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Texans Training Camp 2023

Discussion in 'Houston Texans' started by Rockets34Legend, May 12, 2023.

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zeeshan2 Member

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Friday

On Friday during 1 on 1 drills with the WR’s v. CB’s it was quite a sight to see 2nd year WR John Metchie work. Yes I realize I mention Metchie a lot, but the player is a tactician with his foot work. Twice he put CB Desmond King on his heels.

Conversely, and direct competition for King, CB Tavierre Thomas was locking down players in his drills. Getting his hands on the receiver early within the 3 yard mark to shut down any movement.

Moving on to 7 on 7 work we witnessed C.J. Stroud take some positive steps. After a mixed bag earlier in the week, Stroud put his stamp on practice with a big hit to Nico Collins down the sideline for a touchdown with Shaq Griffin in coverage.

Stroud continued his work with later hitting Tank Dell on a quick out route to keep the chains moving. Dell’s confidence continues to shine through (more on that later).

Andrew Beck…FB o TE? Nobody knows. I asked a few folks today, do we call it 12 or 21 personnel when Beck is on the field? I’ve seen Beck line up at full back, in the slot, inline tight end, and even in motion. Mills caught Beck on a big gain with a pass down the seam where the safety (didn’t see who) couldn’t get over in coverage in time.

Robert Woods hasn’t made much noise but when he’s needed he is there. Stroud lined up the offense on a 3rd and 2 with Woods lined up next to Schultz. Schultz ran a clear out route with Woods running a quick dig route just past the first down marker for an easy first down.

DeMeco Ryans had Chris Burke handling the play call duties during 11 on 11’s on Friday. Burke called up a variety of play calls. One defensive formation caught my eye with what I believe is called a “bear front”. The defense had 5 defensive linemen at the LOS with three defensive tackles.

The team then shifted over to 11 on 11 with the offense at their own 2 yard line trying to get out of their end zone. It was ugly. The offense had two straight false starts, unknown if the cause was on Stroud or Scruggs, but it was rough to watch. On the other hand DE Jacob Martin was loving ever minute of it.

During this team set, LB Henry To’o To’o made a fantastic read stuffing Pierce at the LOS. To’o To’o is in a heavy battle for the “mike” linebacker spot with the 1s against veteran Denzel Perryman.

Just a few players later LB Christian Harris chased down C.J. Stroud on a bootleg in the end zone finishing with what would have been a safety. Harris’ change of direction is still on point.

The finale of the fantastic defensive stand during this set was DE Jacob Martin blowing past LT George Fant for a would be sack. Fant was filling in at left tackle for Laremy Tunsil who had a veteran day off.

Scanning my notes I have another entry “45 TFL”. I will admit with the signing of Jacob Martin I did not expect him to make much noise. Clearly I am wrong as Martin is a major player in the 4 man edge rusher rotation with Anderson, Hughes, and Greenard.

LB Denzel Perryman capped off the defensive stand with a fantastic read and interception of C.J. Stroud. There is work to be done for the offense when their back is up against the wall.

Saturday

Saturday was another open practice to the fans and the team did not disappoint.

The fireworks started early when CB Kendall Sheffield broke free for a would be kick off return touchdown down the line in front of the fans. The cheers roared and caught many of us in the media tent off guard. I was chatting with one of the nicest people in the world in Deepi Sidhu; and it was a “back to work” moment for both of us.

The team started off with 7 on 7 in the red zone. What happened next was a pure clinic by the C.J. Stroud led offense. The defense got one stop on the first snap with CB Steven Nelson breaking on a pass heading for WR Nico Collins for a nice pass break-up. That’s all they would get.

Three touchdowns later by the offense (well two because one was called out of bounds but I disagree with the call).

Stroud connected with RB Dameon Pierce for an acrobatic catch with CB Desmond King in coverage. Oddly enough the RB’s were working on end zone double moves just prior to this touchdown.

Stroud finds an open TE Mason Schreck at the back of the end zone placing the ball where only Schrek can get to it.

Stroud finds TE Dalton Schultz in the back corner on a big miss match with CB Kendall Sheffield in coverage. The ref ruled it incomplete but it was a touchdown in our hearts.

Stroud tried to find WR Nico Collins on a fade to the back corner but this time was off target.

Stroud came out of the drill with 3 touchdowns, and Mills finished with 0 touchdowns.

The team then moved to 11 on 11 work where we got to witness the Will Anderson v Laremy Tunsil show. Each player had their wins. It was clear there was something to prove here.

A few plays later the team was lined up with Stroud in shotgun with Pierce to his right. Before the snap we see Stroud take off to his left in an orbit motion. Stroud hits Pierce in a stride for a nice gain.

C Juice Scruggs was looking for work today, clearly his best day after finding his footing with the 1’s. The defense tried a stunt with LB Denzel Perryman and DE Will Anderson with Anderson darting inside only to be confronted by Scruggs to give the quarterback time to make a throw.

We finally witnessed the fabeled zone block RB toss with the cutback. RB Devin Singletary made a clear read, put his foot in the ground, with a beautiful cut back for a big gain. It was pretty.

Stroud continued to work the defense over. Finding WR Metchie for a chain moving first down in the flat. Followed by a play action bootleg for an easy gain with Stroud finding TE Eric Tomlinson in traffic.

One final play saw some go routes clear out a big zone for Dalton Schultz to turn and stop just past the chains for Stroud pass for an easy first down.

Favorite Plays of the Night

“Look at 51” I am quietly told. I look up to see DE Will Anderson lined up inside OG Shaq Mason’s shoulder. Anderson blasts off out off a cannon, Mason looked like he was in slow motion. Easy sack for Anderson.

WR Jesse Matthews puts a double move on CB Jacobi Francis heading towards the sideline with a Davis Mills ball headed his way. Matthews goes up over Francis pulling in the reception landing on the sideline. Ref calls it good. Defense goes into an uproar pointing to the divots in the grass beyond the chalk line.

WR Tank Dell ran a wild route covering a lot of ground with a crazy change of direction at the hash marks. Mill hit Dell over the middle of the field with an off placement throw, but Dell adjusted mid-air to pull in the pass.

Summary

Stories to continue to watch:

C.J. Stroud is QB1. No further discussion needed.

Middle linebacker battle with Perryman and To’o To’o.

Tight end 2 with Eric Tomlinson and Teagan Quitoriano (when he returns from PUP/Active). The team does not have much depth at the position.

Click to expand...

https://www.capandtrade.football/p/day-8-and-day-9-houston-texans-training?utm_medium=ios
#421 zeeshan2, Aug 6, 2023

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All in all, this was one of the best offensive practices that I can remember in the last four to five years. It was certainly the best of this training camp.

QB C.J. Stroud was decisive and accurate throughout the practice. He was so calm throughout the night. QB Davis Mills threw it about as well as I can remember in this training camp. These two took the majority of the team reps, but they were absolutely dealing. In my notebook, I signify plays that I MUST mention with a double asterisk next to it. I wrote down like five or six double asterisks, while other practices might have had one or two. Those two were dealing beautifully, led by Stroud.

One of the best throws Stroud made was on a red zone wheel route to RB Dameon Pierce. The second year running back tracked the ball perfectly over his shoulder as Stroud placed it in the exact perfect location for the TD reception.

Loved seeing TE Dalton Schultz "Mossing" defensive backs in red zone seven-on-seven. That man is a special pass catcher and a weapon all over the field.

Not surprisingly, I spent a lot of my time down with the OL and DL when they got to the one-on-ones period. OL Tytus Howard began the drill slowing down the spin-o-rama of Jerry Hughes. But, on the next rep. Will Anderson Jr. went inward to find the best bull rush he had and unleashed it on Tytus. The Texans star OL shut down nearly every move Anderson threw at him on Friday, but Anderson got underneath Tytus's pads and that power flashed in a big way.

I could watch DL Maliek Collins and OL Shaq Mason go one-on-one all day long. Collins has been the best defensive linemen on the field for the entire training camp. On the first rep, Collins was able to work Mason's edge to get loose to the QB. On the second rep, Collins got tricky with his move and Mason wasn't buying it. He stayed square and locked up Collins to make the meeting a 1-1 draw.

Rookie OL Juice Scruggs is seemingly getting more and more comfortable at center in all of his reps during one-on-ones and team drills. His first rep was against DL Roy Lopez and Juice was able to stay square, using his lateral quickness to stay square on Roy. On the second rep, Lopez slipped and Scruggs tried to bury Roy in the turf. I like that nastiness that Scruggs possesses. Thing is, Scruggs is one of the nicest young men we met this offseason.

If I write DL Hassan Ridgeway's name this year without the word power in the same sentence, something is seriously wrong. I can still see him bull rushing one of the Texans interior OL right into the QB…or the spot where the QB would be. That dude is one power packed stud.

I've seen OL Laremy Tunsil now for five years but he shows something different each time he's on the field. His quickness, feet and lateral quickness are off the charts, but I saw him on his second rep strike the defensive lineman with his inside hand WITH SOME VIOLENCE. I mean, it was like a right hook to the chest and then he struck again with that right hand. Those were as violent hands as I can remember Laremy throwing against a rusher in pass protection.

Thing was on Laremy's first rep, he just slid on the arc, anchored and kept DL Jonathan Greenard from going much of anywhere on his rush rep.

I liked the battle that Roy Lopez Jr. and OL Michael Deiter had going during their two reps. Lopez used a strong shock/yank to win the first rep, but Deiter anchored well against Lopez's long arm move to win the second rep.

Man, saw some serious power from rookie DL Ali Gaye. He went inside and ran right over an interior lineman on his first rep. He's more of a DE type, but he's powerful so going inside to rush isn't too surprising. That power, though, was a bit surprising.

DL Jacob Martin is having a tremendous camp. The offense is just going to realize one day that it's useless to run bootlegs at Martin. He's been so disciplined on that play, in particular, but he seems to have even more juice off the edge than he had back in 2021 when we last saw him with the Texans. On his first rep in one-on-ones, he ran right around the left tackle to the QB. The burst off the ball? Wow.

DL Chase Winovich hasn't been back at practice for too many days in a row, but each day, he seems to get more and more comfortable. He threw a great inside swim move for an easy win on one of his reps.

Unfortunately, the OL/DL drills had to stop because of an injury to rookie DL DJ Scaife. Hopefully, he'll be okay soon.

When the team period started, QB C.J. Stroud got the offense rolling. It started with a run by RB Dameon Pierce, then Stroud drilled Pierce with one over in the left flat. Two plays later, Stroud hit John Metchie III with a brilliant ball on the sideline. That was a one asterisk play. Beautiful, BEAUTIFUL toss.

One of my favorite moments of training camp was seeing WR Tank Dell crackdown on DL Jon Greenard on a run play. On that particular run play, Dell's responsibility was to block down on the end man on the line of scrimmage and that was Greenard. Now, you've seen Tank. You've seen Greenard. So, now, you know why that was so damn impressive.

One of the aspects of QB play that stood out with Stroud, and stands out even more each and every time I watch him, is the way Stroud handles the rock. He's getting more and more comfortable with ball handling and it's evident in how he sells bootlegs and play action. On one play in that team period, he ran a bootleg and I was completely sold on the play fake. I thought 100% he handed the ball off but he pulled it out and hit TE Eric Tomlinson with a completion.

I thought the IOL got more movement today on their interior runs than it had been getting. That's a really good sign.

On QB Davis Mills' third play of team, he threw a gem to rookie WR Jared Wayne. That was a one asterisk play and a brilliant pitch and catch.

On the very next play, Mills ripped one to WR Tank Dell over the middle of the field on play action. The fans loved that one. Shoot, they love when Tank does anything, but he made a strong catch in traffic after a laser shot from Mills.

Those two hooked up for a two asterisk play a few plays later as Mills hit Tank again for a big completion. Again, the fans loved that one. That ball had some RPMs on it and stuck Tank right between the 1 and 3.

To start the next team period, Stroud threw incomplete on first down and then completed a screen on second down. On third down, he made a great out route throw to TE Dalton Schultz for a first down. Then, it was a screen to RB Devin 'Motor' Singletary that was set up perfectly!

One play after DL Hassan Ridgeway nearly tackled RB Dameon Pierce to the ground, Stroud shot one to WR Steven Sims for an effective completion against man coverage. It was at this point that I wrote in his notebook "7 is dealing". He was definitely in a groove at that point.
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https://www.houstontexans.com/news/harris-hits-training-camp-observations-night-practice

#422 zeeshan2, Aug 6, 2023
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Continued:

Then, DL Jacob Martin ate up a reverse. On the next play, he was key to setting the edge against a run play. He locked up the tackle, forced the RB outside where LB Christian Harris was waiting to stop the play.

When QB Davis Mills stepped back onto the field, he first hit rookie RB Xazavian Valladay for a completion. Then, three plays later, arguably, the best catch of training camp took place. Mills saw man coverage across the board so he lofted one down the right sideline. Rookie WR Jesse Matthews did his best Willie Mays basket catch imitation, snatching the ball over his shoulder for an incredible completion. That was nearly a three asterisk play, just brilliant, BRILLIANT catch by the rookie, one day after he ended Friday's workout with a diving catch right in front of me.

He wasn't done either. Two plays later, Matthew made another sliding catch down inside the five yard line. Mills threw two wonderful passes and Matthews made even more of an impact with those two catches.

The last period was another end of game situation - 17-10, 1:15 in the game, one time out. The offense finally hit a wall a bit. That wall's name was Maliek Collins. He eviscerated the offense on second down, tackling a screen in the backfield for a loss.

On third down, TE Dalton Schultz made an excellent catch and was introduced to LB Christian Harris, if you catch my drift. If you can't, Harris gave him a little love tap down the seam.

One of my favorite throws of the night was Stroud's completion to WR Tank Dell. I was standing right in line with this one and it was a clear indication of how Stroud/QBs have to throw to Tank. I had one eye on Stroud and one on the secondary. So, I saw Stroud throw into an area where there was NO ONE. Then, out of the blue, Dell came flying into the area, running through the ball to make the catch. I mean, Tank was nowhere near that spot but Stroud led him perfectly into the completion.

Then, Stroud hit Robert Woods who stepped out of bounds to stop the clock. He then found Andrew Beck who ran through a DB to get out of bounds as well. On the next play, rookie OL Juice Scruggs did a GREAT job picking up an inside stunt that allowed Stroud to get the ball off. He couldn't make a connection with the receiver but he got that pass off because of Scruggs' work.

Stroud connected to Dell again a few plays later, but the drive bogged down just short of the end zone. That said, it was really the only hiccup that I saw from the offense all night.
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#423 zeeshan2, Aug 6, 2023
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#424 Fantasma Negro, Aug 7, 2023

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#425 zeeshan2, Aug 7, 2023

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WTF

#426 J.R., Aug 7, 2023
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#427 zeeshan2, Aug 7, 2023

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#428 J.R., Aug 7, 2023

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#429 zeeshan2, Aug 7, 2023
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#430 J.R., Aug 7, 2023
Last edited: Aug 7, 2023

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#431 Fulgore, Aug 7, 2023

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#432 J.R., Aug 7, 2023
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So he will be back by October 15th against the Saints or they wait another week for the bye. Ugh.

#433 conquistador#11, Aug 7, 2023

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Fulgore said: ↑

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Damn that sucks. Hope he recovers well and quick.

#434 Qan, Aug 7, 2023
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Sheesh....bad news on Tytus. That Line.....

#435 Uprising, Aug 7, 2023
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#436 zeeshan2, Aug 7, 2023

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zeeshan2 said: ↑

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I wouldn’t rush him back. First 3 games are all winnable (yes even Baltimore).

#437 TexasRedd, Aug 7, 2023
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J.R. said: ↑

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Next man up, George Fant is a natural right tackle

#438 Fantasma Negro, Aug 7, 2023
Last edited: Aug 7, 2023

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That's probably the best news he could get with the circumstances

#439 Fantasma Negro, Aug 7, 2023
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C.J. Stroud was a little erratic in practice on Monday. It wasn’t the crisp performance we’ve come to expect from him each day. Stroud corrected some of those early mistakes by the end of the drill. Later in 7-on-7 drills, Stroud was a little out in front of Dalton Schultz and John Metchie. Stroud has had better overall days.

The defense was flying around again after the offense had taken some ground back in recent practices. The highlight of the day for the defense had to be a coverage sack. There was just nowhere for C.J. Stroud to go with the ball. Everyone was covered. Stroud’s scramble was covered. Overall, the defense won the day.

Christian Harris was called a sideline-to-sideline linebacker by veteran linebacker Denzel Perryman. He constantly showcases it. Monday he had a pass breakup flying in at the last second to bat the ball away. He and safety Jalen Pitre flew in on a tackle for a loss. It will be interesting to see who starts with Harris at linebacker. The best linebacking units usually include Harris and rookie Henry To’oTo’o.

Devin Singletary has wiggle. I think I wrote it three times during Monday’s practice. It feels like he just finds seams and holes to run through. Sure, it was no pads, but there weren’t a lot of defenders getting hands on Singletary behind the line of scrimmage. He had a lot of reps after Dameon Pierce was a little shaken up.

Tank Dell had another nice couple of catches. The rookie’s quickness and ability to find space early in a play was key at times. One particular play he darted towards the sideline and Stroud quickly whipped his head around to find Dell. I don’t know if Dell will start, but he will be a utilized weapon for sure.

There was a funny moment with a referee at practice Monday. Nico Collins was flying down the sideline with Derek Stingley on him. C.J. Stroud had the pass come down a little behind Collins as the wideout tried to turn Derek Stingley was there. The official flew the flag but after some pleading from Stingley and general manager Nick Caserio, the ref waived off the penalty.

Will Anderson’s speed was on display on Monday. He has the suddenness to affect a number of plays, and his speed allows him to recover and make other plays if his initial play isn’t there. After getting stuffed initially by a blocker, Anderson looped around and found a hole in the middle of the offensive line to get right in C.J. Stroud’s face. Anderson’s rush forced a high throw.

C.J. Stroud might have had an up-and-down practice but he finished on a high note. Toward the end of the workout Stroud scanned the field and looked to have Dalton Schultz open. If he makes that throw Jalen Pitre is still running with an interception. Stroud saw the safety and moved to another throw which he completed to Nico Collins. Stroud later had pressure coming from defensive end Chase Winovich. Stroud eluded the rusher and as Winovich gave chase Stroud let one go over the middle to Nico Collins. I say touchdown, though I am sure the defenders near Collins would claim he would have been tackled short. Either way, growth and good plays towards the end of practice for Stroud.

Click to expand...

https://www.houfootball.com/p/11-observations-from-day-ten-of-texans
#440 zeeshan2, Aug 7, 2023

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