Warring has a breakout performance in Day 9 of Texans training camp. Two Reids are better than one: Justin Reid we know about, and now rookie CB John Reid is making a name for himself in Texans camp thus far.

Training Camp Day 9 | The Harris Hits
By John Harris, Texans Analyst

Excerpt from article: A few drives later, Warring was on the field with Deshaun Watson and the quarterback looked him up in the end zone. Warring ran a corner route near the back of the end zone while the defense was in man coverage. Watson lofted one to the back corner and Warring leapt above the defensive back in coverage and snatched the ball out of the air as if that was the last pass on earth. Touchdown! His teammates went crazy and I’m not really sure if Warring realized what he’d done. He kind of had this quizzical look on his face after he came down with the touchdown but his teammates all knew – that was a DUDE Play.

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Texans coach Bill O’Brien says CB John Reid may have had ‘best camp of any rookie’
By Mark Lane, TexansWire

Excerpt from article: Reid, who famously turned down a recruiting barbecue at Penn State in order to study more film, has the genus of maturity that lines up with what the Texans are looking for in “dependable, tough, smart” players.

“He’s got a routine already,” O’Brien said. “He’s in here early. He’s taking care of his body. He’s studying tape. He’s in the meetings. He spends extra time with his coaches. He’s taking advantage of his reps. He’s just a really focused.”

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).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LBZsgbm0l9k

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.

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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.

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!

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.”

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Training Camp Notes, 1-on-1 with Peter Kalambayi, Practice Highlights | Texans Training Camp Today (Thursday, August 20, 2020).

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.

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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…]

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.

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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.

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.