Day two of training camp in the books. And uh if I could sum up how I feel about the offense right now, it’s mostly that uh I I have a notable absence of a uh total sense of despair. Does that make sense about the offense? The offense is they’re doing some good things. They had some rough moments today and we’ll get to that.
But I want to do what I did yesterday and go through some of just the stuff that I filmed today and talk about some of the players. Uh we’ll just start off with this. This is This is Will Anderson doing a pass rush drill versus dummies. So like it’s it’s nothing. If this was a rookie, I wouldn’t even put it on here, but just an appreciation of the way this guy works and how he moves.
Just >> just the humiliating these poor pass rush dummies. The one thing that I think that Will’s been working on is continuing to um well, you know what, he got good at this last year, taking those huge steps and he’s doing that little hop that the guys do these days, but we’ll get to some more of those later when we talk about Kaden McDonald. Um just to do the establishing shot, this was as I arrived to camp. I parked next to a a steamroller and uh that’s that’s how I felt after watching Demo Ryan speech to the team yesterday. And I also noted that I thought that Trent Brown looks slimmer.
I didn’t say he was slim as a human being. He looks slimmer than Trent Brown did last year. And you got to remember he was coming off of that torn patellar tendon. He’s a large large human being and he always will be. Uh but that’s been not that that’s been good to see.
I think some of the body transformations of some of these guys. British Brooks is a little bit sleeker and it’s not like British Brooks was fat by any stretch of the imagination. There’s some good stuff out there. Uh if I’m going to I’m going to bring up Cody Stouts from his daily rundown that he does um of the over at Houston Football which is a very good site. It’s worth the subscription.
But he said about Straoud overall Straoud had a good day. He ripped the pass to Xavier Hutchinson with Jaylen Petri in coverage. It was placed so only Hutchinson could get it. Shout whipped his head around to find David Montgomery out of the back field. The veteran running back had shaken loose from his defender.
There was a low but accurate pass to Foster Maro. It wasn’t wasn’t an easy play and Maro didn’t haul it in. Uh but it wasn’t a dangerous pass like Wednesday’s interception. There was a miscommunication with Nico Collins, but that was the worst of it from Straoud. Uh yeah, the miscommunication with Nico Collins uh deep down the sideline and Nico Collins being covered by Derek Stingley and uh the there’s just a miscommunication where Straoud placed it back shoulder on the sideline.
Nico was looking for it um to go over the top, but it was just a miscommunication. I thought for where Straoud wanted to put it, it looked like a really really good pass. And this is the thing that I am very very hungry for is just any kind of deep shots against this stellar defense. It’d be really cool. But all in all, it was a good day.
The only thing from the sevens that I could film with Straoud was this one. Oh my god, that’s loud. That this one in the red zone. Let me turn the volume down on that a little bit. Uh and this wasn’t this was nothing remarkable, but it does there’s been a theme of passing to the running backs.
This first one to Woody Marks, no big deal. You know, likely would have been at at most a minimal gain. The next one, watch David Montgomery in the back field here. He’s going to shake toa pretty good. And you know, CJ gets rid of it.
Has the easy open. I don’t know. Could he have thrown to Maro? I don’t care. I want him to take the easy money.
I uh I I saw that some people reported this as a touchdown. I would say I don’t agree that it was a touchdown, but it was a really nice route by David Montgomery. And they’ve talked about getting him, you know, more involved or utilizing his ability as a receiver maybe more than he did the last couple years when he was playing alongside Jir Gibbs, but he stepped out of bounds there andor would have been tackled. And then the last play, this was just Nico Collins over the middle. This would have been interesting in a game because if you look at what the Texans posted of this very same play, tight window throw, but there’s a psychotic dude who wears a guardian cap right the uh Come on, Seth.
Here we go. If you watch Jaylen Petri closing in right there, um I don’t know if he I don’t know if he could have avoided that. Nico has a way. Boy, I don’t see that’s a matchup that I have no interest in seeing. Nico has a way of taking what would be a decleing hit over the middle and inflicting the punishment on the defensive backs.
So, luckily we don’t have to worry about that. Straoud had a couple of really nice throws to Jaden Higgins. One was a just beautiful um sideline totapper. Just that that nice touch that CJ has on those out routes at times to guys. and Higgins.
Higgins have been very active the last couple days. Brevin Jordan has been very active. Uh today, I want to say he had at least three receptions. He also had one down the seam that was a high ball by Mills and Brevin Jordan couldn’t bring it in. It was a nice route and he was open.
Um without being able to watch the replay, I don’t know if it was an extremely catchable ball or if it was more on Mills that it was a high ball, but Brevin Jordan’s been very active. It’s going to be it’s going to be interesting with the tight ends and you know Foster Maro has been pretty active himself almost as Cody had mentioned earlier almost had a really nice catch. I know ifs and buts and candy and nuts and all that. Uh and Marlon Klein has showed up a couple times as a receiver. So there’s Marlon Klein’s going to make the team.
He’s a second round pick. You got to be a real jackass to not make the team as a second round pick. Uh Foster Maro, I’d be really surprised if he doesn’t make the team. So he’s there. Dalton Schultz obviously going to be on the squad.
And then when it comes to Cade Stove and Brevin Jordan, Brevin Jordan has really flashed these last couple days. So, no pads first couple days of camp, but he is what we already knew he was. As long as he’s healthy, he provides something in that tight end room that you don’t have from any of those other guys. And, you know, keeping four tight ends is a lot. Uh, I think they could justify it with Brevin partly because, hey, you know, let’s just call him a really big slot receiver and we’ll figure out the rest later.
I think the Texans will probably keep four tight ends this year. Uh, and it’s really just a question of exactly what body types, what skill sets they want. You Cade Stove, if he really progresses as a blocker, it’s going to be a much tougher decision to make. But that’s one to watch. And that that might come down to performance in preseason games.
You know, usually that matters more for rookies and younger guys, but it’s it’s just it’s super competitive. I was able to they let us go down and watch the defensive and offensive line work. So, I was able to see Kaden McDonald up close and personal more so than I had in the last couple days. So, just some uh nothing nothing exciting here other than Kaden McDonald working on what he’s been working on. He’s the guy in the middle right there.
Um four-point stance. >> They shift Oh, false start or excuse me, encroachment. Encroachment. Um, >> and he’s been working really hard on shooting his hands and he does a good job there. Shooting your hands versus air is tough and it always looks awkward.
My only like my criticism here would be that he fires straight up in the air, but like this it’s not going to look natural when you’re working on it as much as he is. You can see the explosiveness. Oh, and then I want to show this one. This is Logan Hall. Uh, who’s right there?
He’s very very long and he looks a lot like a defensive end. I mean, he’s a lanky defensive tackle. I think he gets a little encroachment, too. They’re very There’s just too much uh pre-workout drink today for these guys. And then here we have Kade McDonald is I think the closest one to us there on this drill where they’re hitting the sled and disengaging real quickly.
Oh no, that was Ali Gay. Al Gay really long. That is a tall dude. You LSU Gators remember you. Okay, so here’s Kade McDonald closest to us.
Delivers the blow, gets off, and then he’s gonna get a little bit of coaching from Matt Burke. And I’m guessing what they’re coaching them on here is with rookie defensive linemen, it’s always about like getting them to understand how active they have to be with their hands. And McDonald does a good job striking here, but then he kind of just falls off and, you know, doesn’t use his arms at all and disengaging. So Matt Burke comes up and talks to him. There’s Matt Burke.
Matt Burke slimmed down. Said he quit. He told me told me what he did. Um, and then yeah, right there. I think probably talking about coming off flat and not popping up as much.
See the little hand motion that he gives there. gives him a pat here at the end. >> Trust your hips. >> Um, I like what I’ve seen of Kade McDonald so far. It’s Look, it’s two days of camp.
The most encouraging thing is that he’s a bigger guy who Will Anderson said yesterday he’s taken him under his wing and I’ve seen him out there early in practice. Uh, I’ve seen him asking for extra reps during practice. the big guys, you got to see how they sustain through the first couple weeks of camp when the fatigue starts to set in and the dehydration and whatnot. Um, but like everything I’ve seen from him out there is that like this kid, this kid understands the amount of work that it takes and he’s working on all the right things. As far as just him playing football, my one concern about him in from college was at times it looked like when either on combo blocks or when he was engaged with an offensive lineman and somebody else hit him from the side, he didn’t always have he didn’t have perfect awareness all the time.
Nobody has perfect awareness, but there were some bad reps in that. Um, I haven’t seen that being an issue, but it’s not we don’t have pads right now. They were working on those types of blocks today and I liked what I saw from them. So, I’m I’m just really excited to see Kade McDonald when the pads come on. Pass rush drills.
Uh I think yeah, I mean like Will Anderson, >> but just to give a reminder of who some of these guys are. >> We got Naquin Jones, the big fella. >> The wide body. We’ve got >> Oh, there’s there’s our guy. There’s our guy Katie.
>> Grunting is good. You actually physiologically you have more strength when you grunt. >> Again, working with the hands, you see. >> Yes. >> Oh, Junior Tofuna.
There’s a lot of guys. Junior Tuna. So, there’s Kaden. Uh, Junior Tofuna >> directing to the point. >> Keonte Hamilton.
working those hands. >> We’ve got Sol. Okay, Solomon Bird. I’m glad I kept this one in here. Solomon Bird has shown up a couple of times.
He had a TFL today that was really nice. And once we put the pads on and I start watching the pass rush more, I just know I’ve seen him in the back field a good amount. Here’s Logan Hall. Logan Hall. Um, you know, when Demo talked about him the first time he was asked about him, he said that Logan Hall will play inside and or at least start off inside.
He is a classic guy that could play defensive tackle on pass rush downs and but defensive end on first and second down. And I mean, if what with what he was doing in Tampa, you know, he was a three four defensive end basically. So that, you know, five technique defensive end, good old uh our our uh Togei here. Um so I’m I’m really intrigued by Logan Hall and what they might be able to do with him and especially game plan by game plan. Here’s Ali Gay at the very end.
>> So in talking about younger guys or developmental guys, remember what I was saying about the active hands. that >> coaching here was that he just kind of left his hand uh >> left his hand hanging. You just got to keep your hands moving all the time. It’s one of the coolest it’s one of the coolest little tips for defensive linemen. It’s like, “Hey man, um just keep just keep going with your hands.
You’re just like you’re you never you’re never clean until you stop trying to pummel the guy every single chance you have to pummel the guy. It’s it’s always landing that extra punch.” The one last bit I think I oh I labeled this O line milling about pre-practice. So uh just to jog my memory on a few of these guys. So Arante Ersi there to your right.
Uh you got Ed Ingram and then you’ve got the the more slender Trent Brown there to the left number 77. Evan Brown uh sidles up to the side there. And I think the biggest thing about Arante Ursery is I’ve seen good things out of him, but I’ve also seen Will Anderson uh do do some really nasty things for him. Sabowitz, I haven’t noticed yet. I don’t know if anybody’s written uh him up or anything, but I he’s come he’s become a little bit of a cult favorite.
Illinois State guy was incredibly productive in college. Cade Stove number eight, which I’m still getting used to. He went and done done and gone changed his number. You’ve got uh Blake Fischer right there. If you see Blake Fischer next to Trent Brown, he doesn’t look that he’s not dwarfed by Trent Brown.
Dalton Schultz, uh Tommy Togei, Evan Hall, uh there’s Hall in the background there. This is all incredibly electric. Okay, so David Montgomery, that’s what I Okay, now that David Montgomery is there, let’s talk about the running backs. Uh two things. One is that I think there has been much emphasis on getting the ball to the running backs either on uh designed plays or CJ has been hitting them very quickly when early in the down and you know going back to last year that was a point of emphasis for me personally was if you’re running this offense and remember how lethal Tom Brady was with various running backs who were otherwise nondescript in their career but Tom Brady understood that if you don’t like the coverage and you don’t think it’s the a great situation, get it.
Don’t wait. Get it to the running back now so they can do some damage before the linebackers adjust before the safeties adjust while they’re still getting back into their drops. Hit the running back if it’s a if it’s first down especially and take those take those yards. They have a couple guys now in Woody Marks and in David Montgomery that can actually do something with it as well. and Jar Jordan.
I think I talked about Jaw Jordan yesterday. I thought he was impressive again today. The Texans have been working some outside zone. It’s going to be interesting when the pads come on because this defense especially, this defense is they’re brutal versus outside zone because they set the edge so hard. I mean, the entire construction of this defense is you’re playing a wide nine.
You set the edge and you force everything back to the inside. So, if they can have some success running zone, uh, outside zone versus this Texans defense, it’ll be really impressive. But Jaward Jordan, if you compare him to say, remember when Damen was having a hard time with the zone running and, you know, different scheme, I know, two years ago, but there’s still, everybody runs zone. Um, Jawir is just very good to plant that foot in the ground and cut it back. And with or without pads, I think he’s had some moments in the last couple days where you can see that he has the vision and he has the feel for it.
And he’s a small guy. It’s going to be tough to ever argue that he should be out there getting, you know, 15 20 snaps per game. But I think in specific situations and game plans, he can be he can be very valuable this year. He’s been intriguing for a couple years now. Uh the other thing I was encouraged by with him is just watching the special teams periods the last couple days.
He’s working his butt off. Not just as a not as a not just as a returner, but when they’re doing, you know, the just punt drills and things like that. Uh he’s actually, not that I ever thought he was lazy before or anything, but that stood out to me. Maybe because I’m watching a little bit more closely. Jared Wayne.
What did I write about Jared Wayne? Oh, no. Justin Watson. Justin Watson’s shown up a good amount. Rutled.
I I know a lot of people have heard the story about Rutled causing a pile a couple of days ago and Aziz Alshshire still remains very impressed with Rutledig’s physicality. This is going to be fun to watch when the pads come on. I think that there’s there’s a uh there’s definitely a different mindset on that offensive line in that offensive line meeting room and just watching Cole Papovic today again. Yeah, I was this is the first time I got to watch him closely this training camp. I mean, he’s just he’s an old school O line coach.
Uh if if he could he probably I I’m guessing if he didn’t at some point in his life have a really bad dipping habit or just flat out chewing tobacco, I’d be surprised because he’s that type of an old O line coach. He’s not out there. He doesn’t ever look like he’s packing a huge dip right now, but he kind of should to fit the stereotype because he is a grumpy bastard, but in all the right ways, he he gets after it. Yeah. use Mark’s ability to catch uh the ball and there I think using Woody Marks and David Montgomery uh you know at times maybe having him in pony back fields with both running backs out there.
Let’s see. Jir runs hard, but I worry about his size in the long run. Yeah, that’s where I think situationally is how you got to think about him right now. Okay, Derek Bernett is a low floor, low ceiling kind of guy. I would rather have a higher potential upside guy with Clowney.
Uh that you know it’s interesting I guess he like look potential upside is kind of dicey when you’re talking about a guy who’s been in the league for 12 or 13 years. Clown is a really good football player. Like there is no it like I you know we could talk about upside or interpret it differently. I don’t think about Clowney as a guy that’s got upside. I think about him he’s he’s a really good football player.
Was he worth his draft status? He never became that guy. He never became a superstar cornerstone of the franchise, but he is consistently productive everywhere he goes. He plays with a big element of physicality. He he makes plays against the run.
There are a lot of things about Clowney that make a lot of sense for this style of play. And the, you know, as an older guy and as a guy that has never been, for whatever issues Bill O’Brien had with him or anything, it’s not like Clowney is a bad dude that I don’t know. I don’t know if the practice habits or the maturity or anything when he was younger were an issue with Bill O’Brien. I don’t know. But it’s not like Clowny was ever a guy that people had questions about.
Is he gonna get along with his teammates? I know there’s a little bit of drama up there in Cleveland a couple years ago. But by and large, like I I would love to have Clowney around. I think I think right now it’s probably a matter of for those you missed it, there’s reports that the Texans are interested in Clowny. I think they would definitely want to, you know, have a talk with him and see where he’s at.
But he would he would fit right in. Let’s see. When do the pads come out? They come on Monday. Uh Cacerio said that yesterday.
Cacerio said something along the lines of training camp really doesn’t start until Monday. You know, you know, Cacerio kind of like tries to crap on things sometimes. He’s like, I don’t know. Doesn’t really start until Monday. Stop it, Nick.
That’s all we have. Uh some creativity would be awesome. I know they were limited last year having to use Blake Fischer as a tight end. Okay. Now, be careful.
And I and I talked about this yesterday, but you know, the teams don’t want you divulging too much of what they’re doing. One of the big things last year that teams like the 49ers and the Rams did really well was not just using multiple tight ends, but then also using them using the pre- snap motion of your tight ends uh and doing it with real urgency and speed to change the strength of the offense and going like just go in motion quickly, get the play off, screw up the defense. And that’s where when we’ve been watching the offense operate pre- snap when they’re using a lot of motion and sending multiple guys in motion on the same play. Um that’s what I’ve been impressed by is that they’re doing a lot of that stuff pretty well. There was one bad period today.
It wasn’t just for the first team. It was a it was a it was a the red zone team one of the red zone team periods. Uh, it was a bad sequence. And I’ll bring it up not to harp on it or anything, but just to say, look, this is, you know, Demo brought it up in the press conference. He said he thought they took a step back in terms of the pre- snap operation and some of it being clean.
There was one sequence with just the ones where Keen Rutidge was at center, CJ was under center. There was a bad exchange. So, there was a fumble at the snap. I think Denil picked it up and ran like 15 yards for probably what probably I don’t think any of the offensive linemen were going to catch Denil on that play. Uh then there was a a run to David Montgomery that went nowhere.
Then there was a pre- snap penalty after that. Uh short pass to Hutchinson. Then uh CJ had it was a good throw but um I almost called him Fedorowitz again. Foster Maro, number 87. Used to be Fedorowitz, the number 87.
Before him, it was Mark Bruner. Uh, and then Kate Stover, but right now it’s Foster Maro. Almost had a diving catch, but it was an incompletion. And, uh, then there was that deep ball miscommunication between CJ and Nico, which I actually choose to be encouraged by because Nico was in a position to make the catch. He was being covered by Derek Stingley.
It’s not like he had dusted by him or anything. And they just, they read it differently. CJ tried to throw to the sideline. Um, and it was a good pass. I think I was on the opposite sideline, but it looked like for where CJ wanted it to go.
Um, it it landed right there, but Nico was going over the top with it. So, that part of it, the the ability to actually trade blows with the defense. It it feels real this year. I think the passing offense is already just it’s less disjointed. So, it’s more jointed.
It’s more jointed than it was last year at this time. Really, really hard to read too much into any of the positives or negatives until the pads come on. Um, you know, I can read into the negatives about that pre- snap on that one sequence of downs, but it’s kind of conspicuous in that that’s the only bad series that I can point to so far. So, through multiple team periods and multiple seven on sevens, the offense looks way less dysfunctional. They look way more functional.
We just got to see it with pads. Defense is fine. I wish I had something to report about the defense other than that they look really good. I guess maybe maybe if the offense continues to look good, we could start to ring our hands over the fact that the defense is allowing this offense to do some things against them. But uh that’s that’s how I am.
Let’s see. Clowny lives here and apparently wants to stay here. He’d be great depth addition for him uh for us if we can get him. Just depends on the money. Yeah, I think at this point it’s all it’s all about the money.
It would be fun, man. Clowny’s fun. Even though Brian couldn’t help but laugh at at Clowney every now and then. Remember when he called him Dr. Clowny?
I should we should do like the the top 10 clowny moments. My favorite clowny moment. My own personal clowny moment was this. We were doing the pregame show and Jadevian Clowney that day was questionable with an injury. You guys will remember better than I which game this is, but it was the one where remember I think Michelle Toya reported that when Clowney found out he was inactive that he stormed out of the building and uh and then everybody ran with it.
Everybody’s wondering what’s going on. What’s going on? I’m on the pregame show and uh I was pleading with Clowny, please come back. Uh if you’re if you’re driving away from the stadium now, what’s going on? I we finished the pregame show.
I walked in and I saw a clowny and I said, “Hey, hey, man. Uh, what’s going on?” And he’s like, he said, “I was going out to the parking lot to give tickets or parking passes.” I can’t remember what it was. This is uh me talking now.
Clowny remembered at that point. Uh, but uh like give something to his family. Like either the tickets or the parking pass. It really wasn’t a big deal at all. He looked very confused.
He’s like, “I don’t I don’t know what’s going on. I don’t know why people are upset.” And it was one of the rare times I got to report news because I uh I got to say that my source I didn’t have an anonymous source. My source was Clowny. So that’s my favorite clowny story story that involved me.
Uh Texans are 35 and a half million in debt for 2020. I’ve never heard it framed that way. Are you They’re over the calf. the um this isn’t we’re not on a campaign here. I can’t believe Cacerio’s run up the debt on this team.
Um there I know what you’re saying though. Yeah, they look I used to brag about how like look the Texans are spending a lot of money, but look at 2027 and 2028. They’re just fine. Um no, they’re getting up there to the point where now in future years they are they have a lot of money committed. Um, it’s still not at the point where I’m overly concerned about it.
At some point in the future, because they have so many good young players, yes, they’re going to have to make some tough decisions and at some point there will be somebody they can’t pay or somebody that they have to let go, but they still have a good chunk of flexibility and how they can handle all this stuff. And remember guys, like the guys that they extended this year, you know, Will Anderson’s money won’t kick in for another couple years. It’s a good problem to have when you’ve got really good young players and you can lock them in and give them deals that will be bargains as long as they keep playing. And remember, the cap’s going to keep expanding likely for the next few years. There’s a lot of extra revenue coming in now.
It’s because of things like the the gambling and whatnot. So, I’m not overly concerned about it at this point. Um, but yeah, they are they’re not in a position where they can spend willy-nilly and just say money is no object whatsoever. Uh, but I think with Clowny, you know, it’s going to it’s going to be it would be something like what it’s been with Clowny for his entire career really since he left Seattle is just the last uh he’s he’s signing year-by-year deals. I also think that um I also think that debt uh Spotre says minus 43 now.
Ravens at 86 million over the cap. Yeah. And they’ve got to give they got to pay Lamar Jackson here at some point. Need some cash now. Yeah.
Okay. Uh Seth, can I ask how contracts work if players get hurt? Like with Hansen, does he get his full contract or is it pro-rated? Loved you as a player for this team. Thank you.
Ring of Honor worthy. Nah, thank you. I appreciate it. But that’s going a little bit far. Only if they they’re going to get in trouble with their debt and I’m gonna I’m gonna pay it off for them and then I’ll get in the Ring of Honor.
Uh I think that Okay, so to answer your question, uh look, yeah, when guys get injured, unless they’ve got some kind of there used to be a thing called a split contract that I think they got rid of. So if you were a lower tier guy and you got injured, they might only pay you half your salary. I believe I I’m not certain, but I believe they got rid of even that though. So usually what’ll happen is if you get injured in the season, you’re going to make the remainder of your salary. any of the guaranteed money unless there’s conditions attached to it or whatever.
Um you’re still going to make, you know, you get to keep your signing bonus, all of that. The so your salary is guaranteed for the rest of the year if you go on full season IR. Um, sometimes what’ll happen is like at the end of training camp too, let’s say a guy who is probably going to get cut anyway ends up, and this is the if you’re like a rookie that’s not even actually going to make it in the NFL, one of the best things that can happen to you is to have a really bad injury in the last preseason game because then you might get you might get paid for IR for that whole season because they can’t just cut guys because they’re injured um in in that manner. So, what’ll happen sometimes though is if somebody sprains their ankle real badly, then there’ll be a negotiation. It might go to arbitration where they say, “All right, well, you probably would have missed six weeks, so we’ll give you six weeks salary.
Um, we’re going to cut you now, but you get an injury designation.” There’s a bunch of different ways that it can handle, but largely, if you have a season ending injury, you’re going to you’re going to make your salary for the rest of the for the rest of that season. Let’s see. Great to hear about the Straoud Higgins connection. Yeah.
Um and then the tight ends too. I think the Brevin Jordan, Brevin Jordan today, it felt like he caught a pass from each of the three quarterbacks. I might just be conf conflating the last couple days together. Um but Brevin Jordan’s been really active out there in multiple different scenarios. I think the tight ends in general have been getting involved.
I’ve been pleased with Marlon Klein. Marlon Klein almost made a really nice catch yesterday. I know. Almost. almost.
Um, but I like what I’ve seen from him so far. All right. Okay. Uh, I better get going. Oh, yeah.
I do have to get going. Thanks. Uh, thanks everybody. Like, subscribe, etc.
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