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Texans Training Camp Preview 2023

Texans_Chick

Texans_Chick

Utopian Dreamer
Hi friends. I know I am not here as much any more because my sciatic nerve is the boss of me, and I try to limit my online time. However, when I write things, I often think of the Texans Talk folks because y'all have been very welcoming and encouraging and supported me in ways y'all will never fully know.

Anyway, this is my 2023 training camp preview intended for different audiences. Some of it might seem basic, and some might seem in the weeds, but it's hard to dial that in. Football people I know seem to be pretty good with it so far. Anyway, I will be checking back to see if you have more granular questions than I talked about in the piece because I know y'all care.

I take the access that I have to OTAs/Minicamp responsibly as something that fans take value in and as the first outside blogger to get that access. I haven't felt good writing about some things in recent years, but boy howdy, this piece is long and it could have been much longer but for not wanting to crush people's eyeballs and my sciatic nerve, which now is really good, but at some point I had to get painful tests because I abused it too much.

In addition, I am one of many people on the Texans Fan Council. Over the years, the team has had various fan folks given feedback on things they want to help with. Some of the folks on this new council I know some, and some folks I don't, but like most Texans fans, they are really good people who want to make things as good as they can make them for everyone. We are very generous as a people lol. If there is anything that isn't sitting quite right with you, or have questions about, or if you just want to send encouragement about things, let me know. If you want to send that privately to me, that is cool too. It's a relatively new thing, not sure how it is going to go, but I am going to do whatever I can to make it good for all of us.

Anyway, hi. Hope to see some of y'all at training camp or events or tailgating. Tonight I am going to the free event for 713 Day at the Post near downtown. Been a minute since I've seen some of y'all. Love to catch up.

Texans training camp preview

:texans chick:
 
Texans_Chick said:
Hi friends. I know I am not here as much any more because my sciatic nerve is the boss of me, and I try to limit my online time. However, when I write things, I often think of the Texans Talk folks because y'all have been very welcoming and encouraging and supported me in ways y'all will never fully know.

Anyway, this is my 2023 training camp preview intended for different audiences. Some of it might seem basic, and some might seem in the weeds, but it's hard to dial that in. Football people I know seem to be pretty good with it so far. Anyway, I will be checking back to see if you have more granular questions than I talked about in the piece because I know y'all care.

I take the access that I have to OTAs/Minicamp responsibly as something that fans take value in and as the first outside blogger to get that access. I haven't felt good writing about some things in recent years, but boy howdy, this piece is long and it could have been much longer but for not wanting to crush people's eyeballs and my sciatic nerve, which now is really good, but at some point I had to get painful tests because I abused it too much.

In addition, I am one of many people on the Texans Fan Council. Over the years, the team has had various fan folks given feedback on things they want to help with. Some of the folks on this new council I know some, and some folks I don't, but like most Texans fans, they are really good people who want to make things as good as they can make them for everyone. We are very generous as a people lol. If there is anything that isn't sitting quite right with you, or have questions about, or if you just want to send encouragement about things, let me know. If you want to send that privately to me, that is cool too. It's a relatively new thing, not sure how it is going to go, but I am going to do whatever I can to make it good for all of us.

Anyway, hi. Hope to see some of y'all at training camp or events or tailgating. Tonight I am going to the free event for 713 Day at the Post near downtown. Been a minute since I've seen some of y'all. Love to catch up.

Texans training camp preview

:texans chick:
Click to expand...

Did the fan council tell Hannah that they wanted a QB to be picked at 1-1?
 
Good job Steph! I've always enjoyed reading your stuff. You have this super cool casual style that's very personable. I look forward to more...as always!

I will be joining your ranks soon in the world of writing/blogging for an online publication. I'm going to be a contributor to Toro Times once I get my act together and finish the paperwork. It's not the Chronicle but they get a lot of eyeballs. It will only be my 4th job. Well, three jobs and a new business venture designing and hosting SMB websites. Plenty of time! :)
 
Double Barrel said:
Awesome, TC! I love seeing your insight into the Texans. :texflag:

I hope you don't mind if I sticky this tread until training camp. Forum needs to focus on football itself instead of circular arguing gossipy opinions. lol :cowboy1:
Click to expand...

Perfect! Ahaha that is awesome.

(whispers) I will say that the last couple of years have been extra gossipy because that is what happens when people are in wtf mode. The people who were pros did not gossip. They just answered basic questions that told me what I needed to know and made sure I didn't go too far the wrong way. There were a number of people told me stuff from their perspective. Some people were a little out of pocket and said some things that football professionals should not tell media members, fans, or a lawyer but did out of concern or wanting things that should be known to be known. Or not having a good mechanism to say it.

Sometimes it is hard to know what to say, what not to say, and who it might hurt, including yourself. It's hard to be your best self when people aren't on the same page and are asking you to like football and other things that are inherently unlikeable.

People tell you stuff from their perspective. Sometimes that isn't the whole or full perspective. Some things can't be told fully because it will hurt people more than it helps or isn't fair to tell or is a work in progress thing. And then on the retelling, it gets distorted further, sort of like what can happen with aggregated football content when you don't have a full context and understanding of a situation.

Anyway, I am not interested in games of telephone or gossip or trash because I am a grown ass human being who wants the Texans to win and thrive. It's hard to get everyone on the same page doing things that respect basic winning football and the people who support it. Team ish is hard, so communication discipline needs to be on point. Not in a manipulative way but in an authentic way that respects all stakeholders and that is a learning process for people who aren't used to football cultures and subcultures.

A mix of old and new people in the building so we don't all have shared histories but that is what teamwork is about, and I enjoy DeMeco's way of competing.

(shouts) I want us to thrive and DeMeco to do his thing so I like the alternative futures of the franchise that lean into what fans need. Watch badass football they understand and are proud of, respect people fanning their own way, make Houston the destination everyone wants to be at because Houston has everything you need, plus two airports to get you to places across the globe that you might want.

DeMeco wants to support everyone on the team to be their best selves. I want that for all of us. If Houston is its best self, we are undefeatable. I have seen it with my eyes lol. Now for the hard practical stuff.

(regular voice) So really, I am sick of gossip and am done. I really want to talk about the football because man o man I like what they are trying to do.
 
steelbtexan said:
Did the fan council tell Hannah that they wanted a QB to be picked at 1-1?
Click to expand...

And the exact reason I posted this:

Double Barrel said:
Forum needs to focus on football itself instead of circular arguing gossipy opinions.
Click to expand...

Can you please STFU about this??? Everyone here knows your perspective. We don't care.
 
Two weeks from yesterday!!

July 26

HOUSTON – Houston Texans Training Camp presented by Xfinity will begin on Wednesday, July 26, as the Texans take the field in preparation for the 2023 Season.

Anyone going to the public access days? I'd love to hear your thoughts and perspectives.
 
Texans_Chick said:
Anyway, I am not interested in games of telephone or gossip or trash because I am a grown ass human being who wants the Texans to win and thrive.

So really, I am sick of gossip and am done. I really want to talk about the football because man o man I like what they are trying to do.
Click to expand...

I think we would all do well to read this multiple times to sink in and practice it.

And I am going to point out that it is a woman telling men (for the most part) to stop with the gossip and focus on football.
 
Hi Steph, great to see you back here.

I remember there being a positive outlook during last preseason, but this year I think we can buy in because the coaching hire and the draft picks made so much sense. I don't think I've ever seen fans so approving of a Texans draft class across the board, despite the heavy price for Anderson.

Sorry to hear about the sciatica. I use an inversion table and CBD oil to manage mine along with my impinged nerve at C5/C6.
 
Brisco_County said:
Hi Steph, great to see you back here.

I remember there being a positive outlook during last preseason, but this year I think we can buy in because the coaching hire and the draft picks made so much sense. I don't think I've ever seen fans so approving of a Texans draft class across the board, despite the heavy price for Anderson.

Sorry to hear about the sciatica. I use an inversion table and CBD oil to manage mine along with my impinged nerve at C5/C6.
Click to expand...


Last year, the theme of my preview was that instead of looking at what the team can't do, we should look what they do best. Which was as good as I could do. They were trying to make things more normal and you could see some of it but you need a leader that people are attracted to work and play for, who made a ton of sense without much explanation.

This year everything football makes football sense. That doesn't mean you win but it does raise the probabilities if you have a modern coaching staff that talks like modern coaches. Really, the hardest thing of the last couple of years is people put in positions to be more forward facing who were not accustomed to talking to large varied groups of people about the football and had to do things beyond their capabilities. In an obvious way.

The staff talks like adults. Not sure how many of the QB coach Jerrod Johnson quotes you heard from the interviews those days but so sharp, saying things that just make sense. He knows C.J. Stroud really well as you know so out of all the teams in the league, they probably knew him the best.

The day we talked to the coordinators and position coaches, the coordinators spoke at the podium, and then we spoke off to the side to the position coaches on offense and defense separately. Lots of things happening all at once. I listened to a lot of the convos, and had some convos with most of the coaches. No bs, very real, being pros. Some from previous years I've spoken to in previous years. I didn't hear any nonsense. Like I talk to a lot of football people from different orientations. When people try to oversell me on anything, it does not work for me at all.

Sciatica is mostly in the rearview mirror because I guard against overuse but I have some tendonitis in my right hand fingers from overdoing during draft season. Info I had at the week of the draft was no way Levis, but likely Stroud or Anderson and don't make bets on this. Love the why not both use of ammo. Like you can horde draft picks but I am guessing Ryans knows more than most that you need a good mix of rookies and older players, and not be so patient that you get known for "wasting players careers." Sometimes you keep ammo, sometimes you use it. Lots of draft people said this draft had limited elite projected players, and the Texans arguably got the best two on offense and defense. That is a day.

I was at the draft party and the Stroud announcement was a relief. I pretty much blacked out when they announced On the Clock again because I was in a mosh pit of people losing their minds tbh. Would be delightful if they perform to projections. Both sides of the ball have some pretty impressive coaches, and really, as DeMeco said, if they get the best performance of both, that is the assignment. :)
 
Texans_Chick said:
Hi friends. I know I am not here as much any more because my sciatic nerve is the boss of me, and I try to limit my online time. However, when I write things, I often think of the Texans Talk folks because y'all have been very welcoming and encouraging and supported me in ways y'all will never fully know.

Anyway, this is my 2023 training camp preview intended for different audiences. Some of it might seem basic, and some might seem in the weeds, but it's hard to dial that in. Football people I know seem to be pretty good with it so far. Anyway, I will be checking back to see if you have more granular questions than I talked about in the piece because I know y'all care.

I take the access that I have to OTAs/Minicamp responsibly as something that fans take value in and as the first outside blogger to get that access. I haven't felt good writing about some things in recent years, but boy howdy, this piece is long and it could have been much longer but for not wanting to crush people's eyeballs and my sciatic nerve, which now is really good, but at some point I had to get painful tests because I abused it too much.

In addition, I am one of many people on the Texans Fan Council. Over the years, the team has had various fan folks given feedback on things they want to help with. Some of the folks on this new council I know some, and some folks I don't, but like most Texans fans, they are really good people who want to make things as good as they can make them for everyone. We are very generous as a people lol. If there is anything that isn't sitting quite right with you, or have questions about, or if you just want to send encouragement about things, let me know. If you want to send that privately to me, that is cool too. It's a relatively new thing, not sure how it is going to go, but I am going to do whatever I can to make it good for all of us.

Anyway, hi. Hope to see some of y'all at training camp or events or tailgating. Tonight I am going to the free event for 713 Day at the Post near downtown. Been a minute since I've seen some of y'all. Love to catch up.

Texans training camp preview

:texans chick:
Click to expand...

It's nice to meet you. I'm new here. From your article:

"My favorite part of this offseason has been watching offense that looks more professional. That is not to say that the passes always connect, but everything looks more crisp."

It sounds like you have special access. Have you been able to watch all of their practices and workouts? Will you be watching all of their summer camp?
 
Buckeye Homer said:
It's nice to meet you. I'm new here. From your article:

"My favorite part of this offseason has been watching offense that looks more professional. That is not to say that the passes always connect, but everything looks more crisp."

It sounds like you have special access. Have you been able to watch all of their practices and workouts? Will you be watching all of their summer camp?
Click to expand...

Welcome BH! Some of my favorite Texans fans are ones that started following the team because of a player and stuck around. You will find that Texans fans are a very generous people but bad football, like in many places, just doesn't bring out our best lol.

Yes, I was the first outside blogger for the Texans to be allowed that access back around 2008 maybe 2009. Been writing since 2006.Thought I made it clear in the piece I watched stuff. The Texans used to have a fan blogger named Alan Burge who did a nice fan blog for their website but then that went sideways, and eventually he just went off the internet, presumably because collectively we can be a lot, particularly when the football is extremely frustrating to those people accustomed to watching normal football.

I very much enjoyed Alan's writing and missed it when he stopped. When I started writing for HC, the paper had a lot of blogs (the chron blog era), and there was a really good Astros blog. I decided they needed a Texans blog because back then, there was very little writing about a terrible team because writing about bad football if you like good football is an exercise of punching yourself in the face.

This year, I went to every OTA/minicamp session and every presser. I talk to local and national people year round, lots of draft friends. I used to write for a national blog that had 100s of great writers. After that blew up, those bloggers work in every sport for every publication and I stay in touch. Most of the questions I ask are ones to kind of clarify things for fans who may not be there but are trying to figure out what is going on based on brief videos and interview clips.

Really, I have been hate watching the offenses at camp through the entire post-Kubiak era. His camps were clean except when the drafts got guys who were just not NFL guys. Waaaay too many dropped passes against air, lazy boundary feet with drills for WRs. Not high enough expectations, not practicing with purpose by my eye after watching, for example, Kyle Shanahan when he was the Texans WR coach in 2006.

One of my favorite days of mandatory minicamp was doing a ton of red zone stuff with refs right in front of the media members. Like they are gonna be in front of millions of people soon, so what if people are watching them learn? No trying to hide their football over stuff that you should be proud of if you are doing it right. It's pretty easy to compare the QB motions and throws because they are often throwing together, either splitting halves, or in teams rotating through.

I asked about the use of refs this early (not all teams do), and DeMeco said (paraphrase) he wanted the guys to get used to it and use any guidance he could get with how they are calling things. Wanted to be smart with it.

I am planning on watching all training camp but sometimes my time is not my own, or last year I had a close high exposure covid contact, and with an extreme abundance of caution, I was not about to be the person who killed Lovie Smith.

So, anyway, I used to post here all the time as a mod but I am already spending too much time on football lol. But this time of year is especially important to people who can't see what is going on, so I try to share what I know, and ask questions y'all care about, or one's I'm curious about. It is hard to ask football questions and get real answers but this crew are dorks about it. Like they answer the questions in real ways but without really giving up anything that matters. I'm very grateful that this board was very welcoming to me and made me feel comfortable with internet people LOL.

Welcome again!
 
Texans_Chick said:
Thought I made it clear in the piece I watched stuff.
Click to expand...

You did but I just wanted to confirm.

Yes, CJ throws a BEAUTIFUL ball. One commentator says that he plays the position with great elegance. I just hope that he has the ability to read defenses and make smart plays under pressure; few can.

I anticipate that Davis Mills will be better too with a new system, new coaches, and the addition of weapons like Schultz and Dell.
 
Awesome! Can’t wait to read about what’s going on inside TC. Any inside scoop on what the new uniforms may look like? I’m holding off on getting my 5 month old a custom Texans jersey made until the new uniforms are revealed.
 
Texans_Chick said:
Beyond vibe. Just everybody being treated like pros. Basically, football that makes sense, get to know your teammates really well like kin, no distractions about bs.
Click to expand...


Yeah but...



We hear this every year.
 
Mangler said:
Awesome! Can’t wait to read about what’s going on inside TC. Any inside scoop on what the new uniforms may look like? I’m holding off on getting my 5 month old a custom Texans jersey made until the new uniforms are revealed.
Click to expand...

Not really. I've had different understandings at different times. My current understanding:

There are a lot of rules about how the uniforms need to be done by the NFL/Nike.
Things evolve with that. So your understanding of the direction may change over time.
They are still working on some things.
Won't be until next year.
You can't go wrong with an original jersey because of the various badasses who have worn them for the last 20 years. OG jerseys are kind of nice. I wore a Arian Foster custom jersey to the Texans 713 Party last night and someone thought it was sooooo old school. LOL.
Not sure about a custom jersey for a baby because man they grow fast, but congratulations!
 
powda said:
Yeah but...



We hear this every year.
Click to expand...

Not from me. And not from Tunsil.

Like I get guarding your heart. That if you keep on hearing the hype train that at some point, it becomes just noise. People feel about things the way they do and have rightful skepticism and distrust given the recent past. That said, you can with your eyes and your ears just see things that are exciting about the football. Serious football stuff for guys who are relying on people to support their careers. Doesn't guarantee anything, but you get enough good ingredients and know how to put them together, it just increases the probabilities that you can win.
 
TC, thank you so much for this insightful information! I walked away from the Texans during the fiasco years and wasn't going to come back. Then ownership did something I didn't expect with hiring DeMeco for the next head coach.

Besides, the coaching staff, are you getting a feeling that the direction of the Front Office and Ownership has shifted? I've seen a lot of talk about Hannah McNair stepping in. I'm curious about your impression.

Again, you are amazing for putting this together. It has helped me feel better about this team.
 
Texans_Chick said:
Not from me. And not from Tunsil.

Like I get guarding your heart. That if you keep on hearing the hype train that at some point, it becomes just noise. People feel about things the way they do and have rightful skepticism and distrust given the recent past. That said, you can with your eyes and your ears just see things that are exciting about the football. Serious football stuff for guys who are relying on people to support their careers. Doesn't guarantee anything, but you get enough good ingredients and know how to put them together, it just increases the probabilities that you can win.
Click to expand...


Your enthusiasm is infectious. Good post.
 
Wolfiegrrl said:
TC, thank you so much for this insightful information! I walked away from the Texans during the fiasco years and wasn't going to come back. Then ownership did something I didn't expect with hiring DeMeco for the next head coach.

Besides, the coaching staff, are you getting a feeling that the direction of the Front Office and Ownership has shifted? I've seen a lot of talk about Hannah McNair stepping in. I'm curious about your impression.

Again, you are amazing for putting this together. It has helped me feel better about this team.
Click to expand...

WOLFIE its been a minute! Thanks!

This is one person's view based on listening and watching over many years. Lots of different viewpoints from a lot of different people but there are some overlaps. Don't want to get into gossip, particularly gossip about Hannah McNair because it is no fun to be the subject of gossip because it is pretty much always unfair or superficial, and nothing is ever about just one person.

(Sometimes people tell me gossip about what is said about me, what I really think, and I am all, well, that is news to me. Somebody obviously doesn't know me well and is talking mess. There is a false familiarity in the modern world that sort of encourages that, and I do not want to do gossip ish).

Some folk's views are jut some folk's views and not the whole picture, and some stories are not right to tell because they aren't fully fair or hurtful to people who were working really hard but maybe didn't have the right support or in the right spots or dealing with things outside their control. Or are partially self-serving.

I don't want to get into differing views but the overlaps.

Some stuff I know, some stuff I know partially but know enough to know the challenges.

I don't know about a shift in direction as much as a shift in leadership. The Texans have always wanted the right football people running football and let them do their jobs. That is easy to say but hard to acquire and maintain and get people in the right spots, or every team who wanted to do that could do that.

People come and go so that is why the team has been focusing on talking about long lasting processes to sustain success.

There's a number of things over the years recently and not so recently that were hard to navigate. None of this is secrets really. Main issues IMO:

* Key People. Some important people on the team with vast institutional and local knowledge died or left. Sometimes dealing with very difficult circumstances. That was hard on a lot of people, and by people, that includes me.

* GM - Head Coach disconnects or difficulties or voids for far too many years. Lots of people trying to make that work but couldn't. That is a hard way to operate.

* Information bubbles and management. When the team started, we had message boards but social and more nu media didn't exist in the way of instant feedback. Now we are so interconnected and sometimes don't share the same way of talking about things, it is easier to get sideways with people unless people truly trust and feel good about a situation.

There are no real secrets in the modern world. Just a game of telephone. It's easier now for info to leave the lockerroom that should not leave it. Some stuff gets said publicly that normally doesn't because people are concerned with things that interfere with successful football and their careers. All teams get a firehose of criticism when things are bad, and it can be hard to filter what you shouldn't hear, what you need to hear and address--particularly how things are being said to you which is often ugly and personal.

Navigating perceived, real criticism and addressing it in a real and authentic way for internal and external stakeholders is part of the job of leading.

So sometimes, when you "block out the noise," you can get in a bubble of what you want to hear, and that egoless truth telling is not welcomed or rewarded. At different times in the franchise, it has been easier or harder to have difficult and honest conversations with different people.

* Communication and strategy. The last few years, various people in leadership were put in new, more forward facing positions, ones that they were not accustomed to, and sometimes talking to audiences they weren't used to talking to and didn't understand as well as they thought they did. Sometimes not understanding football cultures and subcultures and getting sideways with them in ways that undermine trust and football direction.

Talking to mixed audiences is really hard, great coaches are great at it.

So if you are going through difficult times, and you are not used to navigating those on a public stage, it can hit people in a wrong way even when intentions and even actions are good.

When times are hard, people can't be their best selves because they are dealing with mess. They have known this and have focused on fixing a lot of things, and it is hard to fix things without breaking other things. Fixing things among large groups of people is hard, particularly when you don't know each other well and it is mix of people new and old.

Ultimately, the birth of our team came from all parts of the city coming together and deciding it was unacceptable not to have NFL football in Houston. Getting past issues and making them strengths.

But as the saying goes, "familiarity breeds contempt." We all have different shared histories so sometimes it is hard to get over things that hit people wrong, particularly when things got pretty personal with people's careers, money, time, and care. Building trust and care fully may take some time for some people. The team has both an opportunity and a challenge that we have a generation of people with a shared history and new people trying to appreciate it.

Ultimately, it is going to be about the football, but it is helpful to get the things in place that make winning easier.

* Covid. This was a challenge for a lot of people and businesses obviously but particularly for a team with a huge leadership void.

* Overall. So in the first part of my piece, it could have been really easy to just talk about DeMeco Ryans. And his impact. Because it is obviously substantial in attracting quality people to the building.

But I think it is important to talk about all the ingredients of winning football. They seem obvious but obviously aren't because there have been long stretches where the team has missed those elements. Sometimes people can grow more into jobs, and they have to for the benefit of all, but sometimes jobs are just beyond a person's capacity for a team sport at the highest level. And sometimes people need true mentors and teammates who help each other be their best selves in a way that benefits the team. Being in the right jobs for themselves and others.
 
@Texans_Chick

It seems to me that there is a lot of youth at the skill positions on offense. What are your thoughts on Slowik immersing his young players into his offensive scheme? Will he limit the playbook and slowly expand as the season progresses? Do you view this season as, essentially, a development year for the offense?
 
Texans_Chick said:
Not from me. And not from Tunsil.

Like I get guarding your heart. That if you keep on hearing the hype train that at some point, it becomes just noise. People feel about things the way they do and have rightful skepticism and distrust given the recent past. That said, you can with your eyes and your ears just see things that are exciting about the football. Serious football stuff for guys who are relying on people to support their careers. Doesn't guarantee anything, but you get enough good ingredients and know how to put them together, it just increases the probabilities that you can win.
Click to expand...
Agree 100%

At the same time it's year 1 for DeMeco. Don't need to be setting unreasonable expectations.

Not saying you are
 
Buckeye Homer said:
@Texans_Chick

It seems to me that there is a lot of youth at the skill positions on offense. What are your thoughts on Slowik immersing his young players into his offensive scheme? Will he limit the playbook and slowly expand as the season progresses? Do you view this season as, essentially, a development year for the offense?
Click to expand...
Surely that will depend on what he sees in training camp & week 1.
 
Buckeye Homer said:
@Texans_Chick

It seems to me that there is a lot of youth at the skill positions on offense. What are your thoughts on Slowik immersing his young players into his offensive scheme? Will he limit the playbook and slowly expand as the season progresses? Do you view this season as, essentially, a development year for the offense?
Click to expand...

Don't know. Too many unknowns to project including at leadership with Slowik running the ship.

They have been working on teaching, installs, situational. Players working on their own now. It's not wrong to expect some struggles, particularly with so many new players in a new offense. But here are some things that might be promising:

On average, the league is younger than it has ever been and guys are expected to perform faster than they may have in earlier generations, and some promising QBs have performed right away. They didn't target too many fully developmental players, the ones they drafted either have experience somewhere else or were very productive in college. Lots of sharp guys on the squad. Just guessing, the Texans have targeted some sharp vet players on short deals because nobody wants to pay on older player contracts, so maybe they are looking for both competitors/the efficiency of someone already training a guy up on what you want to do/NFL efficiencies of teams undervaluing older vets because of cap. The AFC South is kind of ass, and even last year they were able to compete some despite a lot of difficulties.

Ultimately, to develop QB, you want a QB you can work with, an offensive line, running game, QB friendly scheme, and a quality defense. They look like they are really trying to do that support so we will just see lol
 
@Texans_Chick
It certainly has been a minute. :) I've really missed your balanced, unbiased take on the state of the team. I'll be paying more attention this year to see what "Cap" can do with this group of young men. I have high hopes as his defense in San Francisco dominated the NFC West for the last couple of years. I can see him turning Will Anderson into the next Nick Bosa/JJ Watt. Man, that would be amazing.

To anyone who wants to answer...
After not paying much attention to the team in 2020 then walking away from the Texans in 2021, I don't have a clue about this team. Nice to see Tunsil, Fairbairn, and Weeks still here. I see Tytus Howard is in his fifth year. I remember he was kind of a shaky start. Is he doing better? I'm not talking fantasy football when I ask, what players are y'all watching closely this year?

Thanks again for helping an older lady get caught up.
 
Wolfiegrrl said:
@Texans_Chick
It certainly has been a minute. :) I've really missed your balanced, unbiased take on the state of the team. I'll be paying more attention this year to see what "Cap" can do with this group of young men. I have high hopes as his defense in San Francisco dominated the NFC West for the last couple of years. I can see him turning Will Anderson into the next Nick Bosa/JJ Watt. Man, that would be amazing.

To anyone who wants to answer...
After not paying much attention to the team in 2020 then walking away from the Texans in 2021, I don't have a clue about this team. Nice to see Tunsil, Fairbairn, and Weeks still here. I see Tytus Howard is in his fifth year. I remember he was kind of a shaky start. Is he doing better? I'm not talking fantasy football when I ask, what players are y'all watching closely this year?

Thanks again for helping an older lady get caught up.
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Tytus was moved around a lot be different regimes, even flipping sides and position, LG, but when left alone at RT, he locked down some good players. The tackles are best at pass blocking, but our interior leaked badly. Green at LG started the season moving people in the running game, had lots of injuries, regressed, but the interior has to be better and they brought in a good Vet in Mason at RG, and drafted interior guys. Green looks healthier and stronger but he had his knee scoped.

At RB, Pierce runs hard and angry and gets more then is blocked, love the kid. Their backups should not have been in the league, and they fixed that. Burkhead as your #2, versus this seasons room is very diffferent.

Our TE's could not start for any other team, Schulz is a legit starter, Quitarino behind him looks like a good draft pick, I think they thought they had a solid blocker, but he made some plays in an ass offense

Defensive backfield was actually a bright spot, and should continue that way. Pitre was a heck of a rookie, needs to tackle better, but had to tackle too much because..

DL was ass last year, LB's not much better. You see they really brought in much stronger DL and LB's for this year, and Christian Harris (fast!), should grow and flourish now.

ST was the bright spot the last two years, very well coached, and they kept Ross, and seems Casserio does try to draft ST guys later in the draft.

All in all, talent is much better at starters and depth. With good coaching, we have a real team to watch.
 
Thorn said:
Texans trend line is going up, that's for sure. I'm eager to see what DeMeco does for the Texans. And very hopeful I'm wrong about the Stroud pick, we need a good QB.
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Wow that's some pretty upbeat stuff from Thorn and I like it !
As far as CJ goes, I have no idea about how he's going to do in the NFL ,but I do wish he'd hurry up and sign that contract.
 
Mollywhopper said:
Joe Burrow signed his rookie deal on July 28..

It's ok, they're all aware of the implied deadline..
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09e694e0-917c-11ea-bfff-b4969f38cac4


It’s easy to see why teams would want to hold off on officially signing high-profile picks amid that uncertainty. The coronavirus pandemic could significantly impact their revenue stream this fall, with a loss of stadium and ticket revenue, altered TV deals and more being very real possibilities.

Burrow is expected to receive a nearly $24 million bonus when he signs his deal, too — which is enough money to make a real dent in Cincinnati’s short-term budget plan.

It’s not like Burrow is holding out, however. He’s participated in three days of Zoom calls with other Bengals rookies last weekend, and will start the virtual mini-camp on Monday.
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Texans_Chick said:
Welcome BH! Some of my favorite Texans fans are ones that started following the team because of a player and stuck around. You will find that Texans fans are a very generous people but bad football, like in many places, just doesn't bring out our best lol.

Yes, I was the first outside blogger for the Texans to be allowed that access back around 2008 maybe 2009. Been writing since 2006.Thought I made it clear in the piece I watched stuff. The Texans used to have a fan blogger named Alan Burge who did a nice fan blog for their website but then that went sideways, and eventually he just went off the internet, presumably because collectively we can be a lot, particularly when the football is extremely frustrating to those people accustomed to watching normal football.

I very much enjoyed Alan's writing and missed it when he stopped. When I started writing for HC, the paper had a lot of blogs (the chron blog era), and there was a really good Astros blog. I decided they needed a Texans blog because back then, there was very little writing about a terrible team because writing about bad football if you like good football is an exercise of punching yourself in the face.

This year, I went to every OTA/minicamp session and every presser. I talk to local and national people year round, lots of draft friends. I used to write for a national blog that had 100s of great writers. After that blew up, those bloggers work in every sport for every publication and I stay in touch. Most of the questions I ask are ones to kind of clarify things for fans who may not be there but are trying to figure out what is going on based on brief videos and interview clips.

Really, I have been hate watching the offenses at camp through the entire post-Kubiak era. His camps were clean except when the drafts got guys who were just not NFL guys. Waaaay too many dropped passes against air, lazy boundary feet with drills for WRs. Not high enough expectations, not practicing with purpose by my eye after watching, for example, Kyle Shanahan when he was the Texans WR coach in 2006.

One of my favorite days of mandatory minicamp was doing a ton of red zone stuff with refs right in front of the media members. Like they are gonna be in front of millions of people soon, so what if people are watching them learn? No trying to hide their football over stuff that you should be proud of if you are doing it right. It's pretty easy to compare the QB motions and throws because they are often throwing together, either splitting halves, or in teams rotating through.

I asked about the use of refs this early (not all teams do), and DeMeco said (paraphrase) he wanted the guys to get used to it and use any guidance he could get with how they are calling things. Wanted to be smart with it.

I am planning on watching all training camp but sometimes my time is not my own, or last year I had a close high exposure covid contact, and with an extreme abundance of caution, I was not about to be the person who killed Lovie Smith.

So, anyway, I used to post here all the time as a mod but I am already spending too much time on football lol. But this time of year is especially important to people who can't see what is going on, so I try to share what I know, and ask questions y'all care about, or one's I'm curious about. It is hard to ask football questions and get real answers but this crew are dorks about it. Like they answer the questions in real ways but without really giving up anything that matters. I'm very grateful that this board was very welcoming to me and made me feel comfortable with internet people LOL.

Welcome again!
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AJ had a spot next to ours in the platinum lot for a couple of seasons. Really nice guy.
Haven't heard a peep fron him in quite a few years.
Have you talked to him recently?
 
Rich Schmidt said:
Tytus was moved around a lot be different regimes, even flipping sides and position, LG, but when left alone at RT, he locked down some good players. The tackles are best at pass blocking, but our interior leaked badly. Green at LG started the season moving people in the running game, had lots of injuries, regressed, but the interior has to be better and they brought in a good Vet in Mason at RG, and drafted interior guys. Green looks healthier and stronger but he had his knee scoped.

At RB, Pierce runs hard and angry and gets more then is blocked, love the kid. Their backups should not have been in the league, and they fixed that. Burkhead as your #2, versus this seasons room is very diffferent.

Our TE's could not start for any other team, Schulz is a legit starter, Quitarino behind him looks like a good draft pick, I think they thought they had a solid blocker, but he made some plays in an ass offense

Defensive backfield was actually a bright spot, and should continue that way. Pitre was a heck of a rookie, needs to tackle better, but had to tackle too much because..

DL was ass last year, LB's not much better. You see they really brought in much stronger DL and LB's for this year, and Christian Harris (fast!), should grow and flourish now.

ST was the bright spot the last two years, very well coached, and they kept Ross, and seems Casserio does try to draft ST guys later in the draft.

All in all, talent is much better at starters and depth. With good coaching, we have a real team to watch.
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This is a great review.

I'm really excited about the coaching staff/scheme + the average backup being more solid. That is going to be more important as the league increases real games, decreases preseason. Like it is brutal for fans when one guy goes down and you have no chance at all and watch the rest of the pointless season. DeMeco Ryans did a nice job dealing with player losses with the 49ers.

Like each year, the players say supportive things of the coaching staff because that is part of the job. Finding something to say, though my goodness, 2020 pressers were an abomination of trying to find something good to say about any of it.

This year, I wish the population at large could see how actually stoked players are working with these coaches.
 
michaelm said:
AJ had a spot next to ours in the platinum lot for a couple of seasons. Really nice guy.
Haven't heard a peep fron him in quite a few years.
Have you talked to him recently?
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Nah, it has been a lot of years but last time I heard he was good, just not being a public person. It can be very weird talking football as a semi-public person when strangers are angry at the team, and sometimes take it out on you because you listen and they feel unheard by the team. It's a weird dynamic and not something you really want to embrace too much, particularly when football is supposed to be a diversion.

Part of my 2023 is just seeking out the people who should like the football but exited out for various reasons, including health reasons. Reconnecting. Bad football will break your heart, sometimes it is best to dial back your care.
 
I think anger, disappointment, and frustration in daily living + world events are often released in world of sports.
 
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