Instead of links to Texans stories, today we’ll spotlight a YouTube video by TexansFilms that features Deshaun Watson’s six 4th-quarter game-winning/comeback drives in 2019 (regular and postseason).
Daily Thread 8-24-2020
The Decline of Earl Thomas. Brandin Cooks impresses John Harris in Day 7 of Texans camp. Chat it up, chatter heads. Yeah that sounds lame, I know. :/
The Decline Of Earl Thomas: What Did The Texans Know?
By Mike Fisher
Excerpt from the article: A year ago, it was the assessment of none other than Earl Thomas himself that the Houston Texans’ evaluation of him was that “he didn’t want to play football.’‘
Thomas made the Pro Bowl following his 2019 campaign with the Baltimore Ravens, so if that was truly coach/GM Bill O’Brien’s post-phone-call impression of the then-free-agent Thomas, it wasn’t exactly right.
But maybe O’Brien knew something else about Thomas … something beyond on-field will … something the Ravens are now painfully dealing with.
Training Camp Day 7 | The Harris Hits
by John Harris, Texans Analyst
Excerpt from the article: A little while later, Cooks made a catch on an absolute laser from Deshaun Watson as he crossed the field. I texted Marc Vandermeer up in his perch to say “yeah, that’s good enough – wrap him in bubble wrap”. That’s what Marc, Andre and I talk about during preseason games when we’ve seen enough to know a guy is ready “Wrap him in bubble wrap – we’ve seen enough”. I want to see more every day from Cooks because I’m greedy that way. What I saw today, though, was enough for me to be giddy about what he can do for this Texans squad this year.
Let’s Make A “To Do” List: Bugs/Glitches and Feature Wishes
By utilizing the two other articles, which is the Bugs & Glitches article and the Test Drive article, we can try and formulate a list of things to send to Hyvor Talk.
One list will be strictly a Bugs & Glitches list, and within the list we need to categorize each item as High, Medium, or Low priority. The other list will be for wishes we might have in terms of Hyvor Talk adjusting existing features or adding new features.
At some point I will actually take suggestions from the discussion below and create a list that we can view, then have more discussion on the list, and get it to a point where I can send it to Hycor Talk for their review.
Test Drive: Experiment Here
If you want to test some of the Hyvor Talk comments section features out or whatnot, this is the testing environment. This is a good way for community members do trial runs with various comments section features and then discuss.
Bugs or Glitches: Report It Here
Sometimes bugs or glitches happen and then it resolves and things are better. This is normal, for any site. If there are persistent bugs and glitches, please try to leave a comment below. Describe it as best you can.
I do not control the comments section’s software. I have to take a list of things to Hyvor Talk and report to them, and they have to figure out if it’s really a real thing or not, and then they have to decide to fix those. Please remember that info above when you wonder why something isn’t “fixed yet.” It’s not up to me. I don’t have the power to enact change myself.
I will do my best to read all comments. I will do my best to relay to Hyvor Talk what is happening. I will do my best to come back and reply if a bug or glitch has been fixed by Hyvor Talk. Please also come back to your comment and close it out by replying to the threaded convo on the specific issue if you realize it was a temporary bug and things are good now, etc. Or leave new details about the issue if you need to.
Daily Thread 8-22-2020: Weekend Discussion
Hang out at Texans Chat. Let me introduce you to one of my favorite ‘Tubers. His name is Mark Wiens, and he travels the world eating street food and making us all very jealous of it.
Below is his video from Oaxaca, Mexico. If you don’t want to go on the entire journey, at least watch the clip below which starts at the 31-minute mark to watch some amazing elote/elotes being prepared. So the guy at the stand slathers mayo with lime juice squeezed onto the mayo, then rolls the cob of corn in cotija cheese (crumbled in the big plastic container), and then it’s on to the sauces (I know one of those is Bufalo sauce, which is available in a lot of stores) and tajin seasoning salt which is also a regular item in stores, in Texas and the southwest at least.
Anyways, thought I’d share a cool video. Next weekend I’ll post something else. Have a great weekend, Chat Heads!
Daily Thread 8-21-2020
Texans TE Darren Fells Knows What Makes Deshaun Watson a ‘Great’ Quarterback.
By Mark Lane, TexansWire
According to the 6-7, 270-pound Houston Texans tight end, his current quarterback, Deshaun Watson, is already a great at the position.
“He is one of the most phenomenal quarterbacks I’ve ever played for,” Fells said. “His ability to learn from mistakes extremely quick is huge. I’ve never seen him miss two passes twice. He’ll miss one at practice one day and then he’ll never miss that again. That, in my mind, is one of the main differences that make up an average quarterback and a great quarterback.”
The link above is to a houstontexans.com video with camp footage of Thursday’s action on the field in Houston. Drew Dougherty and John Harris discuss Day 5 of Texans Training Camp, Deepi Sidhu interviews Peter Kalambayi and get a sneak peak at the 2020 team.
Houston Texans: DeAndre Hopkins and the Patrick Ewing Theory
By Kenneth Cline, HouseOfHouston.com
What is the Patrick Ewing Theory?
You know Patrick Ewing, the NBA Hall-of-Famer. He was one of the best centers to ever play in the NBA. Drafted first overall by the New York Knicks, Ewing became a big piece for a Knicks team that was one of the best in the ’90s but came up short each time to either Michael Jordan and the Bulls, Reggie Miller and the Pacers, and of course, Hakeem Olajuwon and the legitimate champion Houston Rockets.
[Read more…]Daily Thread 8-20-2020: bighoss34 Predicts the Texans 2020 Starters
Article by bighoss34
Texans Defensive (New) Starters 2020
Give B’OB 6-8 weeks to ease in his rookies to lead roles. These are my mid-season and on projected starters on Defense and then Offense.
CB
2019 year-end CB starters: Bradley Roby, Gareon Conley, Hargreaves
Projected: Roby, Conley and Lonnie Johnson
Slot corner is not technically a starting position, but I think Hargreaves’ slot corner role is the most vulnerable. While the position may not always be on the field to start each game, we are playing with 5 Dbs in the majority of our snaps. Hargreaves was a mid-first round pick so he has talent, but Lonnie Johnson and John Reid will be pushing for that third CB role. I’ll give Johnson the nod to either cover the TE or big slot, or to play the outside and push Roby into the slot on sub packages.
Safety
2019 year-end Safety starters: Justin Reid, Tashaun Gipson
Projected: Justin Reid and Eric Murray
Gipson and O’Brien must have had a huge falling out over him playing and getting injured in week 16 against the Titans. We ate $4.25M of dead money to cut him and then pay Eric Murray what we did. Murray will be the other starting safety and should be able to play the high safety role, help out in nickel, and take a turn getting pushed off by Travis Kelce. Murray’s pay doesn’t look as bad on Overthecap.com as it was originally reported. I’m seeing under $5M of cap hit in 2020, and $6.5M in 2021. He can be cut for $1.5M of dead money in 2022, but until then he has an opportunity to solidify the spot next to star in the making Justin Reid.
ILB
2019 year-end ILB starters: Benardrick McKinney and Zach Cunningham
Projected: Zach Cunningham and Benardrick McKinney
See what I did there? No change, but Zach is the new lead dog.
OLB
2019 year-end OLB starters: Whitney Mercilus and Brennan Scarlett
Projected: Mercilus and Jon Greenard
O’Brien likes to ease in his rookies, but Greenard is exactly what the Dr ordered. He is a strong pass rusher, capable edge setter and even dropped into coverage for the Gators. I see him starting soon, and getting more reps than Scarlett garnered last season. Look for Jacob Martin to be strictly a pass rushing specialist for 2020.
D Line
2019 year-end D-Line starters: Whitney Mercilus, JJ Watt, DJ Reader, Angelo Blackson
Projected: JJ Watt, Brandon Dunn, Ross Blacklock
That’s right I have Mercilus starting last year in two positions. 2/3rds of the time he was in as 4-3 DE, and the rest of his snaps were at 3-4 OLB. Hopefully this year we’ll play more 3-4, and Merc will be given a few reps off to stay fresh. Watt starts as DE in both formations, but again hopefully he sits a few more reps per game to keep him healthy and effective. Blackson was nominally a starter in 2019, as he typically was in on the first series across from DJ Reader at 4-3 DT. I expect Ross Blacklock and Charles Omenihu to take the majority of those snaps this year as both 3-4 ends and at DT with Blackson filling a goal line run-stuffing role.
Texans Offensive (New) Starters 2020
QB
2019: Deshaun Watson
Projected: Watson
N/A
RB
2019: Carlos Hyde
Projected: David Johnson
David Johnson gives us a more dynamic option at RB1, and hopefully less predicable as an explosive pass catcher. Johnson looks to be in the best shape of his life, ready to swing from vines and rescue Jane.
TE
2019: Darren Fells
Projected: Fells
Both Fells and Akins garnered north of 60% of the snaps last season. I expect the team to run less two TE formations with Tytus Howard returning and more talent at WR. I expect Akins to equal or surpass Fells in snaps this season, but I expect Fells to be in on most first series.
WR
2019: Deandre Hopkins, Will Fuller
Projected: Will Fuller, Brandin Cooks, Randall Cobb
The slot corner may not start each game, but I think we’ll run a lot 3 and even 4 wr sets. Look out if our top 4 can stay healthy, and we’re in a much better spot if any one of our receivers misses a few games. A big season from Cooks will go a long way towards cleansing the bad taste from the Hopkins trade.
O-Line
2019: Laremy Tunsil, Max Scharping, Nick Martin, Zach Fulton, Tytus Howard
Projected: Ditto
This is the best news we’ve had for our projected O-Line starters in years.
Daily Thread 8-19-2020: Guest Article “53-Man Roster Predictions: Defense”
Article by bighoss34 and AgentWD40.
Originally published at reddit.com/r/BattleRedBlogRefugees.
We feel like the defensive roster has more questions than the offense. We added a DT, OLB, and a slot corner in the draft, signed three safeties in free agency, and have claimed/signed a couple of big bodies for the line. We’ll also need to flesh out the special teams groups with DBs and linebackers after cutting DeAndre Carter and Buddy Howell from the offense…
CB (6): Bradley Roby, Gareon Conley, Lonnie Johnson, Vernon Hargreaves, John Reid, Keion Crossen
Last Cut: Phillip Gaines (possible IR stash?)
We are returning two legit outside corners in the re-signed Bradley Roby (who seems to be excited about his new leadership role) and a contract year Gareon Conley. Roby was solid last season and dropped at least two sure fire pick-sixes, including one early in the Bills playoff game. Conley came over week eight and stepped right into the starting lineup, leading the league in pass breakups for the second half of the season, so it should be nice to see him more familiar with the team this year. Lonnie Johnson will be competing to the be third corner with Vernon Hargreaves. Both took their lumps last season, with Hargreaves adjusting to our system on the fly at slot and Lonnie getting torched in the playoffs (damn you, Travis Kelce!!!). Lonnie is a big body on the outside when Roby moves into the slot, and John Reid will be learning the system and eventually competing with Hargreaves at slot corner. If the team cuts DeAndre Carter as we projected, Reid might be asked to compete at kick or punt returner. Keion Crossen is a ST standout who will continue to be active on gamedays.
S (5): Justin Reid, Eric Murray, Michael Thomas, AJ Moore, Jaylen Watkins
Last Cut: Jonathan Owens
Yeah, we know. Five safeties may seem like a lot, but our defense does traditionally like to run a lot of three-safety looks, and based on precedent, keeping five is actually fairly typical for this team. Anyway, Justin Reid played last season with a torn labrum, and without the injury, he arguably would have been a Pro Bowler. Reid ought to star in Anthony Weaver’s defense as a playmaker, and we should expect more sacks, TFLs, and interceptions in 2020. The Eric Murray signing was a head-scratcher when you consider how high above market it appears we paid, but reports from camp have been strong, so hopefully he’s a good fit opposite Reid as our high safety. He’ll probably get some opportunities playing nickel and covering TEs as well (damn you again, Travis Kelce!!!). Michael Thomas is a former Pro Bowl ST player and should be our third safety. AJ Moore was one of our top ST players in 2019 and has been getting solid reviews in camp, while Watkins can be a decent dime cover guy.
ILB (3): Zach Cunningham, Benardrick McKinney, Dylan Cole, Tyrell Adams
Last Cut: Peter Kalambayi
Look for Cunningham to establish himself as the alpha dog on the second level for the team this year. Hopefully we can get him extended before the season starts, because if Cunningham can improve in coverage, we may be forced to use the franchise tag to keep him around next offseason. McKinney chipped in over 100 tackles for the third time in his last four seasons and should continue to anchor our run defense in the second level. Hopefully Weaver can be more creative in getting sack opportunities to these two guys. It’s worth noting that McKinney is coming off ankle cleanup surgery in February, which should allow him to move better in space, but continued health will obviously be a concern. And speaking of health, perpetual IR candidate Dylan Cole was recently activated from the PUP list. He’s fun to watch when he’s actually on the field, but thus far, those flashes have been few and far between. It was difficult choosing between Tyrell Adams and Peter Kalambayi for the final spot: Kalambayi is more versatile in that he can play both ILB and OLB, but Adams was pretty solid filling in for McKinney last season, and we may need more of a pure ILB with both McKinney and Cole coming back from injuries, so Adams made our cut. Also, don’t forget that the Texans worked out former Bronco Brandon Marshal recently, and if one of our guys goes down (God forbid), he could feasibly be scooped up to take over that coverage LB role.
OLB (5): Whitney Mercilus, Jacob Martin, Jon Greenard, Brennan Scarlett
Last Cut: Davin Bellamy
Merc will continue to be our weak side 3-4 OLB and 4-3 DE. He played on 88% of our defensive snaps last year, although hopefully they scale that back a little to keep him fresh and allow him to be more explosive. Look for the Texans to be in 3-4 more often this season, as our third round pick Jon Greenard will be a major upgrade at OLB to last year’s starter Brennan Scarlett. Greenard is a technician as a pass rusher, but he’s also a capable run defender who can drop into coverage. We predict Greenard will get more and more playing time as the season progresses, splitting snaps with Jacob Martin, who should remain our pass rush specialist from the strong side in 2020. He flashed late in the season with 3.5 sacks in weeks 12 to 14 and added another big one in the playoffs against the Bills. Last but not least, Brennan Scarlett will take the final spot as veteran depth and a ST contributor. Duke Ejiofor was previously a wild card, since he had reportedly remade his body, dropping about 20 pounds to improve his quickness and take pressure off that repaired Achilles’ tendon. Of course, then he tore his ACL, likely ending his career with the Texans before it ever really began.
DL (7): JJ Watt, Ross Blacklock, Charles Omenihu, Brandon Dunn, Angelo Blackson, Carlos Watkins, Albert Huggins
Last Cut: PJ Hall gets in shape on the PS/IR
Like most seasons, our defense hinges on the health of resident superhuman JJ Watt, who we pray still has a few solid seasons left before he commits full-time to a career as a Hollywood celebrity and/or women’s soccer groupie. We expect Weaver to finally start forcing Watt to take a few snaps off this season, thus allowing Blacklock and Omenihu to absorb some of that pounding in the trenches. One of those two should be lining up opposite Watt at 3-4 DE, with Brandon Dunn holding down the middle at NT. Angelo Blackson will return as a run stuffer, mostly in 4-3 formations, and Carlos Watkins will be competing with Albert Huggins and PJ Hall for one of the two final spots. Someone is likely getting stashed, and it could be PJ Hall beginning the season on IR. We’re guessing at this point that Albert Huggins gets the final spot. Of course, if BOB sacrifices a goat to the football gods and somehow figures out a way to bring Clowney back, we may have to rethink this whole damn thing.
Final (Random) Note: We keep losing all the dreadlocks on our team! What’s the deal with that? Clowney was traded. Hopkins was traded. Fuller cut his hair. Ejiofor got injured again. We’ve already predicted Buddy Howell and Peter Kalambayi being cut. Hell… Vernon Hargreaves better watch his ass.
Daily Thread 8-18-2020: Guest Article “53-Man Roster Predictions: Offense”
Article by AgentWD40 and bighoss34.
Originally published at reddit.com/r/BattleRedBlogRefugees
Since the increase to a 55-man roster is a new game week tweak rather than a season long change, we’re going to assume the regular roster size will stand at 53. In order to increase the game day actives from 46 to 48, eight offensive linemen need to be active, so we’ll need to keep at least nine OL on the initial roster, with one or two on the Practice Squad as well. Anyway, without further ado, here are our roster predictions for the offensive side of the ball…
QB (2): Deshaun Watson, AJ McCarron
Last Cut: Alex McGough
Watson is easily a Top-10 (if not Top-5) QB, and last year AJ proved capable of holding down the fort for a week or two if needed, keeping the Titan’s game competitive even with multiple starters out. In light of the COVID pandemic, it initially seemed reasonable that we might keep three QBs on the roster in case we had a positive diagnosis at some point. However, due to the lack of any real offseason or training camp to adequately prepare and vet younger players, along with the success the NFL has had thus far in containing the virus, it seems unlikely that we’d use a roster spot on a guy like McGough (or any third-string QB, for that matter). It’s similarly unlikely that he’d get picked up by another team, so if he ends up being needed at some point (God forbid), then he should be available.
RB (4): David Johnson, Duke Johnson, Karan Higdon, Cullen Gillaspia
Last Cut: Buddy Howell
First of all, can we all just agree that David Johnson is looking mad swole right now? Okay, great. As for the third running back, it’s difficult to guess who the Texans will keep between Karan Higdon and Scottie Phillips. We’ve all seen glowing film reviews of Phillips, including Clyde Edwards-Helaire comparisons. Meanwhile, Higdon drew some excitement coming into camp in 2019, and he seems to be more of a between-the-tackles back (although not a typical power runner). Regardless, his college tape was littered with long gains busted off from the interior of the line, and with Hyde gone, we need a guy like that to pair with Johnson & Johnson, both of whom get a lot of their yards in space and as receivers. And that pushes Scottie to the Practice Squad. Cullen Gillaspia is probably the safe choice for ST ace over Buddy Howell. Aside from being the only FB on the team, he showed promise as a second level blocker last year in his few offensive snaps, and running backs coach Danny Barrett has already said he hopes to see Gilly in “a more prominent role” this season.
TE (3): Darren Fells, Jordan Akins, Kahale Warring
Last Cut: Dylan Stapleton
Most of us were a bit surprised when the Texans re-signed Darren Fells in the offseason, although he did score seven touchdowns and seemed to have a nice rapport with Watson as a check-down target when on the run. His two-year contract implies that Jordan Thomas (who barely saw the field last season) could be on his way out for a late-round draft pick to a team like the Miami Dolphins looking for a red-zone target. And since both Fells (Y) and Akins (F) are reliable options, we can afford to take a chance on Kahalekuiokalani Michael Wodehouse “Kahale” Warring (U), whose freak athleticism will hopefully translate onto the field this season. Also, he’d somehow end up with only the second longest name on the team, probably for the first time in his life. We know next to nothing about Stapelton, but it’s reasonable to assume that we’ll keep a TE on the Practice Squad.
WR (6): Will Fuller V, Brandin Cooks, Kenny Stills, Randall Cobb, Keke Coutee, Isaiah Coulter
Last Cut: DeAndre Carter
Despite the heartbreaking loss of DeAndre Hopkins, this is without a doubt the deepest receiver group we’ve ever had. Fuller, Cooks, and Stills are all speed demons who can take the top off any offense, and Cobb is the legit slot option this team has been fruitlessly seeking for ages. Now, despite being in BOB’s doghouse last season, we’re picking Coutee over Carter as the backup slot. Coutee’s problems thus far have apparently been more mental than physical, and reports from wide receivers coach John Perry indicate that he “came back with a great attitude” and that “he’s got such an internal fire” to keep getting better every day. So hopefully the kid out of Texas Tech will finally put it all together. Plus, we still haven’t forgiven Carter for that fumbled return against the Chiefs. As for the rookies, there’s a lot to like in Tyler Simmons’ college film as a returner, but as an UDFA, the lack of a real offseason will obviously hurt his chances to stand out. Coulter is kinda in the same boat, but since we did spend a draft pick on him (and he can also return kicks), he probably has a leg up.
OL (9): Laremy Tunsil, Max Scharping, Nick Martin, Zach Fulton, Tytus Howard, Rod Johnson, Senio Kelemete, Greg Mancz, Charlie Heck
Last Cut: Brent Qvale (possible IR stash?)
For the first time in years, we’ll be returning all five starters on the line, which actually could end up being one of the biggest strengths of this team. Crazy, right? However, since the guys in the trenches have the most likely chance of attrition due to COVID spread, let’s knock on wood and hope they all stay healthy. Trading up to grab Charlie Heck in the draft kinda came out of left field, but the team obviously sees a future swing tackle in this coach’s son. Either way, Rowdy Roddy Johnson probably has the inside track right now due to his experience in the system. Kelemete just signed a contract extension, and Mancz is our only true backup center, so both those guys are locks. Cordel Iwuagwu looks like a Practice Squad project, but he has decent length and size. We went ahead and dropped Qvale to make room on the roster for A.J. Moore (but we’ll discuss defense tomorrow).
Specialists (3): Kaimi Fairbairn (K), Bryan Anger (P), Jon Weeks (LS)
We went ahead and included these guys here, since they’re kind of obvious. Also, it gives us another opportunity to write “John Christian Kaʻiminoeauloameka’ikeokekumupa’a Fairbairn.”
Tomorrow… DEFENSE!!!