage. Attribute this to the expected rookie learning curve. It's also why you can't compare him to Sharping right now. Sharping is an abnormally fast learner.
  • 3:50 - Howard playing LT and completely loses his man. The guy was chipped, so Howard didn't focus on him, and Webb gets sacked. This is what happens when you practice strictly at one position and get switched to another during a live game. It make zero sense to do that to a rookie. Also note that Davenport is still getting overpowered on the right side, though he doesn't lose the edge.
  • 5:30 - Omenihu pressures the QB and possibly contributes to the interception. Given our lack of depth at DE, I expect him to start at some point this season due to need.
  • 6:00 - Crockett's impressive run was assisted by a flagrant hold by Adams #89. Crockett's good at breaking tackles, so who knows what difference it made, but this could have been flagged during the regular season.
  • Howell is a shifty glider. The Lions' second and third stringers playing undisciplined contributed to his longer runs, but he has a veteran's vision and agility that puts him at an advantage in the RB competition right now.
The Lions lack of pass rush and reliance on nickle made our O-line look better than they really are at this point, but they're definitely at a different tier of quality over last year. There's a lot to work with here. We need to see Roderick Johnson perform against elite rushers before I get too excited.
 
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kiwitexansfan

Hall of Fame
Observations from the highlights. www.youtube.com/watch?v=24lLvj_NXms

  • The Lions pass rush is anemic. It was one of their top needs in the offseason. They got Trey Flowers, but he is rehabbing from shoulder surgery and didn't play.
  • Sharping is freezing his man. He looks like a veteran with one exception at 2:00 where he committed his only rookie whiff (Fulton bailed him out). He'll be a permanent fixture in the O-line of the future.
  • As someone else mentioned, Howard was still playing like a guard when he got moved to tackle. He wasn't executing the footwork of a tackle because he wasn't recognizing when the defender was shifting to the edge.
  • Fulton was playing like the best Texans center since Chris Myers. Make this change permanent, O'Brien.
  • 1:07 - Texans called a hot read against a blitz. This was the pass to Hopkins in the EZ deflected by Slay. A sign of things to come from Tim Kelly? We should hope. The Texans lack of blitz-beaters and hot passes were a point of endless frustration in 2018.
  • 1:15 - Lions play nickle, show a lifeless pass rush, and Hopkins doing what he does for the TD.
  • 3:18 - Howard at LG, he gets beat by leverage. Attribute this to the expected rookie learning curve. It's also why you can't compare him to Sharping right now. Sharping is an abnormally fast learner.
  • 3:50 - Howard playing LT and completely loses his man. The guy was chipped, so Howard didn't focus on him, and Webb gets sacked. This is what happens when you practice strictly at one position and get switched to another during a live game. It make zero sense to do that to a rookie. Also note that Davenport is still getting overpowered on the right side, though he doesn't lose the edge.
  • 5:30 - Omenihu pressures the QB and possibly contributes to the interception. Given our lack of depth at DE, I expect him to start at some point this season due to need.
  • 6:00 - Crockett's impressive run was assisted by a flagrant hold by Adams #89. Crockett's good at breaking tackles, so who knows what difference it made, but this could have been flagged during the regular season.
  • Howell is a shifty glider. The Lions' second and third stringers playing undisciplined contributed to his longer runs, but he has a veteran's vision and agility that puts him at an advantage in the RB competition right now.
The Lions lack of pass rush and reliance on nickle made our O-line look better than they really are at this point, but they're definitely at a different tier of quality over last year. There's a lot to work with here. We need to see Roderick Johnson perform against elite rushers before I get too excited.
Thanks for your observations Brisco. Didn’t catch much of the game myself so this was a good read.
 

Porky

Hall of Fame
I'm going to say something I didn't think would ever be uttered (or typed) by me - Freaking kudos are due Mike Devlin.

Roderick Johnson appears to have made gigantic strides from last year when he was just a camp body and not much more. And it's not just this game. I've heard multiple reports from camp about how he is really making things interesting at LT. At this point, unless something changes dramatically, I see RJ as the starting LT for game 1 and MK looking for work. So - we finally have someone to point to that Devlin has developed.

The rookies also look like they are making nice strides. I see them starting at the guard spots this year. They weren't perfect, especially Howard, but you can see the talent and athleticism there and I think sooner rather than later both Howard and Sharping are plus starters on this line.

And it's been mentioned above but coach - keep Fulton at Center! That dude was balling at Center last night. Much better play than last year at RG. Martin can be a C/G backup and provide good depth but to my eyes at the least, Fulton is an upgrade at C over Martin at this time. I view a Fulton/Sharping combo as superior to Martin/Fulton at the C and RG spot respectively.

Dare I say that the 2019 Texans will boast an "average" line. Based on early returns, I think they will be in the middle of the pack this year - which is a huge improvement.

I'd like nothing more than to eat a big heaping pile of Mike Devlin crow for Thanksgiving!
 

Speedy

Former Yeller Dweller
Johnson, Howard, Fulton, Scharping, Henderson is definitely something I'd like to see them try and stick to. Looks like they had about 21 snaps with that rotation last night. Would also like to have seen a little more of Howard at LT with Johnson at RT, but the offense couldn't seem to sustain a drive for very long at that point.

Definitely some positives last night, but it was the Lions, and it was still just plain Jane pre-season. The o-line last year had given up 0 sacks in the 1st 2 PS games, so it's all taken with a grain of salt at this point.
 

House of Pain

Wild Speculator
I don't want to get too high on anything that you see in a preseason game against the Lions, but I did see improvement. It would be unreasonable to believe that this OL will transform into an elite unit overnight but I do think it's reasonable (well, probably optimistic) that they could at least be in the mid tier of OLs in the league. We don't need 5 all-pros up front for this offense to work. We need them to give Watson some time to throw and to create some holes for our RBs. I think they are capable of doing this. As they continue to play together, they will continue to improve. I'm hoping for the best.
 

Seegara

Guitar Picker, Dog Lover, Woodworker
I do like Webb over AJ for backup for Watson. I think we should have someone else competing since AJ out. Mccarron is still living off college career. Just my opinion.
I said it before. Webb, though technically flawed, is psychologically a winner.
 

beerlover

Hall of Fame
I’m not sure if O’Brian is back next year or not? Either way Texans have to draft a QB with potential instead of another stop gap. Even Trace McSorely, who is O’Brian prototype on the cheap would make more sense. I’m starting to think this Texans war room has been dysfunctional last two years with Gaine. Conviction on either side cast away and settling for compromise in the middle.

Generally speaking O’Brian is old school and wants players that can contribute in more than one duty or position. Versatile, soldiers who respond well to orders in whatever capacity is asked.
 

amazing80

Hall of Fame
After watching the first half again, I was impressed with Davenport at RT. He may have earned a chance to run with the 1's on Saturday...if I were the coach.

Howard at LT wasn't that bad. He did give up a sack, which was caused by the DE riding the TE out a little bit, causing Howard to go help the G, but the DE was faking and ended up rushing the QB and Howard couldn't recover (this was in the red zone after the hold on the TD). For the most part, he held his own. Occasionally got beat on the outside rush, because he wasn't kicking back far enough on his initial step, but he has the athleticism and strength to recover, which was nice to see. Too bad he won't have a shot at playing this week.
 
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