I THINK WE’RE ALL EXCITED ABOUT THIS TEAM.
Why is Bill O'Brien so optimistic?
John McClain explores what we learned from the Texans’ offseason program
T he Texans’ 2½-month offseason program ended Wednesday with the last day of minicamp, and the team made significant progress in a lot of areas working under the restrictions of a collective bargaining agreement that doesn’t allow contact until training camp.
Coach Bill O’Brien was so excited with his team’s progress that he cancelled the last day of the minicamp — the only part of the program that was mandatory. The next time the players do anything of note will be in White Sulphur Springs, W. Va., where they’ll begin training camp July 25 at The Greenbrier. “We had a very, very good, productive offseason,” O’Brien said. “It’s a very competitive roster. “I think the guys (got) tired of each other a little, going against each other the way we compete. But a lot of good things have come out of it, and we’re looking forward to training camp.”
The Texans have undergone a lot of changes since losing at New England in the divisional round of the playoffs. When they entered the offseason program that included practice on a limited basis, the rookie minicamp, OTAs and the minicamp, the Texans had to show improvement in several particular areas.
We learned a lot about the Texans in the offseason program. The biggest questions on the team — quarterback and the offensive line — were the same entering and leaving the offseason program.
Getting rid of former starting quarterback Brock Osweiler, promoting Tom Savage and drafting Deshaun Watson were moves designed to upgrade a position that’s been plagued by ineptness and inconsistency since O’Brien arrived in 2014.
For the first time since his first season, O’Brien has taken over the play calling on a fulltime basis. He made changes on his staff, including hiring Wes Welker as an offensive assistant and bringing back Bobby King to coach linebackers.
Success or failure at quarterback depends heavily on the performance of an offensive line that was missing its best player.
Left tackle Duane Brown missed the offseason program because of financial reasons. Brown was subject to fines of $80,400 for missing the mandatory minicamp. If he misses training camp, his fines will pile up.
Items of interest
Other things watched closely in the offseason program were players replacing cornerback A.J. Bouye, safety Quintin Demps and outside linebacker John Simon; the impact new defensive coordinator Mike Vrabel has made since being promoted and what they’re doing to improve special teams.
As it is during every offseason program, some players emerged to the coaches’ delight. Now, they’re expected to continue their progress in training camp and preseason that include joint practices against New England and at New Orleans.
“I think we’re all excited about this team,” O’Brien said. “We’re all excited about the way this team is shaping up relative to OTAs and minicamp, what we can be.
“In all three phases, we’re just trying to play fast, so I think that takes simplifying, less thinking, get out there, play at a good tempo, make sure everybody’s on the same page (with) great communication. Let’s not make it too complicated for the players.”
All about QBs
No matter what happens on either side of the ball in O’Brien’s fourth season, nothing will get more attention than the performance of the quarterbacks.
Savage, Watson and veteran Brandon Weeden worked hard and made a positive impression on the coaches.
“Tom is the No. 1 quarterback, but he’s got to earn it every day,” O’Brien said. “Weeden and Deshaun have made Tom better and vice versa.
“I think the quarterback play this spring was very, very good with all of the things that were thrown at us. It’s been good relative to the stages of their careers that they’re in — with Brandon being the oldest and Tom being in his fourth year.
“Deshaun’s been very impressive relative to being a rookie, so it’s a competitive position.”
Savage is No. 1 entering camp for the first time. Because they traded up 12 spots in the first round to get Watson, they have high expectations for him.
Savage and Weeden know O’Brien’s system. Watson has showed he’s a quick learner.
“They’ve all, in their own right – relative to their experience in our system — commanded the offense well,” O’Brien said. “They’ve had their share of mistakes. They see a lot from our defense. I think knowledge of defense for every one of them is going to be very important, and then communication with their teammates is going to be big.
“These guys are working hard at it. They take a lot of mental reps. One of the things that I preach with these guys is that when they’re not in there, let’s make sure we’re taking a mental rep. What would I do on this play, presnap and post-snap, and I think they’re all doing a good job of that.”
Competition up front
Brown’s financial dispute allowed third-year offensive tackle Kendall Lamm to get a lot of repetitions at left tackle. Rookie Julién Davenport, the fourth-round pick, got valuable reps at right tackle.
Center Nick Martin, last year’s second-round pick who spent his rookie season on injured reserve, returned and, along with Greg Mancz, played center and guard.
Perhaps the most improved offensive lineman was guard Chad Slade, who spent last season on the practice squad.
Guards Jeff Allen and Xavier Su’a-Filo had impressive camps, according to the coaches.
“Ideally, when you’re building an offensive line, you always want to keep churning the back end, and that way, it creates competition and depth,” offensive line coach Mike Devin said. “And, hopefully, the cream rises to the top, and you’re always getting better and better.
“Since I’ve been here, this is the first year (where) we have all this depth and competition and all these little battles that no one’s seeing that’s going to make us better overall. They see it, and they work for it. That’s exciting to me.”
Vrabel takes over
On the other side of the ball, Vrabel is putting his stamp on a defense that finished first under Romeo Crennel last season.
“I think he’s ready,” said Crennel, who was promoted to assistant head coach. “He’s organized, and he’s a hard worker. He’s smart, too. Only time will tell, but I think he’ll do very well.”
The players know Vrabel well, of course, after watching him coach linebackers for three seasons. He won’t show what he’s going to do until the regular season begins, but he will have his ideas about the defense and what he wants to accomplish.
“I love it,” Vrabel said about running the defense. “I love being able to stand up in front of the defense and talk to the linebackers, obviously, but also the secondary (and) defensive line and trying to tie all those groups together.
“I think the one thing RAC (Crennel) allowed us to do was coach. He allowed us to coach our positions and take care of our guys and make sure they knew everything they needed to know for practice and games.
“I have to remember to try to give those assistant coaches enough time to get their guys ready for the game and not sit there and overtake the meeting and keep them in there for too long.”
As far what he wants to see from his defense, Vrabel added, “We talk about trying to enhance the things that we do well and then continue, and then try to fix the things that we didn’t do well.
“We didn’t do a very good job of getting turnovers last year, so we’ve tried to make it a point to fix it and improve on it and make it better in the offseason. We’ll see where that goes.
“We have to do better in scoring defense. We have to continue to play well on third down, continue to stop the run like we did late in the season. If we can continue to get three-and-outs like we did last year and give our offense a chance to get the ball back, we can help us win games.”
Seeking something special
The Texans spend a lot of time practicing returning and covering kickoffs and punts, but they were mediocre again last season, Larry Izzo’s first as special teams coordinator.
When Izzo was asked what he wants to improve, he said, “Just more consistent play across the board.
“You’ve got to win the field position battle every week. There were times last year (with) coverage breakdowns. You can never give up points, and we gave up points.
“We turned the ball over, so there’s a lot of things to improve on. The offseason (made) the points of emphasis on what kind of unit we want to have. I feel good about the guys that we have, and it’s a matter of executing on a more consistent level and a better level than last year.”
In other words, the Texans still have a lot of improving to do, despite the coaches’ positive reaction to their performance in the offseason program.