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Daily Thread 8-19-2020: Guest Article “53-Man Roster Predictions: Defense”

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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”

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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!!!

Join The Discussion! Here’s How…

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After you’ve set up your Hyvor commenting account, be sure to check out the Hyvor Talk page on Texans Chat (it’s a link on the top main nav menu, by the way) that gives a rundown on all the fun stuff you can do in the comments section, and the page also gives a link to the Hyvor Talk Privacy Policy page so you can see how your privacy and data are secured when using their commenting platform.

I just want to say this right off the bat: I know that I can type a helluva’ long post. I’m very detail-oriented, and my job in life is that I help train people on how to use technology, so I’m hardwired in a way that means I try to make it as easy as possible for someone to get through a series of steps to arrive at a good destination. So, the instructions below seem like it’s long but it’s not a bunch of hard steps and instead it’s just me being very descriptive so anyone can understand how to get this accomplished. Once you’ve done the steps below, that’s it…you’re in…bingo bango bongo HERE WE GO!

NOTE: Please use Chrome because Safari was not agreeing with me when I went to try and click the Signup button…but it all works in Chrome. UPDATE: Seems that many folks are using Safari and say that it’s working OK for them.

Note #2: Leave this browser window open because once you have completed the registration it should refresh the TexansChat.com page for you and show you that you’re able to comment, or maybe you’ll have to refresh it on your own. But for me, it swiftly recognized my Hyvor Talk registration and refreshed my TexansChat.com page and I was able to start commenting. You might have to hit the Login button in the comments section, so it’ll all work out however it works out!

Note #3: You might have to disable Ad Blockers if you use them. I didn’t have to, and am using Ad Blocker for Chrome, but your mileage may vary.

STEP 1:

In the comments section of this article, click the SIGNUP button. It opens up a pop-up window, so slide it over away from this browser window and resize windows accordingly so you can have two “screens”: 1 to read these instructions and the other to fill out your Hyvor Talk registration form

In Step 2 (below), you’ll be redirected to the Hyvor Talk commenting site to establish a one-time account. Unlike BRB, you don’t log into the actual TexansChat site to establish an account. Your ability to comment is stationed with Hyvor Talk where I have the Admin privileges for managing users and how the commenting system looks and works on the TC site. Learn more about editing or customizing your profile, at the bottom of this message, but first here’s how to set up your Hyvor Talk account so you can begin commenting at Texans Chat.

STEP 2:

After clicking the SIGNUP button, a new window should pop up. Do the following (You can edit these later on, as well, so don’t worry about doing it correctly the first time, but make sure you DO use an actual, real email you have access to!):

First Name: 

This is what you want your SCREEN NAME to be. So if you want it to be FabulousHuman_28 then enter into the First Name field the exact way you want it to look. I don’t think there is a character limit on the First name but maybe there is? I put in OneManBlitz and it kept it, and it even kept the capital letter for O , M, and B. So case sensitive screen names seem to work!

Last Name (Optional):

I left this field blank. If you put something in both the First Name field and in the Last Name field then I assume it displays both names and puts a space between the two names.

Hyvor Username:

I made mine OneManBlitz to keep in step with what my First Name/screen name is set to. Hyvor uses this so that you can follow others, they can follow you, you can mention others, they can mention you. So if someone did like an “@OneManBlitz” within their comment…then I would see it somehow, etc., I don’t know much about how this works but I would say you’ll set this to the same as your First Name/screen name. It has a 3 character MINIMUM and a 15 character MAXIMUM so you might have to adjust your Hyvor Username here in order to get it under the 15 character max limit–The key to remember is that your FIRST NAME is what shows up when you post a comment, not your Username, so be most focused on setting your FIRST NAME as what you want to use as your screen name. You can change it later on, too. I just went into my Hyvor Talk profile and changed my Hyvor User Name to “OMB” since it meets the 3-character minimum limit and it’s faster/easier to type @OMB instead of @OneManBlitz.

Email:

THIS ONE is important, though. Make sure you use an email that you will always have and have easy access to. You can still edit your email field later on, beyond your first signup, but you will receive an email message from Hyvor Talk that has a 6-digit pin number you will need to use to confirm your signup in order to activate and use the commenting system at TexansChat.com

Password:

Use a handy password is my advice to you. You can change your password later on, by the way.

This has got your pop up window completed and now it’s time for Step 3 (below) which begins with clicking the SIGN UP button.

STEP 3:

When you click the SIGN UP button, a CAPTCHA anti-spam box pops up. Click in the box beside “I’m not a robot” and then click the squares it tells you to click in order to proceed.

Lastly, it will say you’ve been sent a confirmation email to your email address. Keep this Hyvor window open! Open a new window so you can get to your email inbox, and locate the Hyvor email. NOTE: My Gmail main inbox allowed the Hyvor email to reach me instead of marking it as spam, but you might have to do a “Search” for the word Hyvor or do an inbox search for the sender auth@hyvor.com to find the confirmation email. You can manually type in the 6-digit pin code into the Hyvor pop up window or you can click and drag your mouse over the 6-digit code and do a “copy” and then go back to your still-open Hyvor window and paste it into the box and hit the CONFIRM button.

The last step is below, and it involves getting back to the TexansChat.com site which if you still have your original browser window open, the one for this page, then you can go down to the comments section and you might see your name and that it’s ready to let you comment. You might have to refresh the page and you might even still have to click the Login button, though, and if so then just log in and you’re done.

STEP 4:

The Hyvor pop up window should say Email Confirmed! and so now you’re officially logged in. For me, after I clicked the CONFIRM button the pop up window disappeared, Since I still had the TexansChat.com page up, which was where I was at originally in one of the comments sections when I had clicked the “Sign up” button…as soon as I was back on the TexansChat page in the comments section there was my screen name and a comment box waiting on me so I could make a comment.

2 Ways To Get To Your Hyvor Profile & How To Edit Your Profile:

There are two ways to get to your Hyvor Talk profile:

  1. The 1st way to access your Hyvor profile is in the comments section of any article, when you see your screen name and circular-shaped profile avatar…click it. You can click Edit Hyvor Profile, and it will take you to a new browser window where you see your profile info (You’re already logged in, so it doesn’t ask you to log back into it for you to edit your profile).
    1. You can change everything. I am not sure that if you change your Username and if you decide to revert BACK to the old Username at a later point in time that it’ll let you have your old username back. It might cache those for forever, so be smart about changing your username.
    2. The “Change Picture” that has an underline doesn’t work. Instead, click the actual round-shaped image that’s an auto-generated avatar image just above the words “Change Picture”. You’ll upload an image from your computer or device. Remember that you’ll be uploading what’s likely a square or rectangular shaped image…but Hyvor fits it into a circle shape like Twitter does. There is a + and – symbol to increase or decrease the size, and you can drag your image to center it better, but frankly the whole deal is a little tricky so you will have to play with it. I suggest using as square-shaped of an image as you can, and make sure the most important detail of the image is as centered within the square as possible so that when it puts it into a circle shaped bubble it’s going to look the best.
  2. The 2nd way you can access your Hyvor profile is that you either a) do a Google search for Hyvor or b) go to talk.hyvor.com and in the top right click on the HOME button. Put in your email and your password. NIFTY TRICK: Make sure you click the “Remember Me” so that anytime you open your browser up and go to TexansChat.com it keeps you logged in like BRB always did. If you use a privacy mode like an Incognito window in Chrome when doing this, I don’t think it will remember you when you’re using a private browsing experience.
    1. When you’re into your account, you will see many things.
      1. You can click My Comments and see all of your comments.
      2. You can click Email Settings and enable or disable these things: A) Email me when someone replies to my comments, and/or B) Email me when someone mentions me (if they typed in @OMB for example) — Be sure to click the save button on this screen.
      3. I disabled Downvotes but kept Upvotes active. There’s no way to turn a post “green” after a certain number of Upvotes. UPDATE: Hyvor is working on releasing a feature that turns a comment a color when it reaches a certain number of UpVotes, and I can customize the background color as well as how many “rec’s” it takes to turn a comment a color.
      4. I don’t think I’m using the Reputation system for us.
      5. I disabled Reactions (I think…).
      6. At the very top right you’ll see your round-shaped avatar image. Click it and it opens up your Profile so you can change things like I described way up in #1 at the top of this section.

If you have problems with any of these steps, do not get discouraged. You can send an email to me by using the Texans Chat contact form, and as a last resort you can use the Comment As Guest function in a comments section and we’ll go from there.

Daily Thread 8-17-2020

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Chat it up. This is your Texans Chat daily thread. Here’s some Texans news from yesterday or maybe even from days before yesterday. Only excerpts have been used, and readers are encouraged to click the links to read the full article which supports the authors and organizations they represent.

Training Camp Day 2 | The Harris Hits
by John Harris, Texans Analayst on Aug 15, 2020.

The best overall rep of the day for three players included Reid, tight end Jordan Akins and quarterback Deshaun Watson. They say that Iron Sharpens Iron, right? Well, when these two 2018 third rounders matched up in one-on-ones, it was just beautiful. Akins finished the rep with a one hand catch that was just sublime, but Reid made a tremendous break and was right in the hip pocket. Then, Watson made an incredibly accurate pass to Akins where Reid, even in tremendous position, couldn’t knock it away. Each of the three players on that rep made each other better and it was great to see Akins make that outstanding catch to finish the drill.

Texans Camp: OLB Duke Ejiofor Sustains Torn ACL
By Mike Fisher on Aug 14, 2020.

Houston Texans outside linebacker Duke Ejiofor – the Houston-area native who missed all of the 2019 NFL season due to a torn Achilles tendon a year ago – on Friday collided with horrible injury luck once again.

Ejiofor tore an anterior cruciate ligament at Friday’s training camp practice, as Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle  is the first to report.

Texans coach Bill O’Brien says practice is no different after giving up play-calling
by Mark Lane on Aug 16, 2020.

2020 is the first training camp since 2016 where Houston Texans coach Bill O’Brien is not calling the plays.

However, the seventh-year coach, who is doubling up as the team’s general manager, says that practices are still the same.

“I wouldn’t say that practice is too much different because even last year [offensive coordinator] Tim Kelly would relay the play in to Deshaun (Watson) quite a bit,” O’Brien said. “So Deshaun is very used to hearing Tim’s voice in the helmet.”