CJ Needs Weapons

Coaches that have a pedigree of developing guys and recognizing talent is as important as anything. Mahomes also getting to sit for a year was invaluable apprentenship training (Favre, Love, Young had it too).

The only NFL QB that I know of that survived an awful offensive line situation early on (and bounced back to have a HOF career) is Aikman… and he ended up having one of the best o-lines and skill player combinations of all time. Those early years were brutal though and he got hit hard.

 

When a qb overthinks the straightforward but can still make accurate throws via instinct, it’s all you need to know about how those traits have come about.

I think you’ve fully embellished the original take.

 

I like the heavy spread.

 

No one said this. He is not dealing with mediocre issues - he's dealing with legitimate, potentially season-altering issues. Good QBs are surrounded by elements that help them reach their potential; there is no QB that drags bad teams to success. Other than Nico Collins, the Texans have not provided enough help for Stroud - two first-time OCs; an unfathomable approach to building the OL; zero urgency to upgrade skill positions.

A few things... Stroud did not have the capacity to check at the LOS in Slowick's offense; this is not news; it was covered extensively in the offseason. And how in the world would you know how good/bad he is at it? This is something that would almost certainly only be known to those in the building. We do not calls; we do not know checks; we do not know if he was right/wrong. Please stop creating your own issues.

And this is the second time you've mentioned the two-minute drill, which is an oddly-specific complaint as QBs are rarely thrust into two-minute drills. And the Texans issues this year have almost universally been coaching issues as Ryans and Caley have been abysmal with time management in those circumstances.

WADR, your entire anti-Stroud campaign boils down to willful ignorance, non-existent problems you've conjured in your own mind; and turning over a lot of random, obscure rocks to find areas where he looks deficient because, generally, there simply aren't that many holes in the fundamentals elements of his position: he has a good arm; he doesn't turn the ball over much; he has enough athleticism; and... he wins.

 

You cannot name a successful QB who doesn't have ample weapons at his disposal, either on the sidelines or the field of play.

I think the NFL is slowly starting to pass Andy Reid by (his complete and utter disdain for the run is KILLING KC) - but in Mahomes' prime, Reid was at the forefront of the passing revolution and they lined up a Hall of Fame TE and a nearly uncoverable Tyreek Hill. Now that Reid seems old; Kelce is old, and the Chiefs have zero skills players that scare anybody (especially at RB), we're seeing a still-prime Mahomes struggle.

Fans have this completely ignorant idea that great QBs elevate the team around them... Yeah; that doesn't happen. Ever.

 

To long to respond too.

I'll leave you with this since no minds are going to be charged. Like the guys at 97.5 said, by year 3 CJ should be a lot longer ahead of where he is when it comes to the basics of NFL QB play regardless of systems.

 

He should…. But they shouldn’t have also compounded an inexperienced play caller (who was fired for said inexperience)… and hired another one who has shown more than enough “learning curve” issues throughout this season… along with making the O-line a makeshift/rotational science project.

And yet despite that all, they’re on the cusp of 3 playoff appearances in 3 years and “should” be in position to win another first round game. (Which Stroud is a big part of all of this)

 

How many OC's are they going to have to go through in hope that CJ finally gets it?

The OL has improved to mid tier, but the IOL still has issues with getting stud DT's like Williams/Simmons/Jones blocked. This needs to be upgraded this off-season. Also Brown at RT has really helped in the run game. The trade off is he's no longer good at pass pro because he cant move his feet like he used to be able too. He needs and is getting help. He's an upgrade over Howard at RT IMHO. This is a good trade off IMHO.

 

Well, nobody expected then to replace one that went from possible HC candidate to fired in just one season due to inexperience.... with basically the EXACT SAME SITUATION. (maybe even worse as at least Slowick's schemes were effective in year one).

How about ONE that actually has not only done this before, but had success doing it (even more so if they've had success developing a QB... or taking one with amazing raw skills and molding them into a consistent machine?)

But the Texans do make the impossible possible sometimes.

They've gone from expansion-level bad to mediocre. We're still seeing plenty of stupid penalties. We're still seeing plenty of missed assignments. We're still going to be limited as an offense overall (no matter who the QB is) if this fundamental aspect of the offense doesn't get shored up/improved.

Stroud running for his life and making plays was the most effective offense this past Sunday.

 

You'll hire another OC and still have the same issues. There were plays there to be made that didn't get made. Same thing will happen with the next OC too. Best we can hope for is next offense is for Ryans/Caserio to draft a couple of OL and sign one in FA as well as drafting a TE that can block. I hope the RB situation gets fixed in FA and a later rd pick.

Agreed, getting the offense lined up right isn't on the OC.

 

Be specific?

They also had more line up/proceidural penalties in the 3 Mills starts so at least that’s gotten better with time and the OC settling on a more consistent personnel package up front… but Caley fully has admitted plain ignorance/experimentation when trying to explain this late season showcase of a TE tush push that has failed (or been penalized) more than it worked.

You can’t get experience till you get experience, but the Texans seem to think OTJ training is perfectly acceptable for a team that has every piece to be a contender.

 

CJ isn't failing the OC; the OC - more, the Texans' organization - is failing CJ.

They fired an offensive coordinator because defenses were exploiting his inexperience, and they responded by hiring another inexperienced offensive coordinator. They did this *exact* same thing in 2009 when Kubiak hired B2B first-time defensive coordinators and it derailed years of prime Schaub/Foster/Johnson. And as soon as they hired an experienced (good) defensive coordinator, it turned the team around overnight.

What's truly mind-boggling about this is that Ryans was on those teams! He watched all of this unfold and has, for some unfathomable reason, repeated the exact same mistakes.

I'm not ready to jettison Caley; he is well-regarded and you can see his scheme taking shape. And he's gotten better as the year has gone on. So he may ultimately be the answer. But if they fire Caley (which I don't think they will), the answer to your question is hopefully one more because they'll stop shooting themselves in the foot and hire an OC with prior experience and success.

 

Agreed. Every game for the rest of the season (and hopefully playoffs) will be a referendum of Caley/the offense and the ability to continue to improve.

Much like everybody acknowledged with Slowick last year… he will eventually/likely get there. He’s just got to learn from the mistakes/issues/problems that have plagued this team thus far and see what they can do to rebound/recover/adjust.

The worst thing for Slowick/Stoud was having so much success that first year and not anticipating how the league dissects/gameplans and scrutinizes every off-season in order to gain that edge. Expererience would have served well there, as I’m sure Demeco also recognizes the same tedencies that can happen to elite defenses year after year and what they have to do to counter.

While I’m optimistic the current core will figure it out (eventually), and add much needed OL re-inforcements via draft or FA this off-season, I can also see a scenario where if they get embarrassed in a key game (playoffs) and the O-line is still making the ridiculous penalties, or he continues to seem over his head when the defense throws a curveball, or he still fails to grasp basic fundamental OC tendencies… (all while the defense continues to keep them in games)… they really can’t afford to waste any more years.

 

The last sentence is why you dont want to be changing out coordinators every yr, or CJ in particular will keep having issues. This is the offense CJ wanted, he's got what he wanted and after this late in the year he should be doing the basic things in the offense like getting people lined up correct;y, calling protections, running the 2 min drill better than he's been doing.

 

Maybe Ryans disagrees with you and doesn't think Caley's the problem. Kinda seems that way after listening to Ryans press conferences. Of course we cant have an honest conversation when it comes to CJ's play because you cant even admit he's not playing up to the standards he set as a rookie, or that he's not as accurate as he was as a rookie.

 

I wish I could like this post twice.

 

I just hope that CJ starts playing well enough to where his fans don't have to keep making excuses for him.

 

Your expectation is that DeMeco would give an honest assessment of his players and coaches in-season during a press conference? I mean, he stuck by, and defended, Slowick for weeks last year before firing him. But, sure... his press conferences absolutely confirm DeMeco does not think Caley is the problem.

You know what's funny about this statement?.... I haven't offered much of an opinion of Stroud. And that's rooted almost exclusively in my belief that it's nearly impossible to really have an informed opinion.

Maybe these past two seasons are 100% on him, and every other part we know is broken really isn't that a big a factor. But when you can pinpoint legitimate obstacles in his way, it makes it REALLY HARD to evaluate him. And that's mostly been my perspective throughout these discussions.

Until the Texans fix what's broken around him, I fear Stroud is going to be what we see: a QB with flashes and glimpses who can't overcome an organization that has failed to surround him with the basic essentials a young, developing QB requires.

I will scream this into the heavens forever and ever until all of us can agree that this is a terrible foundation for your burgeoning franchise QB:

- Caserio traded, cut or benched 3/5 of their opening day OL because they acted with zero urgency to make it better during the offseason when everyone with an IQ over... let's go with 8 - knew it was a festering issue that needed to be addressed. Hell, I know most of us are on board with the Tunsil trade - but let's not hand-wave the fact they took a *bad* offensive line, and traded its best player.

- they hired an offensive coordinator with zero coordinating experience.

- they watched Diggs, Dell and Mixon walk out the door (or onto the IR), and their solutions were Christian Kirk, Nick Chubb and two promising rookies.

And I'm supposed to be upset because Stroud looks *exactly* like a QB trying to play in *that* environment?