Not even one meaningful down has been played by the Houston Texans since Jan. 8, but the team appears to be heading in an entirely new direction.
The DeMeco Ryans effect has taken hold on Kirby Drive. The kickoff of the team’s offseason program April 11 signaled the beginning of Houston’s long climb out of the AFC South basement back to respectability.
“This entire process has been great,” Ryans said. “First coming in, being named head coach, it was awesome, but I know right after that was over it was time to get to work. We had a lot of the work to do.”
The Texans named Ryans coach on Jan. 31. Within a month later, the 38-year-old rookie coach was in Indianapolis at the NFL combine helping evaluate the available prospects who could be targets for the Texans in the 2023 NFL draft. Two weeks later, the Texans were in the midst of free agency.
“When it comes to adding free agents to our team and the draft process, evaluating all the prospects within the draft, it’s a lot of work,” said Ryans. “It’s great having a lot of really good people to help you out with the work. Working with [general manager] Nick (Caserio) has been great. Working with or coaches, that’s been outstanding, everybody having their input. Everybody’s input has been valuable to me to make sure that we’re having a thorough process in everything that we’re doing.”
The Texans have 12 picks in the draft, tied for the most. Their draft capital leads the league.
Meanwhile the veterans under contract are working through Phase 1 of the offseason program. The second phase, which will include more on-field work, starts the week of the draft. Ryans will have to stay balanced.
“It’s a lot of work, but it’s a lot of fun work when you’re doing it with really good people,” Ryans said.
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