5 average lineman playing together and with a team-first, “swarmy” mentality can be perfectly adequate and better than the disconnected, me-first crap we saw last year. Of all the units in football, the OL is the one where individual talent matters least. (Yes, it still matters, but it is the difference between good and great, not between bad and good).
I don't love or hate this, its OK and that's OK. I have faith that we now have a competent OC and line coach that they will take the best 5 guys and find a home for them. I believe we will get one starter through the draft and will build a line who is CONSISTANT, not world beaters but enough to protect CJ and ALSO open up holes for Mixon...................it's not sexy like the extensions for Sting and Hunter but I do have faith that Nick and Demeco are now working in tandem on what they want, yes Nick had whiffed on the OL but I do think that now the coach and the GM are in lock step on who and what they need, so they get the benefit of the doubt from me. I do think this will be a work on progress and we might not see the true line until week 6-7, they will need time to gel
I know it's the general consensus around here that Nick is not good at drafting OL. Maybe it's true, but how do we know this? Did Lovie and other previous coaches and scouts push Nick to draft certain players? Did Nick defer to them because he doesn't really feel as skilled in this area? Or did Nick override any advice from others and draft who he thought was the best? I mean we really don't know. So I am now hoping that with the new OC and other influences, that Nick's OL picks will be far better this time around. And yes, ultimately the choices all fall on him. But I would feel much more hopeful about this draft of OL players if in fact his past picks weren't 100% his.
Not just drafting. Free agency and trades too. Shaq mason signing and extension, kendrick green trade, Howard extension. All were bad
To be really fair to Nick... Green is his only big swing & miss on the OL, IMO. The Mason deal was defensible - he just got old really quick. I'm not sure we can pin that on Nick. And the jury is still out on Fisher, Scruggs & Patterson (who, keep in mind, was a 6th round pick; that he's a decent, contributing member of the OL already feels like a win - 6th round picks have a ~10% hit rate). It sure seems they like Fisher a lot so that may turn out to be a win, too. And I think most of their acquisitions this offseason are more depth and competition than expected starters - even Robinson, possibly. I'd love for them to get Will Hernandez, which would give them five guys up the middle (+ possibly Tytus). Robinson & Fisher on the outside (again, with Tytus possibly in the mix). That feels like a workable foundation. Grab 2+ blue chips in the draft... that feels like a better room? And then you have to have faith that Caley + Popovich - who have certainly said the right things (Caley has, at least - I don't think Popovich has spoken) - can prioritize and teach fundamentals and have better schemes and ideas that puts these guys in better position to succeed.
How is this man still in the NFL? and getting a contract way above league minimum? Make this make sense.
Both Shaq Mason and Kendrick Green were traded for 6th round picks. Shaq Mason deal also brought us a 7th rounder. I wouldn't consider those bad trades. Shaq played well his first season leading to a extension. He fell off and fast but that's the reason Texans don't sign long term deals. Kendrick Green also played on a minimum deal last season, if I'm not mistaken.I wouldn't consider that bad, either. Tytus Howard extension was the head scratcher because he wasn't at the level of his extension. Nick thought he'd make a big leap but that never happened. Not sure it was due to injury or continuing to move to LG.
Mason and Green were dealt for 6th round picks. That is not a bad use of resources, imo. If the criticism is that they should have traded for better players, ok - but we don't know who was available & at what cost. Good offensive linemen aren't traded very often. The Howard extension was July '23 - after the Stroud draft. I don't think that was a terrible idea, either. It was very early in Ryans' tenure - maybe it's a different result a year later. But locking down your starting RT with a rookie QB isn't a bad idea.
Nick can point to one year of George Fant as being his successful offensive line acquisition as a Texans GM. That’s it. The contracts he gave out to Howard and Mason were both insane and unnecessary. Nick has to dismantle the line and scramble for whatever is available with their limited cap space because of his own mismanagement every year previously. Hopefully, the youth step up with new coaching. They will need to.
Would you rather him shell out 3-4 years and overpay for average OL play? I'm pretty ok with filling out the roster (hard to find another glaring weakness on the team) with one/two year deals and creating a battle amongst the interior. The team is maneuvering and I'm happy with the offseason so far. Blake Fisher is still an unknown, but the Texans as of this moment, have competition + can add during the draft. I've personally never trusted Nick Caserio's moves across the O-Line, but it's all TBD until we see what Caley/Pop draw up.
Wait, are you pretending that Caserio wasn't the biggest factor in creating this disaster on the offensive line in the first place? Caserio *already* overpaid for one of the three worst offensive lines in the league last year. I would *love* average OL play. The Texans are eating $38 million in deadcap space this year for the privilege of ditching their best offensive lineman, cutting their prize offensive line acquisition in Shaq Mason and cutting ties with a first round pick after three years. The three lineman they acquired so far this were among the worst of the league in allowing QB pressure. Maybe a first year offensive coordinator and a first year coach in charge of the offensive line will find magic and turn these scrubs into gold, but why should we count on this? Caserio crashed into the iceberg already. I am not celebrating him dragging his ass to the lifeboat.
I would argue Jarrett Patterson, too. And we can't write-off Scruggs and/or Fisher until we see how they do with competent coaching. I don't know that either contract was "insane" - they jettisoned Mason a year before his deal was up because they basically absorbed the brunt of it during CJ's rookie year. Securing your starting RT after drafting a QB #2 overall isn't the worst idea. Caserio MAY be really bad at it - I'm not the biggest Nick Caserio fan. But I think there are other factors in play, and I'm very curious (and hopeful) things get better with adults in the room (Caley & Popovich).
I credit Caserio for knowing the importance of the position group and working to address it. For real. The short term step back to ensure more sustainable team success with the offensive line is defensible. However, I notice that Caserio became a lot better at drafting defensive players once Demeco arrived. I hope Calley has a similar vision for the offense and he works productively with Caserio to marry scheme, talent and attitude.
Easy. He was actually pretty OK in Jacksonville last year. Then he gets traded to the Vikings, where Sam Darnold literally had the second longest time in the pocket in the entire NFL. Is Cam a Pro Bowler? No. Is he better than his stats showed in Minny? Absolutely.
Yall are funny WE'VE GOT TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT THE OL!!!!!! [Texan Fan implodes before the Draft] [Texan trade LT] [Texans sign multiple short term OL] [Texans restucture/extend about 4 other core players] WHEN I SAID DO SOMETHING I MEANT OTHER THINGS!!!! WHY AREN'T THEY FIXING THE OL? FIX IT ALL RIGHT NOW, DAMMNNIT!!!!
Eh... Stingley, Pitre and Harris were all pre-Demeco, and were picked with limited resources (no first or second round picks in '21). Since DeMeco - and with a full compliment of picks: Anderson, Lassiter, Bullock and To'oTo'o. Ryans has undoubtedly made an impact - but drafting when there's a scheme/plan/vision is so much easier. In '21 and '22, he was being led by David Culley & Lovie Smith. (It also helps when you hit on a QB and can focus resources elsewhere.) (I do wonder if DeMeco would've insisted on Hamilton in '22....) Nick's tenure has grown on me. I wasn't thrilled he threw away picks to get Nico - but that's obviously worked out. Stingley-over-Sauce looked like a miss; clearly, Nick nailed that one. I still think they gave up too much for WAJr - but, also: WAJr is so, sooooo awesome and I'm glad we have him. Whatever machinations went into it, they landed CJ Stroud. Free agency is where I think DeMeco is having a bigger impact - but, again: he knows what he wants, and Nick is getting him those players - even a guy like Mixon. I suspect this draft, they are going to get guys for the OL who eat, sleep, breathe football and try to build the same culture offensively that they've done on the defense.
The Texans' offseason hasn't been subtle; they've told us quite a bit about how they intend to fix the OL - are people not listening?: - they did not view Tunsil as a leader and/or did not like his make-up & wanted him out of the building; - they blame much - if not all - of the OL issues (beyond Tunsil) on Slowick/Strausser - they are very clearly focused on building a cohesive unit where the whole is much greater than the parts - they did not think much of this free agent class - and/or they really like this draft class, and their FAs are veterans who can mentor/push the rookies - they did not feel comfortable with their OL depth last year Trading a name - and not back-filling with a name - can cause angst. Having new coaches we don't really know anything about can cause angst. Forgetting free agency doesn't end after 1, 2 or 7 days can cause angst. Failing to connect free agency to the draft can cause angst. I also think fans are sleeping on how big a deal it is swapping Slowick/Strausser for Caley/Popovich. In terms of just the OL, I think that represents a significant improvement. I'd love them to sign Will Hernandez - who I think is a really viable starter and more veteran/depth on the interior. But, otherwise, I'm content with what they've done so far.
