I'm hoping all those big veterans can mentor our younger guys, and that our new offensive coordinator makes a big difference too. I can't wait for team practices and preseason to begin.
If I want to make a high percentage guess, I'll take the under \oposed OL lineup It makes as much sense as a coach sucking and blaming it on the player. I'm just hoping for descent coaching with descent players.
Deb I think you hit on the most important part of all of this...the OC. Slowik I believe was smart (mostly book smart), he just wasn't any good at correlating. By that I mean he wasn't able to recognize and design plays around the limitations of his personal. His thinking seemed to be, I designed a great play, it should have worked. So let's keep doing it in spite of the results. He said the OL just needed to play harder and execute, meaning he expected them to be able to do things he should have known they were incapable of doing. A great OC knows his players limitations, adjusts and makes his OL look good. He does his best to not put them in a position to fail. When the opposing DC calls for blitzes, a good OC immediately goes to quick hitters or whatever to punish them. Once the DC sees that these calls no longer work, they move away from them. And that was the problem last year, we never really adjusted. We kept pounding a square peg into a round hole which resulted in the same defensive plays working against us all season. A good OC designs plays which compliment his QB's abilities. A great OC does the same for the OL too. Calling the correct plays at the correct time makes a QB and OL appear much better. Sometimes even better than they actually are. Is Caley that OC? We'll know soon enough. At least I don't think we will be seeing Mixon constantly going up the middle into a stacked line on 1st and 2nd downs next season. I believe it's in Caley and his presumed ability to call timely plays that many of us are pinning our hopes on for an improved OL. It's not just the OL coach, but the overall offensive play calling which can make an OL seemingly improve greatly. As I keep saying, CJ looked amazing with a slightly below average line as a rookie. And at worst, that is what we have now.
Well you may be right, but if things click cerebrally, and the young fella gets it, he could very well be the answer. Countless times I see OL guards, safeties, LB get drafted in the 5, 6, and 7 round and make mince meat of counterparts taken in the 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round. Seems that for certain positions, it’s more about motor and heart over talent. I know one thing, elite QB, Franchise LT, shutdown CB, and elite pass rushers are head and shoulders going to be drafter at or near the top of the draft more often than not. But certain positions, you can find pro bowlers on day 3 selections. So though the odds aren’t sure-fire, they are actually very reasonable for fellas to click on all cylinders for certain positions.
I'm honestly confused. We would have to sign him in order for him to "be the answer", correct? Is he currently a free agent?
I don't know how it works, but I think he needed to clear waivers to be placed on the reserve/non-football injury list. As far as I know, he's still technically with the team.
Does anyone know anything about Zachary Thomas who is on Reserve non-football illness? He signed an extension through the 2025 season just before the start of the FA period.
With the modern CAP, you have to look deeper than that to see WHY he was released or taken in the 7th. Now I don't know in this particular case, but taking a flyer on an injured or ill player can account for the 7th round and Roster space or Cap space can account for his release. So we have Henderson and Thomas on the OL which most people overlook. Maybe they deserve a future cut or maybe there is something there worth having.
One ray-of-sunshine source of hope I have on the O-line is when I think about a year ago in the offseason, and everyone's general reaction to what the Texans did at defensive tackle, both in FA and the draft. Remember? We were all so pissed that DT wasn't a focus in the draft and many of us thought Caserio was ignoring the problem, or blind to how big of a deal it was. Then the season happened and that was far from one of our weak spots. Why? Guys like Fatukasi, Mario Edwards Jr and Tim Settle, the same type of bargain basement FA signs that we have seen this offseason at the Oline spots, all performed better than we expected and made our interior defensive line at least average, if not above average. Does that mean it will automatically happen at Oline as well? Of course not, but it is not unreasonable to think that the less heralded vets that have brought in can be good enough for what our offense plans to do this coming season. I have high hopes for Ersery, beyond that I have no idea what to expect from some of the guys we signed. I agree with others that I wish they had brought in Fant. I think he's exactly the type that can bring a veteran stability to a line (and we saw that a couple years ago), but maybe Caserio thinks the same of guys like Laken Tomlinson and Ed Ingram. We'll see, but I think we as fans far too often pin our hopes on the team bringing in rookies that will somehow solve our problems right away, and ignore the contributions of average vets.
Tunsil though arguably the best at his position in the NFL, wasn’t about the team, he was first and foremost about Tunsil. His numbers were outstanding he is naturally a phenomenal talent. But Tunsil made sure his stats would mean more bargaining chips at the end of the season, to renegotiate a contract in place. He hurt the team continually with his false starts, but it wasn’t about winning for Tunsil. For him, it was about having elite numbers…. And when it was brought up that his false starts killed drives, he became irate and condescending (he insincerely said to blame him). Tunsil defense for his selfish attitude was, the OLine May suck, but I ain’t them dudes, I’m shinning despite them fools. I understand that Tunsil was about his future and money, which is commendable. But with salary cap implications, he was not the ideal candidate to take the brunt of the cap. He wasn’t the leader the Texans needed.
You got paid. But you were more concerned with YOUR stats than your team's success. So now you can take your stats elsewhere, we're building a TEAM.
