Back to the rumor lab: The man who “knows what you don’t know” addresses season ticket-holders and tells them to calm down about their worries that Jack Easterby might be GM or might have a role alongside a new GM. Matt Miller says he’s heard from multiple agents who represent several top candidates for the job that the Houston gig is one “no one” wants. Lastly, to round out the rumor mill news, Texans_Thoughts provides a video breakdown of Eric Bienemy as a potential HC for the Texans.

Texans president: Jack Easterby will not be our General Manager
By Josh Alper, Pro Football Talk

Excerpt: During a Zoom call with season-ticket holders on Wednesday, Texans president Jamey Rootes was asked about Belichick’s assessment of Easterby.

“Jack would be the first person to tell you he’s not a personnel guy,” Rootes said, via Matt Young of the Houston Chronicle. “Jack will not be the General Manager of the Houston Texans. Jack realizes we need personnel expertise to put together the best football team. He doesn’t have enough time in the day. He’s working on sports science, working on nutrition. Spread the word. Jack has no intentions of being the General Manager.”

Rootes went on to say that the intention is to name a new G.M. in January and that “hope will spring eternal” for the team once they make that hire.

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Matt Miller’s Scouting Notebook: Fixing the Eagles, Latest 2021 Big Board & More
By Matt Miller, Bleacher Report

—The Houston Texans will be hiring a general manager and a head coach this offseason, with the team expected to make the GM a priority. That sounds great in theory, but I’m told from multiple agents who represent several top candidates for the job that the Houston gig is one “no one” wants. Said one agent: “You have to look at every job as maybe the only opportunity you’ll get, so maybe you jump early on one you don’t love, but the thing about being a GM that’s different than a coach is that you really get one chance, and if it doesn’t work out, you’re fired and out of the league. There aren’t many second-time hires for a GM job, so you better get it right when deciding where you want to work.”

There are reasons to like the Houston job—Deshaun Watson being a big one—but concerns about ownership and the influence of Jack Easterby, a former team chaplain who now wields a large amount of power, are valid and could push away the best candidates.

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Texans_Thoughts on twitter provides a 16-minute breakdown examining the potential for Eric Bienemy to be the next Texans HC. Timestamps:
0:57 Reasons for Bieniemy
5:43 Defending Bieniemy’s issues
11:06 Scheme film breakdown

Slow news day. A look at how the Texans (tell me if you haven’t heard this before…) need to stay focused on rushing lanes but instead of a running back this time it’s for an opposing QB (Cam Newton) in this weekend’s matchup vs. the Patriots. Also, the Texans have signed a WR to the practice squad who caught passes from Watson at Clemson.

Texans have to stay disciplined in rush lanes to defend Patriots QB Cam Newton
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt: “Here again, and I know I talk about discipline a lot, but you have to be disciplined in your rush lanes and how you rush the guy because if you are undisciplined and you’ve got three guys on one side and one guy on the other, that creates a big running lane for the quarterback,” said Crennel. “We have to be disciplined and have two inside rushers, two outside rushers and collapse the pocket on him so that he can’t run.”

Newton has rushed 80 times for 335 yards and nine touchdowns in eight games. The former 2011 Carolina Panthers No. 1 overall pick has not rushed for that many touchdowns since 2015 when he rushed for 10 en route to an All-Pro selection as Carolina qualified for Super Bowl 50.

On Sunday against the Baltimore Ravens, Newtown rushed 11 times for 21 yards and a touchdown. The Texans will have to stay true to their game plan to keep Newton from being equally as effective.

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Texans Are Reportedly Signing Former Clemson Wide Receiver
By Andrew Holleran, TheSpun

Excerpt: Houston, looking to add some depth at the wide receivers position, is reportedly signing a former Clemson Tigers wide receiver to the practice squad.

Artavis Scott, 26, is reportedly signing with Houston. He’ll reportedly be added to the Texans’ practice squad, but could eventually be activated to the game day roster.

The former Clemson Tigers wide receiver played for the ACC school from 2014-16. He made an immediate impact as a freshman, with 76 receptions for 965 yards and eight touchdowns in his first season. Scott added 93 receptions for 901 receiving yards and six touchdowns as a sophomore. He totaled 614 receiving yards and five touchdowns as a junior.

Romeo Crennel explains why the Texans do not use more up-tempo/hurry-up on offense. Cody Stoots writes the DeAndre Carter roster obituary, also putting forth the theory that Carter’s departure might indicate an improvement for Coutee’s chances at a slot WR position and possibly special teams returner role, as well.

Why don’t the Texans go up-tempo all the time since it seems to work?
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt: Given that the hurry-up offense on that drive helped Houston pick up chunk plays, why not run the offense at that pace more often?

“Sometimes it does [spark the offense], but if you go up-tempo all the time, the defense kind of gets used to it, gets into a rhythm and gets into an up-tempo rhythm,” interim coach Romeo Crennel explained. “Sometimes, I think we want to know what the defense is going to line up in and kind of have an idea about what they are going to do. Sometimes when you go up-tempo, you don’t have that idea of what they are going to do because they are mulling around and doing stuff that maybe you don’t expect them to do.”

The problem for Houston was they had no run game to balance out their passing attack, or provide another effective gear to their hurry-up offense. The lack of a credible rushing threat has been a problem for the entire season and has been an ingredient to their 2-7 record.

“We slow it down so that everybody can be on the same page about how we want to operate a particular play call,” Crennel said.

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Will Returns Improve with the Texans Recent Roster Move?
By Cody Stoots, SI.com

Excerpt: Against the Browns running back C.J. Prosise returned kickoffs and wide receiver Will Fuller returned one of the Cleveland punts. Fuller could assume the role full time or options such as Keke Coutee and Randall Cobb could be available to the Texans on punts. 

Despite often being pointed out by former head coach Bill O’Brien as tough, smart, and dependable Carter usually disappointed in his returns. He made curious decisions on kickoffs costing the Texans yards. He misjudged when to catch and not catch punts pinning the Texans deep in their own territory. 

His fumble played a hand in the playoff blunder in Kansas City.

Carter was far from average and often a net negative. O’Brien never challenged him with other players since his arrival in the middle of the 2018 season, even extending the returner this past offseason.

The improvement from Prosise on kickoffs and Fuller on punts was immediate, as both possessed more “juice” at the position and each represents an actual threat to acquire yards. 

This also paves the way for Keke Coutee to be active as the potential punt returner and backup slot wide receiver.

 

Jason La Canfora says we don’t have to worry about Romeo Crennel becoming the 2021 Texans HC. Is this one of the most epic jinxes of all time, or will No Confirma be right on this one?

NFL insider notes: Eagles’ crushing loss will haunt them, big Texans changes on the way and more from Week 10
By Jason La Canfora, CBS Sports

Excerpt: Romeo Crennel is not going to be the next head coach of the Texans. Jack Easterby is not going to be their general manager. That’s not why they shelled out big bucks to a search firm and that’s not even what either of those individuals would really be focused on at this stage of their career.

Not happening, Not being considered. 

Crennel has been there, done that with taking over tear-downs and he is doing the organization a great service, again, by leading them through the remainder of this lost season, long ago doomed by outgoing coach/GM Bill O’Brien. But this is going to be a rebuild, there is an ongoing GM search, and that GM, along with ownership, will pick a coach. Anything else is pablum.

This isn’t an inside job and this won’t be an inside job. Easterby’s role remains to be seen. 

Crennel is one of the most beloved people in this game. Universally liked and respected. But that is a massive chore ahead for this floundering franchise and new ideas and fresh perspectives are badly in need. The defensive line needs a total overhaul, they are short of linebackers and the secondary is pretty bad, too. And they need a few starting offensive linemen and a running back and, by 2021, new receivers. Otherwise, yeah, just roll out the same team and keep the staff around and try to go 0-16 next year.

The Browns outmuscled them as most opponents do, churning them up on the ground. Nick Chubb and Kareem Hunt both went over 100 yards and on a day when the wind negated anything sustained downfield, the Texans were overmatched. Don’t let the final score fool you. This is a 2-7 team that was down 3-0 late in the first half and had a fourth-and-3 from the Cleveland 30 and opted to punt (long field goals were a non-starter in these conditions). Let that sink in. According to @SurrenderIndex, that was in the 99.9th percentile of all “cowardly punts” in the league this season and in the 99.8th percentile of all cowardly NFL punts since 2006.

Don’t kid yourself. Big, big changes remain ahead. Promise.