Houston Texans Off Season Thread

[eagle eye]

The Pro Bowl was the JJ Watt show. He was trying even though a lot of the players were just going through the motions. JJ Watt Defensive Player of the Year for 2014 is more than deserved. It should have been bestowed like a knighthood or something because Watt is the most dynamic player on defense in the NFL since Lawrence Taylor.

As an aside I saw an article today that said that Watt bought a bare bones property just left of where-the-hell-are-we Wisconsin for the sole purpose of training for 2015. You gotta love it and the only things are you hope he doesn't get attacked by a bear or something and that he brings Jadeveon Clowney with him.

[eagle eye]

There isn't much to talk about concerning the Texans right now. Their biggest off season decision is whether they are going to try to resign QB Ryan Mallet and who won't they be able to keep of the other 8 unrestricted free agents they have to decide upon. Add to this a group of 6 restricted free agents and the Houston front office has some work to do not to mention the NFL Scouting Combine coming this week. The QB situation is interesting because Mallet showed something including some toughness when he played an entire game with a torn pec muscle. Did Tom Savage show enough when given a chance before injury ended his season early? While Case Keenum had some success if you look at his numbers in the games he played he didn't exactly set the world on fire.
In the two games he played he was 2-0 going 45 of 77 for 435 yds with 2 TDs and 3 INTs. He had a completion % of 58.4 and a QBR of 72.2. Are these stats that you trust your franchise to long term? Did Keenum show enough potential to be a franchise QB? Probably not. Here's a link to Texans.com to see what Bill O'Brien's take on Houston's QB situation.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Bill-OBrien-talks-QB-situation/7b3fb069-57ca-4eb1-8d4a-ff8f762498dd

I almost forgot with all this draft and free agents there is a nice article from Texans.com about whether or not football teams use analytics in putting together their rosters. It's my feeling that they almost have to because of the salary cap and free agency (there's that phrase again) teams have to make the biggest bang possible for their bucks. Baseball began the analytics craze and teams like the Oakland A's became a viable product as a result. Guys like Billy Bean of the A's and the Cubs Theo Epstein pioneered analytics and it's as ingrained in baseball as any other process in assembling talent. Football has followed suit but there hasn't been much written about it. However, if you don't think that the Seattle Seahawks didn't use analytics to put together their current team I'd say you are crazy. There's more to luck to hit on as many mid and late round picks, not to mention Russell Wilson, without some use of the Big A. In the link below is an article from Texans.com's Breakfast With The Bulls feature about their take on analytics in the NFL.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Does-football-use-analytics/15bd0123-7a8b-49ac-a397-6a361b944606

It's hard to believe but CB Kareem Jackson has been with the Texans for 5 years. He rookie contract is running out and he is among the 9 players who will be an unrestricted free agent. For his part Jackson wants to stay in Houston saying recently, "...Houston has always had my back." That may be true of the coaching staff and the front office but Jackson has been lambasted in the media. The expectations for the 20th pick in the 1st round of the 2010 draft were certainly high and Jackson definitely suffered his first couple of years in the league. He had gotten better and Houston may want to keep him but cornerback is a high dollar position, or at least it has been. It remains to be seen what happens but it seems like Houston will let Jackson test the free agent market before making a pitch for a new contract. I would like to see the debate over whether you all think Jackson is worth a big contract or not.

As long as I've been on the subject, here's a link to ESPN's list of Texans unrestricted and restricted free agents.

http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/9646/2015-houston-texans-free-agents

[eagle eye]

The NFL Scouting Combine begins today and to give you some players that Houston may be keeping a close eye on is Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/NFL-Combine-Players-to-Watch/f03fa8f3-657c-4626-a34a-a703e8b4ee71

I'm not into mock drafts this early in the pre draft time frame but here's sort of a consensus look at mock drafts that are predicting who Houston will take with the 16th pick in this year's draft.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Mock-Draft-20-Corner-Market/c18b89a6-a34f-4861-9e9d-d09b9340a50f

[eagle eye]

The Texans are at the combine and the first news report I saw was from Texans.com writer John Harris commenting on how much the combine has grown in the last 20 years. Okay, John but how about something I give a crap about? Seriously, it is amazing to think a mass workout of prospective players has grown so much that there are people wondering when the gig will go primetime and even interviews and weigh ins will be televised. I heard on ESPN's SVP show there is a plan to sell tickets to fans for the combine next year. Right now there are only invited players, coaches and GM from the 32 NFL teams and media. No fans, none allowed. I kind of like that but the NFL sees a way to make a buck, well, there you go.

As for Harris? Here is a link to his "10 Observations from Friday's combine" from Texans.com.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/NFL-Combine-10-observations-from-Friday/934965a9-b76d-4ba5-bce1-fc388c62c87f

With Arian Foster and Alfred Blue Houston 1-2 punch last year and very successfully so I might add the idea of drafting another running back seems a little like wasting a draft pick but with Foster approaching 30 and with is injury history maybe it's not such a far fetched notion after all. Check out the article from Texans.com's Drew Dougharty about this very subject.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/RB-in-Draft-a-possibility-for-Texans/020614cf-24db-4864-ba56-29a0bdd84034

[eagle eye]

There was a discussion on the noon show on ESPN 97.5 yesterday about Jadeveon Clowney and whether he'll be able to play in the upcoming season. Just what I've been able to gather and observe I would have to say don't count on it. Clowney had microfracture surgery on his knee this past November and it is not a surgery many football players make it back from at all. That said, You can look at Cowboys defensive end Anthony Spencer who had the surgery in September of 2013 after a Week 2 game against the Kansas City Chiefs. When the 2014 off season work began Spencer was still on crutches doing rehab every day. When the season was about to start Dallas placed Spencer on the active roster in hopes he would be able to play sometime during the season. He finally made his 2014 debut against the New Orleans Saints on November 10, 14 months after his surgery. In the last 2 games of the regular season and the playoff games Spencer was finally showing a little of his old self making his presence felt as Dallas blitzkrieged through their December schedule. Spencer's ability to come back should be reason enough for Houston coaches, teammates and fans to hope Clowney can do the same. In the past microfracture surgery was a death sentence for an NFL player but advances in medicine are helping to change that scenario around so players stand a better than even chance to come back. Every case is different of course and there is definitely cause for some worry but just like years ago when a torn ACL or a torn Achilles tendon were career threatening injuries the medical profession is turning negatives around day by day. Let's give Jadeveon 15 months before we pass judgment on him. 15 months from November of 2014 would give him until February of 2016. That means Clowney will get the full benefit of a whole off season workout program and a full training camp to regain the form Houston wanted to see when his name was the first one called in last year's draft. Houston and Clowney will need to exhibit some patience and not try to rush him back. After all patience is a virtue especially when you don't want to waste a No 1 pick. Be content to have him back and better than ever in 2016. If GM Rick Smith takes this plan of action it shouldn't stop him from drafting pass rusher because, let's face it, you can never have too many of those guys. I believe whole heartedly that Houston was a QB away from making the playoffs last season so, nail down that spot, upgrade the talent in other spots and draft well and who knows what will happen. After all the Texans managed pretty well without Clowney last year so IMO they can wait for him to come back in 2016. If he is all the way back that's like adding another draft pick to the roster. It's too bad for Clowney and the Texans for this year but sometimes things work out for the best. For those of you of little faith who have that big rubber stamp with the words BUST on it, please put it away for now, okay?

[eagle eye]

Texans radio voice Marc Vandermeer talks a bit about the Texans and their challenges in free agency and how who they sign, both from their own team and from around the league, will determine priorities in the April draft.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Free-agency-tops-agenda/fde29fe1-f6a4-448b-bdfb-4868bd35ed47

According to the Bleacher Report Brian Cushing went through surgical procedures on his wrist, knee and ankle after the season. Cushing said that the surgery on his wrist was to repair a broken bone that he actually played through the tail end of the season with. He also said he had procedures on his knee and ankle just to clean them out and take care of some discomfort. Cushing said he will be healthy and ready to go for off season work even though no official time table for his return has been released.

From ESPN's Tania Ganguli reporting that Todd McShay has picked Stanford offensive tackle Andrus Peat as the play in both of his mock drafts so far. With questions surrounding the Texans own free agents like LT Derek Newton, CB Keshawn Martin, LB Brooks Reed and S Kendrick Lewis who have yet to be signed mocks could drastically change in response to whether or not those players sign deals with Houston. By contrast, Mel Kiper, Jr had Houston taking CB Trae Waynes in his first mock and OT Ereck Flowers in his second mock.

Here's an article from CBS Sports Houston columnist Garrett Heinrich and his top 7 teams who need a uniform/logo make over. He actually gives examples of changes to Houston's unis. Agree--disagree? For the most part I agree with all his suggested teams that could benefit from the change.

http://houston.cbslocal.com/2015/02/27/top-7-nfl-teams-that-need-a-uniformlogo-makeover/

[eagle eye]

It looks like the Andre Johnson era of the Houston Texans is over. Earlier this week the Texans approached Johnson and told asked him to take a pay cut and accept the prospect of a reduced role in the Texans offense. Johnson has been one of, if not the, cornerstone in the Texans offense for his twelve seasons in the NFL obviously would not accept either proposition by the Texans. Johnson asked to be traded or released because neither option was something he was willing to accept. The Texans for their part don't want to pay Johnson, who is going to turn 34 years old in July, $20 MM over the next two years. For Johnson's part you can understand his angst at the Texans offer. It is being reported that head coach Bill O'Brien sat down with Johnson last week and told him that he would not be starting this coming season opposite DeAndre Hopkins and that in his diminished role he would likely only catch around 40 balls for the season. This had to be a bitter pill for Johnson to swallow considering what he has meant to Houston over the years. What makes matters worse for the Texans is there isn't a lot of depth behind DeAndre Hopkins. It seems we are going to find out if Hopkins is a true #1 guy or just a talented #2 WR in the NFL. The bridge has been burned by the Texans who have nobody else to blame but themselves for giving Johnson a contract they could live with at the end of the deal. The Texans are not the only team to give a long term deal to a guy in his early 30's knowing the player will likely not see the end of. It's common practice around the NFL but it's hard to take losing a guy like Johnson who has meant so much to his team and his community. Johnson is one of the best as far as his charity work and community service in the Houston area. It's clear that Houston is ready to cut ties with Johnson and it was clear last year that Johnson wants to go to a team that has a chance to go to a Super Bowl. It think the success Houston had last year was a surprise but still I think it's time Andre moved on so he has a chance to win a ring before his career is over. With Houston's QB situation as much in flux as it was last off season it's realistic to believe Houston is unlikely to win a SB in 2015. On Monday Johnson thanked Houston for a great 12 years on his instagram board. The NFL league year begins next Monday when free agency signings can begin. I believe it will be then the Texans release Johnson if they can't make a deal this week for a trade. Considering his high price tag no other NFL will trade with Houston and accept the cap hit his contract will bring. No, teams will wait until he is released and offer him a much more cap friendly deal. Hate to see you go Dre, you've been a source of pride for all Texans fans and we'll miss you. Good luck and I really hope you get your SB ring.

[eagle eye]

Houston GM has done it again. Taken a strength of the team and cut him. I'm not talking about Andre Johnson now I'm talking about the release of C Chris Meyers. Meyers was scheduled to make a big chunk of money and that's why he was cut. He played well last season and he has been the epitome of reliable. How reliable? How about never missing a game in his seven seasons in Houston. Meyers is 34 and he's probably not worth paying a huge salary at this point but it's hard to say adios to a guy like Meyers. I'll bet he won't be out of work for long.

An article from the Bleacher Report talks about the Texans being Bill O'Brien's team. They cite the recent treatment of Andre Johnson as proof it Coach Bill's team. Out with the old and in with the new. O'Brien is working toward building the team in the image of the only pro systems he's familiar with--the New England Patriots and the Pete Carroll-led Seattle Seahawks. Not bad organizations to copy. I look for Houston to get younger and not hand on to it's veteran players the way they have in the past. Perform or hit the road is sort of the Bill Belichick mantra and it looks like O'Brien has learned his lessons well. Dre was to count about 11 million against the Texans cap and Meyers around 8 and both are gone, or will be if the Texans grant the wish of Andre Johnson and is released. In all the Texans will save about 11 million on their cap by releasing both players. The question is now is O'Brien a good judge of talent. In his first draft in 2014 you have to scratch your head because there was little value from the draft. Now, I'm no blaming O'Brien for Jadeveon Clowney's knee issues but aside from that, for as many picks as Houston had, there isn't much to show for them. O'Brien may be handcuffed by GM Rick Smith who has made some moves I have wondered about but we'll see. It took Jason Garrett 4 full seasons before his retooling of the Cowboys began to pay dividends. Hopefully, O'Brien has Jerry Jones-like patience from Houston owner Bob McNair.

[eagle eye]

Wow, is there good news around the Texans facility today!

Starting right tackle Derek Newton is locked up for Houston for the next 5 years. Good news especially since they cut C Chris Meyers earlier this week. Meyers was a cap casualty on the face of it but I really believe he was an age casualty. Meyers is 34 and that, more than the big cap hit was more of a factor. There's an adage in the NFL that it's better to cut a veteran player a year too soon than a year too late. I believe Bill O'Brien wants to get younger and he's taking note of how Dallas has built their O-line in recent drafts to what it is now and that's one of the best lines in the NFL. O'Brien is in this for the long haul and I believe he wants this team to get younger. Newton was a 3rd round pick in 2011 and has grown into the job very well and he's young enough to have a lot of years left. His deal is 5 years and $26.5 MM with $10 MM guaranteed.

The Texans weren't done by a long shot as they also agreed on a deal with CB Kareem Jackson on a 4 year $34 MM contract with $20 MM guaranteed. Jackson has been a bit maligned since he was drafted with the 20th pick in the 2010 draft but Jackson has grown into the position and he became a big piece of the Texans defensive puzzle last season.

Marc Sessler of NFL.com is reporting that the Texans are targeting free agent QB Brian Hoyer. It seems that the Browns have moved on from Hoyer but that is not having an effect on the interest for him in Houston. Bill O'Brien remembers Hoyer who was Tom Brady's backup prior to Ryan Mallett coming to the Patriots. Bill O'Brien said at the NFL Scouting Combine that he likes Mallett and he expressed the hope that he would be back in a Texans uniform in 2015. It's being said that either Mallett or Hoyer will be the starting QB for Houston this September. Interesting chat discussion.

[eagle eye]

You gotta wonder about what is going on in Houston. You could understand why the Texans let C Chris Meyers go. Big contract and soon to be 35. You understand why Andre Johnson was let go. Again, mid thirties and huge contract (re: cap hit). I get it. But, can somebody tell me why Houston has, or will have in about an hour and a half 4 QB's under contract? They have Ryan Fitzpatrick and Tom Savage signed and after 3 o'clock they will have Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer under contract with Case Keenum lurking around in the background. I was talking to a PT where I'm rehabbing my shoulder and he pointed out that despite all the guys you have under contract in Houston, the Texans probably still have the 4th best QB in the AFC South. Jacksonville has Blake Bortles, Indy has Andrew Luck and Tennessee will have either Matt Hasselbeck or they could actually draft Marcus Mariota. Now Tennessee's QB situation is more tenuous than Houston's but they have more wiggle room too. Houston will be making their offensive bed with the winner of the Mallett-Hoyer battle in training camp. Mallett has one healthy game under his belt and one game where he played through a torn pec muscle. Hoyer has several starts in the NFL over the past couple of years but he hasn't been what anyone would call consistent. What is concerning is you could say, ok the offense will be okay except for the fact that Houston let Andre Johnson go and Houston doesn't have a quality No 2 to play opposite new No 1 guy DeAndre Hopkins. Nobody in their right mind could say Kareem Martin or DeVier Posey is that guy because up until now they haven't shown enough to make you think they can fill the void left by Johnson. Right now, the loss of Dre is big in terms of the Texans offense efficiency. That may be a hole Houston won't be able to fill unless they hit a draft pick. We'll see how the free agency period goes. It may be Houston has their eyes on a veteran guy like Cecil Shorts III. Jacksonville released Shorts a couple of weeks ago and at 27 is arguably the best WR available. He would really be a nice addition to the Texans assuming he can stay healthy which has been hard for him the last couple of years. That will be my crazy prediction of the day--Houston signs Cecil Shorts this afternoon. With about $11 MM in cap money freed up by releasing Andre and Chris Meyers that is a deal that could really get done.

[eagle eye]

The Texans made it official today by announcing the release of WR Andre Johnson. What makes this hurt even more is danged if he didn't sign a deal to play for the blasted Indianapolis Colts. The Colts also picked up from 49er RB Frank Gore and on defense the Colts picked up LB Trent Cole formerly with the Eagles and DT Kendall Langford formerly with the Rams. I believe Johnson has at least two more good years left and he will give Andrew Luck a quality target opposite T Y Hilton. Gore gives the Colts a run game at last.

As far a free agents go, color LB Brooks Reed gone. Reed was signed, along with former Cowboys LB Justin Durant by the Atlanta Falcons.

The Texans also made 4 deals official today with the official signing of their own free agents Kareem Jackson and Derek Newton. The Texans had already agreed on a deal for Brian Hoyer and they officially resigned QB Ryan Mallett to a two year $7 MM deal. Otherwise a pretty quiet day in H-town.

[eagle eye]

The glut at QB is reduced by two over the past 24 hours. First Case Keenum resigned with the St Louis Rams where he was on their practice squad last season until getting the call from Houston and the other move was to trade Ryan Fitzpatrick to the NY Jets for a conditional late round draft pick. Now the Texans QB depth looks a lot more manageable. Brian Hoyer signed his two year deal today and Yesterday the Texans extended the contract of Ryan Mallett to a two year deal worth $7 MM. The Texans also have 2nd year player Tom Savage. It's assumed Mallett will be the starter, assumed by everyone but Hoyer who was told he would compete for the starting job. That's about the only movement by the Texans so far today.

[eagle eye]

The Texans look like they got better at the safety position as they agreed on a deal with Rahim Moore formerly from the Denver Broncos. Houston got Moore on the cheap too, signing him to a 3 year $12 MM deal. I'm very critical of GM Rick Smith but I think he got a good solid hit with this signing. It's being reported that Houston is in talks to resign S Kedrick Lewis which would give Houston 3 solid safeties in Moore, Lewis and DJ Swearinger. Good job Rick, I don't say that very often.

[eagle eye]

In my last Texans post I said that Houston was in talks with S Kendrick Lewis. This was after the Texans agreed to terms with free agent S Rahim Moore. Apparently, the talks with Lewis weren't about much because he has signed a deal with the Baltimore Ravens. So, now the Texans are left with Rahim Moore and chatterbox and so-so S D J Swearinger. I've said this before but I get a little tired of Swearinger's mouth when he gives up plays. I would love to see D J talk less and play better but he is what he is.

How can you stay mad with Andre Johnson after he takes out a full page ad in the Houston Chronicle thanking Houston and it's fans for 12 great years. All class here. Bon chance, Andre.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2015/03/ex-texans-great-andre-johnsons-open-letter-to-houston-fans/#31307101=0

Just a rumor mind you but because of his association with Bill O'Brien when he was with the Patriots it's worth hoping that DT Vince Wolfork may be headed to Houston. Nice pickup if it's the right price for an 11 year vet.

Wondering when Houston signs a WR to pair with DeAndre Hopkins? Yeah, me too! There are several guys who would be a good fit in Houston. I believe Houston needs a veteran guy even if it's a stop-gap until a WR taken in the draft can learn how to play in the NFL. It takes a rookie about 3 years to do that. With guys like Cecil Shorts, Greg Jennings, Hakeem Nicks and Dwayne Bowe out there it wouldn't hurt and Houston could still draft a top notch WR in the draft. There are several to choose from that could be around when Houston picks at #16. Maybe Alabama's Amari Cooper won't be there but Louisville's DeVante Parker or West Virginia's Kevin White certainly could be. Ohio State's Devin Smith is an option and Missouri's Dorial Green-Beckham may be the best of the lot but he's got some baggage he brings along with him. That's my take but that's just me. There are a lot of holes in the Texans roster and WR may not be perceived as one of them but Hopkins needs some help, certainly more than is available on the current roster. And to twist an old saying, a strong offense is the best defense, at least in the new millennium NFL.

[eagle eye]

The Texas have signed WR Cecil Shorts to a two year deal according to the Bleacher Report's Matt Fitzgerald. Terms of the deal have not yet been disclosed.

Another bit of news is that NT Vince Wolfork is in Houston meeting with the Texans. Hopefully, Houston goes back to back with nice signings.

[eagle eye]

By golly if the Texans didn't do it! They have agree to terms on a two year deal for Vince Wolfork! According to Bleacher Report he has signed a deal worth $9 MM over two years with $5 MM guaranteed. This is a good signing for both the Texans and Wolfork. It's great for the Texans because they didn't have to break the bank for a player of his caliber and it's great for Wilfork because it's like a New England reunion of sorts with Bill O'Brien who is Houston's head coach but was the Patriots OC, Romeo Crennel who is Houston's DC as he was in New England and LB coach Mike Vrabel was a player on defense with Wilfork in NE. Win-win and win! Wilfork isn't the player he was but he's still got fuel left in the tank. Houston didn't break the bank nor did they stupidly sign him to a long term deal. Fans of the Texans should be very happy today with the additions of Cecil Shorts and Vince Wolfork.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vince-Wilfork-quotes/d572a231-517d-4b62-96fb-c6e8782a7584

A review of the Shorts signing by ESPN's Tania Ganguli.

http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/10456/what-to-know-about-cecil-shorts

[eagle eye]

Houston made it's moves in Week 1 of free agency. Since then it's been pretty quite on Kirby Drive. Yesterday Texans owner Bob McNair on the eve of the NFL owners meetings gave an interview for the first time in a while. Houston Chronicle writer John McClain gives a recap of the interview where he gives his take on subjects ranging from his own health as he is recovering from cancer, honoring former WR Andre Johnson and where Jadeveon Clowney is in his rehab.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texans/article/Wide-ranging-interview-with-Texans-owner-Bob-6148415.php?t=eafd1705d3d8ff4dd2&cmpid=twitter-premium

Bill O'Brien was at the University of Georgia pro day and the link below from ESPN.com talks about O'Brien's thoughts.

http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/10507/bill-obrien-takes-in-georgias-pro-day-meets-with-chris-conley

[eagle eye]

Houston is still pretty quiet. They did hire an offensive coordinator, a position that didn't exist in Houston last season because Bill O'Brien handled the offense, and the job was filled in house with the promotion of quarterbacks coach George Godsey to be the OC. Goodsey get the title of OC but it is still Bill O'Brien's show. Godsey got a bump in pay and possibly a nicer office but I'll bet his responsibilities won't change all that much.

It was reported that JJ Watt restructured his contract to free up around $8MM is salary cap money for the Texans but he really didn't restructure it at all. The money was just called something else. Instead of getting paid a $10MM work out bonus they are now calling it a signing bonus. What that means is the $10MM now can be pro rated for the next five years of Watt's contract instead of being paid as a lump sum and counting completely this season. The "restructure" saves Houston $8MM in cap space instead.

At the NFL meetings held this past week Bill O'Brien said he was pleased with Jadeveon Clowney's progress as he is rehabbing from microfracture knee surgery. He said Clowney has a strong work ethic and he was equally as complimentary of Houston's second round pick from last year Xavier Su'a-filo for his dedication as he works through his own rehab. When asked about nose tackle Louis Nix III O'Brien flatly said he hasn't seen him at the Texans facility and he didn't appear happy when he said it. When asked what Nix needed to do to show him improvement O'Brien stated flatly, "I would say the ability to make it through a practice. That would be the biggest thing I need to see." It's pretty clear Nix needs to learn how to be a pro and Houston signed maybe the best guy they could have signed to mentor Nix in Vince Wolfork during free agency. O'Brien expressed the hope Nix would take advantage of having someone of Wolfork's stature to learn from.

Houston was awarded 3 compensatory draft picks during the NFL owners meetings. Houston will get a 5th round pick and two 6th's.

Here's an article from the Bleacher Report by Jeffery Roy on why Clemson LB Stephone Anthony would be a perfect fit in the Texans defense.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2407183-why-stephone-anthony-is-ideal-fit-for-houston-texans-defense

[eagle eye]

I think that Texans owner Jim Crane has given the keys to his team to Bill O'Brien and told GM Rick Smith to ask permission from O'Brien before he makes a move. There's pretty solid evidence of that just so far this spring with the release of Hall of Fame WR Andre Johnson, allowing free agent defections by guys Smith would not have. Cases in point. O'Brien has signed as free agents, even his own team's FA's, his kind of guys. Players he's happy with or is familiar with while letting a select group of players leave via free agency. O'Brien guys signed are Vince Wilfork (he knew him from his days as OC in NE), both QB's Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett (worked with both as Pats OC), CB Kareem Jackson and ILB Akeem Dent. The Texans also signed Cecil Shorts to replace Andre Johnson. A young talented guy who is a lot cheaper than the aging Dre was. RT Derek Newton was resigned as well. Besides the release of Johnson and his bloated salary cap O'Brien also released C Chris Myers and his big salary cap number. There was no other reason to let Myers go other than the cap number and his age. He was playing at a high level and hadn't missed a game in his career with Houston. Myers was good in the locker room and was a bonafide team leader. That's all on O'Brien being fiscally responsible. After all there's a saying in the NFL, "It's better to let a player go a year too early than a year too late.". O'Brien signed S Rahim Moore rather than keep his own guy Kendrick Lewis. He traded Ryan Mallett to the Jets for a late round draft pick and he traded Case Keenum to St Louis for a late round pick.
You can see O'Brien looks like a better judge of talent than Rick Smith who signed all world safety Ed Reed when age and injury had left him a mere shell of himself. O'Brien chose Wilfork. O'Brien chose to keep LB Dent and let starter Brooks Reed go. This is a team being built in much the same way O'Brien saw it done in New England and Seattle and it's the way he seems determined to do it in Houston. To me, I'm happy because I have thought Rick Smith has made some questionable moves over the years he's been in Houston and it didn't seem like he had a real plan to build the team. I look at what O'Brien has done and it looks like he's got a plan for what he wants Houston to become. More power to him, I hope he's right.

CBS Sports writer Igor Mello is reporting that 4 months after microfracture surgery on his knee Jadveon Clowney is walking around without a limp. That and the reports that Clowney is doing very well rehabbing his knee are all good signs for Houston. Both from the actual state of his health but he is answering all the doubters who questioned Clowney's work ethic coming out of college.

[eagle eye]

Believe it or not and by now I'm sure you already know this stuff but Houston made a signing! Plus, the signing has made them a better ball club. I'm serious! Not only that but they almost got an old friend to further upgrade the D-line. Notice I said almost..........

First, Houston signed veteran WR Nate Washington. There's a link below about that from Texans.com. I'm excited because the WR crew, viewed as recently as just about a month ago as a position of dire need is now is pretty good shape. Last week Houston signed Cecil Shorts to a deal to work opposite DeAndre Hopkins. This was a much needed move by the Texans because of the void left by the release of the Texans all time great Andre Johnson. The merits or de- Notmerits of that move remain to be seen but what Houston got was younger without sacrificing experience. Not only that but Houston saved a bundle in cap room. Now, to fill a depth issue in steps Washington. He's been around the NFL since being signed by Pittsburgh as an undrafted free agent in 2005. Washington spent 4 years in the Steel City earning two Super Bowl rings along the way. He signed on with Tennessee in 2009 and he became a mainstay in the Titans passing game although 2014 was a down year for him statistically and for the Titans and new head coach Ken Whisenhunt as he began rebuilding the team.
So, in walks Washington in Houston. He's not going to be expected to be anything but a role player and I'm sure at this point in his career he's probably fine with it. Washington will likely play as an outside guy when he's in the game so Cecil Shorts can move into the slot. This group may not scare anyone at first glance but the receiving corp is in better shape heading into the draft than they were a month ago.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/WR-Nate-Washington-signs-with-Texans/e5480910-cac3-4bcd-926a-d92831b8237b

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-How-Nate-Washington-fits/dbb09e28-e4db-4ce8-b1f1-f39d29492106

It looked for a very short time that former Texans defensive end Antonio Smith may be back in Houston after a one year stint in Oakland. The Raiders released Smith earlier in the week and reports were that Houston wanted him back. Well, today was another example of wanting in one hand and pooping in the other and we all know which hand fills up first. The poop this time was Smith agreeing to terms on the deal with the Denver Broncos. Oh well, can't win 'em all.

[eagle eye]

Here's the deal, Houston is in the same place of the draft as Dallas was a year ago when the Cowboys took the best player on their board Zack Martin who was the final piece in the Cowboys O-line facelift. Martin helped elevate the Cowboys line into arguably the best in the NFL. It all could have been for naught though because the player Dallas really wanted was LB Ryan Shazier but Pittsburgh took him one pick before Dallas turn came up. With more holes in the defensive dyke than the little Dutch Boy had fingers Dallas still went 'best available' and it paid huge dividends for them. The question for this year is will Houston's powers-that-be do the same? While not having as many holes on defense as Dallas did Houston has holes to fill. O-line, TE, WR, D-line, LB and you could even throw in QB into that equation what would you do? What is your view of what Houston's biggest need is? Could you resist picking out of need and selecting the best available? Is there a player you'd take regardless of anything else. A sure fire blue chip pick, a no-brainer, a can't miss pick who you would say I don't care what I NEED, I want this guy no matter what?
What do you think is Houston's biggest need and who would you like to draft if he was available to fill that need? I'll tell you who Houston Chronicle long time Texans beat writer John McClain would choose and that Missouri DE Shane Ray who would play outside LB for Houston's 3-4 defense. In McClain's view Houston needs an outside guy to replace Brooks Reed especially with the uncertainty of the availability of Jadeveon Clowney. In McClain's view Ray would be that impact edge rusher opposite JJ Watt. Do you agree, or not?

[eagle eye]

The Texans resigned OL reserve guard Cody White. White spent the entire 2014 season on IR after tearing his Achilles tendon in the very first training camp practice last summer. White was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2012 and ended up on the practice squad in both 2012 and 2013. He does offer an opportunity for some much needed depth at the O-line.

[eagle eye]

The NFL released the 2015 regular season schedule on Tuesday and the Texans have some intriguing games. Besides contests with their division which makes up 6 games of the schedule they also face the AFC East and NFC South. It looks, on paper, that Houston will have a real shot at winning 10 games minimum based on the 2014 records of those opponents. Now besides those 8 games the schedule rounds out with matchups against Kansas City and Cincinnati. Here's a link to Texans.com for a recap and video links about the upcoming year.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Houston-Texans-2015-schedule-released/5035df79-e1c2-45d2-ba98-ab334acb7134

I have a question you guys. Who's the biggest player in Houston in terms of popularity right now? Is it the Astros Jose Altuve? Is it the Rockets James Hardin or is it the Texans JJ Watt? I think we can all agree if you remove any of these 3 guys from their respective teams that team is going to suffer---a lot. The answer depends a lot on which sport you like best. I have to admit, I've come up with a pretty challenging question (even if I do say so myself)!

[eagle eye]

The Cowboys have needs that people discuss ad infinitum about but why don't we hear about the Texans needs? They certainly have them. Then, all of a sudden, on Monday there was news that the Texans were shopping DB D J Swearinger. Do what? Then I hear something that sort of calmed me down. What was unusual was the source of the info. Misters Gloom and Doom, A J Hoffman and Fred Faour of 97.5 ESPN actually said something positive for a change. They agreed that the deal talk regarding Swearinger was just that--talk. It's all a part of the pre-draft posturing all NFL team engage in, especially in the final days and hour prior to the draft itself. Houston has a lot of needs, especially on defense but the offense could use an O-lineman or two and a crackerjack wide receiver to replace Andre Johnson and at pick #16 they are positioned to get a good one.

This should be a fun draft to watch just to see what Bill O'Brien wades through the murky waters of the draft. At first glance you would think O'Brien's first draft last year was a bust but much of the top end of the draft was derailed by injury. This fact makes last years draft WAAAAAAY too early to judge. O'Brien has had good teachers in both college and the pros and he's done well as a coach on his own. That alone should garner him some slack. That and a surprising 9-7 almost made the playoffs record last season despite opinions to the contrary should buy him some patience points from us fans. It's going to be fun 3 days and danged if it ain't almost here.

[eagle eye]

The Texans didn't take Todd Gurley. Not that they would have but the Rams made him their pick at #10. To me, Houston needed to either go defense or WR with their 16th pick and they went defense. They selected CB Kevin Johnson out of Wake Forest who is a really good add to the Bill O'Brien/Romeo Crennel scheme. In fact the Texans GM Rick Smith said after the pick was made that Johnson was their favorite CB in the draft, even ahead of Trae Waynes for his athleticism and versatility. The Texans believe Johnson can handle anything and everything the Texans want him to do. He will come at a great time to learn from a veteran player line Jonathan Joseph and be a real asset in the defensive backfield from day one.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Why-the-Texans-chose-CB-Kevin-Johnson/2ff7e9fb-c066-4627-8e2f-7fbe9511f814

The draft continues tonight at 6:00 PM with rounds 2 and 3. Houston has the 51st pick in the 2nd round (#19) and the 82nd pick in the 3rd round (#18) barring any trading around.

The rest of the division went like this:
#2 pick to Tennessee -- QB Marcus Mariota - Oregon
#3 pick to Jacksonville -- OLB Dante Fowler Jr - Florida
#29 pick to Indianapolis -- WR Phillip Dorsett - Miami

[eagle eye]

Houston traded up in both the second and third rounds to get players they were targeting. This leaves Houston with no picks in the 4th and only compensatory picks in the 5th and 6th rounds which all come at the end of the round. So, it's going to be a long wait for the Texans today before they get a choice.

Houston moved up in the 2nd round to pick ILB Bernardrick McKinney from Mississippi State. Here's a little info from Texans.com about him.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-trade-up-to-pick-LB-Benardrick-McKinney/44c95380-72ff-4b3a-a875-db0b43fbea2b

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Prospect-of-the-Day-Benardrick-McKinney/8c6ca825-c93c-46e4-add0-08016a6b3eb0

In the third round Houston traded up 12 spots in the round with Cleveland to snag a wide receiver Jaelen Strong from Arizona State. He had been projected as high as the 1st round but he didn't get follow up exams on his wrist. It won't matter if he is a player that can compliment DeAndre Hopkins. He's tall and has soft hands. The Texans included DeVier Posey, who hasn't really distinguished himself in Houston, in the trade as Houston gave up a 5th and 7th round pick to move up to get Strong.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-trade-again-draft-WR-Jaelen-Strong-in-3rd-round/85119ead-1d39-45dc-ae22-87f97e7520ef

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Prospect-of-the-Day-Jaelen-Strong/5fda62d5-bb18-49ef-a786-55714d9c4303

[eagle eye]

The Texans other draft picks are as follows:

Rd 4 - No pick in this round.

Rd 5 - Pick 39 - Keith Mumphrey WR Michigan State - 6'2" 215 lbs.

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/keith-mumphery?id=2552420

Rd 6 - Pick 35 - Reshard Cliett OLB South Florida

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/reshard-cliett?id=2553449

Rd 6 - Pick 39 - Christian Covington DT Rice

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/profiles/christian-covington?id=2552602

Rd 7 - Pick 18 - Kenny Hilliard RB LSU

http://www.nfl.com/draft/2015/tracker#dt-tabs:dt-by-team/dt-by-team-input:hou


Another item that has gone rather unnoticed is the signing of free agent safety Stevie Brown. That signing took place on Friday and was understandably flying way under the radar. Houston managed to upgrade their defensive secondary and they also won the battle to sign Brown between Houston and 5 other teams including the Cowboys. Brown came from the NY Giants. He was injured for most of 2014 and lost his starting job but he's still a good player and he should help the Texans defense.

[eagle eye]

The Texans, in a good mood after a good draft I guess, announced the signing of LB Whitney Mercilus to a 4 year $26MM contract extension that features $10.5MM guaranteed. Mercilus hasn't become the pass rusher the Texans had hoped but he has shown steady improvement especially against the run so Houston decided he was worth the extension.

[eagle eye]

Just before this past weekend's rookie mini camp that featured the Texans draft picks and undrafted free agent signees, first year players and camp invitees the Texans announced that they had signed every one of the their draft picks including 1st round pick CB Kevin Johnson. Pretty slick move and just one less thing to worry about going forward.

The Texans won't have DB D J Swearinger to kick around any more. After a really bizarre day where Swearinger said goodbye to Houston and his fans on Twitter, then GM Rick Smith saying he didn't know what Swearinger was talking about because as far as he was concerned he was still a Texan, to the announcement late today that Houston had put Swearinger on waivers. This comes after weeks of speculation that Houston was shopping Swearinger for a trade that never materialized. As has been pointed out on Houston sports talk radio today, the release of Swearinger leaves only 3 players on the current roster with only OL David Quissenberry who is battling cancer the other surviving member of the Texans 2013 draft class. We'll see what comes of the dratees under new head coach Bill O'Brien but you really have to wonder why GM Rick Smith isn't more on the hot seat. With abject failures in the 2012 and 13 draft classes and head scratching releases of quality players still under contract you just have to think owner Bob McNair has to feel his player personnel department is lacking and that includes Rick Smith.

Here's a list of the 16 undrafted free agents Houston signed for this past weekend's mini camp.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-sign-all-seven-NFL-draft-picks/4049cd33-b7de-46c9-96ae-d783e00bc135

Not only did Houston release Swearinger they signed 3 players on the strength of the rookie mini camp. RB Mack Brown from Florida, S Cory Moore from Georgia and T Joseph Treadwell from Louisiana-Monroe. Houston also waived G Jake Cotton from Nebraska and placed DE James Rouse from Marshall on the waived/injured list.

Bill O'Brien was saying after the completion of the rookie mini camp that the rookies need to improve their conditioning but he was pleased with some 2nd year players who came to camp. Here's a brief look at O'Brien's comments.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Labhart-second-year-players-looking-good-in-minicamp/90f5a843-b77e-4072-b31c-3335df2bbae3

Texans.com analyst John Harris gives his 10 observations from the rookie mini camp.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/10-observations-from-rookie-minicamp-/5403790b-e9a9-4e7e-9b13-7c836caf074a

[eagle eye]

So, the word from ProFootballTalk is that Houston canned safety DJ Swearinger because he refused to play special teams. Apparently, you don't buck Bill and get away with it. Swearinger made 144 tackles over the last two years but he was a liability in pass coverage. IMO he was a guy who liked to talk a lot of smack but didn't do all that much to back it up. It seems like Bill is trying to get his type of players on the roster. It also seems like the scouting department needs to do a better job of researching their players. In last year's draft Xavier Su'a-Filo was a top prospect according to most pre-draft analysis but he was more bust than boom. Same with NT Louis Nix III. Nix was always hurt in OTA's and training camp and never made any sort of impression on the field. I said it in a previous post but I don't know why GM Rick Smith isn't having his feet held to the fire for some really awful draft picks. For every hit there are 10 flops. The only draft picks you can point to is JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins. The rest of the guys who you could point to are no longer with the team. Players allowed to leave as salary cap casualties which brings up another bit of GM business--the salary cap. Houston is always in cap jail and they have had to let players who were still productive leave to save money. All the while negotiating deals that overpay and over-value the players. Bill wants to build his roster with his guys---that's okay but it won't be easy doing that and fighting the blunders of Rick Smith.

BTW, Swearinger never made it past the first team on the waiver wire list as Tampa Bay snatched him up almost as soon as he hit the market. We'll see what Lovie Smith can do with him.

[eagle eye]

Not much to talk about. Things seem to be quite around Texan-land. They did have a charity softball game on May 1st and several players did their best Arnold Schwartzenegger impressions that were shown on the jumbo tron during the game. Apparently, Arnold here about it and made a comment on twitter.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-JJ-Watt-impresses-Arnold-Schwarzenegger/2f3ea240-6236-48b2-9430-d9fce5bda19c

Houston lost S D J Swearinger this week. Well, lost isn't the correct term, they ditched him when he was released this past week. Don't weep for D J because Tampa Bay snatched him up off waivers as quick as you please. For Texans fans who worried about the void left by Swearinger I'm here to remind you of the fact that Houston signed free agent Stevie Brown, formerly with the NY Giants prior to the draft. Brown was carving out a nice career in NY before tearing his ACL prior to the start of the 2013 season. He came back in 2014 but he wasn't the same which is normal for an ACL unless your name is Adrian Peterson. A full off season of work and Brown should be able to get back to his pre-2013 form.

One other item of note for you Texans fans who are NOT Cowboys fans. The Texans won the bidding war for Brown over at least 6 other teams including the Cowboys but Brown chose Houston in no small part that Brown's sister lives in Houston and she had talked him into buying a house there even before free agency began.

[eagle eye]

The Texans weekly TV show on FoxSportsSouthwest, "Texans Huddle" aired a segment with Texans.com's John Harris breaking down the Houston draft picks going into OTA's next week. Another segment featured an interview with new nose tackle Vince Wolfork. Both segments are linked below.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Texans-Huddle-II-Wilfork-1-on-1/2ad645e0-70f8-4d38-bce2-966979f8c18f

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Texans-Huddle-III-Rookie-breakdown/0567e999-1867-4cc1-9f45-422c84876295

[eagle eye]

The Texans cancelled their first OTA practice yesterday because of flooding in the Houston area. The Texans hope to begin OTA practices today but with the rain we've had already I'm not sure that is going to happen. Here's a link to NFL.com's article about the cancelled practice with links to pictures of the flooding in the Houston area.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000494073/article/houston-texans-cancel-opening-of-otas-due-to-flooding?campaign=Twitter_atn

[eagle eye]

Houston had their first OTA practice today since the first day which was supposed to be yesterday was postponed because the flooding rains in the Houston area. That's a good thing---not the floods but the fact things have calmed down enough for practices to be held.

The other big thing that came out yesterday was that the Texans will be the team featured on HBO's Hard Knocks. That's the show that follows the team and a few players in particular during training camp. I will be interested to see it because I want to see how Bill O'Brien handles his team. Should be fun, for fans anyway because I'm not sure that the teams that get featured on HK like the distraction.

Here's some observations from Texans.com's John Harris from today's first OTA practice.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Observations-from-Day-1-of-OTAs/62a1673c-bd7b-48f0-8f06-002732075947

[eagle eye]

There seems to be good news in Texan-land. What is it you ask? The answer is a true quarterback competition will take place this summer to see who will lead the Texans into the 2015 season. Here's a look at that competition between Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and Tom Savage from Texans.com

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Quarterback-competition-starts-in-OTAs/f8f49936-b543-4fe7-b220-b9c542e5cdc9

To say that nose tackle Louis Nix III's 2014 season was disappointing is an understatement. Heck, even this spring Bill O'Brien sort of called out Nix as a guy with a lot to prove in 2015. Here's an article about Nix from Texans.com where he talks about his frustrating 2014 and how he needs to focus on "the little things" as OTA's have begun with many things to improve upon from now all the way through training camp. There is also a video of the interview with Nix with the article.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Focus-on-little-things-is-big-for-Louis-Nix-III/9de147a5-16c4-4048-b7da-402662b612d9

Here's a link to a video of an interview with LB Brian Cushing where he dishes on his health, Jadeveon Clowney and new teammate Vince Wilfork.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Cushing-on-health-Clowney-Wilfork/8d369300-ba5a-44bd-94c9-a6afc399a8f8

[eagle eye]

The main discussion is Texan-land is the QB competition this summer between Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett. The word is folks need to not forget about Houston's 4th round draft pick last year even though he was less than impressive in his rookie season. All 3 QB's have split reps in OTA practices so far but Bill O'Brien won't tell what the breakdown of the reps has been. Savage himself has said that the difference this season and last season is like night and day. Last year he was still learning the system and by his own admission he was guilty of thinking too much and not playing fast. This year his familiarity in the system is much better and he's able to cut loose and play faster. That, and a good off season in the weight room has helped him out a lot. It's quite possible the Texans will carry 3 QB's on the roster if nothing else but to protect Savage from being claimed by another team IF he makes the Texans practice squad.

Two other players who have benefited from a full off season of work are TE CJ Fiedorowicz who was Houston's 3rd round pick out of Iowa and DB Andre Hal out of Vanderbilt who was one of Houston's seventh round picks. The off season has really had a positive effect on Hal's improved physical makeup and at 5'10" he actually made a positive contribution in 2014 playing 14 games at CB. But, with that position seemingly full with Jonathan Joseph, Kareem Jackson and first round pick Kevin Johnson Hal and his new, more muscular body could make a successful move to safety. With Raheem Moore playing free Hal certainly has his work cut out for him but as Bill Parcels once said, "You can never have enough good corners." or safeties. Fiedorowicz body didn't really need much of a makeover considering he's 6'6" and 262 lbs even though he is thicker and stronger now. No, he was in the same boat as Tom Savage in that he was guilty of thinking too much instead of being able to just play. We should be able to see a much better player than we saw in 2014.

Besides a very strong draft class this season the Texans could be getting an infusion of talent from the 2014 draft class. I already mentioned Andre Hal and CJ Fiedorowicz but a couple of other players look to rebound from disappointing rookie seasons. Like 2nd round pick Xavier Su'a-Filo who was expected to help beef up the Texans O-line but a late start due to UCLA's quarters system that delays the west coast players from participation in team OTA's and nagging injuries his ability to do anything significant next to impossible. Or Louis Nix III who was the Texans 2nd 3rd round pick and player who was one of the most highly touted defensive lineman in the 2014 draft never got started at all. In fact he was more or less called out by Bill O'Brien prior to the beginning of OTA's by responding to a question about his probable impact for the Texans by saying, "Showing up to practice would be a start.". This was in reference to Nix's injury troubles last year. He had knee surgery in the 2014 off season which caused him to miss OTA's and training camp and he had another knee surgery on September 24 of 2014 which ended his season. This season Nix is healthy and has spent a lot of time at the Texans facility prepping for this coming season beginning with OTA's. Nix will benefit from learning the nose tackle position from Houston's newest D-lineman Vince Wilfork. Lonnie Ballentine is another 2014 seventh round pick like Andre Hal who looks to rebound from a bad rookie campaign. In fact Ballentine was the last pick in the whole 2014 draft meaning he was last year's Mr Irrelevant. After a hamstring injury sidelined him for the season he's anxious to bring his 6'3" 215 lb frame to the strong safety position.
This season is like getting two draft classes for the price of one even though it would've been nice if some of these guys had showed up last year.

I know of one more guy from last year's draft class that had a disappointing season. This one isn't likely to contribute much this season either. Of course I'm talking about Jadeveon Clowney. Clowney is just about 5 months removed from microfracture knee surgery. This type of surgery is career threatening and takes a year or more to recover from. Texans have been saying that he is right on schedule inferring that he'll be ready for training camp or at least the season opener. I think this is hogwash. Anthony Spenser the DE from Dallas had this surgery and it was fully 14 months before he saw the field and 16 before he started to make a contribution. To hope Clowney will be back to full strength in 8 months, if he is able to come back at all, is not being realistic unless the Texans intend to push Clowney to the field early and thus jeopardizing he career. I just don't see the Texans being that stupid.

[eagle eye]

Did you hear that when the Texans announced they would be on HBO's Hard Knocks program the New Orleans Saints cancelled the joint practices with Houston prior to their preseason game this summer? A bit of a chickensh*t move by the Saints but they want nothing to do with being on reality TV. It was too long before the Texans came to an agreement with the Washington Redskins to hold some joint practices. This despite the fact that the Texans and Redskins do not play in the preseason. The joint practices will be from August 6 to the 8th at the Redskins training camp facility in Richmond, Virginia. All these practices will be open to the public and attendance is free.

[eagle eye]

One of the feel good stories of the season so far is the fact that 2013 6th round pick David Quessenberry is back working out with the team. The 6'7" OL is working himself back into shape as he tries to work his way onto the 53 man roster. Below is an interview with Quessenberry discussing his participation in OTA's and his hope for the future and his continuing need for chemo-therapy sessions as he continues his recovery from cancer. Gotta root for a guy like this.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Quessenberry-on-his-journey-back/d82d08f9-4cb8-4e2d-b7e2-965d6df4e667

Texans beat writer John Harris shares his 17 observations from Week 3 of OTA's.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/17-observations-from-Mondays-OTAs/b893bdd7-a6a5-45c7-b101-9e0f03d93ad2

According to an article in the Bleacher Report the Texans have reached out to former Texans center, Chris Meyers, about returning to the team. It is being reported that Meyers is considering the offer before he makes a decision on whether he will return to the team. He was let go in March in what I'll bet any amount of money was a salary cap move and now the Texans are hoping to resign Meyers to a more cap friendly salary. Meyers had never missed a game since he came to the Texans, that's 112 starts in 7 seasons. It would be great if they Texans got him back.

According to ProFootballTalk the Texans announced that assistant coach George Godsey was named offensive coordinator on Monday. Godsey has been elevated from quarterback's coach to OC filling a position that didn't exist in the first year of Bill O'Brien's tenure last season. Godsey first worked with O'Brien at Georgia Tech when O'Brien was QB coach and Godsey was a QB on the team. He worked with O'Brien in New England until O'Brien left to be head coach at Penn State. The Texans will not fill the opening at QB coach as they feel Godsey can handle both duties.

[eagle eye]

First we hear that Bill O'Brien will name a starting quarterback before training camp begins at the end of July. Then we hear he won't. There's plenty of time to decide who the starter will be and it doesn't make sense to worry about that in June. With the Texans wrapping up OTA's Friday O'Brien said there was a lot accomplished the past 3 weeks.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/OBrien-Texans-accomplished-a-lot-in-OTAs/56289235-72d4-444d-bcbe-a07fc8239f1b

Here is an article from John Harris detailing 17 observations from the final day of OTA's.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/17-observations-from-the-final-day-of-OTAs/efc851b3-ebe4-49d9-a623-1762020d9b85

[eagle eye]

The good thing about this off season wasn't even being discussed until recently but Texans fans should feel pretty good about this news. So far in OTA's the Texans have had LB Brian Cushing during all the workouts. That is a good thing especially when you consider how much time Cush has missed in the past. Last off season had Cushing still rehabbing another knee surgery and he was limited to work on the side with trainers for the most part. He did play 14 games last season which is way better than the 12 games total he played the previous two. Another thing that is good is that last season the whole of the defense was learning a new defense from a new coaching staff. According to Cushing he was having to think a lot about his assignments which cause him to play a little slow. This season in the 2nd year in the Romeo Crennel defense he understands it more completely allowing him to play much faster. Fully healthy off season and fully engaged in the new defense is all good news for the Texans. Not only is Cush healthy he's playing like his old self. That is the best news of all.

The back and forth over whether or not Bill O'Brien is going to name a starting QB during OTA's didn't happen and it won't happen by the end of this week's mandatory mini camp. O'Brien has said the competition between Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer is just too close. Check out this link from the Bleacher Report.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/article/Texans-QB-duel-too-close-to-call-6324673.php?t=141a8718ffd8ff4dd2&cmpid=twitter-premium

Gotta love summer time when girls in bikinis are frolicking around. Check out this video from the Texans cheerleaders.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-cheerleaders-cover-Carly-Rae-Jepsen/92e83b13-ad1a-4625-96ce-d414fa5d4fab

[eagle eye]

Bill O'Brien is now the most popular man in the Houston Texans organization. Why? Because first thing this morning O'Brien said he was proud of the effort in OTA's and the first two days of this week's mini camp so as a reward for all the hard work mini camp practices are cancelled today. So instead of the hiatus from mini camp to the beginning of training camp begins a day early to the delight of the team and everyone else who participate in the practice. Now for all you hard core fans who will be pissed because the Texans are losing a whole day of practice, relax. A mini camp practice in June won't make or break the team's potential for success. What it did was build a little good will for the coaching staff. In a word, morale boost. Okay, two words but you get the idea. Now the long 5 weeks before training camp begins a day early. For us fans who will go crazy waiting for something football to happen we say big freaking whoop. It's actually six weeks because the first training camp practice is August 1st. In the mean time there are some items from the Bleacher Report to feed your football Jones, for today anyway.

What we wanted to hear Bill O'Brien say, he said this week. First round pick Kevin Johnson has impressed. Great. When is training camp?

Here are 11 observations from yesterday's mini camp practice by Texans.com's John Harris including WR Kareem Martin's desire to get noticed so he doesn't get cut. It wasn't put just like that but he's sure got an uphill battle in training camp facing off against DeAndre Hopkins, Nate Washington, Cecil Shorts and Damaris Johnson and highly touted rookie 3rd round draft pick Jalaen Strong. Good luck Kareem, you are going to need it.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/11-observations-from-Wednesdays-veteran-minicamp/2487e183-ecc0-4d75-9691-3308b488a53a

JJ Watt says that he sees a new, more mature Jadeveon Clowney. Great, but he still won't be back for Week 1. When is training camp?

I guess I'm tired of the blah-blah-blah that is chattered about this time of year. 6 freaking weeks! The Astros better stay in first place because if the Rangers overtake them I may kill myself before training camp begins. See you in 6 weeks Texans. Do us all a favor guys, don't mess up and get hurt or in trouble.

[eagle eye]

Who says there's a break for the Texans? There was one bit of business that Houston took care of yesterday and that was extending the contract of CB Jonathan Joseph. The Texans gave him a 3 year extension which could mean that he just got a contract to extend to the end of his career. He currently has 9 years in the NFL and 3 more years would give him 12 seasons which is pretty close to retirement age.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-extend-CB-Johnathan-Joseph/06afcc40-6225-4d1c-9c9a-894ce63c2b2d

If you want to drift away to a beach and palm trees with a beautiful woman check out the Texans home page linked below and select the "2" on headline page where a video of the Houston Texans Cheerleader for the month of June, Kristi, that will make for a nice daydream of tropical locales and cool beaches!

http://www.houstontexans.com/index.html

JJ Watt has gotten a lot of air time for his dead-on imitation of Arnold Schwartzeneggar and it has even resulted in a tweet from "The Terminator" himself suggesting Watt replace him in the movies in the future (tongue in cheek I'm sure). With the Texans on a summer vacation between now and training camp Watt and his teammates went to see an early screening of the latest "Terminator" movie, Terminator Genesis. The link below includes a message from Arnold to Watt that is a bit of hoot!

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Minicamp-terminated-so-Texans-see-Terminator/29949c08-548c-47b9-90eb-6bc204232d5a

In honor of Father's Day this Sunday Texans beat writer John Harris shares some Father's Day memories in the Breakfast With The Bulls feature on Texans.com.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Memories-of-football-and-Fathers-Day/b2468a5d-6167-4943-b4dc-413b1f6e25b6

[eagle eye]

The Texans have a couple of video Father's Day greetings to share from Texans.com. Happy Father's Day to all! Click on the links for the 1 and 2 items on the Texans home page linked below for special wishes for Fathers on their day.

http://www.houstontexans.com/index.html

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JJ Watt just can't help making news but the great thing is it is almost always good. This time Watt was in a charity hockey game at the second annual Blake Geoffrion Hockey Classic, a charity hockey game made up of former Wisconsin Badger greats and current NHL players to raise money to benefit the UW Health Burn Center. Watt has said his first love in sports was hockey and he flashed a bit of his athleticism in the game scoring a goal on a penalty shot. There are several tweets in the article linked below and of course video of his successful penalty shot.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-makes-surprise-appearance-at-charity-hockey-game-nets-penalty-shot/316866cf-3770-49a9-b767-fe0697380105

For all you runners out there the Texans announced the H E B Running With The Bulls 5K race. It will be held on September 20th. For details of the event check out the link below which includes how to register to run.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Houston-Texans-announce-Running-of-the-Bulls-5K-presented-by-H-E-B/288285f9-6dec-45d6-9321-8b1d576c922c

Tom Savage is said to have improved tremendously since his rookie season giving the coaching staff a lot of good things to say about him so far in OTAs and mini camp. Savage has made the inevitable progression from being a raw rookie to a 2nd year NFL veteran. Except for one thing, his regular season debut in Indianapolis in Week 15 is still on his mind.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Tom-Savage-moves-forward-but-with-key-memory/e186c40f-1bbe-4564-8e01-eb67baa7476d

Finally, here's a link on Texans.com featuring lead writer Drew Dougherty including the video of his segment from the Texans weekly show on FoxSportsSouthwest Texans Huddle. Pretty funny stuff.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Dear-Drew-MORE-MORE-MORE/d4b54e96-7296-41c2-a8c4-ea69570d9c03

[eagle eye]

I've mentioned this before but the Texans have a guy who could be a playa. His name is Lonnie Ballentine and he plays safety. He was drafted with the last pick in the 2014 draft. Being that pick has been named "Mr Irrelevant" because 7 round draft picks are a longshot of making the team and being the last pick in the draft your odds of making the team is slim and none. That being said you kind of want to root Ballentine because he's worked his tail off after missing all of 2014 because he was injured in training camp and put on season ending IR. He's back and ready to prove he is definitely not "irrelevant". Ballentine has good size (6'3", 215) and he's big and fast enough to play either safety position. There are guys who you sort of root for because of their backstory and, for me, Ballentine qualifies here.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/No-more-waiting-for-Lonnie-Ballentine/66c03428-75f0-40f6-b22c-d3c35e9b1e39

JJ Watt is in the news yet again! This time it's because he's been nominated for 2 ESPY awards. In the link below to Texans.com it explains which categories he's nominated for and how we can cast our votes for the awards.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-JJ-Watt-up-for-2-ESPYs/b546b382-c775-47c9-ab0e-c7434deceeff

[eagle eye]

No news without JJ Watt seems to be impossible these days. Us Weekly (via Bleacher Report) has reported that Watt is now in a relationship with tennis pro Caroline Wozniacki. Yep, Rory Mcilroy's ex and Watt have become a sure enough item. Will we give the couple a hyphenated nickname like Branjelina? There are a couple of choices here. How about either "WozWatt" or maybe WattWoz". Both catchy nicknames if I do say so myself.

http://m.usmagazine.com/celebrity-news/news/caroline-wozniacki-dating-jj-watt-tennis-nfl-pros-are-an-item-2015306

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Texans.com's John Harris is breaking down the Texans roster going into training camp. In this link he breaks down the wide receiver position.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/index.html

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The one thing that is keeping fans in touch with the Texans in these dog days before training camp is the Texans fan show Texans Huddle which still comes on every week on Root Sports Network. In this week's show, all segments can be watched from the Texans home page linked below, the reports range from JJ Watt being named #1 in the NFL.com top 100 players of 2015, Shane Lechler and his brothers going fishing, and the weekly rant by Texans.com writer Drew Dougharty (which is usually pretty funny!).

http://www.houstontexans.com/index.html

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Boy it sure looked like the Texans secondary was going to solid as a rock especially after the Texans made CB Kevin Johnson their top pick in this year's draft. It only remained how the middle of the Texans defense, the linebacking corp, would shake out. But yesterday all that changed when veteran S Danieal Manning called it a career. Only stating yesterday that he was just "hanging up the cleats" Manning ended a 9 year NFL career. Here's an article from Texans.com about his retirement.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/S-Danieal-Manning-announces-retirement/c8a465e5-598d-46be-9b41-28f786fa7971

With training camp only a day or two over two weeks away hopefully Houston won't lose somebody else!

[eagle eye]

It is hard to say what the Texans first training camp date is. The rookies are scheduled to report July 26 and the vets report July 31st. Now, I have seen the reporting dates but I haven't seen a thing about when full team practices begin. It may be that Friday the 31st or Saturday, August 1st. Either way this time two weeks from now Houston will be in training camp preparing for the 2015 season. In case you didn't notice, that's just two weeks away!

Bleacher Report has an article linked below with a slide show of available free agents who are waiting for teams to give them a call.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2525941-nfl-training-camp-2015-best-available-free-agents-waiting-on-camp-injuries-to-s

If Houston was needing to upgrade their depth on their O-line I wouldn't have a problem with the Texans signing Evan Mathis late of the Philadelphia Eagles and Jake Long formerly with the St Louis Rams. Long is a younger player (he's 30) than Mathis (he's 34) but both are good players. Long fell out of favor in St Louis after suffering a 2nd ACL tear last year. Mathis was let go by the Eagles this spring but he still looked like he still has something left in the tank. To me, another available O-lineman from Tampa Anthony Collins is not a great player who seems to be a problem in the locker room. Don't need a guy like that. Bernard Pollard is a veteran safety who is coming off an ACL injury last year. With the retirement of Danieal Manning it may be worth giving him a look if the Texans can get him cheap. Maybe a deal with incentives that could make it more palatable to the Texans.

It's great to have football so close but this will be a loooooonnnnnng two weeks.

[eagle eye]

Wow, there is some news to pass along from Texans-land! For a low key organization like Houston that is saying something! What news? Check it out.

Back at the beginning of the rookie camp after the draft Bill O'Brien called out 3rd round pick Jalen Strong for being overweight. He reported at the time at 231 lbs. Now just over a week away Strong is ready and he should not incur any of O'Brien's wrath when training camp begins next week because since that day in early May Strong has dropped 20 lbs and is now weighing just 211 lbs. Strong is coming into a situation that should benefit him because he won't be under any pressure to start right away. He will be behind veteran receivers Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington which should give Strong time to develop which rookie WRs generally need but rarely get. It generally takes a couple of years for a WR get up to speed being an NFL caliber receiver. The Texans WR corp is as strong as it's ever been and it's a great situation for Strong to be in. Now that he's down to his playing weight it should be nothing but full steam ahead for him.

NFL.com has reported that Jadeveon Clowney looks "spectacular". However that doesn't necessarily mean he'll be on the field any time soon. He is progressing well after microfracture surgery 7 months ago but it would be asking a lot for him to be back on the field when training camp starts or even be ready when Week 1 rolls around. I seriously would not be surprised if he doesn't begin the season on PUP. That would give Clowney an extra 6 weeks of rehab. Anthony Spenser had the same surgery in 2013 in October and he didn't see the field until November of 2014 and he wasn't really himself until January in the playoffs. All I can hope is that Houston doesn't try to rush him back too soon.

[eagle eye]

Training camp is just a few day away and the radio voice of the Texans, Marc Vandermeer, takes a look at the arrival of HBO's Hard Knocks crew. I sort of wish I had HBO just for the 5 weeks HK is on the air.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vandermeers-View-Hard-Knocks-invasion-at-NRG/ee20b849-7fcd-41c5-be99-bcac150d2254

On Wednesday Texans training camp tickets were released the public. Six minutes later they were all gone! Don't think folks are excited for the upcoming season? Yeah, right. Here's the article from Texans.com that also includes the training camp dates that are open to the public. There are tix available for the Academy Youth Day on August 11. Those tix are available only at Academy and will be explained in the article linked below.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-training-camp-tickets-sell-out-in-6-minutes/d5456531-d9db-42ff-87fa-31989ad20c17

Training camp practices officially begin next Saturday, August 1, at the Texans training facility across the street from NRG Stadium. So what that means is training camp is T-minus 8 days and counting.

[eagle eye]

It's the final week before training camp begins on Saturday. In an article from the Texans official website the voice of Texans radio, Marc Vandermeer, gives us 5 things unique about this upcoming training camp. Just 5? This is a pretty thought provoking 5 so enjoy! 5 days until the beginning of training camp.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Top-5-Firsts-for-2015-Texans-Training-Camp/0325a71b-45d3-4d71-80bc-6e3dddee4ca9

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Just like I said in the spring, Jadeveon Clowney will not be ready for training camp or Week 1 of the coming season. Recovering from microfracture surgery is just too hard and long a process. Yesterday the Texas said that Clowney will begin the season on the PUP list meaning Clowney won't play for the first six weeks of the season and after which time the team has a five week window to allow the player to begin practicing. Once he begins practice the team has 21 days to activate him onto the 53 man roster. If they never activate him he must remain on PUP the remainder of the season. Now, since he is on the season PUP list Houston could activate him any time during training camp but if they do they can't put him back on PUP even if he practices for just a few minutes. The player would have to be put on the Injured Reserve list and he could not play at all during the season. I think the Texans are still holding out hope that Clowney will be back but I hope to goodness they don't rush him back and get him hurt again.

Besides Clowney and three other players will begin on PUP. David Quessenberry, the O-lineman who is recovering from cancer, will be on the Active/Non-Football injury list. WR Alan Bonner has been placed on the Active/Non-Football injury list as well. Since Bonner was drafted in 2013 he hasn't played a down for the Texans as he's been on injured reserve both in 2013 and 2014. It's entirely possible that Bonner's days as a Texan are numbered especially since he was drafted pre-Bill O'Brien and the current coaching staff has no dog in his hunt. The last man is like Clowney, on the Active/Football injury list and that is LB Akeem Dent who has been walking around OTAs and mini camp in a walking boot as he recovers from a foot injury.

[eagle eye]

Houston began training camp practices on Saturday but it's only shorts and jerseys per league rules. The first two days of training camp are only supposed to be without pads to help the players acclimate to being in training camp. That means Sunday's practice was also in shorts and jerseys.

So far in the first couple days Bill O'Brien has indicated that Ryan Mallett had good days starting out training camp. This doesn't mean much right now as Brian Hoyer is going to get his shots with 1's too.

The Texans have stated that they are targeting August 17th for Jadeveon Clowney's first practices since he had microfracture surgery last December. The original date of rehab was 9 months and with the practices close that timetable he is right on schedule. However, it's still not clear if he will be able to play by Week 1. In pre-season PUP you can come off any time and the player could be available by Week 1. If the player isn't ready he can go on regular season PUP and he would have to miss at least the first six weeks of the season. Clowney MIGHT be back in October or November I just don't believe he will be healthy enough to play Week 1.

Reported in the link below Texans 1st round pick Kevin Johnson has had a good beginning to training camp but there is still a long way to go.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/CB-Kevin-Johnson-off-to-“a-good-start”/ebfd1ae7-c4d0-41c4-8af9-f8b13f59ddc7

Here are 23 observations from Day 2 of training camp by Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/23-observations-from-day-two-of-TexansCamp/b55cacaf-12d7-4f8f-802c-8742196b3467

[eagle eye]

On a day when Dallas announced it was going to honor one their all time great players the Texans had a much less enjoyable day. The Texans best back and the backbone of their offense, Arian Foster, hurt his groin. He hurt is so badly he will need surgery to repair it. The Texans are saying that he will not have to miss the whole season, that he will be back at some point, but right now there is no speculation when that point will be. He will almost certainly begin the season on the Injured/PUP list which means he will miss a minimum of 6 games. Rehab from an injury like this is varied and it all depends on the severity of the injury.
Houston worked out former Saint and current free agent Pierre Thomas and it was reported he had a very good workout. Trouble was Thomas and Texans could not come up with a number that Thomas liked so he was not signed.
Now, I don't know about anyone else but the list of retreads and has beens who could be trolling for a job right now do not interest me. Thomas was possibility but that seems to have gone by the wayside. Another guy I wouldn't mind seeing the Texans consider is Knowshon Moreno. He had a great 2013 season that landed him a free agent deal with Miami in 2014. He began the season lights out rushing for 134 yards in the season opener to lead the Dolphins to a 33-20 win over New England. The next week he was again looking like he would bust 100 yards in a game vs Buffalo until he sustained a dislocated elbow that virtually ended his season. If he's healthy I wouldn't mind putting Moreno in a mix with Alfred Blue and Kenny Hilliard. To be honest I am looking forward to seeing how these former LSU teammates mesh for the Texans.

Here are some observations from Texans.com's John Harris from yesterday's practice.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/17-observations-from-day-four-of-TexansCamp/085a99b4-6544-4089-8cf7-c640a8e98996

[eagle eye]

Houston is spending the next few days, beginning today, practicing with the Washington Redskins. Houston traveled to Richmond Virginia where the Redskins training camp is and they begin 3 days of pounding somebody other than each other.

With Arian Foster out RB Jonathan Grimes is taking on more of a load. Next man up, right? Bill O'Brien has praised Grimes for stepping up his game and noted that the past 3 practices Grimes has been consistently good. Grimes is a former UFA and I suppose it's worth noting that Arian Foster was a UFA too. I'm not saying Grimes is as good as Arian Foster but what I am saying is sometimes you find a diamond in the rough and sometimes lighting strikes the same place twice.

Here are 25 observations from today's practice with the Redskins from Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/25-observations-from-TexansCamp-against-Washington/a95b535b-536e-400c-937e-9c758895170a

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Day 2 in DC, well actually in Virginia, and practice with the Redskins. So here's the news from Texans camp in the form of 24 observations from Day 2 practices by Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/24-observations-from-day-two-of-Texans-vs-Redskins-/4633d630-a527-4f35-bf14-ddd37452878a

Why Arian Foster felt the need to declare he didn't believe in God is something only Arian can explain but the questions arise that, for me, were answered by Fred Faour on ESPN 97.5 yesterday when he said, "I don't care what his beliefs are. Am I going to not be a Texans fan or a Foster fan now that I know he doesn't believe in God? Hell, no! If he or anyone, for that matter, performs on the field and the team I root for is successful I'm happy. I don't know the man personally and most fans don't know, really know, the players they root for. All they know is whether or not he's good at his job. I don't give a rip about he believes or doesn't believe." I don't agree with Faour all that much but on this one I have to agree. I'm going to say who cares and move on.

Good reports about WR Jalen Strong. That is never a bad thing to get positive reports on a player. Like, say for instance, 2nd year LB Max Bullock. Reports are that the guy is showing real progress and that's just another link in a strong defensive chain.

Drew Dougharty of Texans.com did his own recap of today's practice saying "it got intense". Check out his article linked below.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/“It-got-intense”-at-Friday’s-Texans-Washington-practice/4352991b-b357-4253-b790-bd99467c5d53

[eagle eye]

The biggest news today from Texans training camp was a virtual meltdown during the final day of joint practices with Washington Redskins. The teams had to be separated and ended up practicing apart on two different fields after there were 3 serious fights in a 5 minute span. Here are some tweets from Bleacher Report. As an aside, yesterday Bill O'Brien classified yesterday's practice with Washington as being intense. I guess after what happened today that underscores O'Brien's observation about the join practice sessions.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2543022-huge-brawls-break-out-at-redskins-and-texans-joint-practice

Prior to the fights that ended the joint practice with the Redskins new nose tackle Vince Wolfork totally overpowered Redskins center so bad that he drove the guy right into the Redskins RB on the play causing him to tackle his own man. Pretty awesome display of power!

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2543068-texans-vince-wilfork-makes-redskins-lineman-tackle-own-running-back

Here's a link from Texans.com that features an article and a video of Bill O'Brien's press conference following practice which feature 3 separate fights between Houston and Washington that resulted in the teams finishing practice separately on two different fields. It's more than a discussion of the fights, O'Brien talks about what he's seeing so far in camp. Should be good subject matter for "Hard Knocks". Too bad I don't have HBO!

[eagle eye]

The first episode of HBO's series "Hard Knocks" premieres tonight. It should include the first week and a half of Texans training camp including the brawls that occurred on Sunday in the Texans last joint practice with the Washington Redskins. Here's a preview of tonight's episode from Texans.com. Hit the link on the Texans home page for a Hard Knocks look at nose tackle Vince Wolfork.

http://www.houstontexans.com/

Here's an article from Texans.com about the Texans new center Ben Jones.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Ben-Jones-settling-in-at-center/451f2b4a-f636-4a4f-8666-34c095fb22f6

This link is also from Texans.com. It's an article from John Harris titled, "Football 101: Alfred Blue's Skillset". Pretty interesting read.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Alfred-Blues-skillset-/6ef90971-721b-43ad-b870-8de1221e5c3c

[eagle eye]

Okay, all I want to know is this, how did Hard Knocks go last night? I don't have HBO so I have no clue if the program was good or not. So, if somebody would give an update on the Hard Knocks episodes I would appreciate it.

Houston released it's first depth chart and not surprisingly Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer were both listed as starters.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-depth-chart-released-by-Texans/01f94127-f2bc-4f5a-a8e9-427a47d422f0

The Texans are still saying they expect Jadeveon Clowney to be back to practice on Monday the 17th but they are now hedging their bets saying they won't rush him back. He may participate in rehab exercises with trainers on the side but he won't actually be practicing. I still maintain that Clowney will begin the season on PUP while he rehabs his way back to the field.

Bill O'Brien has said that NT Louis Nix III will get a lot of snaps in the Texans first preseason game this Saturday in NRG Stadium against the 49ers. Nix was one of the 2014 draft picks that wasn't able to contribute to the team last year. Nix, OL Xavier Su'a-Filo and Clowney who either saw little or none of the field last season because of injuries. Nix is 2nd on the depth chart as he gets to learn his craft from veteran Vince Wolfork who was Nix's idol all the way back to Wolfork's Miami Hurricane days. O'Brien has questioned Nix's toughness back in OTA's and challenged him to step up and earn his 3rd round draft status. So far you would have to classify both Su'a-Filo and Nix as busts but they both have plenty of time to redeem themselves.

[eagle eye]

The Texans won the game but that's not the point of preseason. The point is to resolve position battles and evaluate the talent you have in training camp. I think the Texans got a good look at some important pieces. The Texans didn't really answer any questions about starting QB because all 3 QBs had a decent game. Brian Hoyer started and played one series. It was enough to lead the team to an opening drive TD. It came on deep in route by Cecil Shorts who caught the ball about 18 yards past the line of scrimmage and raced the rest of the way to the end zone, a total of 58 yards. That was 58 of Hoyer's 67 yards passing. Hoyer also hit DeAndre Hopkins with a back shoulder fade for a 2 point conversion.
Ryan Mallett was next and he looked pretty good too. He passed for 90 yards hitting on 10 of 11 passes he threw. He did not get a TD toss. One trip in the 1st quarter inside the red zone was unsuccessful. It wasn't Mallett's fault as Houston, inside the 5 yard line, tried seven straight runs. Not exactly seven straight. On 3rd and goal, the first 3rd and goal, Mallett attempted a pass to Alan Bonner was incomplete but it was because the 49ers CB was all over Bonner eliciting a pass interference call. 4 more run attempts failed to get the ball in the end zone and after the game Bill O'Brien said that red zone rushing was one area that needed work. The 49ers just beat the Texan O-line off the ball.
Tom Savage had a good evening too with a game high 97 yards and a TD. None of the Houston QBs had a pick.
As for running back you'd have to say Alfred Blue won the first battle. He gashed the 49ers defense for 59 yards on just 9 carries before his night was over. That's a hair over 6 YPC. Chris Polk and rookie Kenny Hilliard each had more carries than Blue but with not nearly the success. You have to understand they didn't run behind the 1's we'll see going forward.
The WRs didn't get a lot of looks but Shorts, Hopkins and Demarias Johnson all had big catches in the game.
The Texans D looked pretty good as far as the 1's and 2's were concerned although they did let Torry Smith get behind them on a deep pattern but Colin Kaepernick over threw him. The Texans did record 4 sacks on the night while the Niners D failed to get a sack. There were no turnovers in the game.
All in all you'd have to say it was a good start for Houston and maybe a little encouraging for San Fran. For the Texans there are definitely things to build on and, of course, there are things to clean up.
One last thing, the broadcast featured former Oklahoma and NFL running back Spencer Tillman doing the color commentary and I thought he did a very good job. He certainly pointed out things that a lot of color men don't notice or mention. It was a good job but Tillman is a little bland in his delivery but I won't change the channel when he's on.

I was going to include a link to Bill O'Brien's post game comments but I upgraded (?) to Windows 10 and for some reason the link wouldn't post right.


Here's an article of Texans radio play by play man Marc Vandermeer giving his take on the game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vandermeers-View-Checking-off-the-list/73f6d9c6-6d11-4daa-9773-f0b9118a83a6

[eagle eye]

Okay, I got found a good offer for a 30 trial for HBO Now app for my phone and jumped all over it. The app only had the 1st Hard Knocks episode but I watched it last night and it was pretty good. Highlights I took from the show:

> JJ Watt works his ass off. It's like Gary Player once said, "The more I practice the luckier I get.". This is the hallmark of why Watt is so freaking good. Sure he's got a world of talent but it's the work he puts in that makes the difference. He's also a nice guy and that don't hurt one bit either. I can't believe he got ripped for being a good guy after the episode aired last week. Haters love to hate.

> Rookie LB Rashad Cliett was lost for the season with a torn ACL. Prior to that the coaches, Bill O'Brien specifically, remarked what shame it was because he showed so much promise and worked so hard. Sad moment of the episode when the trainer was telling Cliett he could come back from this injury while he was lying on the training table in the locker room.

> Vince Wolfork is a damn good athlete. In a segment that showed Wilfork at home playing hoops. The man can move and he can shoot too!

> The training camp battle with Washington and how O'Brien got after the team after looking bad on Day 1 practice with the Redskins. JJ Watt followed with a speech of his own after O'Brien left.

> The opening sequence when O'Brien was telling his coaching staff that Houston was 88-120, 32 games under .500 as franchise. He also pointed out that Houston gets no respect at all. ESPN, nobody picks Houston to win squat. He said it was time to change all that. He also said he was tired of the media putting down Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett, that both guys could play and they just need a chance. He said, "....and one of them will. But, they both need to be ready to play.". I liked O'Brien before but I think I really like him now that I've seen a little behind the scenes stuff.

Hard Knocks aside, at training camp on Tuesday the Astros Carlos Correa stopped by the Texans practice field and met with some of the Texans including JJ Watt. Correa was all the talk of the town on Monday after Correa's tackle of Jose Altuve after his game winning hit against Detroit Sunday afternoon. Correa marveled at the size of Watt and some of the other Texans players and afterwards he said he'll be happy to stick to baseball.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Carlos-Correa-catches-up-with-JJ-Watt-Texans/dfc4740e-1c03-44b7-99e4-ecacc44c2ee3

23 Things from Texans.com's John Harris as they move toward this week's game against Denver Saturday.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/23-observations-from-Tuesdays-TexansCamp/fa48fb0c-6d05-4b0f-8915-a53e66306f5e

The Texans have awarded a brand new mortgage free home to Army Chief Warrant Officer Kevin Bone and his wife. Houston has done this for a couple of years now rewarding local servicemen and women for their service to our country. Here's a link to the article from the Cypress Creek Mirror.

http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypresscreek/news/army-veteran-receives-new-home/article_4685ddb5-6eb5-5c32-8230-6081139af49e.html

Back to Hard Knocks, here's NFL.com's recap of episode 2 which aired last night. Don't tell me what happened I haven't seen it yet.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000512564/article/hard-knocks-recap-no-2-cushing-a-compelling-bully

Finally, Jadeveon Clowney is actually back at practice. He doing stretching, participating in team walk-throughs and individual drills. That's enough right now. O'Brien is still hopeful he'll be ready for Week 1 but I'm still skeptical. But, I have to admit, I didn't believe he'd be back at practice right now either. Here's an article with Clowney's thoughts on his first day of training camp.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Jadeveon-Clowney-feeling-great-after-1st-practice/ad29ec38-4208-4883-9126-01e8a43a2233

[eagle eye]

I saw Hard Knocks episode 2 last night and I thought it was a little lame. There was a confrontation between RB Alfred Blue and LB Brian Cushing. Cushing doesn't take being disrespected lightly. The look on Blue's face when Cushing called him out in a one-on-one drills was pretty funny. Blue pissed of Cushing earlier in the drill and Cushing went about destroying him during the drill. Later in the episode DeAndre Hopkins asked Cush it he ever had a latte and he replied, "I went to Starbucks before until I realized I wasn't a chick.". Hopkins really showed his feminine side with the discussion about lattes and his desire to have a man-bag and to have a Yorkie dog to put in it. Hopkins is all testosterone on the field making play after play in practice and in the game they played. He seems to be embracing his role as #1 receiver and that's a good thing.
Too much uninteresting crap in the episode for the most part. The HBO folks need to up their game a little bit.

Here are 31 observations about yesterday's practice session from Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/31-observations-from-Wednesdays-TexansCamp/ee8da2d2-efd1-40a3-99eb-8af482d1f9d7

[eagle eye]

So, Houston didn't look all that good in the loss Saturday night to the Broncos. Well, that's not completely true. The defense looked pretty good in their brief time on the field but for the most part the Texans weren't terrible but they weren't that good. I can't wait to see Hard Knocks to see how Bill O'Brien breaks it down. It's becoming increasingly obvious that Houston won't have a "bell cow" running back. Alfred Blue, Jonathan Grimes and Chirs Polk will share the load. If you're looking at Houston for a fantasy running back I think you may be barking up the wrong tree.

If you are looking at Houston and wondering which QB to take in fantasy you are 1) crazy or 2) a die-hard homer or 3) you're looking for a backup QB for bye weeks. The answer to the question of will it be Hoyer or Mallett? O'Brien answered that question yesterday by naming Brian Hoyer the starting QB for the 2015 Texans. I was a little surprised considering the hype over Mallett but I also believe that Hoyer is severely underrated. I've seen Hoyer play well and that was in Cleveland where playing well is difficult as hell considering they have had 3 different head coaches in the last 4 years and 4 different offenses to learn and so on and so forth. Cleveland lost their best receiver Josh Gordon to stupidity and only injuries really derailed Hoyer, both to him and his teammates. So here I am saying I think Hoyer should be given the benefit of the doubt. After all O'Brien and his coaching staff have seen Hoyer and Mallett every single day and they feel Hoyer is better. Judging by the poor performance against Denver Mallett pretty much played his way out of the starting lineup. He wasn't accurate, he made bad decisions and he threw picks. Sort of the trifecta of what a good QB doesn't do if he wants to play on Sundays.

Here they go again. Who? The dumbasses on ESPN's The Drive. AJ and Fred in a discussion of Hoyer being named the Texans starter they started in with their usual gloom and doom. While they acknowledge that the defense will be better than last year (which is amazing since they said before last season that the defense would suck because all they had was JJ Watt) but the offense is a flushable commodity because they have no Arien Foster and now they have somebody both consider mediocre at best. They didn't mention that O'Brien had Hoyer when they both were in New England and based on that O'Brien wanted him in this off season. O'Brien said in episode 1 of Hard Knocks that he was tired of people putting Hoyer and Mallett down. He said both guys were good players and one of them was going to get his chance. Now we know it's Hoyer. Maybe it's out of spite or because I think I'm a better judge of the Texans than the dimwit duo. Last season they said Houston would be lucky to win 6 games. I said that Houston would go either 9-7 or 10-6. They went 9-7 and missed the playoffs by a game. Yesterday AJ and Fred said that the reason Houston went 9-7 was because Ryan Fitzpatrick had a career year! Really? Fitz was inconsistent at best in the first half of the season and he was benched for Ryan Mallett who went 1-1 and his second game he gutted out a torn pectoral muscle as Houston lost to the Bengals. Fitz came back and was good until he broke his ankle and Tom Savage took over until he got hurt and Case Keenum finished the season. Fitz had a couple of really good years in Buffalo, certainly better than he had last year with Houston. AJ and Fred can be all gloom and doom because they have Hoyer as the starter and no Foster to lean on but I think O'Brien and his staff can put Hoyer in good positions and Houston can at least equal last year in wins. So, I'm saying Houston will go at least 9-7. O'Brien has a history of making teams better. He did it as OC in New England and he was successful at Penn State when the experts had the Nittany Lions dead and buried and they ended up with a winning record and he won NCAA Coach of the Year. Sorry guys, I think this is a well coached team and they will be successful.

There is an article on Texans.com about how DeAndre Hopkins learned the Texans Bill O'Brien offense. It's an interesting story and rather ingenious too. Still having issue with Windows 10 so I can't post a link. Also check out the preview of this week's Hard Knocks episode that features rookie UFA from Boise State Khari Lee doing his impression of O'Brien in a team meeting. Even O'Brien was cracking up!

Eureka! Finally figured out what is happening. I really don't have a solution for Microsoft 10 but the default browser that is downloaded with MS 10 is a system called Microsoft Edge with Bing as the search engine. The problem was I could copy links and paste them but they would not be "links". You couldn't click on them and go to a web page. I got back on Internet Explorer with Google as my default drive and the linking worked like a charm. Still don't know how to fix Microsoft Edge but I don't care anyway. Here are the links to the pages mentioned above.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/DeAndre-Hopkins-studied-Patriots-offense-to-learn-system/fa4871f3-21a6-46fb-975c-bb875512edd3

http://www.houstontexans.com/index.html

[eagle eye]

Hard Knocks Episode 3 was pretty good. It focused on training camp stuff more than Episode 2 but it also gave us a look beyond which is the point of the show. The rookie show was good especially the segment when rookie TE from Boise Khari Lee did a spot on Bill O'Brien that have everyone including O'Brien cracking up. Everyone, that is, except LB Brian Cushing who is sort of the epitome of the phrase Neanderthal in terms of the stereotype of the jock and football players in particular. I think Cushing was considering attacking Lee judging by the look on his face. The segment on the 13th birthday of O'Brien's older son Jack. The boy has a rare brain disorder and is totally dependent on his parents. It was a touching segment and makes me like O'Brien even more. Here's a recap of the episode from Texans.com. Included in the article are a couple of clips from the show.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/“Hard-Knocks”-Episode-3-Swennis-anyone/8e4d79d4-0437-444a-959a-8ddd002b232e

Much to my complete shock the Texans announced that Jadeveon Clowney is on track to play in Week 1. I still can't believe it. He won't likely play at all in preseason but he will be there Week 1.

[eagle eye]

It sure looks like O'Brien made the right choice. Brian Hoyer looked pretty good against the Saints. Not only that but the defense was pretty doggone stingy to Drew Brees and company as well. Hard knocks looks like there is some potential for some good drama. Not just for the win but minor dust-up over Ryan Mallett "over sleeping" and being late to practice on Wednesday last week. No big deal to me and for sure no big deal to O'Brien. I think it is pretty telling that the Texans defense played as well as it did on the road against a Saints team that reliving the emotional time 10 years ago after Hurricane Katrina made mincemeat of the levees around NOLA. The Saints definitely should have had a big emotional advantage on the face of things but as is the case of life in the NFL few of the current Saints were on the team 10 years ago. So, it was likely no advantage at all. Being on the road is supposed to be a disadvantage but it didn't bother the Texans. The defense, as I said, played well and did you notice it was done without JJ Watt in the lineup at all? Watt hasn't played a down in preseason which is pretty smart on O'Brien's part. No need to risk injuring your best player over meaningless games. I believe that Houston has some flash and some bang on offense too. I believe Hoyer is severely underrated and between Hopkins, Cecil Shorts and Nate Washington Houston has some nice weapons. As for the RB's I was impressed with Jonathan Grimes in very limited work. I do think Houston has depth at RB and with Grimes, Chris Polk, Kenny Hilliard and of course Alfred Blue Houston will be alright. I'm not sure I'll go out on that very thin limb and predict Houston will give Indianapolis a run for their money in the division but if things fall right ........................... you just never know.

[eagle eye]

The preseason finale against the Cowboys it was the showcase for all the non-starters to make their final case to the coaching staff that they need to make the final 53 man roster. I'll tell you, last night's game wasn't your typical sloppy, mistake prone snoozer these games usually are. It speaks well of both Houston and Dallas' depth quality that the game looked like a normal game. Not really any excessive penalties, pretty solid play on the field and it was not that boring a game to watch. In fact, I kind of enjoyed it. The starters for the most part didn't play except for draft picks and rotational guys. With only 75 players currently allowed on the roster some of the 2nd stringers had to play.
Here are some take-aways I got from this game.
> Tom Savage looked pretty damn good. He was accurate, he made good decisions except for one pass that led to an easy pick six for Dallas. Trouble was in the 4th quarter the O-line which was getting pushed around all night by the Dallas defense allowed a breakout by DT Devon Coleman who tackled Savage falling right on top of him. Savage was sideways when he went down and he landed right on his right shoulder with Coleman's weight right on top of him. Savage was forced to leave the field and was taken to the locker room to be examined. After the game Bill O'Brien didn't have any update on Savage's injury. Savage looked like a guy who knew his way around an NFL huddle though and it's encouraging to think that Savage really could be the QB of the future for the Texans. I'm just a guy but for my money Savage's performance last night sort of tells me that in the not-too-distant future either Brian Hoyer or Ryan Mallett could become expendable.
> The defense played well. They were off and on successful stopping the Cowboys run game. They ended up allowing a total of 150 yards rushing and 2 TDs to Dallas but they did have their moments. As for pass rush, Houston harassed Dallas QB Dustin Vaughn relentlessly. They only recorded two sacks but they were in Vaughn's grill all night and only allowed 115 yards passing. Vaughn was 11/20 and most of the problem was the pressure Houston put on him.
> The O-line struggled against the Dallas D-line. Dallas held Houston to 75 yards rushing that includes a 9 yard scramble by Savage. I have to say that the Dallas D's dominance made yards hard to come by for Kenny Hilliard and Chris Polk but they were both involved in the passing game and looked pretty good. Hilliard got more carries 18 to 10 than Polk but Polk's YPC got more receiving yards for the same amount of catches. Both players had 4 but Polk gained 37 yards receiving while Hilliard got only 16. Polk also scored a TD on a really nice play that had Polk wide open in the flat and he was able to walk in for an easy 16 yard catch and run.
> Special teams was solid and Lechler, Bullock and LS Weeks look ready to go. Coverage units were okay but they did allow a big punt return by Lucky Whitehead but things like that get straightened out after the final roster cuts.
> In the battle of 1st round picks, Houston's Kevin Johnson and Dallas' Byron Jones I thought Johnson was better. Jones was beaten for a TD by Keshawn Martin but credit also must go to Savage who threw a great pass and Martin for making a contested catch.

Final cut downs are supposed to be done Saturday afternoon when all NFL teams have to be down to their final 53 man roster. I believe after all cuts clear waivers then teams will sign players to their practice squad and will happen on Monday. We are now 9 short days away from the beginning of the 2015 NFL season.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are down to their final 53 and their finale of Hard Knocks will have features about two players they have been following during the show's run. CB Charles James II and WR EZ Nwachukwu. Nwachukwu could end up on the practice squad but I'm not sure about James. He played hard but he got beat a little too often. Another Hard Knocks guy that got cut was LB Kourtni Brown. I really think he will end up on the practice squad too.
There were indications that Bill O'Brien isn't sentimental about draft picks. Last year the Texans drafted LB Max Bullock and NT Louis Nix III and both are gone. Nix has to be the biggest disappointment. The Texans used a 3rd round choice on him and he never played a down in the regular season for Houston. O'Brien was on Nix even in OTAs as it seemed like his heart wasn't into playing football. That's a shame because Nix was a highly touted player going into the 2014 draft.
If only Tom Savage could have lasted 7 more minutes. A breakout sack of Savage by the Cowboys Davon Coleman resulted in a what has been called a sprained shoulder has ended up costing Savage the whole 2015 season as he was placed on IR.
On Hard Knocks this week Bill O'Brien had to tell OL Dan Quessenberry that he was going to NFI list and his season is done. You may remember that Quessenberry was diagnosed with cancer before the 2014 season and he has been undergoing treatment. In the Hard Knocks episode he talked about the cancer being in remission and he was hoping to get back with the team this season. In a meeting with O'Brien Quessenberry was told that he just wasn't ready to play this year. O'Brien went on to say that the Texans were counting on him to be ready to go in 2016 and that the Texans were not giving up on him, thus his move to the Non-Football Injury List. The Texans will retain his rights and if I'm not mistaken he will still get paid. Class move by O'Brien and the Texans and Quessenberry realized it too despite being disappointed. Here is a link to Texans.com and the complete list of cuts and designations made by the Texans to get down to the final 53. Some of these names, if not claimed, I would imagine will end up on the practice squad.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/The-Texans-53-man-roster-is-set/a7726064-7bdc-4ab4-9d97-bdc2a20fc2cb

I guess I'll have to eat my hat because O'Brien is still saying that the Texans expect Jadeveon Clowney will be on the field in uniform Week 1 vs Kansas City. I have to honest, if somebody had bet me he would be back I'd have taken that bet in a New York minute. Good for Clowney and hopefully he's not back too soon but I wouldn't expect the #1 player in last year's draft to be anything close to what he will be later this year or even next year. That microfracture surgery is a royal bitch to come back from. Fact is, many don't.

[eagle eye]

Hard Knocks will be over tomorrow night. It was interesting to see behind the scenes of Texans training camp and you get to root for a few players who you may not have noticed otherwise. After the cuts on Saturday there were teams showing interest in LB Kourtnei Brown, CB Charles James II and EZ Nuwachukwu. Tampa Bay signed Brown to their practice squad, James was signed by Baltimore and as for EZ? EZ was signed by the Miami Dolphins. No sad stories here and that's good because I think we all came to like all three guys as we got to know them in Hard Knocks.

Is it really possible? Can former 2nd round draft pick be returning to practice in time to prepare for the Kansas City Chiefs this weekend? Probably not but then again with Su'a-Filo you just don't know.

Names to watch on the Texans defense according to reports are Brandon Brooks and Jared Crick. It would be sweet is they really are ready to break out of the JJ Watt shadow a little bit.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Jared-Crick-A-Force-Awakens/ba436d50-9f44-4bd9-a7bb-ce43d846abf3

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brandon-Brooks-Battling-Adversity/ab7edb02-8fe3-43cb-a161-261562c6794c

The Texans defense could be a top 5 unit this year. They are more than solid on the D-line and addition of Vince Wolfork to the mix is nothing but a good thing. The linebacking corp looks athletic and fast with a healthy, and I mean really healthy, Brian Cushing. With the Neanderthal-like attitude that Hard Knocks portrayed him as you may not realize that Cushing is over two full years in his post ACL knee injury issues. He wasn't himself last year, not really, but now he looks like the athletic and fast man-beast that he was coming out of college. The secondary has got a righteous mix of youth and experience to count on. 1st round draft pick Kevin Johnson looks like the real deal while he will get to learn from some pretty good vets like Jonathan Joseph and Kareem Jackson. Lonnie Balentine, Andre Hal and Rahim Moore have the safety position locked down. This group ought to be pretty salty and I, for one, am looking forward to seeing them play. They looked pretty damn good in the last two preseason games and JJ Watt didn't play a snap in preseason.
I was a little surprised to see Houston cut WR Damaris Johnson because he made plays for Houston working out of the slot last season. However, Houston has six really good WRs and it was just a case of too much talent and not enough room. Houston has DeAndre Hopkins who was in full beast mode this off season. They acquired Cecil Shorts in free agency and he could be THE steal of the entire NFL free agent class. Shorts is a really good receiver who will help this team. On the depth chart they have Nate Washington listed as well as 3rd round pick Jalen Strong. Strong struggled in camp but that's to be expected of a rookie. He gets the benefit of learning how to be an NFL receiver from some very wise old vets. The receiving corp is rounded out by a resurgent Keshawn Martin and the rookie from Michigan St Keith Mumphrey. Youth and experience. You gotta love it. The fact is, IMO Mumphrey looked better than Strong during the summer and I expect he will get looks in 4 and 5 wide formations especially if Strong continues to have trouble hanging on to the ball as depicted in Hard Knocks.
Everyone is praising Brian Hoyer's leadership skills since he was named the team's starting QB two weeks ago. I've said before I have seen Hoyer play very well in Cleveland where that isn't the easiest thing to do. Injuries killed Hoyer and gave the impression that he is not as good as I believe he really is. The thing is, Hoyer or any QB for that matter could use a good running game and Houston will have to figure one out with Arian Foster out. Houston got some good news this past weekend in that Foster could be back in the line either the end of September or first part of October. That's great news but until then Houston has to figure out who and how they are going to use Foster's backups. It looks like Alfred Blue will be the first guy to get a crack at the starting job. He will have to share carries with Jonathan Grimes and Chris Polk who looked pretty good at times this summer. My feeling is Polk is the most complete back of the three but each has a little different skill set that I'm sure Bill O'Brien will take full advantage of. I can see Blue and Grimes sharing 1st and 2nd down carries with Polk coming in on 3rd downs. Polk is good coming out of the backfield in the passing game but more importantly he may be the best pass blocker of the 3 guys. If you have a fantasy team who the hell do you pick up. Boomer thinks it's Blue. Me too but Grimes will get carries and maybe the red zone touches as well. PPR leagues may love Polk as the year goes on as a flex player. The O-Line is solid and Duane Brown will be back at practice Wednesday meaning the Texans will be at full strength against the Chiefs daunting D-line. O-line or TE? Where do classify Garrett Graham? He may not be fantasy gold and he may lose touches to CJ Fiedorowicz who had a nice summer as well. This offense may not be a fantasy player's bonanza except for Hopkins but I believe they can get the job done especially when you consider the extra possessions this defense is going to provide them.

This will be the last post I make on this thread because it's time for the regular season to begin. It sure has been an eventful off season but Houston has definitely gotten better and I believe they will give the Colts all they can handle in a decidedly tougher AFC South.