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TJ Yates

Imatexanfan said:
Well u know any team that plays us are gonna bltz us like crazy, that could work for our advantage or hurt us big time with a rookie back there...I say sign Jeff Garcia :tiphat:
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No doubt about it.

Hopefully, the difference between our team & Jacksonville's is that our pass protection can do their job & give him at least a half a second to get the ball out.

Yates is going to get hit, no way around that. He needs to be able to keep looking down field.

GP made an excellent post last night. There are a lot of things that Kubiak can do for us to be successful against the blitz. If the LBs leave the middle of the field, we should have slants to OD, Dre, Walter, & Dressen all day long. The Jags & Vikings ain't got nothing like that.

Atlanta scares me. But they aren't the Packers or the Saints. We've got a shot.
 
thunderkyss said:
If the LBs leave the middle of the field, we should have slants to OD, Dre, Walter, & Dressen all day long. The Jags & Vikings ain't got nothing like that.
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If they blitz all of their LB's...sure...

If they just blitz one or two, probably not...He'd have to fit it into some tight spaces.

On the slant to Dre yesterday, if the ball wasn't thrown so poorly it may have been picked off...
 
Just re-watched all of Yates snaps from yesterday:
14 Runs Plays = 33 Yards
16 Pass Plays = 73 Yards
1. Complete to OD - 5 Yards
2. Complete to JJ -10 Yards
3. Incomplete - Dropped snap, threw it away, smart play to not force it
4. Complete to OD - 24 Yards stepped up into the blitz for biggest completion
5. Incomplete - Pocket broke down, nowhere to go, threw it away (grounding)
6. Spike for FG Attempt
7. Incomplete - A little late, but hit OD in the facemask
8. Incomplete - Low pass to AJ on slant
9. Incomplete - Pressured, threw it away
10. Complete - 3 Yards Pressured in end zone, complete to OD
11. Complete - 14 Yards Clean pocket complete to AJ in between 4 defenders
12. Complete - 8 Yards to AJ
13. Play broke down, ran for 1st down but came up a yard or so short.
14. Incomplete - A little late and behind OD
15. Complete - 1 Yard Check down to Foster
16. Complete - 5 Yard Check down to Foster

If you take out the spike to stop the clock, that's 15 pass to 14 run plays that I counted. It seems if he can get the timing of the routes down a little more and develop some chemistry with the receivers Yates could be serviceable. He made good decisions and didn't try to force anything. There were quite a few 3rd and longs that we just ran a draw to try and pick up some yardage. Only about 30 snaps of live action, hopefully taking all the reps this week will help with timing, etc. Run game needs to produce more consistently. Will be interesting to watch, at least we control our own destiny.
 
I like Yates. Strong arm, has some mobility, seemed calm. I watched his interview last night on channel 13 and he just doesnt seem like this game is to big for him.

I am excited to see what he can do.
 
Nice to see the players have TJ's back:

DerrickWard32 Derrick Ward
You guys want to know something? @TJ_Yates is gonna lead us to great things. His confidence is beyond his rookie years and we got his back!
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JWarren14 said:
Just re-watched all of Yates snaps from yesterday:
14 Runs Plays = 33 Yards
16 Pass Plays = 73 Yards
1. Complete to OD - 5 Yards
2. Complete to JJ -10 Yards
3. Incomplete - Dropped snap, threw it away, smart play to not force it
4. Complete to OD - 24 Yards stepped up into the blitz for biggest completion
5. Incomplete - Pocket broke down, nowhere to go, threw it away (grounding)
6. Spike for FG Attempt
7. Incomplete - A little late, but hit OD in the facemask
8. Incomplete - Low pass to AJ on slant
9. Incomplete - Pressured, threw it away
10. Complete - 3 Yards Pressured in end zone, complete to OD
11. Complete - 14 Yards Clean pocket complete to AJ in between 4 defenders
12. Complete - 8 Yards to AJ
13. Play broke down, ran for 1st down but came up a yard or so short.
14. Incomplete - A little late and behind OD
15. Complete - 1 Yard Check down to Foster
16. Complete - 5 Yard Check down to Foster
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The highlighted plays might not have ammounted to much but but each was an opportunity to make a mistake. He made none.

I'd like to think the series prior to halftime gives us an indication of what we can expect from Yates - He came in throwing and got them in scoring range in the two minute drill. The offense looked much like what we have come to expect with Schaub under center during that series.
Despite the grounding call , I think he played well given the circumstances.
 
Ranger Tom said:
JWarren14: I was on a plane during most of Mr. Yates' plays; how did he look while he was running?
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He looked OK, he seems a little more mobile than Schaub. Not sure he is going to bust off any long runs, but definitely not a rooted tree back there. He slid short of the first down, but there were three defenders around him one of which could have been flagged for leading with his helmet while Yates slid. I think it was just a solid decision.
 
According to AJ, Yates was his workout partner for the past month and a half. And Andre has confidence in this rookie, so I'm just going to roll with the flow and hope the TEAM can step up and rally behind this kid.
 
Double Barrel said:
According to AJ, Yates was his workout partner for the past month and a half. And Andre has confidence in this rookie, so I'm just going to roll with the flow and hope the TEAM can step up and rally behind this kid.
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And for what it's worth, Schaub said this morning that TJ Yates came into this offense and learned it quicker than anyone Schaub has every seen, including himself, despite Schaub coming from a similar system at Virginia.
 
thunderkyss said:
Were any of his passing plays from under center?
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He threw several quick slants (2-3 step drops) and a TE seam pass after taking the snap from under center.

...which caused me to wonder why we didn't do that a bit yesterday.
 
I would love to see TJ succeed. One, it would be great for the Texans, and two its my Mother's maiden name, so I would LOVE to have his jersey. :cool:
 
I think TJ will surprise a lot of you guys.

I thought he did surprisingly well at the end of the second quarter - seemed to light up the offense. But then in the 3rd Kubiack went all fetal on the offense.

Just like Leinart, you need to give him a chance after a week's worth of practice with the first string guys.
 
Why do I get this feeling that Brett Favre is not entirely out of the picture.

Kubiak said he won't rule anybody out and he won't confirm anyone.

To me, Sage was Option A and it seems Miami won't release Sage.

Option B probably just got put on the table.
 
GP said:
Why do I get this feeling that Brett Favre is not entirely out of the picture.

Kubiak said he won't rule anybody out and he won't confirm anyone.

To me, Sage was Option A and it seems Miami won't release Sage.

Option B probably just got put on the table.
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I read a quote from Rick Smith today , cant recall where or I'd link it but ....

Rick Smith on Favre said:
I dont want to bring the circus to town
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I would tend to agree with the rumblings I've heard at this point -- Yates is the guy for now and will be unless he proves he can't get it done, and that a veteran presence as a QB would be more for "insurance" than for stepping in regardless. I mean, if it took a veteran a couple weeks to run this offense but TJ's playing well, would we want to bench him just because the veteran finally knows the offense well enough to run it in a real NFL game? I don't think I would.
 
ziggy29 said:
I would tend to agree with the rumblings I've heard at this point -- Yates is the guy for now and will be unless he proves he can't get it done, and that a veteran presence as a QB would be more for "insurance" than for stepping in regardless. I mean, if it took a veteran a couple weeks to run this offense but TJ's playing well, would we want to bench him just because the veteran finally knows the offense well enough to run it in a real NFL game? I don't think I would.
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I was impressed by how he came into the game cold and took us down the field. The Jags defense is a hell of a defense and 3rd overall and he sliced them up like he was Tom Brady.

Does anyone else remember the throw to AJ in the middle of 4 Jags defenders?

This dudes got an arm.
 
TEXANRED said:
I was impressed by how he came into the game cold and took us down the field. The Jags defense is a hell of a defense and 3rd overall and he sliced them up like he was Tom Brady.

Does anyone else remember the throw to AJ in the middle of 4 Jags defenders?

This dudes got an arm.
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That was a good throw into a very tight window.

I cant complain about Yates performance with limited reps this week due to getting Lienart up to speed and coming in cold off the bench with the game still in doubt. He didnt generate a ton of offense but he didnt make any mistakes that cost the team field position or points. I think thats about all you can ask for under those circumstances.

I read a quote earlier today from Eric Winston saying that the team played it safe offensively in the second half to ensure than Yates didnt get injured too.

OD was the backup to Yates at QB and he took snaps from under center after halftime just to be ready.
 
Corrosion said:
That was a good throw into a very tight window.

I cant complain about Yates performance with limited reps this week due to getting Lienart up to speed and coming in cold off the bench with the game still in doubt. He didnt generate a ton of offense but he didnt make any mistakes that cost the team field position or points. I think thats about all you can ask for under those circumstances.

I read a quote earlier today from Eric Winston saying that the team played it safe offensively in the second half to ensure than Yates didnt get injured too.

OD was the backup to Yates at QB and he took snaps from under center after halftime just to be ready.
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Only the Texans... :heh: :kubepalm:
 
He looks like he's got a stronger arm than Leinart/Schaub, and we keep hearing he's the most athletic of the 3. Downside is obviously he's a rook, he can't know the offense half as well as Schaub did, and that's going to really limit our playbook. He's also going to be prone to falling into false looks from opposing D's, and forcing bad throws under pressure.

Our success or failure with Yates is going to be just as much on Kubiak as it will be on Yates. He needs to figure out what Yates does well and find a way to incorporate it into what we already do successfully.

If I were Kubiak, I'd turn him loose in Atlanta. It's not a game we're likely to win, may as well just let Yates show you what he can and can't do, better to learn these things early.
 
EVOLVIST said:
And for what it's worth, Schaub said this morning that TJ Yates came into this offense and learned it quicker than anyone Schaub has every seen, including himself, despite Schaub coming from a similar system at Virginia.
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Maybe someone can expand on this for me - but Yates said they ran a similar type offense at NC and would study some of the Texans games because of it. I want to say I heard it on "inside the game" when he was getting by Allen. Did anyone else here this or has this been commented on?
 
For starters, I thought Yates played extremely well considering the circumstances. It was really surprising to him throwing during his initial drive, and be pretty accurate, as well as make smart decisions.

BUT

I think it would also be fair to point out that both of Jacksonville's starting corners were out. It's funny because I thought we should have passed a tad more than run yesterday - even with Leinart - because that Jags run d is legit. Everytime we made a move to pass the ball - and I don't mean the check downs to Foster - we were effective.

Also, the knock on Yates was that he had a weak arm coming out of college. His accuracy always seemed to struggle on deep routes, and he would have trouble putting the proper velocity on routes like deep outs and comebacks. I have faith in him though because his strengths lie in the ability to make the proper reads on quick throws. He was known for fitting it in tight windows on short and intermediate routes, which is perfect considering how our offense goes about things.
 
Corrosion said:
That was a good throw into a very tight window.

I cant complain about Yates performance with limited reps this week due to getting Lienart up to speed and coming in cold off the bench with the game still in doubt. He didnt generate a ton of offense but he didnt make any mistakes that cost the team field position or points. I think thats about all you can ask for under those circumstances.

I read a quote earlier today from Eric Winston saying that the team played it safe offensively in the second half to ensure than Yates didnt get injured too.

OD was the backup to Yates at QB and he took snaps from under center after halftime just to be ready.
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No doubt bro, I think it will be interesting to see Yates this Sunday with a full week taking all the snaps! He had a chance to experience "game speed" against a pretty darn good defense and now will get the reps in practice.

I think he'll be fine...

I posted something that Derrick Ward tweeted earlier today about how the players will have TJ's back.
 
Texan_Bill said:
No doubt bro, I think it will be interesting to see Yates this Sunday with a full week taking all the snaps! He had a chance to experience "game speed" against a pretty darn good defense and now will get the reps in practice.

I think he'll be fine...

I posted something that Derrick Ward tweeted earlier today about how the players will have TJ's back.
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I saw that post earlier .... Also noted was during AJ's rehab Yates was working with him extensively. That cant hurt ....

Lots of people were complaining about a wasted draft pick on Yates right after the draft ..... Doesnt look like such a wasted pick now that QB1 & QB2 are sitting in the hot tub together .... Just hope Yates can make them eat a big helping of crow.
 
TexansBull said:
Maybe someone can expand on this for me - but Yates said they ran a similar type offense at NC and would study some of the Texans games because of it. I want to say I heard it on "inside the game" when he was getting by Allen. Did anyone else here this or has this been commented on?
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Listen to this: A podcast with Butch Davis, Yates' coach at UNC, after Yates was drafted by the Texans, before the lockout was lifted. This gives about as much insight as you'd want, coupled with things Schaub and Kubes have said.

http://old.houstontexans.com/news/PodcastCentral2.asp?AUTO=Y&EID=1354
 
Texan_Bill said:
No doubt bro, I think it will be interesting to see Yates this Sunday with a full week taking all the snaps! He had a chance to experience "game speed" against a pretty darn good defense and now will get the reps in practice.
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The Jags are ranked 19 in sacks (if we can use that as a measure for pass rush) with 23 on the season.

The Falcons are 26th with 20 sacks on the year.

Cincinnati is 12th with 28

Carolina is 23rd with 21

Indianapolis is 29th, with 18

Tennessee is also 23rd with 21

So the Jags have a "better" pass rush than 4 of the 5 teams remaining on our schedule.

By-the-bye, The Texans are 2nd in sacks with 35........

Have we ever had 35 sacks in a season?
 
thunderkyss said:
By-the-bye, The Texans are 2nd in sacks with 35........

Have we ever had 35 sacks in a season?
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Just checked, in 2002, the Texans finished the season with 35 sacks

In 2005 we finished with 37 sacks


2010 we finished with 30 sacks.

We're going to set a franchise sack record.
 
TdotTexas2Step said:
Also, the knock on Yates was that he had a weak arm coming out of college.
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Watch the LSU-NC highlight video posted on page 6 of this thread. Particularly, watch the plays at the 2:00 mark and the 3:00 mark, because they're essentially plays that the Texans live and die with. And then tell me when you've seen Schaub lay one out there that perfectly in stride that far out.

Yates' arm is fine. The arm strength issues in college revolved around throwing off balance and off his back foot, because the protection was horrid for most of his college career.

Side note: Anyone with any question about what type of offense Yates ran at NC just needs to YouTube it, starting with the one referenced above. The plays are there, and you'll see a lot of similarities.
 
eriadoc said:
Watch the LSU-NC highlight video posted on page 6 of this thread. Particularly, watch the plays at the 2:00 mark and the 3:00 mark, because they're essentially plays that the Texans live and die with. And then tell me when you've seen Schaub lay one out there that perfectly in stride that far out.

Yates' arm is fine. The arm strength issues in college revolved around throwing off balance and off his back foot, because the protection was horrid for most of his college career.
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A vote for Yates getting a fair chance in lieu of the vets that will be vulturing.

“Never be afraid to try something new. Remember, amateurs built the ark. Professionals built the Titanic.”
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TEXANRED said:
I was impressed by how he came into the game cold and took us down the field.
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As was I. He came in and played with balls, unlike Leinart who seemed to be playing scared. I like his swagger. Yates may be the first good rookie QB we've ever had, aside from the great Quinton Porter.
 
eriadoc said:
Side note: Anyone with any question about what type of offense Yates ran at NC just needs to YouTube it, starting with the one referenced above. The plays are there, and you'll see a lot of similarities.
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Yep, I've seen him hand off the ball like that before.

Yep, saw him fumble a snap like that before.

Damn... I hope I don't ever see that one..

Yep, seen defense save his ass like that.....

:cow:

J/k, that was a nice video. His arm looks fine to me, even when throwing off his back foot, the ball was smoking, which usually says strong arm to me. I know you teach them not to do it, but every body does it sometime, can't always have a nice clean pocket.
 
Yates to Nicks= Yates to Johnson?

Sorry, I couldn't help but think that watching this Hakeem Nicks video. Yates looked good here mainly because they're all completions, but I'm hoping he'll find AJ more than I think Leinart probably was going to. I really do hope we try to take a chance down the field early on Sunday. Check out the video.

http://youtu.be/u_aMQ2R7dYQ
 
I had watched more than a dozen of Yates' games at UNC.
They run a lot of the same thing the Texans have been doing.

That was the reason I said I understand why we drafted him, the way Wade drafted many of his defensive guys, the way the Texans drafted many of their O-linemen.

Here's straight from the horse' mouth:


During a conference call with the media, Yates talked about his familiarity with the Texans offense.

“When we were going through this past offseason in Carolina, we watched a ton of Texans film from a few years ago because we were running a lot of the same offensive schemes and stuff," said Yates. "Our offenses are extremely similar. It’s fun to watch that stuff on film and see yourself as well as what Matt Schaub does on the field. I feel like I’m pretty prepared going into this offense.”

When asked to expand on the similarities, Yates said: “It’s kind of hard to put it in generic terms, but just the route patterns and the passing schemes and everything. It’s very similar. We took a lot of what the Texans did last year and a couple years ago and implemented (it) into our offense and kind of made it our own way. We based a lot (of our offense on) the Texans.” (houstontexans.com)

There's also familiarity from the scouting combine.

"At the combine I talked to (Texans quarterbacks coach) Knapp and he was the guy that worked me out on the field. It was good. I had a lot of great conversations with him and it was just a perfect fit.”

Texans head coach Gary Kubiak spoke about Yates in his post-draft media session.

"This kid had a nice four-year career and he played his best as a senior, said Kubiak. "He also overcame adversity at North Carolina. I just like everything he stands for. He is basically running our offense there at North Carolina. He walks in and he’s going to know what we’re doing. He reminds me of Matt (Schaub) a great deal. He’s got a great play clock in his head. I just think we’re very fortunate. Rick (Smith) and I were sitting there talking in round five and couldn’t believe he was still on the board. This kid has a chance to be a ‘one’ in this league if he keeps moving forward. It’s a great pick for us.”



http://www.examiner.com/houston-texans-in-houston/familiarity-with-texans-offense-led-to-yates-selection?fb_comment=32644366
 
I don't necessarily worry about Yates familiarity in the offense. I think he'll handle that well. The thing I worry about with Yates is his inconsistency with accuracy at times when I watched him at UNC. Going back now and re-watching some of those games I see them as correctable issues. Is Kubiak going to be able to correct them soon enough? I'm not sure.

He seemed to struggle with his progressions at UNC. Not necessarily recognizing them, but mainly transitioning and his footwork would sometimes look funky and lead to some bad throws especially under pressure. When he was just asked to get to the top of his drop and deliver he looks VERY good. This is a big reason I think we should either run the ball effectively on 1st down or throw on 1st down even more than we did with Schaub. Putting this kid in 3rd and long situations will not be good at all (Just like any young QB). I heard a lot of talk about his accuracy and inconsistency and I had the same critiques, but now I see it was mainly a result of his footwork. Almost kind of similar to the issues Cam Newton had trying to go through his progressions at Auburn. Hopefully Kubiak has been effective in getting him out of some of those bad habits.
 
Texn4life said:
I don't necessarily worry about Yates familiarity in the offense. I think he'll handle that well. The thing I worry about with Yates is his inconsistency with accuracy at times when I watched him at UNC. Going back now and re-watching some of those games I see them as correctable issues. Is Kubiak going to be able to correct them soon enough? I'm not sure.

He seemed to struggle with his progressions at UNC. Not necessarily recognizing them, but mainly transitioning and his footwork would sometimes look funky and lead to some bad throws especially under pressure. When he was just asked to get to the top of his drop and deliver he looks VERY good. This is a big reason I think we should either run the ball effectively on 1st down or throw on 1st down even more than we did with Schaub. Putting this kid in 3rd and long situations will not be good at all (Just like any young QB). I heard a lot of talk about his accuracy and inconsistency and I had the same critiques, but now I see it was mainly a result of his footwork. Almost kind of similar to the issues Cam Newton had trying to go through his progressions at Auburn. Hopefully Kubiak has been effective in getting him out of some of those bad habits.
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A lot of his problems were a lack of protection and a pocket that consistently broke down too quickly .... Its easy to have good footwork when you have no heat on but put a LB or DE in a guys face and that all changes.

He made a lot of plays with his feet at NC ....

As for the game plan , I dont want to see them run on first down early in the game because I think teams will lean twards defending the run thinking that the will play conservative.
Go out there and make them respect the deep ball from the get go , even if its an incompletion they have it in their minds that Yates will let it fly from that point on.
 
Corrosion said:
A lot of his problems were a lack of protection and a pocket that consistently broke down too quickly .... Its easy to have good footwork when you have no heat on but put a LB or DE in a guys face and that all changes.

He made a lot of plays with his feet at NC ....

As for the game plan , I dont want to see them run on first down early in the game because I think teams will lean twards defending the run thinking that the will play conservative.
Go out there and make them respect the deep ball from the get go , even if its an incompletion they have it in their minds that Yates will let it fly from that point on.
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I saw more than a few plays when his protection was fairly solid and at times seemed to just rush the throw. Because his footwork wasn't sound the ball would be thrown at receivers feet. He possesses the qualities you want in a good QB and like I said I think those things are correctable. We'll have to start throwing the ball down the field at some point, just to keep the safeties out of the box. Kubiak is no fool and I trust him so I will agree that fans will be surprised to see Yates throw it often in the 1st QTR and then let Foster and Tate go to work.
 
I will say this about Yates...... His pocket awareness is a million times better than Blaine Gabbert. I told everyone who would listen to me that I didn't think Gabbert would be a good NFL QB because of that very issue. That ran that "punt" shotgun formation at Missouri and as soon as Gabbert "thought" he saw pressure he would run 10 yards backwards and get flushed to the right. He basically took his team out of the play, and I told people that it something that would hurt him.

He doesn't do that now, but his lack of pocket awareness is coming back to bite him now. The kid just doesn't have it at this point. When I watch Yates old games that's not an issue I see with him. And to be honest its rare for a young QB to have pocket awareness as good as Yates does. Clean up his footwork a tad and I think we actually may have something here.
 
Texn4life said:
I saw more than a few plays when his protection was fairly solid and at times seemed to just rush the throw. Because his footwork wasn't sound the ball would be thrown at receivers feet. He possesses the qualities you want in a good QB and like I said I think those things are correctable. We'll have to start throwing the ball down the field at some point, just to keep the safeties out of the box. Kubiak is no fool and I trust him so I will agree that fans will be surprised to see Yates throw it often in the 1st QTR and then let Foster and Tate go to work.
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Right. But certainly you're not talking about Yates' footwork in yesterday's game? His footwork yesterday was miles above his footwork at UNC and certainly better than what we saw of Yates in the pre-season...which leads me to believe that working with coach Knapp has been paying off for him.

Collapsing pocket? No problem yesterday, though some of his throws were tentative resulting in incompletions.
 
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