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Preseason: Texans vs Dolphins

Lucky said:
If you start Stroud now, Stroud will be the QB with the best chance to win in the 2nd half of the season. He's got to learn his lessons at some point.
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I don’t see how he couldn’t still be the best chance to win in the second half if they ease him in over the first 2-3 games. That gives time for Tytus to get back too.

This isn’t diminishing Stroud’s ability any. It’s helping.

We aren’t playing for the playoffs this year. It’s all about Stroud’s development and meshing the team together.

At the end of the day I trust the coaches to make the best decision on both.
 
CJ is starting. There's no way at this date to take Case from a distant 3rd and then suddenly give him first team reps every day.

I'm not taking a position on what is best; I'm just saying logistically and logically speaking, there is a zero chance Case starts the season as the starter.
 
My biggest concern coming out of this game is running the ball and stopping the run. The offensive running game in particular with the starters in was unproductive and this team will live and die by the run this season.

Run defense I trust DeMeco will clean up. But the offensive running game with starters was concerning. Too much invested not to be a dominant running team even with Howard out.
 
Brisco_County said:
I think the concerns over his diminished performance under pressure or relying on elite WR's for success are overstated. He'll be fine.
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Like I said, I'm rooting for the guy. I don't see it as overstated. Everything seems to be revealing what's been said.

But that doesn't mean that's who he is. His coaches at Ohio State had a philosophy & an OL that did not give him ample opportunity to develop those skills.

He's going to have that opportunity now, that's the NFL.
 
Brisco_County said:
He made a play under pressure when a defender penetrated and was about to sack him. Stroud pump faked and passed to (I believe) Schultz. He turned a sack into a gain.

I think the concerns over his diminished performance under pressure or relying on elite WR's for success are overstated. He'll be fine.
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I disagree, I believe those concerns are legitimate, especially when you consider the fact that he had the largest differential in passer rating of any QB in the entire NCAA last year between pressure 41 and no pressure 151.

You also cannot discount the talent he had around him was routinely better players / athletes than the guys on the other side if the field.


The New England performance showed us much the same as the college numbers and complicated that by his holding the ball much too long.


He really needs to take a large leap forward to start the season as the #1.

I'd hate to have him start then get benched .... that might be the worst option.
 
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Porky said:
CJ is starting. There's no way at this date to take Case from a distant 3rd and then suddenly give him first team reps every day.

I'm not taking a position on what is best; I'm just saying logistically and logically speaking, there is a zero chance Case starts the season as the starter.
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For sure. CJ is the starter for better or worse.

Personally ive got no issue with cj starting. I was in the start him right away camp when he was drafted.
 
Texansballer74 said:
He played pretty darn smart in college. Didn’t have a lot of interception nor was he sacked a lot.
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Pretty much saying the same thing. The things he did well in college we've seen him do well in the preseason games. The things he didn't do well in college, albeit a small sample size, he hasn't done well in the preseason games, albeit a small sample size.
 
TheRealJoker said:
My biggest concern coming out of this game is running the ball and stopping the run. The offensive running game in particular with the starters in was unproductive and this team will live and die by the run this season.
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I'm concerned as well. I think very highly of Devin Singletary, but he doesn't look like a man among boys when he's going against the scrubs. Something ain't right with the run game.
 
Corrosion said:
I disagree, I believe those concerns are legitimate, especially when you consider the fact that he had the largest differential in passer rating of any QB in the entire NCAA last year between pressure 41 and no pressure 151.

You also cannot discount the talent he had around him was routinely better players / athletes than the guys on the other side if the field.


The New England performance showed us much the same as the college numbers and complicated that by his holding the ball much too long.


He really needs to take a large leap forward to start the season as the #1.

I'd hate to have him start then get benched .... that might be the worst option.
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Saturday I think we watched him do good things under pressure, things that were more reminiscent of his Georgia game vs most of his other tape. Hell even against New England he did some good things under pressure (along with some bad). We've seen him consistently know where his hot route is when the blitz is coming and while he did hold the ball too long a couple of times against the Pats he got the ball out much faster against the Dolphins. Ended up with a time to throw of 2.21 seconds which would have ranked 1st in the NFL last year. Obviously a small sample size and there's no chance that holds true throughout the year but even in the span of 1 week we saw a lot of improvement from Stroud
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Just an aside comment regarding injuries...............I'm not sure that it is such a great idea to have joint practices, especially 2 in 1 week. The intensity in these practices comes close to that seen in games (which seems to be part of what coaches are wanting to get out of them.) However, many players are getting banged up in these intense practices and many are expected to play in a game just a couple of days later, leading to more or extended injuries. If the short week Thursday Night Football is not a "healthy" option, then the joint practices, especially 2 in 1 week is a worse idea. The NFL will eventually decrease the number of preseason games, while finding a way to heavily monetize joint practices.............and extend the season to 18 regular games.
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I believe NFL owners giving up a preseason game put more emphasis on intense practices. They will get what they want one way or another.
 
badboy said:
I don't think anyone's panicking. I'm saying we are just Irritated on these players not being better than they appear to be..
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Quite a few are panicking as well as overthinking something that was said before we drafted CJ.
And the defense was atrocious at best in which caused a concern in the run game.
 
thunderkyss said:
With that in mind I find it hard to believe anyone who says they saw improvement in CJ.

Cj looked good Saturday, that's true. He didn't look good last week. So I get that part of it.

But we already knew he looks good when he's well protected. Yesterday he was well protected.

He looked like rookie Keenum last week under ridiculous amount of pressure.

Everyone struggles under pressure. I understand, but the great QBs, even though they'll struggle from time to time, they generally play well under pressure. They've done so consistently.

That's not Stroud's reputation.
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TBF, I am not sure how many great QBs didn't struggle preseason game two but I bet someone knows ..
 
thunderkyss said:
Pretty much saying the same thing. The things he did well in college we've seen him do well in the preseason games. The things he didn't do well in college, albeit a small sample size, he hasn't done well in the preseason games, albeit a small sample size.
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Not really, you saw a very small sample size in his first preseason game. And the way the right side was blocking, not even a vet would’ve done any better.
We’re being overzealous don’t you think?
 
Texans make-shift OL in the first two pre-season games have been blitzed heavily. Good dose of reality for these players to learn from. I believe once the starters are on the field, there'll be a much better scheme against blitzes. I also believe the Texans have a few pieces that could make defenses pay for blitzing too much by scheming in quick slants to Dell, Metchie, Collins, or Schultz.
 
OptimisticTexan said:
Texans make-shift OL in the first two pre-season games have been blitzed heavily. Good dose of reality for these players to learn from. I believe once the starters are on the field, there'll be a much better scheme against blitzes. I also believe the Texans have a few pieces that could make defenses pay for blitzing too much by scheming in quick slants to Dell, Metchie, Collins, or Schultz.
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Teams are going to blitz Stroud heavy until he shows he will make them pay for it
 
JB said:
Teams are going to blitz Stroud heavy until he shows he will make them pay for it
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.....are they blitzing Stroud because he's a rookie or they know the OL can't stop them? I believe the first couple of blitz calls are to shake up the rookie QB. When they realize the OL can't contain the blitz and there's zero run game to take into consideration.....then it's all engines ahead on blitzes. The backs also looked like they missed the majority of their blitz assignments.
 
OptimisticTexan said:
.....are they blitzing Stroud because he's a rookie or they know the OL can't stop them? I believe the first couple of blitz calls are to shake up the rookie QB. When they realize the OL can't contain the blitz and there's zero run game to take into consideration.....then it's all engines ahead on blitzes. The backs also looked like they missed the majority of their blitz assignments.
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Yes they did. The noise coming out of camp was DP improved on his blocking. But the other day he did a terrible job along with the other backs. The offensive line so far is struggling on both fronts, run/pass pro.
 
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In this offense, it looks like the Center makes the declaration for the shift and blocking assignments. I asked about that after the first pre-season game because i wasn't sure who was at fault for some of the blown blocking calls, but after the Dolphins game, it's apparent that it was Scruggs making mistakes on line shifts and leaving guys unblocked who shouldn't have been left unblocked. I think if we can get that cleaned up, our line is going to look a LOT better and give Stroud a cleaner pocket within which to do his thing.
 
Texansballer74 said:
Yes they did. The noise coming out of camp was DP improved on his blocking. But the other day he did a terrible job along with the other backs. The offensive line so far is struggling on both fronts, run/pass pro.
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True, but PFF said the ol did a great job in pass pro. LoL

Truth is and I didn't get to watch much of the game because of a FF draft. But it looks like overall Scruggs is going to be fine , but he's learning , he will be fine. Pierce missed a block down near the GL, it happens, but that's gotta get cleaned up. Question, how does Pierce's hands look, or have they been keeping that part of the playbook under wraps?
 
OptimisticTexan said:
Texans make-shift OL in the first two pre-season games have been blitzed heavily. Good dose of reality for these players to learn from. I believe once the starters are on the field, there'll be a much better scheme against blitzes. I also believe the Texans have a few pieces that could make defenses pay for blitzing too much by scheming in quick slants to Dell, Metchie, Collins, or Schultz.
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I believe the only guy he was missing from his starting Oline was Tytus Howard...all the rest are your projected starters. I think there needs to be some communication clear up on oline assignments so that the entire line slides and protects as needed.
 
austins23 said:
Schultz is an above average TE, IMO. They (TE's) just need to be more a part of the game plan.
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Schultz is more of a guy who can excute a play rather than being a playmaker.

He fakes very well before sneaking out to be wide open.

This requires the OC to put in those plays at the right time as to fool the opponents.
 
thunderkyss said:
I thunk I can when it reinforces what's been said of him coming out of college. & that's all I'm saying.

I want to see him perform well under pressure more consistently than he's has in the past.
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Yeah but did you watch those games? Can’t go off of what others said, especially when it wasn’t a large sample size even then. Again his interception were extremely low at 12 out of 830 attempts. One would think that number would be high right. He was only sacked 12 times. It’s being overstated IMG_4538.png
 
The Pencil Neck said:
In this offense, it looks like the Center makes the declaration for the shift and blocking assignments. I asked about that after the first pre-season game because i wasn't sure who was at fault for some of the blown blocking calls, but after the Dolphins game, it's apparent that it was Scruggs making mistakes on line shifts and leaving guys unblocked who shouldn't have been left unblocked. I think if we can get that cleaned up, our line is going to look a LOT better and give Stroud a cleaner pocket within which to do his thing.
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If the Texans are relying on any center, rookie or ten thousand year vet, to make calls to pick up free edge rushers then they are doomed.

I have no idea how the Texans make protection calls up front, but usually the center makes calls based on what they see on the interior, like identifying the mike or picking up interior blitzes.

They have almost no way of seeing what's happening out there on the edges especially when it comes to guys walking up late or not showing blitz until after the snap.

The Qb is best equipped to make calls that slide the entire oline because they can see the entire defense. They can also more easily communicate to rbs if they need to go to a specific side to puck up edge rushers.

Again, ive got no idea what the Texans do specifically, but id be shocked if the center was responsible for making sure there are no free edge rushers.

Besides, there are only 5 olinemen. If the defense brings 6 or 7 and there are no additional blockers, somebody is going to come free every single time. Thats on the qb to recognize either pre or quickly post snap and get the ball out or make a play.
 
Texansballer74 said:
Yeah but did you watch those games? Can’t go off of what others said, especially when it wasn’t a large sample size even then. Again his interception were extremely low at 12 out of 830 attempts. One would think that number would be high right. He was only sacked 12 times. It’s being overstated View attachment 12487
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Just going to honest...

There seems to be a certain segment here that fight back against even the smallest critique of Stroud even in cases where it might not even really be a critique.

I mean, even in the screenshot you posted it says right there that Stroud himself wishes he'd have used his legs more.

He's young and imperfect. Its ok. I dont think anyone is calling him a scrub.
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
Just going to honest...

There seems to be a certain segment here that fight back against even the smallest critique of Stroud even in cases where it might not even really be a critique.

I mean, even in the screenshot you posted it says right there that Stroud himself wishes he'd have used his legs more.

He's young and imperfect. Its ok. I dont think anyone is calling him a scrub.
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What else do you expect him to say. Mills said those same exact words darn near at every presser he had last season.

Nowhere is my stance here is alluding to perfection or saying some thinks he’s a scrub. My stance is go look at his games verses going off of what a few geeks from the media or wannabe podcast experts. And guess what even the greats struggled against high octane levels of pressure.
If he struggled on that level he would’ve been sacked more and had more turnovers.
 
Texansballer74 said:
If he struggled on that level he would’ve been sacked more and had more turnovers.
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False.

Making errant throws that are simply incompletions under pressure also constitutes struggling under pressure. Not saying he threw a ton of picks or took a ton of sacks but throwing an off target pass that ends up as an incompletion on 3rd and 6 still can hurt.

But see, this is exactly what im talking about.

Stroud went 2nd overall and was widely ranked as a top two qb prospect in the class, so we clearly know he had a successful NCAA career and has a good nfl profile.

We also know he went to a school where he had a ton of talent around him including on the oline.

So because of his own talent and also the talent of those around him he wasnt in as many situations where he had to deal with pressure and making plays when there was no play to be made. BUT in the times when he did face pressure, more often than not he was not able to overcome it and turn it into a positive play. There's a reason the Georgia game is specifically brought up. Its because he showed in that game that he does have the ability to handle pressure and make plays, but it would be nice if that was more of the norm.
 
Texansballer74 said:
My stance is go look at his games verses going off of what a few geeks from the media or wannabe podcast experts.
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I don't want to go back & watch college football games I wasn't interested in when they were live. I want to watch the guy play & say, "I don't know where they got that from." Instead I'm watching saying, "The scouts were right, he needs to work on that."

Just like when you say Mills was highly inconsistent I can say, "Yep, he needs to work on that." Even though you're no better than the geeks from the media or wannabee podcast experts.

My statement that started this conversation was basically, yeah, he played better than the week before, but he was also protected much better. Did you watch how the kid that played most of the game for Miami work the pocket? I would like to see a Texans QB play at that level & unfortunately, for however many excuses you bring up, we didn't.
 
Number19 said:
You'll have to help me out here. I don't recognize the name and checked the roster. I don't find a Moore on the roster. You have a number? I'll have to go back and look. I remember one well thrown ball that the db got his hand around in front to knock it away on a very good defensive play, but don't recall any drops. I'll have to go back and look, later.
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Just saw this. I'm pretty sure I was thinking of Brown. Been calling him Moore all preseason for some reason.
 
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