2016 Houston Texans Off Season

[eagle eye]

Okay, I know Hoyer sucked. I believe O'Brien should have pulled him in the second half. We all have to understand that Brandon Weeden wasn't a lock to be better than Hoyer but IMO O'Brien should have given Weeden a shot. I understand O'Brien wanted to give Hoyer the benefit of the doubt and I understand he felt he gave Hoyer an early hook in Week 1 but this was the playoffs, Bill, as in " there's no tomorrow", "pull out all the stops", "go for broke" whatever cliché works for you. This wasn't a regular season game when you can stick with a guy who is struggling just to give him confidence that if he screws up a time or two he won't get an early hook. This was what amounts to sudden death. Win or go home. O'Brien had to recognize that Hoyer just didn't have it and had to come out to give his team a chance to win. Shoot, Houston was in the game until the latter stage of the 3rd quarter. When Hoyer threw that pick when the Texans were on the Chiefs 2 yard line late in the second quarter that should have been the straw that broke the camel's back. As bad as Hoyer was it could really have been worse because the Chiefs dropped two other potential picks in the game. Being responsible for 5 turnovers by yourself should have been an indication Hoyer needed to go sit on the bench. What's done is done but I hope O'Brien learned a little something Saturday afternoon.

Here's a presser with O'Brien talking about his exit message to the team. Dang it, I like O'Brien and I hope when Tom Savage gets back this summer he will show he is the guy the Texans need to go to the next level. As for the link below, click on the second button on the main page to see O'Brien's talk with the media.

http://www.houstontexans.com/

The following link from Texans.com is about Houston signing nine players to a reserve/futures contract. This essentially means that players who were not on an active NFL roster can be signed by a team to sort of protect their rights to them during the off season with an eye on the coming season's OTA's and training camp. Most of the players signed to a a reserve/futures contract are players from their own practice squad who they have been working with and see some potential.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-sign-nine-to-reservefuture-contracts/fd420f29-6cf1-449a-847f-1e5ae8ed4041

Was it just me or did anyone else think that lining JJ Watt at QB in the wildcat formation was a stupid idea? Watt has been good in the red zone but as a receiver. What makes a successful wildcat play is the threat of the QB being able to run or pass the ball. Everyone in the stadium knew JJ Watt wasn't going to pass the football including the Chiefs who loaded up to stop the run and they did just that. Personally, I would have like to see the Texans put Watt at TE where he's made touchdowns before with Brian Hoyer under center and Vince Wilfork at running back a la William "Refrigerator" Perry for the Bears back in the day. This would have made the Chiefs respect the threat of a pass so they couldn't load up the box and I would give the ball to Wilfork and let him blast his 330+ pounds into the line of scrimmage. Force the Chiefs to make a "business decision" on whether to get in Wilfork's way as he bulls his way into the end zone just like "The 'Fridge" used to do. Never saw "The 'Fridge"? Check this out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e59Y9nG9v3A

[eagle eye]

The Texans are rumored to be considering releasing Arian Foster soon. Foster is, or was, a really good running back and he helped elevate the Texans to their first playoff runs in 2012 and 2013. The down side of Foster is he has had trouble staying healthy enough to stay on the field. Last summer even Texans owner Bob McNair said Foster was prone to soft tissue injuries. This was before Foster tore his Achilles tendon the first week of training camp. The Texans are apparently happy with the four headed RB monster this season. In the last month both Chris Polk and Alfred Blue began separating themselves from the pack. That is until a young rookie Akeem Hunt starting making eye opening plays late in the season. Hunt is quick and fast with game breaking ability. The rookie out of Purdue began his NFL career as an unsigned free agent signed by the NY Giants. He was released by the Giants and he subsequently signed with Baltimore and after one week the Ravens released him. Houston signed Hunt on November 2nd and promoted him to the active roster on November 21st. Hunt was limited but he showed a playmaking ability. At 5'10" and 190 lbs he won't be an everydown back but he's got the potential to be a Darren Sproles type of player. Sproles is a bigger player but I believe Hunt is faster. Hunt could also be a nice punt and kickoff return guy as well. As the Texans plan for the 2016 draft I don't believe they see the running back position as a position of need. If that's true, I agree.

It was nice to WR Jalen Strong prove to be a playmaker. With the WRs that Houston have I don't think it is a position of need in the draft. Except for QB Houston is pretty solid all the way around. What Houston really needs to do is upgrade the O-line. In fact, except for quarterback the O-line is the weakest position group on the team. However, they are good enough not to have to reach for linemen. They are good enough to be able to just take the best player on their draft board in all rounds of the draft. Houston will need to address a replacement for NT Vince Wilfork because I'm not convinced that guy is on the roster right now.

After Houston lost last week to the Chiefs they found out they will have the 22nd pick in this year's draft.

JJ Watt won the Sporting News Defensive Player of the year award for the second season in a row narrowly beat out Carolina's Luke Kuechly by just 3 votes, 116 to 113. Watt has also been named to the Pro Bowl and also named first team All Pro. Ho-hum, another average year for JJ. I wonder if everyone appreciates the fact that we are watching a player who comes along once in a generation?

[eagle eye]

The Texans have another player who will be in the Pro Bowl. Long snapper Jon Weeks was selected by one of the Pro Bowl head coaches, Green Bay's Mike McCarthy. Long snapper is one of the positions Pro Bowl coaches are allowed to name as positions of need. Weeks joins JJ Watt and DeAndre Hopkins to represent the Texans in game to be played the weekend before the Super Bowl. LT Duane Brown has been named an alternate but if he does elevate to the Pro Bowl roster he won't play because of the injury he suffered in Week 17.

Speaking of Watt and Hopkins they both received some more awards today. The Sportswriters of America awarded their NFL All NfL Team. All AFC Team and All NFC Team. Watt was named to the All NFL Team for the 4th consecutive year which is the longest current streak in the NFL. Watt and Hopkins were both named to the All AFC Team as well.

Important dates for this coming off season as posted on Texans.com

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Important-Dates-in-2016/1473ad87-f450-4532-ac49-b324810e16e9

[eagle eye]

Houston has been busy this week.
First, they avoided losing linebackers coach Doug Vrabel when he turned down an offer to be defensive coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers. Vrabel interviewed with new Niners coach Chip Kelly but in the end he declined the offer and elected to stay with the Texans. Check out this article from the Bleacher Report.

http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2016/01/linebackers-coach-mike-vrabel-elects-to-remain-with-texans-despite-offer-from-49ers/

Houston also added 3 new coaches to their staff. Larry Izzo (special teams), Sean Ryan (WR's coach) and Anthony Weaver (D-line coach). Here's an article from Texans.com about the new staff members.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-add-Izzo-Ryan-and-Weaver-to-staff/4910cc0d-6ad8-4e84-9087-d4b62a2c7c26

On the Cowboys thread I posted links to articles about players their ex-scout Bryan Broaddus suggests we pay attention to in the Senior Bowl next week. In this link is an article about players Texans.com writer John Harris will be suggesting we keep an eye on next week.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Shrine-Game-players-to-watch/9bda588f-bdec-487a-876e-24be03c923e0

Talking about the draft brings to mind who people assign grades for the draft in the days immediately following the draft which is just projection because there is no telling how they are going to do in the NFL. Texans.com takes a look back at the 2011 draft which is a good barometer of that draft. It is said you can't grade a draft for 5 years when you know how the players have, or haven't, made an impact in the NFL. This article looks at all the first round draft picks made in 2011 up to No. 11 pick JJ Watt. Of course, Watt worked out okay, right?

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Reimagining-the-2011-NFL-Draft/54d28147-2d4a-481e-8511-0e672840552f

[eagle eye]

The Texans have reps at the Senior Bowl this week checking out the talent they will need to evaluate as they head toward the NFL draft in April. In a Breakfast With The Bulls feature are some final thoughts that were taken away from the week's activities. Also, within the article linked below are links to other articles from this past week in Mobile.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-What-we-learned-at-the-Senior-Bowl/d632642b-e65a-497b-81bc-51b2ee67d2ef

Houston's Pro Bowl reps DeAndre Hopkins and long snapper Jon Weeks. Both players are on Michael Irvin's team in the PB. Here's an article about Weeks and Hopkin who are both enjoying their first trip to Hawaii. Included in the article is a video of DeAndre Hopkins chatting with Texans.com's Drew Dougharty after practice.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Hopkins-Weeks-revel-in-1st-Pro-Bowl-practice/315c221b-1707-48d4-9309-4ae77f677ef6

In the article linked below written by Deepi Sidhu of Texans.com she tells us what Bill O'Brien is looking for in a QB as he watches the Senior Bowl practices. It's no secret that Houston committed suicide by QB in the playoff game against Kansas City. Brian Hoyer was just awful and it's pretty clear he is not the face of the future at QB in Houston. If he stays in Houston it certainly should be as a backup to the guy who will be the face of the franchise. Now Ms Sidhu will tell you what O'Brien says he's looking for but here's what I would be looking for. Is there a guy out there, including a QB he recruited to Penn State Christian Hackenberg, who Houston has a chance of drafting AND who is better than their own Tom Savage. You guys know I won't let this go because I really think Savage could be that guy. Now, let's look at what O'Brien told Texans.com.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/What-Bill-O’Brien-looks-for-in-Senior-Bowl-QBs/7978affa-3332-487a-bd46-ca83544054bd

[eagle eye]

Just wonder if you knew this but good old Houston will be hosting Super Bowl 51 next year! Yep, it will be the Texans 2nd time to host the biggest game of the year and judging by the first time, it should be a resounding success. Actually, it's the 3rd time. Many people don't realize that the Rice Stadium was host for SB VIII way back in 1974 between the Vikings and Dolphins which Miami won for the second year in a row. What I'm talking about when I say 2nd time is that SB 51 will be the second time the SB has been held at NRG Stadium. Now technically, it was Reliant Stadium back in 2004 when SB XXXVIII was played but the stadium has since been renamed but it is the same venue. Imagine that, the biggest sporting event of any given year will be played just about 90 miles due west of here. I know it's a whole year away and there is the matter of SB 50 to get settled but hey, it IS a pretty big deal!

[eagle eye]

It's been a while since I checked with something about the Texans. Obviously, it's all going to be about the upcoming draft in late April. Here's a couple of draft related articles from Texans.com that prove that Houston is 100% all about the draft.

First up is the Texans.com's main football analyst, John Harris with his top 100 players heading into the NFL draft. This is a link to a slideshow of his rankings. I think it's interesting that his #1 player overall is Ole Miss OT Laremy Tunsil. Harris doesn't have a QB until #5 with Cal's Jared Goff. It's an interesting list.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/The-Harris-100-is-unveiled/77f46d69-341e-4f11-8dc6-d4a4499fad61#c33b7582-d5cd-4c53-8cb1-d3483a39f3a0

The next link is to Drew Dougherty's article about Mock Drafts 2.0. He talks about the players that most of the mocks feel will go to Houston. The most predominant player to go to Houston at #22 is Alabama RB Ezekeiel Elliot. The coolest thing about this link is there are links to a bunch of mock drafts by the top guys in the business including Mel Kiper Jr and Todd McShay. BTW I don't think we need a RB. Houston needs help on the O-line, TE, and of course, QB. Y'all know I am a firm believer in Tom Savage but with Bill O'Brien's former recruit at Penn State, Christian Hackenberg, coming out this season it's not hard to project that Houston will look at him long and hard.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Mock-Draft-Survey-20-yields-RB-/ac4cdfe6-8629-4b4a-ab77-f2932fabbc4c

The radio voice of the Texans, Marc Vandermeer, weighs in with his own mock. He doesn't bother with all 32 teams but he does cover all of the Texans 7 rounds of picks. The article is title VanderMock 1.0.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/VanderMock-10/41aa1cc6-ac25-4e3e-98eb-f37644b580d8


Last but not least is a progress report on LT Duane Brown who was injured in the regular season finale against Jacksonville. The game that won Houston the division and put gave them home field in the Wild Card round of the playoffs. Brown was carted off the field with what turned out to be a torn tendon in his right quad ending his season. He is 5 week removed from that surgery and his rehab is going well.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Duane-Brown-“coming-along-great”-in-rehab/37495bd2-f868-439e-9ddf-caa1954fde7b

[eagle eye]

Did anyone know JJ Watt had surgery this offseason? When it was posted online last week that he has been cleared to practice I'm like, "whaaaaat?". Watt had groin surgery after the season ended and was cleared to start working out again yesterday.

I heard yet another stupid thing said on ESPN 97.5 but it wasn't said by AJ Hoffman or Fred Faour. It was said as a matter of conversation with their newsman David Delotte. Delotte said that if Houston wants one of the top QBs in this year's draft they could move up via a trade with Tennessee who is rumored to be in the market to trade out of the first pick. Houston owns the 22nd pick and to move up to the #1 pick they would likely have to mortgage their entire draft in the way Mike Ditka did when he was in New Orleans when he traded every single pick in that year's draft to move up and take UT RB Ricky Williams. It was a terrible move then and if Houston does it too it will be an equally bad move. I still say Tom Savage is someone who can take the helm. He, and the Texans, are doing it old school. They are allowing him to progress slowly, in much the same way Dallas' QB Tony Romo was allowed to sit and learn. He was signed as an undrafted free agent in 2003 and he was allowed to learn and when Bill Parcells felt he was ready he put him in on a Monday night in relief of Drew. Savage showed a lot of improvement this past preseason he could have taken the reins this past season if not for the season ending shoulder injury he suffered in the final preseason game vs Dallas. I think Houston needs to address other areas and not sacrifice their draft for the sake of a QB who may, or may not, be the guy they hope. Man for man I believe Houston is a better football team overall than Dallas. The Cowboys have some serious holes in their roster that Houston does not have. The most glaring hole in Houston is the O-line. They could use some help there but they don't have to mortgage their future to do it.

[eagle eye]

There is a website called fanspeak.com that allows you to be the GM of any team you choose and complete a mock draft of your own. I have posted a link to the site below that will take you to their On the Clock page where you can choose from a menu of draft ranking sites that include CBSSports.com, Walter Football, Fanspeak's own player ranking board as well as others. You decide how many rounds your mock will cover and then you can get started. They have a premium upgrade that allows you to trade up or down in a round and other features but I haven't done that. I have done a mock for the Cowboys pre-combine and I did a mock for the Texans. Dallas has a total of 9 draft picks. They have a pick in rounds 1-4 and a pick in round 6. They also have a compensatory pick in round 4 (No 38 pick in the round and No 137 overall) and they have 3 in the 6th (No 34/212, 38/216 and 39/217 in the round/overall).

http://fanspeak.com/ontheclock/

I have posted my mock for the Texans below. They have seven picks in this draft, one in each round except the 7th where they don't have a pick. They have an extra pick from a deal in last year's draft when they got the 27th pick in the 5th round. I'm pretty pleased with this mock. I will be surprised as heck if Ezekiel Elliot falls to the 22nd overall pick but he was there and I grabbed him. I'm very happy with the 2nd round pick DT Vernon Butler from LA Tech. He's a prime candidate to end up being the nose tackle after Vince Wilfork retires. In the 3rd round I took Nick Martin from Notre Dame. You know his big brother, Zack, the All Pro guard for the Cowboys. It is said Nick isn't as talented as his brother but he should be a crackerjack guard and backup center. This ability to multi task is a big plus for the him as it relates to the Texans. This mock draft stuff is a good opportunity to generate discussion here on this thread. If you like playing around with mock drafts the link above is a nice site to do just that.

22: R1P22
RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT
OHIO STATE

52: R2P21
DT VERNON BUTLER
LOUISIANA TECH

85: R3P22
C NICK MARTIN
NOTRE DAME

120: R4P21
WR STERLING SHEPARD
OKLAHOMA

159: R5P20
CB JONATHAN JONES
AUBURN

166: R5P27
OLB VICTOR OCHI
STONY BROOK

198: R6P20
OLB YANNICK NGAKOUE
MARYLAND

[eagle eye]

Here's my updated mock for the post combine. Again, I used the On The Clock mock program from fanspeak.com and I used the CBSSports.com player rankings. I admit that I passed on Carson Wentz because I felt there was no way he falls to the 22nd pick. It has been very consistent that Elliot has been there at 22 so I took him. I went offense on 4 of the 7 picks because I believe Houston needs the most help on that side of the ball. I was happy to take Chris Jones because he's big (6'6" and 310 lbs) and pretty athletic. He can play defensive end or nose. It's hard to say a guy weighing 310 lbs is light in the ass but at nose in a 3-4 you need more bulk. If Jones could put on about 20 pounds without losing his quickness he would be awesome at nose IMO. I should have gone O-line at lot earlier than the 4th round but after the 2nd round the ranked players on the O-line were way down on the list meaning they would have been a big reach while passing up on better players. I am happy with this draft but I probably like the one I did last week better but that is how the board shook out.

22: R1P22
RB EZEKIEL ELLIOTT
OHIO STATE

52: R2P21
WR WILL FULLER
NOTRE DAME

85: R3P22
DT CHRIS JONES
MISSISSIPPI STATE

120: R4P21
G DENVER KIRKLAND
ARKANSAS

159: R5P20
FB GLENN GRONKOWSKI
KANSAS STATE

166: R5P27
CB JAMES BRADBERRY
SAMFORD

198: R6P20
OLB YANNICK NGAKOUE
MARYLAND

Here's an article from Texans.com from analyst John Harris and he gives his big winners at the combine and comparisons to current pros.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/2016-NFL-Combine-winners-and-pro-comparisons/d5be39d0-9ca8-4f98-9584-9b0c553362d4

[eagle eye]

My last two mocks on the On The Clock I have taken Ezekiel Elliot. It seems, if Elliot is available, like Houston will be in the market. It was just announced that the Texans have released Arian Foster. It may be that Houston won't be able to pass on Elliot but they have more pressing needs on the O-line. Trouble is there may not be anyone available at #22 in the first round to help the line. This doesn't seem to be the best year as far as the offensive line prospects go and I'm sure none of us wants Houston to reach for a player not worthy of that high a pick just out of need. I honestly believe that if there is a QB available like Christian Hackenberg or maybe Dak Prescott Houston will take him. I'm still not giving up on Tom Savage though and if there is a really good player like Elliot available, I'd take him in a heartbeat. I have some worry about where Jaylen Strong's head is at. He seems to be another guy who values his chronic over his career. There should be guys like Josh Doctson from TCU, Will Fuller for Notre Dame or Braxton Miller from Ohio State that should be available at 22. Foster will definitely be missed. When he was on the field he was special. Trouble was, he couldn't stay healthy. Houston will save $6.625MM in cap space but they will also have $2.3MM in dead money meaning it is money not available to spend on their own guys or free agents.

[eagle eye]

Houston made some moves yesterday that surprised me and one that didn't.
> Arian Foster - Was released. Foster will save about $6.6MM on the Texans salary cap but leave the Texans with around $2MM in dead money. Foster was a really good RB when he was healthy but he was able to stay that way. He missed almost all of last season with a torn ACL and that's after missing time early on with a pulled groin. It's very telling when your owner, who seems to think everything and everyone is fine, say that Foster has trouble with soft tissue injuries. Sorry to see him go but it's not unexpected.
> Garrett Graham - Was released. Graham had been with Houston for his entire 6 year career. At 29 he still has plenty left in the tank but I guess Bill O'Brien has seen enough of the player that he felt he wasn't getting the job done and it was time to find another TE.
> Rahim Moore - Was released. At first I was shocked but when I looked at it I saw a player who was clearly not as good as I thought he was. Moore gave up a long pass to former Texan and Baltimore Raven Jacoby Jones for a TD that cost the Broncos a shot at going to Super Bowl XLVII which the Ravens eventually won. He played two more seasons in Denver going to Super Bowl XLVIII but losing to Seattle in the big game. When Houston signed him last year it looked like a big hole in the Texans secondary had been filled but he wasn't all that and 2014 7th round draft pick Andre Hal and 2015 UFA Kurtis Drummond combined to replace Moore in Week 8 and they never looked back. Moore is only 26 so he has a lot of good years left but the question is, is Moore just not that good or does he just not love football enough? I would be will to bet somebody will take a chance on him. Free agent period will begin on Monday. We'll see how active the Texans will be.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are on the hunt for a RB. Lamar Miller formerly of the Miami Dolphins is on the Texans radar. According to NFL.com the Texans and Cowboys are the front runners for Miller. Since releasing Arian Foster this week it would seem the four guys Houston has under contract aren't the answer, long term, to the RB issue.

Earlier this week Houston signed two of it's players to contract extensions. G/T Jeff Adams and CB Charles James to deals this week. James was one of the featured players on HBO's Hard Knocks last summer and he was eventually cut on the final cut down day. He was brought back later in the season when injuries took a bit of a toll on the CB depth chart. He fulfilled the promise he showed during training camp when Bill O'Brien told him on cut day that he saw a lot of potential in James and for him to keep working on his game. He apparently took O'Brien's advice and it has paid tangible dividends.

Texans.com's John Harris has published he top 100 players in this year's NFL draft and he is breaking down that list into the top five players at each position. Considering QB is arguably the highest position of need by the Texans he gives us his top 5 QB's heading into the draft in April. It is Harris' list but the article is by Texans.com media coordinator Jesse Clark.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-The-Top-5-DBs-of-the-Harris-100/da310cd2-8655-4799-8ca8-8d2627ef1a9f

Here's my 3rd mock draft for fanspeak.com's On The Clock using the CBS player draft rankings. I'm not sure but I think it's my favorite draft so far. Ezekiel Elliot was available but he wasn't the highest ranked player on the board. That was CB Mackensie Alexander from Clemson. There's a saying that goes something like, "you can never have too many cornerbacks". I got a guy in La Tech's Vernon Butler who could be groomed to take over for Vince Wilfork. Then I got busy with some offense. I got Nick Martin from Notre Dame, brother of the Cowboys Zack Martin. He's listed as a center but he could be a guard who can play center. Versatility is the reason Martin is a keeper. You can hardly go wrong with a Big Ten player these days and I'm taking a chance on Ohio State's Nick Vannett to fill a void at TE left by the release of Garrett Graham. With the first pick in the 5th I went with Glen Gronkowski from K-State. O'Brien can't help but take his own Gronk. Trouble is there have been two other Gronk brothers to follow Rob into the NFL. The first two were not good. I guess it can't hurt to take a chance on a guy who is listed as a fullback but can play H-back or even some TE. You'd think either Vannett or Gronk can be the answer to some of Houston's offensive questions. With the supplemental pick in the 5th I couldn't believe it but San Jose State RB Tyler Ervin. Ervin ran for over 1,600 yards as a senior and he caught 45 passes out of the backfield. Maybe not an every down back but you never know. Darren Sproles has been a pretty good RB for a long time and if that's what Houston gets I'll take it. With my last pick I went with defense again. LB Yannick Ngakoue out of Maryland. I really don't know much about him but he was the highest guy on the board except for a kicker.

22: R1P22
CB MACKENSIE ALEXANDER
CLEMSON

52: R2P21
DT VERNON BUTLER
LOUISIANA TECH

85: R3P22
C NICK MARTIN
NOTRE DAME

120: R4P21
TE NICK VANNETT
OHIO STATE

159: R5P20
FB GLENN GRONKOWSKI
KANSAS STATE

166: R5P27
RB TYLER ERVIN
SAN JOSE STATE

198: R6P20
OLB YANNICK NGAKOUE
MARYLAND

[eagle eye]

Day 1 of free agency for the Texans can only be described as BAM!. The Texans answered the QB questions by outbidding the Broncos for Brock Osweiler agreeing on a 4 year $72MM deal that effectively benches last year's starter Brian Hoyer. If Osweiler can't beat out Hoyer Houston would be better off cutting him. It also states unequivocally that Tom Savage has no chance to start this year. I would suggest that Houston offer Savage to Dallas for cash or a late round draft pick. If I'm Jerra I'd take it.

The other big deal of the day is that Houston signed former Dolphins RB Lamar Miller to a 4 year $26MM deal that gives a very reasonable replacement for Arian Foster. At 25 years of age Miller is in the prime of his career and coupled with Osweiler could be the catalyst for the Texans making a real noise in the post season in 2016. The Texans were QB challenged last season and still went 9-7. Osweiler is the key. If he's good, he doesn't even need to be great, Houston should be worlds better than last season. Looking at a comparison of rosters between Houston and Dallas Houston is better by a wide margin in my viewpoint. Their deficiencies are at QB and O-line are the main reasons that make the Cowboys prospects better than Houston's. Houston has address QB and upgraded the RB position. Let's see what happens in the rest of free agency and the draft.

As for the aforementioned O-line Houston has yet another hole to fill after G Brandon Brooks signed a free agent deal with Philadelphia that was a 5 year deal for $40MM.

[eagle eye]

Boy oh boy, has the Texans front office been busy so far this week. They get a new QB in Brock Osweiler, a new RB in Lamar Miller and two new offensive linemen in G Jeff Allen formerly with the Chiefs and C/G Tony Bergstrom formerly with the Raiders. The Texans also signed several of their own free agents, K Shane Lechler, K Nick Novak, T Chris Clark, CB Charles James (mentioned this yesterday), G/T Jeff Adams and S Eddie Pleasant. Houston has also made qualifying offers to restricted free agents CB AJ Bouye and OLB John Simon. Here's an article from Texans.com with a little background on the new players and old players resigned.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Flurry-of-free-agent-moves-made-by-Texans/743f6024-69f9-40d5-8e87-4a4f0e8ec785

Check out the introductory press conference in Houston with Brock Osweiler.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Extended-Cut-Brock-Osweiler-Press-Conference/3b395f4d-78b7-469c-8dfc-1962d7c69314

[eagle eye]

There has already been a jersey sale featuring Brock Osweiler's name and number. In fact the very first Brock jersey was printed and sold to his dad who had the jersey made up as soon as it was announced his boy was going to be a Houston Texan. The funny thing was the Texans pro shop would actually give the elder Mr Osweiler the jersey until his boy actually signed his contract.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/1st-Brock-Osweiler-jersey-sale-a-unique-one/8c02c4c3-229f-43bf-8da3-76f7318b578e

To say there has got to be some trepidation over the signing of Osweiler is an understatement. After all, Brock is a four year veteran with a grand total of 7 career starts in the NFL. He may be 5-2 in those starts but still....... To say that if Osweiler is a bust it could be bad for GM Rick Smith's career in Houston is also an understatement. Paying Osweiler $72MM is a huge gamble and if it doesn't pan out might be the straw that breaks even the uber tolerant Bob McNair's back. After all Smith brought in Ryan Mallett and Brian Hoyer. Mallett was just a pure D bust and Hoyer was a decent QB but his deficiencies showed up in the Texans playoff loss to Kansas City back in January. The price the Texans paid to Osweiler is the kicker here especially when you consider Houston could have a reasonable chance to draft a Paxton Lynch and for sure could have taken Bill O'Brien's recruit at Penn State, Christian Hackenberg or a Dak Prescott from Mississippi State who would have been a lot cheaper to get. I have always had my doubts about Smith's job as GM and this has got to be the gamble of all gambles and Smith's career in Houston could very well be on the line this time.

Lamar Miller's signing is due, in large part, to the game Houston played against Miami last season in which Miller and his Dolphins stomped a mudhole in the Texans in Week 7 in which Miller ran for 175 yards and caught passes for another 61 yards. It could be that Miller will be the ideal replacement for Arian Foster and if he is that is a great thing for the Texans.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Memories-of-Lamar-Millers-explosive-day-a-key/3648f301-7d72-4bab-a3a1-10ade4b739bd

[eagle eye]

Here is my On The Clock mock 3.0 for this week. Since Houston signed Brock Osweiler and Lamar Miller this past week it sort of changed the priorities the Texans needed to address. They even signed a couple of O-linemen which is something that was a major issue. So, a lot of the mock as the "On The Clock" runs through the draft and you watch players you'd really like to draft come off the board so when a guy ranked #6 in the whole draft fall to you you've got to take him, right? Right. That's what happened in Rd 1 as WR Laquan Treadwell from Ole Miss was available I had no choice but take him. Now, all of a sudden the Texans passing game ramped up about 3 notches. Treadwell won't play like a No 1 this season but he's going to do nothing but get better and since WR Jalen Strong has potential legal issues with a marijuana possession charge you immediately don't need to put up with a load of crap from him. Rd 2 saw, arguably, the top TE in the draft available so I couldn't pass on him. It was a position of need for Houston after releasing Garrett Graham last week and he was the best player on the board at the time. That would be Hunter Henry out of Arkansas. In Rd 3 I hadn't addressed the defense as yet and the highest ranked defensive player on the board was OLB Kyler Fackrell from Utah State. Houston was blessed last season by getting a full season from Brian Cushing but depth at LB is always a concern. With two picks in the 4th I went back to the offense and got C Jack Allen from Michigan State for filling in as the swing guard and backup center. By the 4th round there was a slew of WR's to choose from but Allen was the highest ranked guy who wasn't a WR. The 2nd pick in the 4th was also on offense as literally the highest ranked player on the board was Rob Gronkowski's baby bro, Glen. He is listed as a fullback but he could work as an H back or a receiving tight end. I don't see Bill O'Brien with his New England roots pass on a Gronk. The Gronk family is 1-2 as far as the boys making it in the NFL. The youngest Gronk would have the opportunity to even the Gronk record. Round 5 I went defense with CB Jonathan Jones from Auburn. With my final pick coming in the 7th round I ended up taking a guy who could be another player to boost the depth on the O-line in Boise State guard Rees Odhiambo. I'm pretty happy about this draft but the likelihood of Laquan Treadwell being there for Houston at 22 in the first round is slim and none but, in this scenario, he was there and I took him.

22: R1P22
WR LAQUON TREADWELL
OLE MISS

52: R2P21
TE HUNTER HENRY
ARKANSAS

85: R3P22
OLB KYLER FACKRELL
UTAH STATE

120: R4P21
C JACK ALLEN
MICHIGAN STATE

160: R5P20
FB GLENN GRONKOWSKI
KANSAS STATE

167: R5P27
CB JONATHAN JONES
AUBURN

196: R6P20
G REES ODHIAMBO
BOISE STATE

[eagle eye]

It's been a full week since I posted about the Texans and that just goes to show you how quiet it has been at the Texans HQ in H-town. The only roster move Houston has made was done 4 days ago when the resigned their own FA RB Jonathan Grimes. Terms of Grimes deal are unknown. This makes 7 of their own FA's that Houston has signed to date. They have lost a couple of players in free agency and signed a some too. Here's a recap of the moves made by Houston so far.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-re-sign-RB-Jonathan-Grimes/1d112100-e7c2-4f8e-9201-9a0e18c6b4c0

It's also time for my "On The Clock" draft simulator mock draft 4.0. I have to say, I am rather pleased with this mock. I didn't strictly go with the best player available I sort of went with the best player available bypassing positions already addressed by free agency. I started out with a CB in Vernon Hargreaves III out of Florida. He was the top player available at #22 in the 1st Rd. Next I again went with the best player available and that was DT Vernon Butler from LA Tech. At 6'3" and 323 lbs he will be groomed to replace Vince Wilfork. in the 3rd I went WR and I took Braxton Lynch over Oklahoma's Sterling Shepard who was ranked a notch higher than Miller. The Ohio State WR is bigger and faster and IMO would be a great compliment to DeAndre Hopkins. I just don't trust Jalen Strong anymore. In the 4th I was able to address the Texans need at TE by selecting Austin Hooper from Stanford. He is the 2nd ranked TE in the draft according to CBSSports.com. In the 5th Rd with the first pick the Texans have in that Rd I took Oregon State G Isaac Seumalo addressing the need at O-line and with the second pick of the 5th I took Minnesota OLB De'vondre Campbell. I closed out this mock with the 6th Rd pick and I selected another CB in West Virginia's Darryl Worley. Worley is sort of my pet mock draft cat. I like his size and he seemed to be a play maker in college. So, with the real NFL draft 37 days away here's probably my favorite draft to date. If Houston was able to draft these players I would not squawk one bit.


22: R1P22
CB VERNON HARGREAVES III
FLORIDA

52: R2P21
DT VERNON BUTLER
LOUISIANA TECH

85: R3P22
WR BRAXTON MILLER
OHIO STATE

120: R4P21
TE AUSTIN HOOPER
STANFORD

160: R5P20
G ISAAC SEUMALO
OREGON STATE

167: R5P27
OLB DE'VONDRE CAMPBELL
MINNESOTA

196: R6P20
CB DARYL WORLEY
WEST VIRGINIA

[eagle eye]

It's been quiet around NRG complex this past week. Not a lot of news or happenings taking place. Since the Texans made the big splash early on they have been pretty quiet in free agency. In the past week the Texans made only one signing and that one of their own guys. DB AJ Bouye and that's it. The link below talks about Bouye's signing and lists the move made in free agency so far.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-re-sign-CB-AJ-Bouye/b2a139e3-d1e3-4ab0-bcf4-6ddb2343fb2a

It seems like just yesterday I posted my weekly mock draft but it has actually been a whole week. So, here is my mock draft 5.0 that is done on fanspeak.com's On The Clock draft simulator. The free agent signings early on made the priorities change as Houston really no longer needs a RB or QB and the defense is pretty solid. Filling holes on the roster and a definite upgrade in talent on the O-line is what Houston needs. Oh yeah, a wide receiver and a tight end won't hurt either. Let's see what happens this week.

22: R1P22
CB VERNON HARGREAVES III - Cannot pass up the opportunity to get the highest ranked CB in the draft!
FLORIDA

52: R2P21
OLB JOSHUA PERRY - Quality linebackers are always a must in a 3-4 and Perry is a really good player, besides it's hard to pass up an Ohio State guy.
OHIO STATE

85: R3P22
G CHRISTIAN WESTERMAN - Ariz St guy will add quality depth to the O-line and could step in and start in a couple of years.
ARIZONA STATE

119: R4P21
TE NICK VANNETT - I saw Vannett at the Senior Bowl and I liked what I saw. Yet another Buckeye to add to the team.
OHIO STATE

159: R5P20
C EVAN BOEHM - Kicks like a Missouri mule is an old saying about a guy who is strong and tough. He could be your swing man at guard and center.
MISSOURI

166: R5P27
DT MATT IOANNIDIS - Another guy who made a good impression at the Senior Bowl.
TEMPLE

195: R6P20
DT D.J. READER - I can't seem to pass up on a Clemson or Ohio State player. Both programs are just too good.
CLEMSON

[eagle eye]

I have heard people say they are tired of JJ Watt. He's everywhere and he's the most recognizable defensive player in the NFL. Some even say he's overrated. Really? Back to back defensive player of the year awards overrated? These people are just haters. JJ Watt is the best defensive player since Lawrence Taylor and in many ways he's even better. My advice to Texans fans is to appreciate this guy while he's playing because you are watching history unfold. The guy seems to be everywhere but he's no phony and he is the real deal on and off the field. Now, in an article linked below from NFL.com it turns out that Watt earned his second consecutive Defensive Player of the Year award all the while dealing with 5 torn muscles in his core. The guy is just a flat out beast and I look forward to him getting healthy and earning an unprecedented 3rd consecutive DPOY award for Houston and leading this team deep into the playoffs.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000649241/article/report-jj-watt-played-with-five-torn-core-muscles

Jadeveon Clowney received the Ed Block Courage Award earlier this month in the ceremony held in New York. The EBCA is given to a player from each NFL team in a vote by their teammates who are the best role models for courage, inspiration and sportsmanship. After a serious knee injury in his rookie season that involved career threatening microfracture surgery. After missing all of the 2015 preseason Clowney came back and played as well as can be expected. He played in 13 games last season starting 9 and during the course of the year he recorded his first NFL sack ending up with 4.5 sacks on the year. It takes a year to come back from microfracture surgery and we have not seen the best of Clowney yet but he will undoubtedly be better in 2016.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Jadeveon-Clowney-wins-Ed-Block-Courage-award/5435ca90-8b1c-47e6-b106-ccead89b6546

[eagle eye]

Brian Hoyer recently said he wants to stay in Houston despite the fact that the Texans have paid a king's ransom to bring in Brock Osweiler. Hoyer has to know that he was automatically relegated to 2nd string when that happened and still he says he wants to play football in Houston. In all likelihood Hoyer is just being a good soldier and saying the right things so he doesn't look like a jerk. After all, I'll be he still wants a job and in the back of his mind I will also wager he still wants to start--for someone--in this league. All that is probably moot anyway since the Texans struck a deal with Brandon Weeden. Weeden was signed by the Texans after he was released by the Cowboys just after mid season last year. He became a free agent at the end of the 2015 season and Houston apparently liked what they saw and signed him to a deal on Friday. Terms of the deal were not disclosed. This is probably a sure bet that Hoyer is history in Houston.

Here's a video of JJ Watt as he goes through rehab evidence that with all the ailments he had last season he's finally getting healthy.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Watt-updates-injury-with-box-jump-video/30634302-5448-463c-8420-973e2d6939ad

[eagle eye]

Here is my weekly mock draft version 6.0. I have a very specific target this week which is unlike previous weeks when I sort of took the best available without duplicates or taking a kicker or punter. I am looking for a quality WR and TE to help out my new QB Brock Osweiler. So, let's see what happened.

22: R1P22
WR COREY COLEMAN - Best WR in the draft this year. DeAndre Hopkins needs a partner on the opposite side and Coleman is that guy.
BAYLOR

52: R2P21
OLB JAYLON SMITH - If he hadn't been hurt in the bowl game Smith might have been the best LB in this draft. Worth taking a chance on with a 2nd round pick.
NOTRE DAME

85: R3P22
TE HUNTER HENRY - Highest ranked TE in this draft and said to be the most complete TE in years. There you go Brock and quality WR and TE for you to work with.
ARKANSAS

119: R4P21
G SPENCER DRANGO - OBTW Brock here's a stud guard to protect you up the middle. Your welcome.
BAYLOR

159: R5P20
C EVAN BOEHM - Ever heard the saying, "Kicks like a Missouri mule."? Here's your mule Brock. Quality O-line depth for your future health and well being.
MISSOURI

166: R5P27
DT WILLIE HENRY - Not forgetting the defense here's a guy who could step in and replace Vince Wilfork some day.
MICHIGAN

195: R6P20
CB DARYL WORLEY - I don't know why I like this guy other than he's long (6'1") and athletic and he made plays at West Virginia.
WEST VIRGINIA

I'm pretty happy about this draft and if it came to pass that this is who Houston takes for real later this month I will be a happy camper especially if Jaylon Smith returns to form. It's being said he won't play in 2016 because he has to have his nerves, damaged when he injured his knee, grow back. If Smith comes back 100% he can play any linebacker spot and make any one of the positions better. As of today there are only 23 days until the draft.

[eagle eye]

The NFL giveth and the NFL taketh away. Okay, sorry about going biblical here but Houston lost a valuable man this week. DE Jared Crick, who was a free agent, is a free agent no longer. On Wednesday Crick signed a two year deal with the Denver Broncos. I think this is big loss because Crick really stepped up to the plate for an injured Jadeveon Clowney and he played his ass off. Hopefully, Clowney is over his knee issues and can play all 16 games for the first time in his career but it sure is tough losing a guy who has played well. On the other side of the coin Houston did sign a FA of their own when they inked DB Quinton Demps to a deal on Thursday. Demps began his career in Philly where he played two seasons (2008-2009). Houston signed demps and he played 3 years in Houston (2010-2012) before playing 2013 in KC and 2014 with the Giants. Houston signed Demps just before the start of the 2015 season and he played well for the Texans before becoming a free agent again in February. Terms of Demp's deal are not known as yet. Still quiet around Texans HQ as you might expect but the draft is less than 3 weeks away so you can bet your bottom dollar the Texans front office and coaching staff are busy as heck right now.

[eagle eye]

My weekly mock draft, version 7.0 is revealed here. It is finally getting close enough to start getting antsy about the draft. It is 2 weeks and a day until the NFL will gather in Chicago for the annual college talent cattle call known as the NFL draft. During the past weeks I have been mindful of the Texans needs but I have been taking my own personal wish list into account. The main needs, as I see it, are offensive line, wide receiver, tight end and filling odds and ends on defense. It's time to address those needs as Houston is about to begin off season workouts in prep for the 2016 NFL season. The Texans begin on Monday the 18th with their phase I offseason workout program which consists of strength and conditioning workouts. This is done while the Texans assemble their draft board as the scouts, coaches and GM meet together to plan for April 28th, 29th and 30th. So, here is my mock consisting totally of picks addressing the needs the Texans have going into the draft.

22: R1P22
OT JACK CONKLIN - 3rd ranked OT in the draft and he's ready to play if needed. Duane Brown and Derek Newton are both getting older and Conklin is a fit at both tackles.
MICHIGAN STATE

52: R2P21
WR WILL FULLER - The speedster from Notre Dame will make a great bookend with DeAndre Johnson for the Texans.
NOTRE DAME

85: R3P22
TE AUSTIN HOOPER - Second ranked TE in the draft according to CBSSports.com. Hooper will make the 6th TE from Stanford in the NFL. Apparently, Stanford knows TE's.
STANFORD

119: R4P21
C JACK ALLEN - Talk about coincidence! It didn't snap to me until just now that I have drafted college teammates. Talk about continuity! Allen is a little small for an O-lineman
MICHIGAN STATE - but if he can play some guard as well as backup center this won't be a wasted pick. Will need a year in the weight room. He value will be realized in the future.

159: R5P20
G ISAAC SEUMALO - Every guy can't be a 1st round pick. Seumalo has the size and athleticism to compete for a starting job. Will be a good backup ready to step in when needed.
OREGON STATE

166: R5P27
DT D.J. READER - I chose Reader ahead of Matt Ionnidis (Temple) and Willie Henry (Michigan) because of his size (6'3", 323 lbs) as a good man to groom behind Vince Wilfork.
CLEMSON - I also picked him because I am a fan of almost everyone from Clemson and Ohio State.

195: R6P20
CB KEVIN PETERSON - He's a little undersized for the big NFL receivers but he did okay against tough Big 12 competition while at Ok State. His 4.58 combine and pro day 40
OKLAHOMA STATE - times are more conducive of a safety rather than a corner. He may be a nickel back or a backup safety with cover skills in the NFL.

I think this is a pretty decent draft. I have addressed the need for depth at O-line including two guys who project as starters in the NFL. I got a top tier WR in Will Fuller who will add speed to the Texans offense and I got a guy who could develop into a top NFL caliber receiving TE.

[eagle eye]

The 2016 NFL season schedule was released last night and there are a couple of interesting games on the schedule. Games that stand out with some story lines are 1) Sept 22nd on Thursday night Houston travels to New England for a Thursday night game. Brock Osweiler led the Broncos to a late season win over the Pats on their way to winning Super Bowl 50.
2) On Oct 24th Houston will travel to Denver for a Monday night game. It will be Osweiler's first trip back to Denver since signing with Houston. 3) On Nov 21 Houston and Oakland will travel to Mexico City for the first NFL game there since 2005. It will also be the first ever game broadcast on Monday Night Football outside the US. 4) Dec 4 JJ Watt, a native of Wisconsin, will play his first game in his home state when Houston travels to Green Bay to play the Packers at Lambeau Field.
This season the teams from the AFC South which includes Houston will play the AFC West teams and the NFC North teams this season. The remainder of the schedule will be against the Patriots and Bengals. That's the price you pay for a 1st place schedule.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Houston-Texans-2016-schedule-announced/6ff15ae0-1da8-440a-8274-3dd13e13b0d1

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brock-Osweiler-Texans-head-to-Denver-for-MNF/31d55898-5d1f-46bc-a5c6-e78c567d5122

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-heading-to-sacred-ground-in-Mexico-City/45b9cb7f-b737-47ba-a897-9ba783812bd6

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-to-make-NFL-debut-at-Lambeau-Field/0c4b290e-e8bd-46c9-b4ca-778447a7772f

Houston has a brutal road schedule when you consider all their division games will be pretty tough because Indianapolis is Indy, Jacksonville is a vastly improved team and Tennessee with a whole new staff from the front office down to the coaching staff should be a lot better especially after all the draft picks they hauled in when they traded their 1st overall draft pick to the Rams. The non-division road games are going to be tough as hell. Their road opponents are, in order, are: New England Week 3, Minnesota Week 5, Denver Week 6, Oakland in Mexico City Week 11, Green Bay Week 13. All five teams were playoff teams in 2015. Houston has got to be ranked near the top of the toughest schedules in the coming season. Needless to say Brock Osweiler will be under a lot of pressure to help the Texans repeat as AFC South Champs considering they went 9-7 and won the division with pretty spotty, at best, QB play. For the money Houston paid Osweiler was paid he will have to be a darn sight better than either Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and Brandon Weeden were.

[eagle eye]

Yesterday the Texans did what I figured they would do and that's release QB Brian Hoyer. The depth chart is now set for the Texans heading into offseason workouts that begin today. Brock Osweiler is the starter and Brandon Weeden, Tom Savage and a real dark horse to make the team BJ Daniels left to fight out who will be the Texans backup this coming season. It may not be as set as you think if TJ Yates is able to come back from the torn ACL he suffered late last season. Houston resigned Yates in October when they cut Ryan Mallett. He came in a won a game for the Texans after Hoyer was injured in a November game against Cincinnati. On December 20 Yates tore his ACL in the game against Indianapolis and he was put on season ending injured reserve the next day. I doubt Yates will be able to come back by training camp so his best bet is to be available by mid season as injuries start to pile up around the NFL.

As you look at the needs of the Houston Texans you may have a tendency to overlook left tackle. You just sort of take for granted Duane Brown will be there. Then, when you stop and thing about it, Houston probably could use an infusion of talent at LT. After all, Brown will turn 31 just before the beginning of the 2016 season and he is coming of a torn tendon in his quad suffered in the Texans last regular season game. It probably should be a time for Houston to start thinking of Brown's replacement which may be needed as soon as September. Brown is making good progress in his rehab but when you say your goal is to make it back to the field by the start of the season it would be asking a lot of a player to just jump into the fire without benefit of training camp. I'm not saying Brown can't do it because he's a vet and he knows the NFL and he knows his job. It's just not that easy to do is all I'm saying. Check out this article from the Bleacher Report on Brown's point of view.

http://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/1008905?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

As for who will be available to Houston at pick #22, it won't be Laremy Tunsil. He will most certainly be a top 10, or even top 5 pick. It has been argued that Tunsil is the best player in this year's draft. Unless Houston sells the farm to move up they won't get him. It doesn't mean there won't be a top prospect or 3 left on the board when it's Houston's turn to pick. There's Notre Dame's Ronnie Stanley and Michigan State's Jack Conclin or even Ohio State's Tony Decker who could be available for Houston to draft. Houston does have options on their roster already but none you would consider to be your franchise left tackle. The O-line needs some upgrade and left tackle is no exception and shouldn't be a position Houston overlooks as they head into the Brock Osweiler era of Texans football.

[eagle eye]

This will be my final mock draft, version 8.0, and the first mock since the big Rams-Titans trade last week. Of course this comes from fanspeak.com's On The Clock draft simulator and, as I've done in the past, I use the CBSSports.com player ranking board. I'll click on the "Let's Draft button and let's see what happens this week.

22: R1P22
OT JACK CONKLIN - The 3rd ranked OT in the draft and the highest ranked tackle on the board.
MICHIGAN STATE

52: R2P21
S VONN BELL - The top ranked safety in the draft after Jalen Ramsey was reclassified as a cornerback.
OHIO STATE

85: R3P22
WR STERLING SHEPARD - A playmaker for the Sooners will help out at WR and could be a really good kick returner.
OKLAHOMA

119: R4P21
G SEBASTIAN TRETOLA - Another building block for the O-line. Big, stout man in the interior line.
ARKANSAS

159: R5P20
DT D.J. READER - I went down some for reader because he's the one technique DT who could end up being the long term answer after Vince Wilfork retires.
CLEMSON

166: R5P27
CB JAMES BRADBERRY - A long fast CB from a small school with a tremendous upside. At 6'1 and 211 lbs he's big enough to match up with any WR and some TE's. He ran a 4.50
SAMFORD - at the NFL Combine and a 4.45 at his pro day. As any player drafted this late he's got issues but they are issues good coaching can help solve.

195: R6P20
OLB DADI LHOMME NICOLAS - Has got the size and ability to play inside LB in Houston's 3-4. Again a late round pick needs to fix some issues but Lhome-Nicolas is fast enough to
VIRGINIA TECH - to play in the NFL. He needs a year in the weight room but he can contribute on special teams this season.

That's it. It's not my favorite mock to date, that would be last week's mock 7.0, but if this is how the draft goes for Houston I won't be mad. They add depth to the O-line, got a quality WR and got a good nose tackle to help out Vince Wilfork. All in all, not too shabby. The downside of this mock is I wasn't able to get my target TE, Nick Vannett, but as I have learned from fantasy football and these mock drafts you can't always get what you want because somebody else is drafting too.

Beside cutting Brian Hoyer loose the Texans also released QB BJ Daniels leaving the Texans with Osweiler, Weeden and Savage at QB. All in all, I believe they are in good shape especially if Osweiler proves to be the man. I don't believe Houston will draft a QB in the 1st or 2nd round because of all the money they have tied up in Osweiler. The Texans have pushed all their chips in the middle of the table taking a big chance they will hit on the come with Osweiler.

[eagle eye]

So, you know that Brock Osweiler talked a good game when he had is press conference after he signed the deal with the Texans. Great, but lot of guys SAY the right things but don't back it up. Case in point, Johnny Manziel. John Football said this week he is getting his life in order and he is ready to walk the straight and narrow. Early in the week JF was out to the wee hours partying in LA. Said the right thing, did the wrong thing. Osweiler is walking the walk however. He organized some off season work with his fellow QBs and receivers at his alma mater Arizona State in Tempe and it wasn't party time. Osweiler had completely planned the entire week they spent in Arizona with an hour by hour itinerary. Check out this article from Texans.com. There's also a video in the article where Osweiler talked about his week in Arizona. Osweiler has a grant total of seven career starts and the only thing left for him is get game experience and he will certainly get that. What's encouraging about him is he has played in some big games on the biggest of stages and won. Hopefully, Bill O'Brien can be a good mentor for Osweiler, I think if O'Brien is all in on him, Osweiler will do just fine thank you.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/What-Osweiler-WRs-learned-in-Arizona/d9337ab9-7648-4fd5-8f42-49eaa0493bb1

The Texans, like all the other NFL teams, began Phase I of the allowed team activities on Monday. Basically, Phase I is devoted to supervised strength, conditioning and rehab work with coaches and trainers. Phase I lasts for the first two weeks of the allotted nine weeks of off season activity. Phase II is 3 weeks of on-field instruction by coaches which include drills on an individual level and on a team level but no physical contact is to take place and no offense vs defense drills are permitted. Phase III is the last 4 weeks of off season work that included OTA's and mini camps. No live contact is permitted but 7 on 7, 9 on 7 and 11 on 11 drills are permitted. There is also a veteran mini camp allowed in Phase III on top of the other work as well as a rookie development program that can last up to 7 weeks that begins in May that includes a rookie mini camp following the NFL draft. There are more nuts and bolts to the off season workout rules stipulated in the collective bargaining agreement between the player's union and the NFL but they aren't worth talking about here. The one thing I will say is, there are a lot of people that believe that the lack of contact in off season work leads to more injuries for that very reason. It is also a reason why the tackling in the NFL has become very spotty at best.

Jadeveon Clowney was the 1st overall pick by Houston in the 2014 NFL draft and even the most kind observer has got to admit that he hasn't lived up to expectations. He missed virtually all of his rookie year when he injured his knee against Kansas City in the season opener. The knee was pretty serious and needed microfracture surgery which has been career threatening in the past. Clowney came back way ahead of schedule last season and while he has some decent moments he wasn't the force of nature he was touted as when Houston drafted him. In the article linked below there is a breakdown of why there is reason to hope Clowney will finally become the beast we thought he was going to be. Within the article there are several videos showing what his potential can be as noticed in the Texans game against Buffalo late last season.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Clowneys-future/a8b583eb-f8cb-4267-9086-74f8be0e93d7

[eagle eye]

The draft is finally here this week. It seems like a million years we've been waiting for the draft since the Senior Bowl way back in February but it's just 3 days away now. What are the major needs Houston has in this draft? Well, it's not QB since they signed Brock Osweiler during the free agency frenzy and the multi-year multi-million dollar deal he got means Oz is the starting QB for the Texans. Love him or hate him he's the guy for the foreseeable future.
Houston needs offensive line help, they need wide receiver help and they need a quality tight end. They could use some depth at corner and safety and the old adage that says you can never have enough good linebackers. It remains to be seen how much Houston will miss Jared Crick who went to Denver in free agency but what Houston needs is guy to play nose tackle with an eye on eventually replacing Vince Wilfork. There are several good NT prospects in this draft and as Rick Smith was quoted as saying there is a lot of depth in this draft in positions that will help the Texans make themselves better.

Right after this draft 3 key men in the Astros front office will be stepping down from their posts. Senior Personnel Advisor Bobby Grier, National Scout Ed Lambert and College Scout Bob Beers will conclude their Texans careers on May 1, the Sunday after the conclusion of the draft. It's quite unusual for 3 key members of a front office staff retire en masse outside of a complete front office makeover by a new GM or head coach.

After GM Rick Smith released QB Brian Hoyer on April 17th within about 2 days it was reported that, in effect, Smith was saying oops, I made a mistake. I could have held on to Hoyer and traded him for a draft pick. I haven't been a big fan of Smith as a GM because I didn't think he and his staff didn't handle salary cap issue too well and his personnel decisions left something to be desired. This latest faux pas over Brian Hoyer is just another example of his lack of foresight. I'm not going to bitch too much because, whether it's because of or in spite of, Rick Smith's leadership the Texans have become fairly consistent playoff contenders. They have a filled some holes in free agency and they have a real chance to make themselves better beginning Thursday night. Of the two Texas NFL teams I honestly believe, top to bottom, the Texans are better than Dallas and frankly I think their ceiling is higher than the Cowboys. Dallas has too many holes to fill and too many problems with personnel right now. A lot could change for Dallas this week so we'll see but a lot could change for Houston too. I hope they both do so well I get my Texas Super Bowl at long last.

[eagle eye]

It's time to get back to what really matters here, Cheerleaders! Houston has been doing tryouts for potential Texans cheerleaders and they have narrowed the field to a select group of finalists. The link below takes us to a slideshow of these lovely finalists and Texans.com gives us all a chance to vote on our favorites to make the team. Nice.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/photo-gallery/VOTE-HTC-Finalists/0f6d1be1-b105-4533-9365-34c706303b87#start

Excuse me but I don't have anything more important to talk about while I make a detailed analysis of who needs to be the HTC squad for 2016. This is an important decision that will require extensive research so I should be tied up on this for the rest of the day.

[eagle eye]

It's heeeeeerrrrre! Fans of the old movie Poltergeist know that quote. The NFL draft starts in a matter of hours and it will be around 90 minutes to 2 hours after the opening bell at 7 o'clock before Houston knows who they are getting. The main needs for Houston are O-line, WR, TE and defensive end. Which way will they go? I believe Houston needs to concentrate on offense and get as much help as possible to give their new QB a fighting chance. I think if Houston goes O-line it won't be bad but for a 1st round pick I might need a little more sizzle. I'm thinking WR in the form of Josh Doctson from TCU or Corey Coleman from Baylor should be the pick. If there's a D-tackle you love you see as the future anchor of the D-line when Vince Wilfork hangs it up like Alabama's Jarran Reed or A'Shawn Robinson or Louisville's Sheldon Rankins I'm okay with that. Later in the 2nd round you may target the WR or maybe a really good guard like Josh Garnett from Stanford, Christian Westerman from Arizona State. The second round may be the place to take a Sterling Shepard from Oklahoma or Braxton Miller for Ohio State to fill a WR spot.
The 3rd round you can pick up a center like Jack Allen or Max Boehm or another guard in Isaac Seumalo. There may be a good linebacker like a Joshua Perry or LSU's Deion Jones available.
In the 4th there may be a OT available which might be a little bit of a reach but he's a versatile guy who has played every O-line position in college in Fahn Cooper from Ole Miss. You could get a TE here too. Nick Vannett might be there is he gets past Dallas or a Jerrelle Adams from S Carolina that's worth a pick here. If Houston doesn't go DT early they might consider Adolphus Washington from THE Ohio St University or Illinois DT Jihad Ward. Ward is listed as a defensive tackle but at 6'5" and 297 lbs he would be a crackerjack fit at 3-4 DE to replace Jared Crick who Houston lost to Denver in free agency.
Two picks in the fifth and Houston can continue to fill holes. O-line help and maybe a linebacker or two--3-4 teams can never have enough good linebackers and there are couple worth looking at in the round like Nick Kwiatkoski from W Virginia, Eric Striker from Oklahoma or Travis Feeney from Washington. This guy could go in the fourth or fifth round but when describe and offensive lineman as a coke machine with arms and legs you have to take notice. That guy is Evan Boehm from Missouri. If you are building a line to protect your $72 MM QB I want a guy like this. It's hard to run around a coke machine especially if the guy is pounding on you. If Houston still hasn't got a defensive guy to play nose tackle then I want Clemson's DJ Reader. At 6'3" and 327 lbs he is a prime candidate to be the next man playing nose for the Texans and I really like the players from Clemson and Ohio State in this year's draft.
In the sixth I am looking at CB James Bradberry from Samford, S Deiondre Hall from Northern Iowa or ILB Jared Norris from Utah.

It's here at last and I'm excited. My personal hope is that Houston takes WR Josh Doctson in the first round and S Karl Joseph in the 2nd. Doctson is a possibility but I really don't think Joseph will be. If not it won't break my heart to see Houston pick up Ohio State's Vonn Bell or Fla. State's Keanu Neal. I wouldn't sqawk much if an Eli Apple or William Jackson is taken in the first round. The top CB's will go quickly and there won't be any available later where Houston is picking. If Houston goes CB, S in the first two rounds that's okay as long as they address O-line and TE after that. Hope everyone has a great time over the next 3 days. I'll post Texans picks as they happen for the benefit of those who are busy.

I love the draft. It's like Christmas in April to me. There needs to be draft carols, don't you think? Finding out your team's draft picks is like opening presents on Christmas isn't it? You might think you know what you are getting but you are also often surprised. Like some presents, some players are just what you wanted and you are so happy. Other picks are like getting a package of socks, useful but nothing to jump up and down about. Then there are lumps of coal. Players you make that pained face over and say "WTF was that?" That's the great thing about the draft, you don't have to be polite. There is no rein on your emotions in the draft. Raw drunken bliss or despair on display with no remorse attached. You gotta love it.

[eagle eye]

I am happy as a clam about Houston's pick last night. I think Texans GM Rick Smith panicked a bit by swapping picks with Cincinnati but considering the Bengals took a WR right behind Houston maybe it wasn't as much of a stupid move as I originally thought. I think that Fuller's nickname should be The Flash because the guy can flat run. He ran a 4.32 at the NFL combine and a 4.28 at his pro day. The scouting report on him is he tracks the deep ball well and catches with his hands which makes him a legit deep threat and his YAC is top notch. With the retirement of Nate Washington in the off season Houston has gotten the better of the deal by adding Fuller. This WR corps has the potential to be scary good. If Jalen Strong can leave the weed alone and with Cecil Shorts this staff can be better than the Pittsburgh receiving corps of Antonio Brown, Martavis Bryant (another guy who can't leave weed alone), Markus Wheaton and Darius Heyward-Bey. Houston would counter with DeAndre Hopkins, Strong, Fuller and Cecil Shorts. Hell yeah, I will take these guys any day. If Houston can add a quality TE in the draft and with the addition of RB Lamar Miller in the off season Houston can be scary good as long as Brock Osweiler is even a tick better than average. With a $72 MM contract he needs to be more than a tick better than average anyway.
2nd round picks can go any way as long as it's an offensive lineman or a tight end.
3rd round I'd like to see a defensive player taken here. The best available linebacker or DT Jihad Ward. Just get better tonight because there are players who can do just that for Houston. Will Fuller is a great start and maybe we can attack our weaknesses with the same quality tonight in rounds 2 and 3. I'll be checking it out.

[eagle eye]

Houston traded up in the 2nd two spots to take C Nick Martin. A definite move to upgrade the talent on the O-line. Nice move in my opinion. Nick is the little brother of Cowboys All Pro RG Zack Martin. The line on Nick is he's not as powerful as his brother but he's tough and can play any interior line position. He'll be good this year but he'll be better next year after a year in an NFL weight program.
The jarring thing on the night happened in the 3rd round with the 85th pick Houston took another WR in Ohio State's Braxton Miller. I almost crapped a goose. Talk about weapons for their new QB, holy cow. Now you're looking at DeAndre Hopkins, Jalen Strong and Cecil Shorts who are being joined by new draft picks Will Fuller and Braxton Miller. OMG! If Houston manages to get a TE worth a damn today Houston could have an offense that is so scary it could literally cause nightmares for opposing teams.
So far I have to say that Houston has done WAY better in this draft than the Cowboys if you care about such things. Dallas started off strong by selecting RB Ezekiel Elliott but they took a chance on a linebacker who won't play in 2016 and has a chance to never play again followed by a marginal DT in the 3rd round. The Cowboys need linebacker help but this year not next year. IMO the Cowboys needed to address their defense but not in the way they have. They could salvage their draft today but I am not that hopeful. This is the Texans thread though and I've already talked to much about the Cowboys. With the surprises thrown down by Houston so far I have no clue what's coming down today. More O-line help I would imagine and some help on defense won't be a bad thing. The thing is, when I did all my playing with the On The Clock draft simulator there were players available in the 4-6 rounds that I have hoped Houston would target those players. Trouble was most of them were taken in the 2nd and 3rd round last night. I think it would be funny if Bill O'Brien takes his own Gronk as the youngest Gronkowski brother is still available and is listed as a fullback. It would be funny but Houston only has 3 picks today. One pick in the 4th and 2 picks in the 5th because they had to give up their 6th round pick to Atlanta when they moved up to pick Martin in the 2nd round. This means they can't be frivolous with their picks.
One guy I think would help Houston would one of two DT's that would be prime replacement material for Vince Wilfork when he finally retires. I would like to see Houston take either DJ Reader from Clemson or Nile Lawrence-Stample. There are still some O-linemen available who could help add depth or become starters. Today is going to be fun to watch as Texans fans simply because they have killed it so far and they really can't screw up the draft no matter who they pick.

[eagle eye]

RHouston did a great job in this draft. I don't think much of GM Rick Smith but I have to give him props for a job well done. In case you missed it actually living your life this weekend here are the Texans draft picks.

Rd 1 - WR Will Fuller - Notre Dame
Rd 2 - C Nick Martin - Notre Dame
Rd 3 - WR Braxton Miller - Ohio State
Rd 4 - RB Tyler Ervin - San Jose State
Rd 5 (first pick) - S KJ Dillon - West Virginia
Rd 5 (2nd pick) - DT DJ Reader - Clemson
Rd 6 Traded pick to Atlanta to move up in the 3rd round
Rd 7 No pick

If you take a look at the first 3 picks you can see a lot of "wow" factor. Let's take a quick look at them all.

Will Fuller - As I said on Friday reviewing this pick Fuller should be nicknamed "The Flash" because of his 4.3 speed. He will need time to learn the whole NFL route tree but he can make an immediate impact stretching the field on deep slants, deep posts and 9 routes. He was nothing but a playmaker for the Fighting Irish.
Nick Martin - The younger brother of All Pro guard for the Cowboys Zack Martin. Both from Notre Dame and both top notch linemen. Zack is stronger and more powerful but Nick has played guard and center and is very smart and a year in an NFL weight program and he will be a beast like his brother.
Braxton Miller - A really good athlete who started at QB for 3 years at Ohio State before moving to receiver his senior year to make room for Cardale Jones. He is a good runner and he's really taken to being a WR. He is also fast, not as fast as Fuller, but he's a play making machine. He should be great at kick returner and will add yet another dimension to the suddenly scary Houston passing attack.
Tyler Ervin - I thought that this was a wasted pick by the Texans because of all the RB's Houston has already. Alfred Blue, Jonathan Grimes, Akeem Hunt, Kenny Hilliard and newly signed Lamar Miller seem like Houston has got a handle on the RB position. Ervin falls in line with the rest of the draft class with his 4.36-40 speed. That alone should be enough to cause a little nervousness in the Texans RB corps but he's a tougher runner than his 5'10", 190 lbs frame would suggest. Definitely a 3rd down type of back who can run or catch a pass for a first down. If he can learn to return kicks with his speed he could be a very dangerous weapon for the Texans.
DJ Reader - You ever looked at the mocks I have posted the last few weeks? If you did then you will recognize Reader as a frequent member of my mocks. I specifically targeted Reader in the late rounds, according to his player ranking, as a future replacement for NT Vince Wilfork. Reader brings a load (6'3", 327 lbs) and he anchored the middle of the Clemson defense all the way to the National Championship game. Clemson didn't win but it wasn't because Reader didn't do his job. He needs work to refine his technique and focus better but who better to learn from than Vince Wilfork and JJ Watt? Reader is absolutely athletic enough to play the DE opposite JJ Watt while he learns the NFL game because there is a void there with Jared Crick signing a free agent deal with Denver.

All in all, this is a really good draft. I like the fact that they have upgraded their talent in a big way on offense in support of Brock Osweiler. The defense was, and has been, the strength of this team in the past. With the talent the Texans have added on the offensive side of the ball they should more than pull their own weight in 2016. I think Houston definitely needs to be in the conversation about who goes to Super Bowl 51.

[eagle eye]

The Texans were still active yesterday despite that their draft was over after selecting DT DJ Reader in the 5th round. The have signed 16 priority free agents. Here is a link to a Houston Chronicle article listing them.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-agree-to-deals-with-16-undrafted-free-7386037.php?cmpid=twitter-desktop

JJ Watt's little brother Derek was drafted by the San Diego Chargers. He goes into the NFL as a fullback.

Get the lowdown on all of Houston's draft picks. There are links to video on all of the draftees on Texans.com linked below.

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

[eagle eye]

I heard a guy say today that Houston drafted like they were playing Madden. I agree with him and I also agree that likes what Houston did. They addressed positions of need and they drafted with nothing else in mind than giving their new QB weapons to work with to maximize his ability to be successful. Even though I thought drafting RB Tyler Ervin in the fourth round was not a good pick I have changed my mind somewhat on this. Whose to say they can't use either Jonathan Grimes, Alfred Blue or Kenny Hilliard as trade bate? The could cut loose with at least two of them and still have a nice backfield with Lamar Miller, Ervin and whoever was left of the 3 guys above. I'm not even including speedster Akeem Dent in this mix. You can see if Houston can't get a trade for any of these guys they are just going to have to cut them. Teams don't normally carry more than 4 RB's on their roster. Houston currently has 8 RB's on their roster.
The Texans didn't address TE in the draft and they sure could have in the 4th instead of Ervin. There were still a couple of draftable guys on the board. Jerrell Adams from South Carolina was there, as was Tammerick Hemingway from So Carolina St and several others worth a pick.

One of the 16 UFA's Houston signed was a tight end from Cal named Stephen Anderson. If you look for him as a tight end you won't find him. At Cal, in the offense they ran, there was no place for a traditional TE so Anderson played WR. The only write up I could find about him was from californiagoldenblogs.com via SBnation.com. It looks like Houston may have a real diamond in the rough here.

http://www.californiagoldenblogs.com/2016/4/30/11534846/stephen-anderson-nfl-draft-houston-texans

In short, I like this draft and browsing through the UFA's there are some names I recognize there too. You would have to say the needle is definitely pointing UP for the Texans.

[eagle eye]

The Texans website is posting a "Get to know ----" series on their draft picks. Linked below are the articles about 1st round pick Will Fuller and 2nd round pick Nick Martin.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-Will-Fuller/0588b4e4-d007-43b4-9195-825c156a24f6

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-Nick-Martin/dc3801c9-045c-41f3-8de5-685a8ff8f0bd

I mentioned yesterday how the Texans drafted like they are playing Madden and it's sort of true. Look at the 3 skill positions they drafted on offense.
1. WR Will Fuller - Ran a 4.32 at the scouting combine
2. WR Braxton Miller - Ran a 4.36 at his pro day at Ohio State
3. RB Tyler Ervin - Ran a 4.39 at the scouting combine.
We already know that DeAndre Hopkins isn't the fastest man on in the Texans WR corps but he's a #1 NFL receiver but it speaks volumes about the flat out speed Houston drafted last weekend. Jalen Strong isn't even the 2nd fastest guy in the corps. Hopkins ran a 4.57 predraft in 2013 while strong ran a 4.44 prior to the 2013 draft. Heck, Cecil Shorts only ran a 4.59 prior to being drafted in 2011. Lamar Miller ran a 4.40 prior to his 2012 draft. Get me now? These kids are fast. Only backup RB Akeem Hunt posted a 40 time to compare with these guys with a 4.36 best time at his pro day last year.

The Bottom line is this team is fast at the skill positions. Fuller is a bit of a one trick pony but that trick is very dangerous to opposing defenses. Same will Braxton Miller who has only played one season at WR after playing QB for 3 years in college. He has a lot to learn but he was asked to do a lot of things at Ohio State that could translate well to the NFL. In the past it usually takes 3 years or so to be worth your salt as a WR in the NFL but that trend is changing too. Rookies have the ability to come in and make an impact right away then they get better over time. Kind of scary when you think about it. As long as Houston's defense continues to play at a high level the offense may finally be able to pull it's share of the load. Brock Osweiler is the wild card of course but he won some pretty important games for Denver last season including one over the Patriots in December when opposing teams simply do not beat them. If he's got something, and early indications are that he has, Houston might be a favorite to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl. That's how much Osweiler and these free agents and draft picks have altered the Texans fortunes. Just wait until these guys see how load and fired up the fans at NRG Stadium get on game day. I will be seriously surprised if Houston doesn't win 12 games this year.

[eagle eye]

Today is the beginning of the rookie mini camp for the Texans draftees and UFA's as they will get their first real look at what it means to play for an NFL team. In this mini camp the newbees won't see at big change in the speed of the game, that will come later during full team practices, but they will get some first class NFL coaching and they will soon realize this ain't college, Baby.

In the Texans "Get to know....." series linked below the Texans introduce us to 3rd round pick WR Braxton Miller and 4t round pick RB Tyler Ervin.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-Braxton-Miller/7847188e-660e-48fb-b01e-568f0560f653

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-Tyler-Ervin/3dd59974-3bb6-4ed5-97a4-18503b813add

In this draft the Texans drafted players who can run, flat out run, highlighted by 3 of their first 4 picks. The catch phrase of this season's draft and Texans team is #speedkills and it's not hard to wonder why with 3 of their draft picks able run a sub 4.4-40. In this series by Texans.com's John Harris called 'Football 101' he talks about how the Texans draft picks can may a difference for the team in 2016 and beyond. The first installments include Will Fuller, Nick Martin, Braxton Miller and Tyler Ervin.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Speed-kills-with-Will-Fuller/589af354-d363-4895-94a1-7a0751c00504

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Nick-Martins-skill-set/ec424d41-beec-4f5b-8699-eb157f697002

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Speed-kills-with-Braxton-Miller/8a24888b-3188-4a25-a5fd-0ce0136ee4fc

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Football-101-Speed-kills-with-Tyler-Ervin/ae6700ec-aaed-4f7a-908a-f42ec6aa2f2d

I like Drew Dougherty, staff reporter for the Texans. The guy is good at his job, he doesn't take himself too seriously and has fun. If you check out the Texans website he does a weekly segment called 'Dear Drew' where he answers questions from Dear Drew facebook page. In this edition of Dear Drew he answers questions about this year's draft picks. There is the article and video of the segment that includes an answer to the question of how he got his job which was, in part, excellent skills with a Bo staff and switchblade. See what I mean, Drew likes to have fun.

This past week a player tested positive for a certain amphetamine and the player denied using PED's or recreational drugs. Turns out he was in Mexico on vacation and he ate a steak while there. Further investigation found the meat at that restaurant had traces of a growth hormone and the amphetamine. Houston and Oakland will play a regular season game in Mexico this season and knowing the folks south of the border use drugs on their cattle what's to say Houston players, as well as Oakland players but I don't care about them, won't test positive for illegal substances when they get back home? Hmmm.

[eagle eye]

The player who was facing a 10 game suspension was Texans OT Duane Brown and he avoided the suspension after it was found that Mexican meat was laced with growth hormones causing Brown to fail his drug test. All is well now and Brown will be on the field for the Texans this fall.

Speaking of being on the field the Texans rookies and UFA's were on the field yesterday for the first day of rookie mini camp. Here's an article from Texans.com including some videos of the first official day of practice for 2016.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Rookie-Minicamp-First-NFL-practice/c4cc951a-aa1e-4d12-bf49-62f9ab38e1d6

The Texans coaches had Will Fuller, Braxton Miller, Tyler Ervin and a couple of DB's fielding punts and kickoff yesterday. Drew Dougherty talks about the newest Texans day working on the kicking game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Fuller-Miller-others-practice-punt-returns/6de42ecb-1fca-426b-8032-9b158ef95070

Here are the 13 observations of the Texans first rookie mini camp practices by Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/13-observations-from-rookie-minicamp-day-1/086981e1-2ee7-431f-bc19-cb89b9484265

On the other end of the scale here are 5 observations from yesterday's work by head coach Bill O'Brien.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/5-things-OBrien-Texans-observing-with-rookies/ea6c2983-aa08-4040-af0c-c73b3efef075

[eagle eye]

Day 2 of the rookie mini camp took place this past Saturday and there are some news and notes from those practices.

On Friday Houston signed it's 4th and 5th round draft picks, KJ Dillon, Tyler Ervin and DJ Reader to their first contracts and they announced the signing of 15 UFA's.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-sign-3-draft-picks-15-undrafted-free-agents/0c23de57-dbc3-49b5-952a-ec4109210d0b

In the "Get to know....." series we get to take a look at KJ Dillon and DJ Reader.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-KJ-Dillon/068e2570-4059-45c2-8456-175cf696ef07

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Get-To-Know-DJ-Reader/3acb2023-ad50-4e54-b341-6c6bec02d7a8

As promised here is a link to a video of Day 2 of the rookie training camp. Click on the 5th bullet point on the home page for the video.

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

Here's a link to the Texans video page with interviews with Bill O'Brien, JJ Watt, Brock Osweiler and Texans owner Bob McNair and their thoughts on the rookie mini camp.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Extended-Cut-OBrien-on-rookie-mini-camp-more/d35113b1-d57a-4258-af69-ec517f8c6d1b

[eagle eye]

On Tuesday Houston made a couple of roster moves. They signed UFA ILB Ryan Langford from the University of New Mexico and to make room for him on the roster they waived OLB from South Florida Eric Lee. Lee was actually one of the UFA's signed post draft but the team waived him on Tuesday because he failed to disclose a knee problem. Houston resigned him with an additional injury waiver added to the deal. Who knows what will happen with Langford since Lee was resigned later in the day on Tuesday but, as with all teams around the NFL the 90 man roster is always in a state of flux. Langford made the 90 man roster by virtue of his showing as a tryout player during the Texans rookie mini camp. Here's look at him from an article I got off the Bleacher Report which includes a slide show of Langford at UNM and at the mini camp.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-to-sign-rookie-linebacker-Ryan-Langford-7423718.php#photo-9958689

The Texans have a new defensive line coach who also played for the Texans from 2006 to 2008. That guy's name is Anthony Weaver and he's been in coaching since the 2009 season. It doesn't hurt to have the best defensive player in the league endorsing you and that's what has been the case. JJ Watt is down with Weaver saying, "We have a good group, and now we have Coach Weaver, who's a lot of fun to play for. He's been in the league. Anytime you have a guy who's played in the league, he knows the ins and outs."It's fun to bounce things off of him." Good enough for me, welcome Coach Weaver! Here's a link from Texans.com's Drew Dougherty talking with Weaver about being back in Houston.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Anthony-Weaver-Surreal-to-be-back-wTexans/2d4a132d-114d-4709-84d2-71944a3a0995

Lonnie Ballentine, the CB from the University of Memphis was the 2014 draft's Mr Irrelevant as the last player selected in that draft by the Texans. Ballentine was a heckuva prospect to get that late in the draft as he is big (6'3'', 215 lbs) and fast (4.39-40) you wonder how a guy with these measurables could have slipped that far in the draft. Ballentine battled hamstring and an arthroscopic knee surgery in his rookie season and in Octorber last season he blew out his knee in a game against Jacksonville that landed him on season ending IR. He dislocated his knee and tore his MCL and PCL ligaments that ended his season. He is expecting to complete his rehab and be ready for training camp. Ballentine has not had a real chance to show what he can be as yet. Hopefully he can stay healthy and give the Texans are real presence at CB.

32 year old veteran CB Jonathan Joseph underwent offseason arthroscopic surgery this off season that was really to done to help offset the wear and tear on his knee. The procedure was so minor that Joseph didn't even need crutches post op. Joseph has been a mainstay of the Houston defense since being signed as a free agent in 2010. He has also been a consistent player never playing in any less than 14 games a season since his signing. Joseph is 32 and is hoping, after a big comeback season last year, play a full 16 games for the 3rd consecutive season. Houston is pretty well set at CB with Joseph along with last year's first round pick Kevin Johnson and 2010 1st round pick Kareem Jackson. If the above mentioned Lonnie Ballentine can make his comeback Houston will be rock solid with both young and veteran players.

It's hard to deny that Houston has a definite playoff caliber roster. With the talent and speed they added in the draft to go along with the players they added in free agency and that were already here Houston can be a very dangerous team to deal with. They have seriously upgraded the talent on offense this offseason with the additions of RB Lamar Miller and QB Brock Osweiler and they added incredible speed at RB and WR in the draft. The scary thing is Houston won't see the best of these player for a couple of years as they learn how to ply their craft in the NFL. This upgraded offense along with a Grade A defense led by the NFL's best defensive player, JJ Watt, and the Texans and their fans have a lot to be excited about for this season and beyond. It all comes down to Osweiler though. Is he going to be as good as his contract says he is or is he going to be a more expensive Brian Hoyer? Early reports are that Osweiler will be the good QB that Houston has been searching for several years. Shoot, maybe their whole history. It will be fun to track his progress through OTA's, mini camps and training camp. I believe by Week 1 we should have a good handle on what he's going to be as a Texan. I hope he looks like the real deal and actually plays like it too.

HBO won two Sports Emmy Awards for their "Hard Knocks" series featuring the Houston Texans last summer. The awards were for Best Serialized Sport Documentary and for Best Post Produced Audio/Sound.

[eagle eye]

The festivities at Minute Maid Park for the JJ Watt Charity Classic took place this past weekend. Watt expressed amazement that the event raised so much money, over $2MM and the 30,000 people who showed up at the Juice Box for the event. It's the most exciting event in the stadium this season. JJ Watt jacked two HR's off HOF caliber pitcher Roger Clemens. Brian Cushing hit 5 dingers. For complete coverage of the event check out Texans.com in the link below. Follow the links on the home page to find out all about the event.

http://www.houstontexans.com/

[eagle eye]

Texans QB Brock Osweiler has been saying all the right things since he came to Houston. He organized private workout with his new teammates at Arizona State earlier this year before the draft and he is saying things about creating a good team chemistry that seem very encouraging. Osweiler is tall and movie star hansome and he has shown he can play some in the NFL. Texans.com's Deepi Sidhu wrote an article about what Osweiler is looking forward to when Phase II is completed this weekend and Phase III begins with the first whole team OTA's on Monday. There is also a schedule for the Texans offseason work included.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brock-Osweilers-offseason-to-do-list/954aa9f9-c523-4f85-bf8b-2b5f9a7ec29e

LT Duane Brown injured his quadriceps muscle in the season's final game against Jacksonville causing him to miss the playoffs. Brown has been working extra hard this offseason to get back to full health and be ready for the Texans opening game against Chicago. Here's an article, again, from Deepi Sidhu (who is pretty hot BTW) about Brown and his rehab.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Extra-motivation-for-No-76/a5d76f5e-3c6a-472a-9b09-402450ebb0a2

The radio voice of the Houston Texans, Marc Vandermeer talks about the state of the AFC South as it appears that all four teams in the division, including the Texans, have all gotten better. It is no long a write in for Indianapolis with the rest of teams vying not to be in last place. It seems that all the teams have arrows definitely pointing up and while it may not be this year because Tennessee has such a long road to rebuild their roster but within a couple of seasons this division could be the best (meaning toughest) in the NFL.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vandermeers-View-Arms-Race-Underway/82ff70b5-c0d2-4816-aa13-33e1c5e8f552

[eagle eye]

Houston will begin Phase III of their offseason program on Monday when they will have their first their OTA sessions. Here is a link from Texans.com's John Harris who is clueing us in on what we should be watching for on Monday and beyond.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-What-to-watch-for-during-Texans-OTAs/85bc6a57-15dd-4516-9de1-d1b940ff8fc9

I hit Texans.com pretty hard today with all the links to the Texans website. Here is an article by Deepi Sidhu who talked to the Texans new free agent running back. The man who will be replacing Arian Foster is Lamar Miller and when you talk about having big shoes to fill Miller has a set of size 12's because Arian Foster was really good at his job during his time with Houston.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Lamar-Miller-on-new-team-new-city/7583d972-c2ec-496d-ab85-27984d08bd61

There is a series that the website is doing that covers their AFC South opponents in a "Know Your Opponents" set of articles. Here are the first two as they cover changes by the Tennessee Titans and Jacksonville Jaguars. The review of the Jags could be a little skewed because it was written before the Jags first round pick, Jalen Ramsey, suffered a partially torn meniscus in his right knee.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Know-Your-Foe-Changes-in-Jacksonville-/d87682d5-d7b3-4081-8ce3-028cb1ddfdbd

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Know-your-foe-Changes-in-Tennessee/4cc6ff29-3ae6-4362-aebb-da0e5a7cef25

[eagle eye]

The Texans began their OTA's today as Phase III of the NFL offseason program has officially begun in Houston. JJ Watt is not currently practicing because he is still recovering from offseason groin surgery. Check out this item from the Bleacher Report.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-star-J-J-Watt-not-practicing-after-7940363.php

I didn't even know that Jadeveon Clowney had a problem with his foot, or rather, I forgot about the foot injury that sidelined him in Week 17 and the Texans playoff loss to Kansas City. This article from Bleacher Report says that Clowney claims he is 100% healthy and ready for the season. Two seasons ago Clowney was the #1 overall pick in the NFL draft and strictly based on his production you would have to say to date he is a bust. This season will go a long way toward determining whether that was a wasted pick or not.

http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com/2016/05/23/jadeveon-clowney-says-hes-100-percent-healthy/

Here is an article from Texans.com from Texans analyst John Harris who gives us his 14 observations on today's OTA practices.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/14-observations-Mondays-OTAs/0987d9d5-49ce-4aff-a39c-598c8cec9510
i
From Texans.com are 3 goals from Bill O'Brien for the upcoming OTA's

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Bill-OBriens-3-main-goals-for-OTAs/792f453c-e13f-4bf8-96bc-44f64c5b2948

Houston acquired OL Jeff Allen as a free agent in March and it brings together a couple of guys who actually know each other pretty well. Jeff Allen and Whitney Mercilus faced off against each other in the playoff game in January but there's more to the story than that. Both attended the University of Illinois and they were roommates in college so they know each other very well. Both guys actually came out of college the same year, 2012, with Mercilus taken in the 1st round by Houston and Allen went in the 2nd round to KC. Mercilus had a breakout season for Houston last season as he stepped in for Jadeveon Clowney when he was out with injury and they shared time at weak side LB when Clowney was active. A strength of Houston's defense is the quality of depth they have at most positions and it's becoming true for the O-line with the addition of Allen. In all likelihood Allen will vie for the position opposite from Xavier Sua-Filo. This Texans team is as talented as any team in the NFL and they have one of the best defenses for sure.

The Texans success will hinge on Brock Osweiler's performance and nobody knows that better than Osweiler himself. In his post practice interview his enthusiasm is unmistakable.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Osweiler-This-is-what-football-is-all-about/2a5a7ab6-4c35-43a7-a1dc-78f43ea99af9

As a final thought I want to say I like Osweiler so far in the limited exposure we've had to him. Of course he's saying all the right things but he's also been walking the walk as well as talking the talk. I can't say enough of how impressed I've been with the way he's conducted offseason work with his new corps of receivers and his work in the weight room and he desire to build a good relationship with his teammates speaks well of him. He obviously learned a lot from his mentor in Denver, Peyton Manning. I guess there is a lot to be said for learning from the best as long as he actually learns the lessons. It looks like Osweiler has learned his lessons well. I am rooting for this guy to succeed because I like him and because the Texans deserve a good QB.

[eagle eye]

On Thursday Houston officially signed their 3rd round pick WR Braxton Miller to a 4 year deal worth 3.114 million dollars. Houston's only draft pick that remains unsigned in 1st round pick Will Fuller from Notre Dame. Fuller's deal could be done at any time. Contracts for rookies have not been a big issue since the institution of the rookie salary cap. The draft pick's salaries are slotted and you can predict what their salaries will be according to where they are drafted.

In this article from Texans.com by Deepi Sidhu talks Texans as it relates to social media. This is a regular feature on Texans.com called the DeepSlant named for Deepi.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/The-DeepSlant-Week-In-Review/fb31b63d-dcf1-4aed-854e-766087b0adc7

Brock Osweiler has now underwent his first week of OTA's with the Texans and by all accounts it was a success. In this Texans.com article by Drew Dougherty it recaps the first week of team work for Osweiler including some reactions by he new teammates.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brock-Osweiler-talks-Texans-playbook/b624255b-b445-4a03-aeb9-f45279085cba

Week 2 of Texans OTA's begin on Tuesday. Happy Memorial Day!!!!

[eagle eye]

JJ Watt spoke to the press today after today's OTA practice. Watt has been practicing on the side as he is still rehabbing from offseason surgery but he hopes to be back practicing with the rest of the team very soon.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-gives-update-on-health/de1e9f95-8dfb-4fb4-80ef-d4eab5e61826#start

I don't know if this drifting into man-crush area but the link below comes from Bleacher Report which is an Instagram post by Watt. You see pics of Watt when he's in uniform and sometimes in street clothes but you don't imagine a guy who is 6'5'' and nearly 300 lbs would look like this.

http://espn.go.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/204822/j-j-watts-shirtless-instagram-post-draws-teasing-from-teammate

One of the feel good stories of the last year and half was the one involving OT David Quessenberry. DQ was drafted in the sixth round of the 2013 draft but he missed most of his rookie season after injuring his foot bad enough to land him on season ending IR in September of 2013. During the summer of 2014 Quessenberry complained of fatigue and a persistent cough which was diagnosed as cancer. He went through cancer treatments which also meant that he was again sidelined for the season. Last summer he was in remission but still undergoing treatment but he was working toward making his comeback but he just wasn't well enough to be cleared to practice. Now, in this second week of the 2016 OTA's Houston has decided to waive Quessenberry because he is still taking cancer treatments and will not be ready to practice any time soon. In his presser today Bill O'Brien said that Quessenberry should concentrate on getting well this year so he can be ready for OTA's in 2017. The story isn't yet over but there is definitely more obstacles to overcome but there could still be a happy ending yet. Let's hope so.

Here are twelve observations from today's OTA practice from Texans.com's John Harris.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/12-observations-Tuesdays-OTAs/133d2050-d6cd-41a4-b942-3f447e1fd535

[eagle eye]

The Denver Broncos will be visiting the White House as the defending NFL Champions to meet President Barack Obama. It will be the last such event for Obama who is serving his final year of his final term in office. Previously Obama has hosted the Steelers, Saints, Packers, Giants, Ravens, Seahawks and Patriots. It will be the 8th and final time the White House will greet the NFL champs with Obama as the sitting president. What is somewhat newsworthy is that Texans QB Brock Osweiler was extended an invitation to go to the White House with his former teammates but he has chosen instead to stay with the Texans attending scheduled OTA practice. In an attempt to stir up some controversy the media has tried to stir the pot by asking Broncos GM John Elway his feelings about Osweiler declining to go meet President Obama. Elway refused to bite simply saying the decision was Osweiler's and "It's his choice." There was some feeling that Elway was a tad pissed at Osweiler for leaving Denver for Houston since the Broncos had drafted Osweiler and developed him but Osweiler instead opted to sign a big contract offered by the Texans leaving Denver and its less lucrative offer. If you're a Texans fan you've got to say "That's pretty cool for Osweiler to skip meeting the president to be with the team.". By contrast, if you're a Broncos fan you are likely saying, "F--- him!". In private I'm betting that is what Elway says.

A guy who is easy to overlook by fans is the Texans new RB Lamar Miller. After the huge splash the Texans made this offseason by signing Brock Osweiler and all the offensive weapons the Texans drafted Miller is kind of flying under the radar. Miller's signing was a big deal as the Texans try to get a guy who can replace Arian Foster. I'm not saying they got a guy who fills a roster spot. Foster was much more than just "a guy". Foster was very much an impact player who made the Texans offense a force, despite the fact the Texans had very real QB issues, so Miller is an attempt to replace the best offensive player in franchise history with a guy who can truly replace his production. It took 3 to 4 guys to fill the role of Arian Foster in the offense and collectively they couldn't really fill Foster's shoes. Miller is a guy who is talented enough to fill those size 13's Foster leaves behind. Osweiler is the key to the success of the Broncos offense but Miller is the engine that will make that offense go.

Texans radio on it's flagship station AM 610 there are some changes being unveiled which increase their coverage of the team. Here's the article from Texans.com about those changes.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-Radio-unveils-program-changes/75dce52d-85e4-4b28-9bea-3c931ced1f2d

[eagle eye]

JJ Watt was well enough to join his teammates in OTA practice yesterday for the first time. Here's an article by Texans.com writer Deepi Sidhu about Watt's return following offseason groin surgery.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-returns-to-practice-in-OTAs/83330929-1eee-4d83-ad86-5202e08d5fef

The Broncos went to the White House to meet President Obama in honor of the Super Bowl 50 victory earlier this year. One guy who didn't go was former Broncos QB Brock Osweiler. Osweiler chose to pass on the opportunity to meet the president in favor of staying with his new team, the Texans, and participate in OTA practice. It really sends a message to the team how committed he is to the Texans. It's a big deal to pass on a trip to the White House to meet the President of the United States. It's something that just doesn't happen every day so not going speaks volumes about how committed he is to his new team.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brock-Osweiler-declines-White-House-for-OTA/f75dc2ea-82f9-4588-8d93-5ee0a4cd43c4

Here are Texans.com's John Harris' 13 observations from yesterday's OTA practice.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/13-observations-Mondays-OTAs/f79a4a73-cab2-4d03-a561-aac8f50d9bf4

In this morning's Breakfast With The Bulls article from Deepi Sidhu about what is an uncatchable is to DeAndre Hopkins.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Whats-uncatchable-for-DeAndre-Hopkins/adc46389-0f15-40ed-a904-b3c05845c915

[eagle eye]

Who is the most forgotten man on the Texans roster so far in 2016? My vote would go to 2014 4th round draft pick QB Tom Savage. Savage was guy who saw his draft stock rise sharply in the weeks prior to the draft based on a strong senior season at Pitt. Savage was touted a player who could be drafted anywhere from the end of the 1st round to the 2nd or 3rd round. As it was he fell to the 4th round which was great value for this player. Everyone knew he was a project guy who wouldn't be a day one starter in the NFL and he could sit behind Ryan Fitzpatrick and learn. In December of 2014 he got his first start in the NFL because of a broken leg suffered by Fitz. Savage did a good job but Savage injured his knee in a game against the Colts the following week and was done for the season. Case Keenum was signed off the Rams practice squad an finished out the final two games for Houston. The injury bug hit Savage again in the final preseason game last year against the Cowboys. This time he hurt his shoulder and was placed on injured reserve and done for the season. I don't know why the Texans put Savage on IR when they could have put him on PUP and got him back later in the season. There was a bit of a QB merry-go-round last season as the starting job bounced from Brian Hoyer to Ryan Mallett to Hoyer to TJ Yates to Brandon Weeden. Savage, had he not been on IR, would surely have gotten his chance. In the 2015 preseason Savage was a much improved player who did a lot of nice things and looked like a solid #3 behind Hoyer and Mallett as he paid his dues learning the pro game. Now Savage is fully recovered from that shoulder injury and he's been looking good in practice. Gone are TJ Yates, Mallett and Hoyer leaving only Brock Osweiler, Brandon Weeden and Savage as the only QB's on the Texans roster. People are assuming that Weeden will be the #2 man behind Osweiler but that may not be true. Weeden hasn't had a whole lot of success in the NFL although he did lead Houston to a couple of late wins last season but he wasn't impressive enough to keep Brian Hoyer on the bench when Hoyer recovered from the injury that sidelined him at mid season. Savage has learned a lot showing dedication and a strong work ethic despite his injury problems and there is no reason to assume he won't get a shot as the primary backup to Osweiler. Savage has sort of come up like Osweiler did by being a backup learning behind a veteran QB. Osweiler's advantage was learning under the great Peyton Manning and Osweiler seems to have brought the things he learned from Manning to Houston. Savage has been in Osweiler's hip pocket ever since the Big O came to Houston which includes the week long workout for QB's and receivers Osweiler organized in April. Do not be surprised if Osweiler's backup is one Tom Savage come September.

The Texans concluded the last of their OTA's today and now all that stands between the team and six weeks of vacation before training camp in late July is the mandatory mini camp scheduled to begin next Tuesday. Here's an article from Texans.com by the radio voice of the Texans Marc Vandermeer as he gives us his 5 take aways from the past 3 weeks of OTA's.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Vandermeers-View-5-OTA-Takeaways/6a4df86c-a295-4db6-8740-bc076c4c44bb

[eagle eye]

The Texans JJ Watt got some love in Nashville Tennessee last night as he co-hosted with Erin Andrews the CMT Country Music Awards show. I didn't see it but apparently Watt did a nice job. Here's an article from the Houston Chronicle via the Bleacher Report about the show.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-J-J-Watt-delivers-laughs-at-CMT-Music-7971907.php

Jason La Confora is a pundit. He's a semi insider who works for CBS Sports and the only thing I'll say about him is he's no Adam Schefter or Chris Mortensen. Apparently, La Confora is not a Brock Osweiler fan. I'm not saying he hates the guy personally but he doesn't think much of Osweiler's chances for being good in Houston. Linked below from SB Nation a guy named Tim disagrees with La Confora. This article was copied from the Bleacher Report.

http://www.battleredblog.com/2016/6/8/11889028/jason-la-canfora-continues-to-express-doubt-about-brock-osweilers

[eagle eye]

It seems that there are only 5 NFL draft picks yet unsigned and one of them, Will Fuller plays for Houston. Fuller was the Texans 1st round pick in this year's draft and he was highly coveted enough by the Texans that they actually traded up on spot with Atlanta to get him. With salaries capped and slotted by round the only holdup I can see is a language issue with the deal. We are heading into the mandatory mini camp and the 6 weeks prior to training camp and by this time you'd have thought all these deals would get done. To his credit Fuller has been working in the OTA's with the team so at least there's that.

Speaking of Fuller and his fellow draftee Braxton Miller, both are being praised for the work ethic they have come to Houston with. Both seem to be quick studies and they are making great strides learning the Texans playbook. Nice. Now all they need to do is carry all that on the field with them. The Houston WR corps is pretty impressive when you look at it. DeAndre Hopkins, Cecil Shorts, Keith Mumphrey and Jalen Strong to go along with Fuller and Miller and four others and you have the makings for a really special group.

One of those "4 others" I mentioned above is Wendell Williams from the University of the Cumberlands in Williamsburg Kentucky, an NAIA school, was clocked at the NFL regional combine with hand held timers at a blazing 4.19 second in the 40. When asked who was the fastest guy on the team WR DeAndre Hopkins said it was Williams with another rookie UFA Robert Nelson, a DB out of Arizona State who is about to begin his 3 season in the NFL came to Houston this offseason, is 2nd fastest. He is followed by Fuller, a guy who ran a 4.38 at the scouting combine, and coming in as 4th fastest on the team is RB Akeem Hunt. Hunt was a UFA in 2015 of the Giants and he also spent time on the Ravens practice squad before Houston signed him last November 2nd to the their practice squad. He was promoted to the regular roster on November 21st. If nothing else, you can't claim the Texans don't have speed in their lineup.

Here's a couple of links to articles in the Houston Chronicle I got from the Bleacher Report. One is about the development of last year's 1st round pick Kevin Johnson and the other is about LBs coach Mike Vrabel.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-pleased-with-development-of-Kevin-Johnson-8079661.php

Okay, I lied about the Vrabel article. You have to be a subscriber to the Chronicle to read the full story and even though it's pretty cheap I don't want to buy a subscription. It's just not that important. The gist of what I was able to read was that despite an offer by Chip Kelly to be his DC in San Francisco and other offers from around the NFL Vrabel has decided to stick with Houston for the time being. If Vrabel is the hard nosed tough as nails coach as he was a player then he must be a really good coach. After retiring from the NFL after the 2010 season Vrabel began his coaching career at Ohio State in 2011 as a linebackers coach. In 2012 and 2013 he was the Buckeyes defensive line coach. Vrabel came to Houston working for his old boss at New England and Kansas City Romeo Crennel who is the Texans DC in 2014. He will begin his 3rd year as the Texans linebackers coach. By all accounts, he a pretty darn good coach.

Yet further evidence that this lineup is stacked and deep. There is no other way to say it, Houston will go as far as Brock Osweiler can take them and that includes the Super Bowl.

[eagle eye]

The Texans had a really nice draft class and the fact that Houston won 9 games, the AFC South division title and made the playoffs really gives hope for the prospects of the Texans in 2016 but as has been said before it is all about Brock Osweiler. This article from Texans.com speaks to concerns over how he is doing as he and the team march on toward the new season.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Brock-Osweiler-impressing-DeAndre-Hopkins-team/7171eebd-fe86-4510-ac4f-38fb612603f0

In the above article there is a press conference video with Bill O'Brien. In the interview O'Brien talks about a new system Houston has brought to the team called the Catapult System. In the link below there is some interesting info about what this system can do to help with the health and conditioning of the players.

http://www.catapultsports.com/media/sports-wearables-are-the-wave-of-the-future/
http://www.catapultsports.com/sports/american-football/

Yesterday was the first of the 3 practices in the Texans mandatory mini camp this week. In the link below Texans.com's John Harris gives us his 13 observations of yesterday's practice. There is also a video of the practice that accompanies the article.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/13-observations-Mondays-minicamp/f0984019-d504-4205-a3a7-0e370c43b35e

[eagle eye]

With the 4-1 win last night Houston swept the St Louis Cardinals in their 2 game mini series. After coming off the beating they took from Tampa last weekend it was a totally unexpected result especially considering the Cardinals were on a 5 game win streak coming into Tuesdays first game with Houston. The good Collin McHugh showed up as he battled all game getting some really good defense particularly from George Springer who threw out a runner at the plate by 4 steps and should have had another assist if not for a missed tag by Luis Valbuena on a play at first base. On offense Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa both had 2 hits in 3 AB's, in fact, the middle of the lineup carried the team last night. Altuve and Correa set the table for, of all people, Carlos Gomez who drove in 2 runs on 2 of 3 hitting. Gomez also made a couple of nice plays in the field. Gomez has been pretty good the last couple of games going 4-7 against St Louis and the only discernible difference was he was wearing glasses, prescription glasses, because he ran out of contact lenses. Gomez actually likes wearing the glasses more than contacts but in certain climates the glasses tend to fog up. In St Louis fogging up glasses was not an issue. Since coming off the DL a couple of weeks ago he has hit better including hitting his first 3 HR's of the season. He is currently hitting .198 but that is a good thing as it has been a while since he even sniffed the Mendoza line. Besides his work in the field George Springer tacked on a 2 run home run to give Houston its first 2 runs of the game and also gave the Astros the lead in the top of the 8th. Houston scored their other 2 runs in the 9th to give Will Harris some breathing room to get his 5th save in as many opportunities. Props really have to go to McHugh who was coming off a bad start his last time out. He battled St Louis' Adam Wainwright for 6 innings as both men were throwing a shutout. McHugh blinked first as he gave up a run after three straight hits pitching 1/3 of the 7th inning. Tony Sipp came in and shut the door on the Cardinals in the 7th and Ken Giles pitched a scoreless 8th. Springer's assist in the fifth inning is worth a look so the video is linked below.

http://m.mlb.com/hou/video/v818340583/houstl-springer-cuts-down-piscotty-at-the-plate/?tcid=mm_hou_vid&c_id=hou

Houston has today off as they conclude their 9 game road trip which they finished with a 4-5 record. Losing the first two games of the Rangers series when they had a good chance of winning hurt then losing 2 of three to Tampa really sucked. That is one place the Astros must hate to go to because they just can't seem to win there. They really salvaged the road trip with the Sweep of the Cards and they return to Houston and get a day off before playing the Reds. The day off on Monday obviously did the team some good and hopefully the day off today will do them even better. On Friday night Houston will send Lance McCullers (4-3, 4.54 ERA) and Cincinnati counters with John Lamb (1-4, 5.14 ERA). Lamb's last start on June 12 was against Oakland as he only lasted 4 innings giving up 4 runs on 7 hits and 2 BB's with only 1 K. McCullers is going to be trying to come back from his last start as well. Against Tampa last weekend he gave up 4 runs on 7 hits and 4 BB's with 7 K's. McCullers has to figure out a way to get in the groove earlier because he gives up all of his runs in the 1st and 2nd innings. After the 2nd inning he settles down and pitches well but at times the hole he digs is too deep for Houston's so-so offense to overcome as was in the case in Tampa last Saturday.

Houston has signed 6 more players from the recent draft including 3rd round pick C Jake Rogers out of Michigan.

http://m.astros.mlb.com/news/article/184224382/astros-sign-six-2016-draft-picks-to-deals

[eagle eye]

Houston is in the "dead zone". You know, the time between the end of summer practices and the beginning of training camp. That dreaded 5-6 week period all teams cross their fingers and pray to the All Mighty that their player don't do something stupid during their time off. It will be all over the NFL, stories of players arrested for DUI or possession of something illegal. Maybe it's getting into fights or being shot or stabbed at somebodies party. Somebody, more than one for sure, will do something completely brainless to get themselves into trouble. Happens every year. Fortunately, the Texans have avoided player dumbassery and the hope is that will continue.

The Texans closed out their summer offseason work a day early when Bill O'Brien cancelled the final mini camp session last Thursday. This is the second year in a row O'Brien has rewarded the players for their good offseason work. This year, unlike last year when an offensive lineman had to field a punt cleanly to get dismissed, O'Brien just cut the team loose a day early. As hot as it's been so far this summer I'm sure the players were loving the extra day off.

Vince Wilfork got some love from ESPN's The Body issue when he was one of the athletes featured in the annual tribute to how good athletes look naked. We'll see about that but in the meantime here's a preview from ESPN.com.

http://espn.go.com/espn/story/_/id/16333965/the-body-issue-dwyane-wade-conor-mcgregor-von-miller-jake-arrieta-christen-press-athletes-baring-all-espn-magazine

Texans.com writer Deepi Sidhu asks, and answers, the question, "Why Vince Wilfork isn't ready to retire?"

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Why-Vince-Wilfork-isn’t-ready-to-retire/51193120-16ab-4514-8d53-3f72860e3345

What are the top 5 stories as the Texans await the start of training camp? Texans.com writer John Harris gives us HIS top five and I have to say I pretty much agree with all 5.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-5-training-camp-questions/25394cd4-9ecc-47c3-afc7-9c6bafd0038d

Here is this week's edition of the "Dear Drew" segment of the 'Texans Huddle' show from Fox Sports Southwest and, in this case, Texans.com. This is the blooper edition and it's pretty funny.

http://www.houstontexans.com/tv-media/videos/Dear-Drew-Blooper-Edition/2897b594-1017-4061-80c3-c69f2091ff98

[eagle eye]

The Texans have all of their draft picks under contract now. Over the weekend the Texans and their first round pick WR Will Fuller agreed on a deal that will keep him in a Texans uniform for the next 5 years. The deal is for 4 years but like all first round picks the team has an option for that 5 year. It is not an option available to picks in any other round but the 1st.

http://nfltraderumors.co/texans-sign-first-round-wr-will-fuller-four-year-deal/

According to Bill O'Brien LB Bernardrick McKinney is a very improved player. Even more so than the guy we saw last season step in to the weak side outside LB role in relief of Jadeveon Clowney. If that is true then Houston has some serious depth a their LB position especially if Clowney, 2 years removed from microfracture knee surgery, makes the comeback everyone expects him to make.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/ILB-Benardrick-McKinney-really-improved-in-2016/1756474c-03c0-4a7f-b14f-03bc15484492

Another player that is showing a lot of improvement it's the Texans 2014 2nd round pick OG Xavier Su'a-Filo. Su'a-Filo was highly sought after in the 2014 draft but he just didn't seem to get it in his rookie season. He played in 13 games but only started one. Last season he was better last season playing in 11 games starting nine. He missed 5 games due to injury but so far in OTA's and mini camp he has made a good impression on his head coach. Coming out of college he was acknowledged at a good, if not excellent, run blocker but his pass protection skills needed work. After his rookie season it appeared Su'a-Filo was a bust but he has gotten steadily better and in this 3rd season he may be ready for a breakout season of his own.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/OBrien-Xavier-Sua-Filo-has-definitely-improved/b5823462-790f-4bcd-8dd6-35b3e4cf4bd2

It was a big weekend for JJ Watt. On Friday night he was on the Jimmy Fallon late night show in which he and Mr Fallon had a Russian roulette contest with eggs. Here is a link to NBC.com with video of the showdown between Watt and Fallon. Watt also revealed he listens to Adele to get psyched up before a game. Adele????

http://www.nbc.com/the-tonight-show/guest/jj-watt/275056

Watt also unveiled his new personal shoe from Reebok with his own logo. There are videos of his new Reebok commercial and his new logo in the article from Chronicle.com linked below.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-J-J-Watt-unveils-personal-logo-new-7940308.php

[eagle eye]

You might want to keep this name in mind when training camp starts a month from now. Stephen Anderson. He's a tight end and it appears, according to Chron.com, Houston Chronicle's web site, that the Texans are looking for big things from Anderson. As written by Aaron Wilson he talks about the chances of Anderson making a positive impact on the Texans roster.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-bullish-on-rookie-tight-end-Stephen-8327175.php

For the first time in his 3 year tenure as the Texans head coach Bill O'Brien has done something to help his rookies make the transition into the NFL by having his assistant coaches and even veteran players participate in rookie symposiums. From May 6 through June 23rd the Texans held 39 such symposiums for the benefit of the new players coming into the league. This link from HoustonChronicle.com talks about the new program geared to give rookies some very valuable information to help them avoid the pitfalls of sudden wealth and fame.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texans/article/Inside-the-Texans-Preparing-rookies-for-more-8323254.php

Finally, an article from NFL.com about Peyton Manning. What's he got to do with the Texans? Nothing, unless you count mentoring current Texans QB Brock Osweiler for the first 4 years of his career. Manning says he is rooting for Osweiler and he's sure he will do well.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000671339/article/peyton-will-root-for-many-nfl-teams-and-brock-osweiler?campaign=Twitter_atn

[eagle eye]

As I said in an earlier post Texans nose tackle Vince Wilfork was going to be in the 2016 The Body issue in which famous athletes from a wide variety of sports pose nude with the private parts ingeniously covered. Now, Vince is a really good nose tackle but you wouldn't think a guy who weighs in at around 325 pounds would be a candidate for a magazine article like that. ESPN took it one step further putting a photo of him in all his glory on the cover of the magazine.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/PHOTO-Vince-Wilforks-bares-all-in-Body-Issue/6fe39d60-8e5c-4f75-8080-5eb71ad0a5b0

It's just 32 days until the August 1st beginning of training camp. That sounds short but it will feel like a millennium.

[eagle eye]

The Texans have been blessed with a quiet hiatus so far prior to the start of training camp but there is still 3 weeks left so the ride isn't nearly over just yet. But it is refreshing to see a Texans team that historically doesn't have off field problems with their players. Good team without the drama. The Texans are the anti-Cowboys and it's really kind of nice to relax and watch Wimbledon or the Olympics without worrying about the next stupid thing the Texans players come up with. I love my Cowboys but they just wear you out with all the drama, don't they? I think so. I'm here to testify that being a fan of the Texans is a big plus because there is not a big soap opera factor to deal with. Now, if Brock Osweiler is the guy we hope he is it is very possible the Texans could pass the Cowboys as the most popular team in the state. It's for sure the Texans will not have 25% of their starters on defense suspended to begin the season like the Cowboys do. The biggest controversy is the debate as to whether Jadeveon Clowney will finally live up to expectations being the 2014 number one pick in the draft. That's all the controversy I want out of my team and it seems like we will never ever have that again in Dallas.

NfL.com talks about how much of an impact Jadeveon Clowney will make this season. According to Sam Rosenthal Clowney will bust a move on the NFL for the Texans this year. He is two years removed from the microfracture surgery he had to have in 2014 and based on the promise he showed late last season Rosenthal says Clowney is ready to have a Terrell Suggs-type impact for the Texans this season. To be honest I like what Rosenthal had to say.

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000673319/article/making-the-leap-texans-olb-jadeveon-clowney

NFL.com also looked at how the Texans plan to use one of their newest weapons, Braxton Miller. Mark Sessler delves into the possible ways the Texans can use this former QB-turned-WR in their offense. Sessler does nothing to dispel the high hopes for an explosive, high octane Texans offense this season and for years to come if....................

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000672995/article/texans-plan-multidimensional-role-for-braxton-miller

..................if Brock Osweiler is the real deal. I've said it before and it is no less true now and will continue to be true until the season begin and we see whether or not Brock is the real deal. I don't think we should expect Joe Montana right out of the box, okay? Despite his being a 4 year veteran in the NFL he has a grand total of 7 starts. He is still wet behind the ears in terms of on-field experience. What we need is for Brock to be better than Brian Hoyer or Matt Schaub or any of the other QB's the Texans have run out over the last 4 or 5 years. Houston has been a playoff caliber team since 2011 and the main thing holding them back has been their QB play. TJ Yates led Houston to their first playoff win in 2011 against the Bengals but he either didn't show enough promise or the coaches didn't give him an adequate chance. Either way he's not in the conversation any more. Here are the starting QB's for Houston since 2011. In order they are, Matt Schaub, TJ Yates, Matt Leinart, Matt Schaub, Case Keenum, Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Case Keenum, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett, TJ Yates, Brandon Weeden and Brian Hoyer. Pretty underwhelming wouldn't you say? If I was setting the roster my QB depth chart would be Osweiler with either Yates or Weeden as the backup and Braxton Miller as the 3rd string emergency backup. Trouble is Yates tore his ACL and likely won't play in 2016 and Tom Savage, the Texans 2014 4th round pick, is coming off a season ending shoulder injury suffered in the last preseason game of 2015 against the Cowboys. The only QB's on the Texans roster are Osweiler, Weeden and Savage and I'm happy with that. I think Savage could actually leapfrog Weeden as the primary backup based on how good he looked prior to his injury last year. Couple that with the fact Savage has spent the offseason cloned to Osweiler as they worked in private workouts with their wide receivers prior to the draft and OTA's. I like Tom Savage at QB. He had lots of potential coming out of college and he was seen as a draft day steal when Houston picked him up in the 2014 draft. It's kind of ironic that both Savage and Jadeveon Clowney came to Houston in the same draft and both have been plagued by injuries ever since. If Osweiler fails to live up to the hype I am all in at giving Savage his shot. Brandon Weeden is 32 and isn't the long term answer for the Texans. Savage is 26 and he could be a long term answer should Osweiler stumble. All that said, Brock Osweiler is the man right now. All the Texans eggs are in his basket and, so far, he has said and done all the right things to give Texans fans hope that he is the franchise QB they have been looking for. You ever had a friend try to set you up on a date and when you ask what she's like your friend says something like 'she's got a great personality' or 'she's a really nice person'? You know for sure that the girl isn't the prettiest thing to come along and you're friend is trying like hell not to tell you the truth about her. I get that feeling sometimes when people talk about Brock. You never hear about his strong arm or how accurate he is. All you ever hear about Brock is what a leader he is. Even his old teammate in Denver Emmanuel Sanders said, "Brock is a leader!". Almost sounds like people are trying hard NOT to say something, doesn't it? Maybe I'm just paranoid because all you hear about is how hard he works and studies the playbook. Also how he is always involved with the team in the community and how he invites teammates on outings to help build a team chemistry. These are all leadership qualities I'm sure he learned interning under Peyton Manning in Denver but it will all be a moot point if Brock can't play. The Texans also have an O-line with a lot of question marks which won't help but he's got a bevy of weapons which should help take a lot of heat off him. In the final analysis the monkey is still on his back. Can Brock find the open man on 3rd and 5 and keep the chains moving? Can he read single coverage and hit DeAndre Hopkins on a 9 route for a TD? Can he avoid throwing up a prayer into triple coverage with he's under pressure? Can he hit the open man on the hot route when the other team blitzes? Those are questions that won't be answered until the games begin for real. We could see glimpses of him in preseason, in fact, we could see a little more than most veteran QB's play simply because he's on a new team in a new city but it still won't matter until he shows what he's made of when games begin to matter in September. Speaking strictly as a fan, I hope Brock Osweiler is THAT guy.

[eagle eye]

There is thankfully no real news coming out of the Texans headquarters. This time of year if there is news it is usually bad. Either somebody has messed up and gotten in trouble with the law or they somebody has injured himself that requires surgery and a lot of time off. Nothing like that has happened as yet (knock, knocking, knocking on wood!) and the hope is it won't. One thing for sure is Bill O'Brien is anxious for training camp to start. He won't have to wait too much longer, less than three weeks. Texans.com has an article about why O'Brien is anxious for TC to begin.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Why-Bill-O’Brien-is-excited-for-training-camp/d7694a32-177e-497d-a1bd-36eb17ef78e9

Speaking of why Bill O'Brien is excited about TC here's look at some social media from Texans players who are also ready for TC to begin and they are showing it by posting video of some of them working out to stay in shape for TC.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Checking-In-for-Training-Camp/10a7ae14-e8c3-45f0-b623-bdd2018b4b86

With all the firepower Houston has at WR and RB the tight ends might be a forgotten bunch or at least a group flying under the radar. This article from Texans.com talks about what the expectations are for the TE's this season. There is also a video previewing the Texans by NFL.com analysts. Their concerns are mainly centered on just how good Brock Osweiler will be.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/What’s-expected-of-Texans-tight-ends/5b44cda9-ce5e-4c6b-84d8-e1cc0b0a12f4

[eagle eye]

What has hampered the Texans the last couple of years is the dreaded slow start. Last season Houston began their season 3-5 and it almost looked like they were out of contention in the division by the end of October. They rebounded nicely and because nobody really played well down the stretch but Houston the Texans won the division and made the playoffs with a 9-7 record which means they finished the second half of their season with a 6-2 record. In 2014 the Texans were 4-4 in their first 8 games. They ended up the season 9-7 after going 5-3 in the second half of the season. Let's just forget all about the 2-14 2013 season. By contrast, the Texans went 12-4 in 2012 as they went 7-1 to begin the season and they ran away with the division, won in the wild card round and lost to eventual Super Bowl Champion New England in the divisional round. My point and the point of the article from Texans.com is a fast start is really important if the Texans want to repeat as division champs and get a 1st round bye in the playoffs.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-The-importance-of-starting-fast/ef2a5827-aff6-4bfd-afc1-cdbc92bff3df

The Texans went for speed and offense in this year's draft. One of the guys Houston selected was 3rd round pick out of Ohio State Braxton Miller. Could be he could be the one player in this draft who makes the biggest impact for the Texans in 2016. Drew Dougherty of Texans.com takes a look at Miller in this article from the Texans website.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Braxton-Miller-is-just-a-playmaker/d3f7f9ed-5a3f-4d91-a0b7-19c59efeaba0

[eagle eye]

Now for some Texans related news since there really isn't anything to talk about regarding the current roster. Except for one thing, the Texans have announced dates and times for training camp which, BTW, is only 12 days away from the July 31st start.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-announce-datestimes-for-TexansCamp/6ad264d1-de02-40b3-8e1d-d05cc53450f0

First of the non-roster news. Arian Foster has been signed by the Miami Dolphins to a one year $1.5MM deal that includes $2MM in incentives. Foster got a $400K signing bonus which seems like a pretty sweet deal for a player who has missed most of the past 3 seasons with injuries and just turned 30 years old. If Foster can stay healthy and return to his old form the money the Dolphins will pay Foster will be a bargain. A heckuva bargain.

The good news for Houston is that Tom Brady gave up his legal battles over deflate-gate and has accepted his 4 game suspension. Brady and Patriots are not happy how things turned out but for Houston, they won't have to face Brady in their Week 3 game in New England they will get 3rd year man Jimmy Garoppolo. It's time for the Pats to find out what the kid is made of when he will have JJ Watt and Jadeveon Clowney in his face for 60 minutes.

[eagle eye]

Here's an instagram that you may like.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BIDMt2ZDKhJ/?taken-by=bleacherreport

The other news is non-football related as Jadeveon Clowney has gone into business in his home town of Columbia South Carolina. He opened a business called KURE Columbia Vaportorium and Lounge.

http://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/1062019?utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter

It is only 11 days until training camp!

[eagle eye]

Training camp is just over a week away and it's getting real people! For those of us who are football starved this is like cool drink of water before we dive head first into the water of the 2016 season. Beginning next weekend there won't be a day without news for the next 7 months and if Brock Osweiler is all we hope he is that will mean a legit shot at Super Bowl LI!

Every bit of news has been about either the QB or WR's for Houston but the Texans made a big free agent signing this offseason when they got former Miami Dolphin Lamar Miller. For people on this site rooting for "Lamar" is nothing new but it will be in connection to the Texans. For his part, Miller is planning on a big season for the Texans and don't we all agree we hope he's right?

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap3000000675586/article/making-the-leap-texans-rb-lamar-miller

One the other side of the ball, for a long time it looked like Houston's 1st round draft pick in 2012 was pretty much a bust. He did nothing to speak of in his first 3 seasons as a Texan. Then, something woke him up and he helped led a dominant Houston defense into the playoffs with career highs in tackles (52) and sacks (12.5). This year he is looking to make another big leap in production for this year's version of the Texans D. The article linked below also includes a discussion of the recent firing of NFL medical advisor Elliot Pellman.

http://www.houstonchronicle.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-Whitney-Mercilus-has-become-complete-8398400.php?t=b9552cc195438d9cbb&cmpid=twitter-premium

The Texans have made a slight changes in their roster when they waived/injured 5'9'' CB Richard Leonard and they signed Purdue DT Ra'Zahn Howard. No other info available at this time. Leonard has been rehabbing since undergoing surgery earlier this year for a torn hamstring (ouch!) and if he clears waivers he will revert to the injured reserve list. Howard is nose guard who look to make a spot for himself behind Vince Wilfork. You can't ask for a better mentor than Wilfork that is for sure.

http://www.chron.com/sports/texans/article/Texans-waived-injured-Richard-Leonard-sign-8399467.php

With training camp right around the corner Texans.com gives up some instagram posts. http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Checking-In-for-Training-Camp/b7f4c758-5842-4fda-94cc-58ec7b5525f6

JJ Watt makes dreams come for one young fan, 9 year old Will Martinez. Young Will has been battling leukemia for the past 3 years and in as part of the "Make A Wish" Foundation all Will wanted was for Watt to come to his house for dinner. The article linked below is about making that little boy's wish come true. Well done, JJ, well done.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/JJ-Watt-fulfills-9-year-old-fans-wish/cc40f618-4c81-4d53-b777-41ef57f9cd17

Here's a video of MY WISH with Will and JJ Watt from ESPN.

http://espn.go.com/video/clip?id=17099363

[eagle eye]

The latest from the WTF News Desk is word that JJ Watt had back surgery yesterday and will be out anywhere from 6 to 10 weeks depending upon the news source you look at. Why now, a mere one week from the beginning of training camp, does Watt decide something like this? It has been reported that Watt played part of the 2015 season with a herniated disc in his back but he never missed a game. In fact, Watt has never missed a game in his career but now there is the real possibility that Watt will miss one or two games to begin the season. I get it, nobody wants to have surgery. Rehab, rest and medication is the preferred method for most of us as an alternative to going under the knife. However, a herniated disc isn't going to heal itself and surgery was probably an eventuality anyway. Why not get this done in April or March or May when there is sufficient time to recover from the surgery and complete the rehab process? It could be Watt did go under the knife early in the offseason to deal with torn muscles in his core and his groin. Maybe he's just getting truly healthy from that ordeal. The timing of this is just weird. This news is so fresh there isn't even mention of it on the Texans website! You'd think the leadership of the Texans flagship would be just a little embarrassed that they were scooped like this. The link below is from Bleacher Report. I guess it will be a while before we get to hear all about the decision to have the surgery now as opposed to earlier from Watt himself. I know somebody will ask him and I will be very interested to hear his answer.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/2643918-jj-watt-injury-updates-on-texans-stars-recovery-from-back-surgery

From ESPN NFL analyst Tania Ganguli come a list of who she predicts will be the Texans starting lineup when the season begins in September. That article is followed by another one in which she examines the top storylines to follow during Texans training camp.

http://espn.go.com/blog/houston-texans/post/_/id/16535/lamar-miller-should-be-one-of-five-new-starters-on-texans-offense

[eagle eye]

Yesterday the Texans announced that they have placed 5 players on PUP to begin training camp. This means that the Texans can use those 5 roster spots for other players but any of the 5 can return at any time during training camp. If they begin the regular season on PUP the player, or players would miss the first six weeks of the season. Here's a link to an article from nfltraderumors.com. It also includes news of the Texan signing of WR Quentin Bundrage and the waiving of WR Richard Mullaney to make room for Bundrage. Also, LB Brennan Scarlett was put on the active non-football injury list.

http://nfltraderumors.co/texans-place-5-players-pup-list-including-de-j-j-watt/

Thank goodness the news out of Houston isn't about sex, lies and video tape! Is it me, but aren't we all tired of the soap opera in Dallas?

Training camp begins this weekend.

[eagle eye]

UFA Ra'zahn Howard out of Purdue was signed by Houston and he apparently just got his deal done. It is a standard 3 year $1.625 MM contract with a $5K signing bonus. The bonus is the only guaranteed money Howard will receive. For his part Howard is geeked and he's ready to show the Texans how good he can be. Howard is a nose tackle and depth at this spot is critical for the Texans future because Vince Wilfork isn't getting any younger. In fact, he is much closer to the end of his HOF career than even he would like to admit. Having guys in camp who could very well be the future of the nose tackle position learning from a guy like Wilfork is priceless.

Again, the calm before the start of training camp is boring but it's a good boring because there isn't really any drama. Talks about how DeAndre Hopkins still hasn't "arrived" because he still needs to work on his game is very cool. The news that JJ Watt is still targeting Week 1 for his return from back surgery makes fans cautiously optimistic about his rehab. Continued reports of teammates praising Brock Osweiler's work ethic is very encouraging. No suspensions, no domestic violence charges, no DUI's just football news and THAT is a totally good thing.

Training camp is so close you can almost smell the grass and the leather.

[eagle eye]

I've been thinking about this for a while because I have noticed that I'm pretty much the only one who posts on the SportsCenter forum. I wish this wasn't so because I never wanted this to be my own domain. I was hoping to spark discussion and comments pro and con but it hasn't happened in a while. That's why I have decided to back off posting on this forum because I want others to post here and have some fun with it. Thank you to everyone who took a look at my posts. Nearly 8,000 views is pretty awesome for the 4 saved threads I have had ongoing. I know you guys are out there, please take up the torch and make this a true fan forum again and not just Eagle Eye's blog. I'll still show up on Inside the Birdcage forum but, for now, I am leaving SportsCenter to you guys. I appreciate Mike and the other administrators for providing such a cool website and for not kicking me off because most of my posts are just too darn long. I'll be around and I'll be watching.

[eagle eye]

I have been thinking about this for a while now because I have noticed that I am pretty much the only one who posts in this SportsCenter forum. I have hoped to spark discussion and debate both pro and con but it hasn't happened in a while. I never intended this forum to become my own domain. So, I am going to back off from posting in this forum for a while in hopes that all you BRI people will make this a true fan forum again. I appreciate the folks to who have checked out my posts, almost 8,000 views on the 4 pinned threads I have going is pretty awesome and I thank you for giving my ramblings a look. The downside of that is I know you're out there so I'm challenging you all to step up and make this continue to grow. Thanks to Mike and the other administrators for giving us all this opportunity to talk Lamar and sports in general and thanks also for not kicking me off the site because my posts are just too darn long. I'll still be around posting on the Inside the Birdcage forum and I'll be watching SportsCenter to see what comes up. Go Cards and Go BRI!

[eagle eye]

The Texans keep rolling along. As usual no controversies, no major injuries outside of JJ Watt and no bullshit. It makes for a rather boring camp except for the fact that Brock Osweiler may be somebody the Texans can really count on. Osweiler continually projects himself as a veteran QB who's been there before and after 4 years in the NFL and a starter for the eventual Super Bowl champs you would expect that. The thing is, I've never heard what I'm hearing from Osweiler out of anyone else in the Texans QB carousel all the way back to Matt Schaub. What I'm trying to say is Osweiler acts and talks like a real leader. He has won over the team with his work ethic and leadership skills. It also appears he can also walk the walk as he's been getting a lot of compliments for his performance so far in training camp. I will be excited to see him and the rest of the first unit on Sunday evening when they play their first preseason game against San Francisco in San Fran. We will get a glimpse of what we have in Brock in these preseason games. Now, it's no guarantee he will be all that when games start to count but if it looks good in practice and it looks good in preseason games then you'd have to think there may be a good chance he will look good when games are played for real.

Look out for Bernardrick McKinney. He seems to have turned a corner and he's becoming a force for the Texans. That is a good thing after he had a breakout season of sorts last season recording 12 sacks. Not bad Bernie, not bad.

In this look from Texans practice it show the passing offense working including a one handed catch by DeAndre Hopkins on an out route. If you notice every pass shown in the clips is right on the money from Osweiler.

Y'all, this team is going to be good. Andrew Luck and Blake Bortles be damned, this team is looking soooooo good!

[eagle eye]

It's pretty clear that the Texans D missed JJ Watt. The defense also seemed to have taken some tips from the Cowboys on how to tackle badly because that's just what they did. It wasn't as bad as Dallas pitiful efforts but it was frustrating. The defensive backs could have done better especially Andre Hal who looked lost some of the time. Brock Osweiler's first game action as a Texan wasn't great but it wasn't terrible either. What could have helped him a lot would have been better play by the O-line. They certainly missed not have Duane Brown and Derek Newton not to mention rookie Nick Martin. Hopefully, this unit will get better because if they don't the Texans will need to keep 3 QBs on the roster because Osweiler and Tom Savage will end up hurt so Brandon Weeden will need to play. Speaking of Tom Savage, he did a really nice job. Osweiler only played a couple of series and then it was the TS show until Weeden came in during the 4th quarter. Savage was 14-24 on the night with 2 TD passes and no picks. Most of what he did was under severe pressure by the 49ers who seemed to be unstoppable by the Texans O-line. He was sacked just two times but he was hurried, hurried and hit and just plain hit a bunch of times. Braxton Miller had a nice game catching 4 balls for 34 yards and Jalen Strong also caught 4 passes for 42 yards. One guy who made a good impression was WR Ian Lenz who had 3 catches for 52 yards. The guy seemed to come out of nowhere and he really hasn't been mentioned much during training camp but he sure showed up last night. I'm glad Houston beat San Fran because I don't like the 49ers much and I also think Chip Kelly is overrated. I'm glad when things work out like I want them to. Osweiler was decent for his first game action which is what I'd hope would be the case. I just didn't want him to suck basically and he didn't. I also think Tom Savage is emerging as the legit backup to Osweiler based on what I saw last night. I also saw just how much JJ Watt means to this defense but we all kind of knew that already, right?

[eagle eye]

The Texans got some good news when Bill O'Brien announced yesterday that Jadeveon Clowney and Nick Martin will likely return to practice this week. If all goes well both could see action in this week's game against the Saints. The Texans and Saints are practicing together this Thursday prior to the game on Saturday night. Clowney has been out with some knee soreness and Martin because of a back issue. The Texans are being cautious with both players but they both need to get back on the field asap.

According to Bill O'Brien the Texans accomplished 3 goals they set before the game but he's also quick to point out they still have a lot of work to do. While Brock Osweiler wasn't the reincarnation of Joe Montana last Sunday night he didn't stink either. NFL.com's headline about Brock was that he "underwhelmed" in his debut as a Texan. He had a so-so game and that's that but there is plenty of room for Oz to get better and there are things he can build on. If that's underwhelming I suppose he's guilty as charged. I will say some of that underwhelming was because the O-line wasn't exactly stellar giving him protection so I'm tapping the breaks on judging his performance just yet. I need to see a bigger sample size before I throw him under the bus. Here's an article from Texans.com about what Houston did do right in the eyes of their head coach.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Texans-achieve-3-key-goals-still-have-work-to-do/8523f869-cfa2-4b80-b78e-771bc40885e3

Texans.com's John Harris goes a little overboard when he gets to jotting down his observations. In this article from Texans.com Harris has a whopping 33 items he noticed in the Texans win over San Fran.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/33-observations-from-the-Texans-win-over-SF/de466f16-a915-4316-be6c-a93c5ebd0d05

[eagle eye]

The Texans have made a big move by signing former Bills 2010 3rd round pick DE Alex Carrington. Carrington played his first 4 years in Buffalo before moving on the Rams in 2014. Last year he went back to Buffalo where he made one start and appeared in 6 other games before tearing a quad and ending his season on IR. Carrington gives Houston some experienced help on the D-line as they wait for JJ Watt to recover from back surgery. To make room for Carrington the Texans waived/injured FB Soma Vainuku.

John McClain has been a beat writer for the Texans and before that the Houston Oilers before they moved to Tennessee. Jadeveon Clowney was supposed to do an interview with the media yesterday but cancelled prompting McClain to make a snide comment on Twitter. McClain got some backlash from the Texans and they didn't appreciate the injury jokes by McClain. Check out the article below for whole scoop.

http://www.thescore.com/nfl/news/1079449

Nick Martin returned to the field on Tuesday after missing time because of a back issue. I just got an alert on my phone saying that Martin was seen limping off the field favoring his right leg in today's practice. More on this as details come out.

Jadeveon Clowney is back at practice and he claims that the soreness in his knee that kept him out of practice last week feels fine. Aside from pissing off John McClain Clowney seems to be good to go to play in this week's game against New Orleans at NRG Stadium after missing their opener in San Fran last Sunday.

After a nice season in 2015 DL Christian Covington is back to build on his success last season. In this article Covington claims he is "....lighter, faster and confident" as he and Texans move toward the beginning of the 2016 season.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Christian-Covington-Lighter-Faster-Confident/3835bd64-d294-4469-ac77-3bc8755ba5c3

The last item today is an article from Texans.com about what's new at NRG Stadium this season. The article linked below also includes a link to a photo gallery of those prosed changes that are meant to enhance the fan's experience at the stadium. Looks pretty good to me for sure!

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-What’s-new-at-NRG-Stadium-this-season/48231bae-bcb1-41ec-834d-bd73cff50b35

[eagle eye]

Bill O'Brien announced yesterday that Tom Savage will be the primary backup for the Texans based on his time and familiarity with this offense. Where that leaves Brandon Weeden but Savage hasn't had too much luck avoiding injuries so Houston had better hang on to Weeden until after the final preseason game just in case Savage gets hurt again.

Houston had a joint practice with the Saints yesterday and they will again today as they prepare for their game against each other on Saturday night. Texans.com analyst John Harris went crazy with 34 observations from yesterday's practice. I think Mr Harris needs to switch to decaf or pop a valium before attending Texans events.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/34-observations-from-Texans-Saints-joint-practice/1bb5fd4b-7dc2-4f8f-a3fb-b441e3673315

Houston didn't update the status of Nick Martin who limped out of practice yesterday. No mention was made of any no-shows at practice but I'll keep looking although it appears as though he may have sprained his ankle. That's not all that bad as long as it's not the dreaded high ankle sprain.

[eagle eye]

The Texans will play the Saints tonight and the one thing I will looking at will be the play of Brock Osweiler. Word is everyone is very happy with Brock's leadership and impressed with his work ethic he's apparently been good in practice. In last week's preseason opener against San Francisco Osweiler wasn't all that great. He wasn't terrible though so it gives me hope that he will bounce back this week and show fans what coaches have apparently seen in practice. So much of the Texans success depends on his play I will watch him very closely. I want to see better play from the Texans O-line than I saw last week. I know that the Texans are missing 3/5 of their projected starting line right now with Duane Brown and Derek Newton rehabbing injuries and rookie Nick Martin nursing a sore something in his lower leg that caused him to limp off the practice field the other day. All that doesn't matter, what does matter is the next man, or men, up need to perform. They have to give Osweiler time to load up and fire to his receivers and the RBs need a hole to run through.

Here is a preview of tonight's game from Texans.com writer Drew Dougherty.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-Glance-Texans-vs-Saints/11117633-109a-4709-abb8-be68ba6dd7b9

It's possible Jadeveon Clowney will play tonight. That would be a good thing as long as he's healthy.

[eagle eye]

The desired outcome came to pass. Houston beat the New Orleans Saints 17-9 but the path there was rather ugly. One good thing came out of this game, Brock Osweiler looked much better than he did against San Francisco. He definitely wasn't perfect but better is good. The O-line struggled again and the absence of 3 of the 5 projected starters is painfully obvious. The good thing about all this is nobody got hurt and the backups are getting valuable reps and experience. Back to Osweiler, he mixed in some good plays with a couple I'm sure he would like to have back. On a fourth and goal Osweiler chose to throw a fade route to Will Fuller but the pass wasn't all that great and the Saints were able to come up with an INT. A couple of other passes were too high to handle both in scoring positions. In truth, the Texans should have beaten the Saints much more handily than they did. One good thing is the backup defense did make a stop to close out the game which showed the Texans have some quality depth on the defense. I can see the final cut downs on the defensive side of the ball are going to be very tough. On offense the Texans got good production from Will Fuller and Braxton Miller and Lamar Miller was good in his brief stint on the field. Cuts on the offensive side will be equally difficult because Houston is deep on offense as well. When Houston makes it cuts there will be some good football players on the street for other teams to pick up. Teams that aren't nearly as deep as Houston and having to keep players who aren't as good as the players Houston will have to cast off.

Jadeveon Clowney played a lot in the game. It was his first game action of the preseason and he definitely showed something. Things like more moves in his rush. In previous years he was a bit of a one trick pony but last night he showed more than just a speed rush. He was able to show a bull rush and swim moves both to the inside and the outside among his new menu of moves. In his time on the field he was extremely disruptive and that is excellent news for the Texans. Brian Cushing also played his first snaps of preseason and he was a beast. He only played a series or two but his presence was definitely felt. All in all it was a little sloppy but Houston has a damn good team with depth. When the starters return from rehab and injury the offense should find another gear. This team is scary good and Texans fans have a lot to look forward to.

BTW in a very brief mention of the O-line during the game the TV commentators mentioned the limp C Nick Martin left practice with on Thursday is the infamous high ankle sprain. I found a blurb on Battleredblog.com that said Martin does have the high ankle sprain. It also mentioned that Bill O'Brien's initial response was, "it wasn't serious" which means really nothing. For high ankle sprains it generally takes 6-7 weeks to fully heal which means he could miss as much as the first 4 games of the season. THAT is definitely not good news. The word from a Notre Dame website called One Foot Down said after Martin was drafted in April that he dealt with a lot of nagging injuries during his college career. Hopefully the back issue and this ankle deal that have kept him out of the past two games are the last he and Texans have to deal with.

[eagle eye]

Here are Texans.com's John Harris' 4,390 thoughts from Saturday night's win over New Orleans. It's really only 32 but it seems like more. I'm one to talk about something like this right? There are also some videos in the article from highlights of the 40 times Osweiler targeted Will Fuller to the postgame comments by Bill O'Brien. It's Monday, you've got to forgive me, I'm in a bit of sarcastic mood this morning.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/32-observations-from-Texans-vs-Saints/b2157268-92d7-4dab-86a9-bc9dbecc87be

The injury report from the Texans isn't all that bad. Aside from missing both Duane Brown and Derek Newton for all of training camp as well as JJ Watt the Texans aren't that bad off injury-wise. As for those 3 guys, they won't be back this week according to Bill O'Brien and it doesn't look like we can expect them until the season starts at very least.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/O’Brien-gives-latest-on-Texans-injuries/8bd52b20-321e-486b-8683-08907e437152

Here is Bill O'Brien's assessment of Brock Osweiler's performance.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/The-Day-After-OBrien-on-Osweilers-performance/4f13e30d-86bf-425f-8a31-19d2f42f0f15

[eagle eye]

It used to be that it took 3 or 4 years for a wide receiver to be a top notch receiver for his team but that is not really the norm any more. The salary cap means you don't have time to wait for a receiver to develop the way NFL teams used to do. Those guys have to produce as fast as possible and for some of the best players in the league they are able to succeed right away. Right now after two preseason games the Texans look to have a couple of keepers from this year's draft. Will Fuller and Braxton Miller are picking up the Texans offense pretty fast and if their production in their first two games of their career they have shown the ability to handle themselves very well. Both are getting reps in these games because DeAndre Hopkins has had very little playing time but they seem to have outshined 2nd year man Jalen Strong. Strong came into camp with the hype that his second season with Houston was going to be dramatically different than his rookie year. He lost weight and had put time in the weight room but you just haven't seen a transitional player in the games as yet. I know it's preseason but you'd think you would have shown something, right? Right now the depth chart for the WR's seems to be Hopkins, Fuller, Miller, Strong followed by Keith Mumphrey and Cecil Shorts but there's a guy who has shown up in these games and that guy is Josh Lenz. There is also a guy named Wendell Williams who is in the mix and he the fastest guy in the bunch having been clocked at a regional NFL combine at a blistering 4.19! It could very well be that Mumphrey and Shorts may be looking for work in late August.

The link below is an update on JJ Watt's progress as he goes through his rehab following back surgery in late July. The worry is Watt will need to miss a game or two at the beginning of the season to make sure his back is healthy enough to play. Watt hasn't missed a game in his 5 year career.

http://www.espn.com/blog/nflnation/post/_/id/211101/j-j-watt-back-continues-rehab-by-running-on-sideline-during-practice

[eagle eye]

Houston got some bad news yesterday when they learned that their 2nd round pick in this year's draft C/G Nick Martin will miss the entire 2016 season as he had to undergo surgery on his ankle. I'm thinking that what he really had surgery on was a torn Achilles that he left practice with late last week. Even if it's not this is a big blow for the Texans who took Martin to bolster their O-line and it really hurts to lose a guy who would have been a major upgrade to the Texans interior line. There isn't even an article I can find about Martin's surgery, I just was couple of tweets on Bleacher Report so this is fairly breaking news.

Back to the O-line, the Texans will be in desperate need for someone to step up and so far Chris Clark has answered the bell. Here's an article about Clark from Texans.com's Deepi Sidhu.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Chris-Clark-taking-advantage-of-opportunities/e9a83450-1503-4622-bf3f-2c9b40f199f6

Practicing in SE Texas heat can take a toll on person and Bill O'Brien understands that. Yesterday after a vigorous morning workout O'Brien call the team together and chose rookie DL DJ Reader to go and field a Shane Lechler punt. If he caught it practice was over, if he didn't then it would be back to work. The article linked below will tell you whether or not Reader was a hero or a goat.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/DJ-Reader-catches-punt-to-end-practice-early/4105ad77-a7e4-4000-b143-9cd31ba94db0

[eagle eye]

The Texans square off against the Arizona Cardinals tomorrow. Texans.com's Drew Dougherty gives us his 5 things to watch in tomorrow's game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-Glance-Texans-face-the-Cardinals/3a779ad7-b85c-4109-9c22-2eb6659ccbbe

Tomorrow is the dress rehearsal game of course so the starters should play longer than any other time in the preseason to get them ready for Week 1. You will want to see how Brock Osweiler does against a top notch defense in the Arizona Cardinals. It should be a big barometer for how Osweiler will look when the regular season begins in two weeks.

I know that the O-line has struggled so far but I listened to The Blitz on ESPN radio on Friday and I'm sure as the day is long that the line will be okay. Why? Because both AJ and Fred had nothing nice to say about them and they ripped GM Rick Smith for not drafting more O-lineman in the draft instead of wasting all their picks on wide receivers and running backs. They did acknowledge that Houston used a 2nd round pick on Nick Martin who is likely to miss the whole season due to an ankle injury. Bad luck for the Texans. Duane Brown and Derek Newton have missed the who preseason with injuries and it's not clear when they will be back so the boys just ripped the Texans for not addressing the O-line or signing their own players who left in free agency this offseason. I know they will be okay. I'm not saying they will be great but Chris Clark is a vet who has added stability to the line. Greg Mancz was an All American in college and he's had just 3 games in the pros. He will get better. Kendall Lamm didn't play badly in last week's game. Again, he wasn't great but after coming to Houston as a UFA in 2015 he's got 15 games under his belt and he will get better as well. He was All Conference in the Sun Belt in his senior year at Appalachian State. Check out his college career from the Appalachian State website in the link below. Yeah, it's almost a given that if The Blitz Boys diss someone in a Houston uniform there's no doubt that the team is better than they think. As an aside check out this tweet: https://pbs.twimg.com/profile_images/633277975832604672/8Qld04bO_normal.jpg Vinnie Ronca @PFF_Vinnie Greg Mancz will be taking over for Nick Martin at C for the Texans. Mancz was PFF's highest graded C in the nation his last year at Toledo
9:38 AM - 25 Aug 2016 (https://twitter.com/PFF_Vinnie/status/768819729507110913)



http://www.appstatesports.com/ViewArticle.dbml?ATCLID=204971467

A year after Charles James II was a featured player on HBO's Hard Knocks he's been through a lot including being cut by the Texans in their final cutdowns prior to last season's opening game to being resigned by the Texans later in the year. Now it seems he's forged a place on this team mainly as a special teamer. In the link below Texans.com's John Harris profiles Mr Happy Socks.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-HappySocks-a-year-later/59f7317e-30ca-42c7-adb5-e5f2c327ac89

If teams need to bolster a weak position group don't look for anyone to pick up anyone this week when teams make their first cut downs. Teams have until Tuesday afternoon to trim their rosters from their current 90 players to 75. Those will be the guys who just aren't good enough at this point to play in the NFL. The real player rush will be after the last preseason games on Thursday. Next Saturday teams have be down to their final 53 man roster limit as they all prepare for the season opener. The weak link for the Texans is O-line but even if they do get O-line help off the cut list that player, or players, probably won't play in Week 1 so we will be seeing the Texans starting line tomorrow afternoon. I hate to keep harping on this group but besides Brock Osweiler they are the biggest unknowns on the Texans roster.

Remember 3:25 on Fox 4 or at Reliant Stadium and if it continues to rain like hell a trip over to Houston might now be a bad idea.

[eagle eye]

Wow, did Houston look good on Sunday afternoon? I give a darn what the score was at the end but it's the 24 points Brock Osweiler and the Texans put up on a good Arizona Cardinals team in about 1-3/4 quarters of play. Brock was 11-13 passing and the thing is it really could've, and should've, been 13-13. The two incompletions were drops so it's even better than it looked. He threw for 146 yards and a TD and it could have been even better than that. Will Fuller flat dropped a long pass that hit him in the hands and if he had caught that ball it's quite possible it would have gone for another TD. What was tremendously encouraging was Osweiler was right on the money with his passes. Especially the deep balls which were so good Osweiler couldn't have walked up and placed the ball in the receiver's hands any better. He spread the ball around really nice too. There were at least 5 different receivers that caught passes from Osweiler. Lamar Miller looked good in limited duty and the defense harassed Carson Palmer and the Cardinal offense. The D did allow 10 first half points but they never could get on track because the Texans intercepted Palmer twice with both ending up in points for the Texans. The defense forced 5 turnovers on the day and looked pretty good. You know you're deep when the #1 pick in the 2014 draft came in as a backup in the second half and he looked pretty good too. If this was a look at what the Texans are going to be against the Bears in Week 1 then I'm excited. Brock looks like he just may be the real deal. We have to dial back expectations a little because Osweiler only has 7 games as an NFL starter and he's got some growing pains to go through but this is really the first guy you think can really do the job and take care of business.

Another thing I want to point out is the O-line didn't do have bad. Lamar Miller looked good in what he was asked to do and he did some nice work in pass protection but it was the line that pretty much kept a clean pocket for Osweiler. The first unit allowed two sacks but one was on a jail break rush by middle linebacker Kevin Minter that Miller wasn't able to get over quick enough to pick him up but 2 sacks against that Cardinals defense isn't bad considering how Osweiler was able to stand in the pocket and find the open receivers. If you get this type of play from the O-line every week Houston will win a lot of games. They may not rush for many yards but if Osweiler is given time he is more than able to pick a defense apart.

One bit of good news this week is the return of right tackle Derek Newton. Newton has been out since the first training camp practice with a bad hamstring. Yesterday Bill O'Brien said that Newton is looking good in his rehab and could return to practice this week. O'Brien didn't know if Newton would be back in time to get into the game against Dallas on Thursday but you would think he'd be ready to go in Week 1. The Texans other tackle, Duane Brown, is recovering from quadriceps surgery in the offseason and there is talk he may have to begin the season on PUP.

There is still a chance JJ Watt will be on the field against the Bears in Week 1. Bill O'Brien won't commit to that notion but admits it is a possibility. Watt had back surgery back in late July just before training camp to repair a bulging disc in his back. Watt tried to deal with the back with rehab and treatment but he had to relent and get the surgery done before more damage was done. In his 5 year career Watt has never missed a game but it wouldn't be the end of the world if he took a couple of extra weeks to get his back completely right. The way the defense has been looking they can do more than just survive a little extra rehab time for Watt so there shouldn't be any pressure for JJ to return to the lineup.

How about that Tyler Ervin? The kid just may be the fastest guy on the Texans squad, although Will Fuller might have something to say about that, and he show some skills last Sunday. Not just in the Texans offense where he showed a little something in very limited action he showed he can be an effective kick returner as well. In two returns he gained 39 yards but on one return called back because of penalty he went over 50 yards and almost broke it for a TD. Unfortunately, that return was called back because of a penalty but you know what Ervin has in the toolbox and I can't see any way he doesn't make the team. His role will primarily be on special teams but he could really make an impact there.

[eagle eye]

Tonight's preseason finale will feature two things for sure. 1) Don't get anyone hurt and 2) don't get anyone hurt. This is a big deal because last year at this time Houston played Dallas and Tom Savage was the starting QB for whole game--well at least until he injured his shoulder in the 4th quarter that ended up ending his entire 2015 season. This year Savage will start and play a lot but he's going to be the Texans backup if the commentators for last Saturday's game against Arizona were correct. It will be Brock Osweiler followed by Tom Savage on the Texans depth chart. The only question is will the Texans keep three QBs? Is Brandon Weeden in or will he be among the final cuts on Saturday. Rumor has it that if Savage survives the Dallas game Weeden will be unemployed by Saturday night.
The team is so deep they hardly noticed JJ Watt was not in the lineup this preseason. I'm not just talking about defense here. The offense is stacked too by position players but the O-line has a lot of question marks. One good thing is right tackle Derek Newton was scheduled to return to practice this week. Trouble is I can't find anything that say he actually did. I would look for Newton in Week 1. That is the Texans give him a week or two to practice his way back into some playing shape. Kendall Lamm has done a decent job during preseason so the Texans may feel they don't have to rush Newton back into the lineup. I would expect Lamm will see some playing time tonight along with left tackle Chris Clark. I don't think either will play much because Houston needs to see the other guys work as they decide who stays and who goes. Oday Aboushi and Jeff Adams will get long looks tonight. Greg Mancz looks like he will be the starting center for Houston with Nick Martin done for the season but Tony Bergstrom and Dalton Freeman will get one final audition tonight. Xavier Su'a-Filo and Jeff Allen will the starting guards so if they play it won't be for long which gives Karim Barton and Chad Slade a full game to show they are worthy of making the cut. I can think of no other position group on the Texans that isn't set. The biggest questions will be whether Houston keeps 5 or 6 WRs. The top four are a given with DeAndre Hopkins, Jalen Strong, Will Fuller and Braxton Miller so that leaves one or two spots for Cecil Shorts, Keith Mumphrey, Wendell Williams and Quentin Bundrage to fight it out for those spots. On Tuesday Houston cut WR Josh Lenz much to my disappointment because the guy had played so well in the preseason games. I hope the Texans are able to sign him to their practice squad.
RB could be another position that will challenge the coaches in just who to cut. Most teams keep four RBs plus a fullback so the depth chart would be Lamar Miller and Alfred Blue for sure leaving 2 spots open for Jonathan Grimes, Akeem Hunt, Tyler Ervin and Kenny Hilliard to fight over. If I had to make a guess I think the other two guys would be Jonathan Grimes and Tyler Ervin. Ervin is a draft choice from this year and he's showed up big time as a kick returner. He's also done well as a runner. If Houston wanted to go strictly with speed they could cut Grimes and keep Hunt but Grimes versatility is his best asset. Jay Prosch has been and will continue to be the only fullback on the roster.

Here's all the cuts from Tuesday as Houston began prep for tonight's final preseason game.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/TRANSACTIONS-Texans-trim-roster-to-75/ecb74eb2-2444-4261-9b1a-20af2ea7e23c

The other starting tackle for the Texans, Duane Brown, is still on the active/PUP list but since it's preseason he can be activated off of that list in Week 1 if he's ready. If he's not he could find himself on the PUP list to start the season which means he would miss the first 6 six weeks of the season for sure. Brown is recovering from surgery to repair a torn quadriceps muscle in his leg. That is one of the biggest muscles in the body and you don't hear much about that being hurt bad enough to need surgery. It's already been 8 months since the surgery and there is still no definite return to practice date that's been given.

From Texans.com a preview of tonight's game and what they will be looking at. http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/First-Glance-Texans-at-Cowboys/a43c0aea-d756-40b4-ac69-0dde8e9906ab

Also from Texans.com an article on why tonight's game matters. http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/Breakfast-Why-tonights-game-matters/2ec94504-6a9e-4d0b-a21b-a95f7cccf666

[eagle eye]

The Texans scrubs are better than the Cowboys scrubs but it you look at both teams objectively you kind of knew that. The big deal about the Silver Boot Series is lame at this point because the teams don't meet but every 3 years in games that matter. The only time they play regularly is the 4th preseason game and the starters don't even play. Who wins doesn't matter at this point. The only thing that does matter is that nobody gets hurt. Houston did have one guy, LB Akeem Dent walk off with what I would guess is a concussion after a collision with Cowboys running back Darius Jackson in the 3rd quarter. He did get up and walk off the field but not after several minutes lying on the ground with training staff attending him. There were no ACL tears, no messed up shoulders like Tom Savage had in last year's game with Dallas and no pulled hammies or anything broken on either team in the game and that is a good thing. The 27-17 final score is meaningless in the grand scheme of things and the score would have been closer if Houston had not gone for a bunch of 4th downs in the red zone. They were stopped twice on 4th down but they also scored on 2 fourth down plays as well. In fact two of the 3 offensive TDs Houston scored were on 4th down plays. Normally the Texans, or any other team for that matter, would have kicked a field goal but it's the last preseason game and it really doesn't matter what the outcome of the game is anyway so, what the hell, go for it.
The most interesting thing was how Bill O'Brien used his two backup QBs. He alternated series with them and they both played about 1/2 the game's offensive snaps. This would lead you believe there is still some question in Bill O'Brien's mind who will be the Texans main backup to Brock Osweiler. My guess would be Savage because he's younger and because by comparison Savage was the better of the two QBs last night. Mainly because Weeden threw a pick six on an out route in the 4th quarter. It was a bad read on Weeden's part and rookie CB Anthony Brown of the Cowboys was able to jump the route and take it to the house. Weeden also threw a TD in the game and when he did he gave a long look at the Cowboys bench almost as if he was saying, "You guys gave up on me last year and benched my ass for Matt freaking Cassel. To take that and suck on it." The ironic thing is if the Texans only keep two QB's and Weeden is the odd man out his next stop just could be in Dallas backing up Dak Prescott. It's funny how life works sometimes.
Kenny Hilliard got most of the reps at RB last night finishing with 29 carries for 89 yards. The Cowboys run defense was pretty tough last night but Houston never backed off on pounding the rock. Akeem Hunt also got some work finishing with 12 carries for 44 yards and a TD. He showed some toughness in his running and he made O'Brien's decision on who to keep and who to cut a tough one. Because Hilliard and Hunt were the only backs to get any carries you would thing that the guy who did the best will make the cut. Hilliard got by far the most carries while Hunt showed more explosion and he scored a TD. It's an unenviable task for O'Brien but it's also a good thing that you have so much depth you are hard pressed to make a cut.
The wide receivers are in the same boat. They have four guys that will make the team without a doubt and the guys last night were fighting for one, possibly two spots. Keith Mumphery had the biggest night with 3 catches for 83 yards and a TD. Cecil Shorts had 4 grabs for 27 yards but there were 10 Texans who caught passes last night. It's worth saying again, it's nice to be so deep in talent that you have to cut good players. The trick is keeping the right guys when you make those hard choices. The preseason officially ends when the final cuts are announced on Saturday afternoon. It's nine days until the 12 noon start to the 2016 season when Houston kicks off their campaign with the Chicago Bears. It's going to be a long 9 days.

[eagle eye]

The Texans are down to their final 53 man roster. Some familiar names are on the cut list like Cecil Shorts III, Akeem Hunt, Kenny Hilliard, Terrence Mitchell and Wendall Williams. The Texans also activated JJ Watt and Duane Brown off the NFI list and on to the Texans active roster. In the link below is a list of all player moves the Texans have made today to reach that final 53.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/TRANSACTIONS-Texans-down-to-53-man-roster/134830f6-5c30-4d46-9d18-8cbd723fb17f

A bit of good news, RT Derek Newton, who returned to practice last week, is likely going to start on opening day. Because Newton missed virtually all of training camp due to injury will likely be on a snap count despite the fact he will get a full week of practice leading up to the game. It's just a smart way to protect a player who hasn't been practicing.

JJ Watt has been activated but it is not really known how much or even if he will be playing in Week 1. I suspect he will if it's at all possible but he will also be on a snap count. With the depth on the Texans front seven there is no reason to rush Watt back before he is completely healthy.

Bill O'Brien had a press conference today after final cuts had been announced and he talked about 4 areas that the team needs to get better at as they head in earnest for the regular season. He listed the areas but he didn't say what the plan was.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/OBrien-lists-four-areas-for-improvement-by-Texans/942160fa-095b-491c-b66a-235cc8e11c81

[eagle eye]

The Texans have filled out their practice squad. Here's a link to the Texans.com article listing the players who are now in the Texans fold. The Texans have only signed 8 players leaving two open spots in case someone interesting becomes available. Also, the Texans activated JJ Watt to the 53 after he passed his physical and it's quite possible he will play in Week 1. He's been running and working out but he's not in game shape at all so if the Texans are smart he will be on a snap count.

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/article-2/TRANSACTIONS-Texans-sign-8-to-practice-squad/2c9ed829-80a9-4b65-b91b-d223fcf926a8

That is the end of preseason. The roster is set and the practice squad is nearly full. As practice squads go they are always in flux anyway but what it all means is the preseason is over. Teams all across the NFL, including the Texans, will begin preparation for Week 1 of the 2016 season today. In truth staffs have already been preparing but the focus now is on games that count. In the Texans case it is the Chicago Bears who will be coming into NRG Stadium for a 12 o'clock game this Sunday. This Sunday is sort of a special day because it is the 15th anniversary of THE 9-11. It's a sobering thought and I'm sure there will be a lot of memories of that terrible day that will be floating around. A bad memory remembered as it should and the freedom we still enjoy despite the best efforts of outside forces. So we celebrate another NFL season as sort we thumb our noses at the people who would take that freedom away from us.

This thread is complete for my part. Thank you to all who followed and posted. See you in the regular season.