So I thought about taking the Fam to a "cheap" football game and thought why not the World Champion Bucs this week and then 77 DOLLARS A FUKKIN TICKET??????? so now that i've got that out of my system, do any of you guys have any experience with the new ticketmaster resale option where ticket holders can sell their seats direct??? It appears you can buy some that way for a hell of a better deal (especially to watch a subpar product). I'd pay 100 bucks to take the Fam - tailgate, have some fun in the parking lot and pretend to enjoy the game afterward, but no damn way for 300 bucks.
You’re looking at the wrong site for cheap tickets. Use tickpick. Tickets on there are going for $16 section 500’s. No service fees.
Texans camp awards: Best rookie, most improved player, biggest questions and more https://theathletic.com/2790673/202...t-improved-player-biggest-questions-and-more/ The Texans hold their last practice of the preseason Thursday, after which point reporters will no longer be able to watch practices in their entirety. That makes it time to hand out The Athletic’s second annual training camp awards, 14 superlatives that catch you up on the team’s performance during the past four weeks. With the season opener against the Jaguars 17 days away, it’s time to find out which new veteran struggled the most, which rookie impressed the most and which offseason move only looks more confusing now than it did before camp began. Most confusing offseason move, based on camp performance: Keeping RB David Johnson Rather than cut Johnson, the Texans restructured his contract to lower his cap hit in exchange for doubling his guaranteed money. Though Texans brass preached the importance of competition all offseason, such a move indicated Johnson would have a significant if reduced role, as his cap hit is by far the largest among the team’s running backs. Though preseason is not a perfect indicator of regular season plans, free agent acquisitions Phillip Lindsay and Mark Ingram have received the bulk of the carries while presumed starter Tyrod Taylor has been at quarterback. Johnson, meanwhile, has been reduced to a role on passing downs. In the Texans’ second preseason game, six backs received carries, and though Johnson played five snaps, he was not one of them. General manager Nick Caserio’s multiple dips into free agency for running backs gave him a clear indicator of the market at the position. It’s reasonable to think he could’ve found someone with similar production to Johnson at a lower price. “He’s a guy who’s been very, very, good during his career in third-down situations, as well as on first and second down,” head coach David Culley said. “With the depth that we have at our back position right now with those guys, his versatility becomes very, very important for us. And I feel good about where he’s been during this training camp.” Most impressive new veteran: DT Maliek Collins After losing D.J. Reader in free agency last year, the Texans sorely lacked a playmaker on the interior of the defensive line, especially one who can pressure the quarterback. Collins has been that person in camp. The Texans have deployed him as a three-down player, often rushing next to defensive lineman Charles Omenihu on the inside during passing downs. Defensive coordinator Lovie Smith said he fits the ideal profile of a three-technique in Smith’s 4-3 front. “It can be a good defense if you get one of your three-technique one-on-one with the guard,” Smith said. “Maliek’s going to win most of those.” Outside of quarterback Tyrod Taylor, Collins’ $5 million contract is the most expensive one-year deal on the team. He’s coming off a disappointing season with the Raiders, in which he recorded one QB hit and no tackles for loss in 12 games. But in four seasons with the Cowboys before that, he was far more disruptive, totaling 14.5 sacks, 20 TFLs and 40 QB hits across 61 games. Most disappointing new veteran: Edge Shaq Lawson Lawson’s 45 QB hits since 2018 tie him with Yannick Ngakoue for 17th among defensive linemen and rank first among current Texans, but his standing in the defensive line rotation hasn’t reflected that. Lawson has played in the second halves of both preseason games, including the fourth quarter of the most recent one. Many players on the field with Lawson in those games are on their respective teams’ roster bubble, but cutting Lawson would be hard to swallow from a financial perspective. After trading linebacker Benardrick McKinney for Lawson, the Texans restructured his contract, kicking money onto their cap in future years. If Houston cut Lawson, it would net the team less than $1 million in cap savings while costing approximately $2.7 million in dead money this season and $5.3 million next season. Most impressive rookie: DT Roy Lopez Third-round pick Nico Collins might contribute more than Lopez as a rookie because of the Texans’ lack of depth at receiver, but Lopez, a sixth-round selection, gets the nod here because he looks like a good value pick. Collins could end up outperforming his draft slot, too, but the Texans made an expensive trade up to acquire him. Even in a five-man draft class like the Texans’ 2021 group, a sixth-rounder is not a lock to make a roster. Yet the 6-2, 318-pound Lopez, who finished his college career at Arizona, quickly worked his way into the defensive line rotation with players who are relative roster locks. He had sacks in each of the Texans’ two preseason games. Culley has spoken more glowingly about Lopez than any other rookie. “He’s jumped into a group of guys as a rookie with some veteran guys that know how to practice and know how to play, and he has fell right in there,” Culley said, “and there are times when I don’t even know that he’s a rookie with that group when he’s out there. “Again, coming from where he comes from, the way he played when we drafted him, we knew what we were getting when we got him and he’s been everything that we wanted him to be from that standpoint, and he’s just falling right in with those guys. He never says a word. I like the fact that he’s tough, aggressive, he’s a grinder. He’s grinding every play, every play that he’s out there.” Rookie least likely to make an impact this season: LB Garret Wallow This pick is made on the assumption that quarterback Davis Mills starts a few games, in which case his impact will be larger than Wallow’s. The linebacker out of TCU profiles mostly as a special teams player as a rookie, which is common for fifth-round picks. The Texans signed seven free agent linebackers in the offseason, making it tough for Wallow to see much playing time on defense. Offensive player who’s made the biggest jump: OT Charlie Heck Last year’s awards included a best rookie and a worst rookie. This one doesn’t because 2020’s worst rookie was Heck, and the best was cornerback John Reid, whom the team traded to the Seahawks for a conditional seventh-round pick. Point is, things can change fast early in a player’s career. As a rookie, Heck regularly got beat in both one-on-ones and team drills during camp, and he was a healthy scratch for much of the 2020 season. But Culley said no player has improved as much between the start of OTAs and now as Heck. “That’s not surprising because he has a great work ethic,” Culley said. “He’s going into that year now where you want to see that progress made, and we’re starting to see that. And that’s what happens when you do what he did to be in the position that he’s in right now.” Asked what he’s improved most at, Heck first listed strength. He said he weighs 308 pounds, around where he was a year ago, “but it is a lot better weight.” Playing in three games at the end of the year, including one start, boosted Heck’s confidence that he could cut it in the NFL. He took that into the offseason — his first with OTAs and minicamp because of how the pandemic impacted the 2020 schedule. “I really was here every day, living in the weight room, meeting everybody and learning the new offense,” Heck said. “So that was big for me.” Heck has started at right tackle in both preseason games, and 2019 first-round pick Tytus Howard, who started there for the first two seasons of his career, has kicked inside to left guard. Offensive coordinator Tim Kelly has said the goal is simply to get the best five linemen in one lineup. What that best five looks like once veteran tackle Marcus Cannon begins practicing remains to be seen. Cannon, who is coming off knee surgery has spent all of camp on the Physically Unable to Perform list. So at least in the short term, Heck appears in line to start at right tackle. Defensive player who’s made the biggest jump: S Lonnie Johnson During camp, Johnson has made as many plays on the ball as any Texans defensive back. He’s benefitted from Mills throwing some rookie-mistake turnovers, but he also just appears more confident and decisive in his second season at safety after playing cornerback as a rookie. That showed not only in his pick-six in the Texans’ second preseason game, but also earlier in the exhibition, when he collided with fellow safety Jonathan Owens as they both pursued an interception. For now, Justin Reid and Eric Murray appear to be the Texans’ top two safeties, but Murray struggled a season ago. If Murray falters again, that could open up a path to more playing time for Johnson. Regardless, Johnson, a 2019 second-round pick, will be a defensive contributor — a seemingly much-improved at that.
Offensive player who needed to make a jump and didn’t: TE Kahale Warring Warring came to camp two general managers removed from the regime that drafted him, placing the third-round pick firmly on the bubble after catching just three passes in seven career games. In addition to drafting tight end Brevin Jordan in the fifth round, the Texans return contributors Jordan Akins and Pharaoh Brown at the position, so Warring had to make a strong case to be the team’s fourth tight end, if there will even be one. It was evident early on Warring wasn’t equipped to make that case. Before the Texans waived him on Sunday, he played a total of 18 offensive in two preseason games, received two targets and didn’t catch a pass. On a long list of Texans third-round busts, he’s one of the worst. The Patriots claimed him off waivers. Defensive player who needed to make a jump and didn’t: CB John Reid As mentioned above, Reid’s stock was highest before he played in a game. Despite the praise he received from coaches during camp last season, he played just 13 percent of defensive snaps as a rookie in a bad Texans secondary. Though the top of the Texans’ cornerback depth chart appears better with the additions of Desmond King and Terrance Mitchell, Houston could’ve used a Year 2 jump from Reid to improve its position depth, which was sorely lacking last season. Not satisfied with results from Reid, Caserio shipped him to Seattle and looked elsewhere, trading for corner Ka’dar Hollman and signing corner Rasul Douglas. Worst contract remaining from the Bill O’Brien era: DE Whitney Mercilus When it’s time to trim the roster to 53, some of the Texans’ toughest decisions will be along the defensive line, where they lack superstars but appear to have solid depth. Despite rebuilding, the Texans might have to hold onto their oldest player at the position, Whitney Mercilus, who has not been very disruptive in camp after recording just four sacks on seven QB hits in 13 games last season. Caserio restructured the four-year, $54 million Mercilus received at the end of the 2019 season in order to create immediate cap space, and teams don’t tend to cut players right after borrowing from the bank of tomorrow in their contracts in order to help today. It’s the same reason cutting Lawson might be hard to swallow, as explained above. When Caserio restructured Mercilus’ contract, he added voidable years in 2022 and 2023, meaning Mercilus is set to become a free agent after this season, his 10th and likely last with the Texans. Quietest camp in a good way: WR Keke Coutee About a week before camp started, Coutee appeared to be on the roster bubble. Then the team traded Randall Cobb to Green Bay, and Anthony Miller, a slot receiver the team acquired to make up for Cobb’s departure, suffered a shoulder dislocation in the first preseason game, sidelining him since. Coutee has received most of the reps in the slot with Tyrod Taylor at quarterback. Should the fourth-year receiver stay healthy, it’s possible he finishes in the top three on the team in targets. That’d be quite the accomplishment for Coutee, who’s had an up-and-down career and is now entering the final year of his rookie contract. Quietest camp in a bad way: OL Lane Taylor and Marcus Cannon Acquired for a swap of mid-to-late-round picks, Cannon carries a nearly $7 million cap hit, the sixth-highest on the team. There’s no guaranteed salary remaining on the final two years of Cannon’s contract, but if he’s on the team, that cap number either makes him a very expensive backup or a starter. It’s hard to know right now because Cannon has yet to practice after undergoing offseason knee surgery. The team also doesn’t know what it has in former Packers guard Lane Taylor, who suffered a season-ending knee injury in Week 1 last season and is also yet to practice. He signed a one-year, veteran minimum contract with the Texans this offseason. Though the team hasn’t invested nearly as many resources in Taylor as it has in Cannon, he could be a contributor when healthy. From 2016-18, he started 45 games at left guard for the Packers under offensive line coach James Campen, who now holds the same job with the Texans. Since then, though, Taylor has appeared in just three games. If Campen likes a healthy Taylor starting at left guard, that’ll have a domino effect on the rest of the line. Does Tytus Howard move back to right tackle? If so, what would that mean for Cannon? Howard hasn’t seen many reps at right guard in camp, but Taylor has experience there. It’s where he started his only game of the 2020 season. In two preseason games, the Texans have started 2019 second-round pick Max Scharping at right guard. Biggest roster question coming out of camp: What does the team do with Deshaun Watson? As of this writing, Watson remains on the active roster, but he’s also facing 22 active civil lawsuits accusing him of sexual misconduct and sexual assault. Houston Police and the FBI are investigating the allegations, and Watson’s lawyer, Rusty Hardin, said he expects the Harris County District Attorney’s office to present a grand jury with its findings. Unless the NFL suspends him or places him on the commissioner’s exempt list between now and cutdown day, the Texans will have to place him on their 53-man roster, barring injury. When Hardin held a press conference on Aug. 18, he said NFL investigators had yet to meet with Watson because they wanted to wait for the criminal investigations to be completed. Watson is yet to participate in team drills and has had inconsistent attendance at practices. Recently, he’s worked with a trainer on a conditioning field, away from the rest of the team. This practice is typical for injured players. If Watson is injured, the Texans could potentially place him on injured reserve to clear a roster spot, but when last asked on Aug. 17 whether Watson is injured, Culley said no. Biggest on-field question coming out of camp: Is the Texans’ new turnover habit sustainable? Lovie Smith sets a goal of three takeaways per game for his defense. Through two preseason games, the Texans have exceeded that, recording seven takeaways, just two shy of their total for the 2020 regular season. But the Texans have also faced many backups, and played many of their own, in those games. How frequently will the Texans create takeaways when it’s all of their starters against another team’s starters? The answer will go a long way toward determining if the Texans exceed low expectations. Houston’s offense likely won’t be a high-scoring one, but Tyrod Taylor rarely turns the ball over. If the Texans can revive their rushing offense with the help of a mobile quarterback, limit their own mistakes on offense and regularly create takeaways, they have a path to overachieving.
