Tag: Bradley Roby

Texans CB Bradley Roby excited for fresh start following 2020 suspsension

Following a six-game suspension to end 2020, #Texans CB Bradley Roby is excited about a fresh start in Houston.

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HOUSTON — The ending to Bradley Roby’s season was one of many obstacles he encountered in 2020. Following a Thanksgiving victory against the Detroit Lions, Roby — alongside now ex-teammate Will Fuller — received a six-game suspension for violating the NFL’s P.E.D. policy.

The conviction led to Roby missing the final five games of the season. And the reason why he will miss the Houston Texans’ season opener against the Jacksonville Jaguars — which features a game against his college head coach in Urban Meyer.

Although the suspension put a sour end to Roby’s seventh year in the league, it was also a blessing in disguise. Amid a season full of on-field turmoil that riddled a 4-12 record, the Texans organization was in a snafu state internally. The suspension gave Roby a reason to escape the chaos prematurely.

“I have a strong faith in God and I always feel like every step of the way, he’s always put me in a position to where everything’s going to work out on its own,” Roby said following practice on Thursday. “Last year there was a lot of things going on. It was a lot of things negative in the building. So I think it just pulled me away and gave me a big-picture view. I got to see how I did things wrong. I got to see how a lot of things work, and it just made me mature even more.”

Roby declined to share the negative intangibles that made last season an unpleasant experience. But the Fort Worth native did say he likes the direction the Texans are headed after an off-season full of turnover. He feels everyone from the front office, coaching staff and players are all on the same page.

The extra time off also gave Roby a chance to reflect and work on the man in the mirror. And as he enters his third season in Houston, Roby feels he has matured in certain ways.

A part of Roby’s maturity is understanding that he is one of a handful of veterans inside the Texans’ locker room. One of his primary goals for the upcoming season — besides playing 16 games for the first time since joining the Texans — is to help create a positive culture within the team.

The positivity Roby is trying to entrench will be a pillar of strength to prove that the Texans — especially their defense — are not the worst the league has to offer in 2021.

Roby is one of several defensive backs who have proven the Texans have enhanced their defensive transgressions. Since the start of training camp, Roby has registered a few interceptions at the Houston Methodist Training Center.

“It’s a fresh start, man. The guys that we have brought back are all positive, good guys, and we can start from there. We can start a base and a culture from there because the base and the culture comes from the players. It’s set by the coach, but the players have to carry it out and enforce it. I think the guys that have carried over and the new guys, we’re going to buy in, and I think you’ve got to start from somewhere, and I think it’s a good start.”

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Houston Texans 2021 player profile: CB Bradley Roby

Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby will serve a suspension in Week 1, but he should have a productive 2021 campaign regardless.

Last season, Bradley Roby was arguably the best defensive back on the field for the Houston Texans. In 2020, Roby recorded one of the Texans’ three interceptions on the year, while allowing 29 catches on 45 targets.

In an offseason that saw significant turnover at nearly every position, Roby will be one of few familiar faces returning to the Texans in 2021 — which will result in the Ohio State prodigy improving Houston’s secondary core next season.

As he enters his third campaign with the franchise, here is a quick look at Roby ahead of the 2021 season.

Texans need cornerback Bradley Roby to play as CB1 in 2021

The Houston Texans are relying on cornerback Bradley Roby to be their consistent number one cornerback throughout the 2021 season.

The Houston Texans have only had cornerback Bradley Roby play a total of 20 games through his first two seasons with the AFC South club.

By the numbers, the 10 games a season average is underwhelming compared to his time with the Denver Broncos from 2014-18 when he only missed one game during his entire tenure.

With the Texans changing schemes from a 3-4 to a Tampa 2, new defensive coordinator Lovie Smith still has high expectations for the former 2014 first-round pick from Ohio State.

“Number one, I think he has that skillset to be able to do [cover top receivers],” Smith told reporters on a Zoom call on June 8. “Excellent speed, quickness, change of direction, all of that. He’s a willing tackler. We need him to be our one cornerback as much as anything.”

Roby has provided splash plays for the Texans with three interceptions, including one returned for a touchdown, 15 pass breakups, a forced fumble, a fumble recovery, and 1.0 sack. The Texans will especially need that level of production matched with consistent availability as Houston competes in an AFC South that has just added Julio Jones to the Tennessee Titans.

“The division seems like daily it’s getting stronger at the wide receiver position,” said Smith. “There will be some big challenges that we’ll have. I know most people assume we’re going to play — I hear it always, ‘well, you guys don’t need corners, you play Cover 2 every snap.’ Well, we play a little bit more than Cover 2 every snap.

“We’ll need to be able to match up on the outside and we feel like we’ll have not just Bradley that can do it, but others also.”

The Texans have other cornerbacks on the roster that have the potential to provide effective complements opposite of Roby, including Desmond King, Vernon Hargreaves, Terrance Mitchell, and Tavierre Thomas.

Ten Ohio State football player graduate Sunday during spring commencement

Ohio State held its spring commencement on Sunday and ten Ohio State football players received their degrees.

Sunday was graduation day at Ohio State, and we got to see it all go down in person at the ‘Shoe. That’s a welcome change to all the virtual commencements that became the norm during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We always like to keep tabs on the Buckeye football players that accept their degrees, and this time around there are ten total that received the honor at spring commencement that nobody can take away from them.

University president Kristina M. Johnson presided over two commencements Sunday with JP Morgan Chase chairman and CEO Jamie Dimon making commencement remarks virtually.

“Your celebration comes after a year that was extraordinary by any measure,” Dimon said. “We’ve been through a global pandemic, a global recession, unprecedented government actions, turbulent elections, and deeply felt social and racial injustice. All of you have been affected by COVID-19 in different ways. Your future is bright, but as you grow older it’s inevitable that you will face tough times and failure – both personally and professionally. We all do. How you deal with failure may be the most important thing in whether you succeed.”

Current members of the team who graduated Sunday include Demario McCall (sport industry), Bradley Robinson (human development and family sciences), Mitch Rossi (finance), and Ellijah Gardiner (human development and family sciences).

Ohio State has also seen former players graduate through the Department of Athletics Degree Completion Program (DCP), and Bradly Roby took advantage and walked out with a degree Sunday.

All told, ten former and current players received their degrees:

  • OL Gavin Cupp – Master’s in kinesiology
  • WR Ellijah Gardiner– Human development and family sciences
  • DT Zaid Hamdan – Criminology
  • CB Demario McCall – Sport industry
  • LS Bradley Robinson – human development and family sciences
  • CB *Bradley Roby – Communications
  • TE Mitch Rossi – Finance
  • LB Ben Schmiesing – Finance
  • LB Trayvon Wilburn – Family resource management
  • OT Max Wray – Communications

Congrats to all these Buckeyes that will forever be alumni of one of the greatest educational institutions in the world.

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4 more players the Texans could be cut

The Houston Texans have made roster moves as they get under the salary cap for new league year 2021. Here are four more cut candidates.

The Houston Texans have made moves to get under the salary cap, including cutting locker room leaders such as DE J.J. Watt and C Nick Martin.

Here are four more cut candidates the Texans could release as they prepare for the new league year.

Could the Texans trade CB Bradley Roby in the offseason?

The Houston Texans need some draft picks and salary cap relief, and a quick solution would be to trade cornerback Bradley Roby.

The Houston Texans are a salary cap-strapped football team with a dearth of draft picks in April.

Try to rebuild with that bare cupboard, Nick Caserio.

The Texans are willing to do anything to recover from their disastrous 4-12 season a year ago, including cutting defensive end J.J. Watt, who was set to cost $17.5 million against the team’s salary cap in 2021.

Another move the Texans could explore is trading cornerback Bradley Roby. The former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick is set to make $10.25 million in 2021. If Houston could find a trade partner, they could save $8.25 million on the salary cap, although it would come with the price of paying $2 million in dead money.

One trade partner the Texans could work with is the Cincinnati Bengals, according to a scenario proposed by Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus.

Cincinnati could be in dire need of cornerback help if William Jackson III leaves in free agency, so Roby could fill in opposite Trae Waynes, who missed the 2020 season to injury but should be back in 2021. The Bengals have the resources to pull this off, but they aren’t generally one of the more aggressive teams with trades or free agency.

However, this could be a great opportunity for a discounted trade given Roby’s situation in Houston, and perhaps a fifth-round pick wouldn’t be necessary to get this deal done, with Houston taking a sixth-rounder just to get anything back. 

The Texans would save money, and the Bengals would take on the last two years of Roby’s contract at $19.75 million with no guaranteed money. In Spielberger’s scenario, the Texans would receive a 2021 fifth-round pick in compensation, which may not be enough to pick a quality player, but could be enough to package with other picks to move up and take a player the Texans really need.

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Could Bengals seek Bradley Roby trade with Texans as fallback plan?

A trade proposal between the Cincinnati Bengals and Houston Texans for Bradley Roby looks interesting.

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The Cincinnati Bengals could be looking at another major change at cornerback this offseason with William Jackson headed for free agency.

Could Houston Texans cornerback Bradley Roby be the solution via trade?

This idea comes about a little randomly but is proposed by Brad Spielberger of Pro Football Focus, who notes just how cheap the transaction could end up being for the Bengals:

“However, this could be a great opportunity for a discounted trade given Roby’s situation in Houston, and perhaps a fifth-round pick wouldn’t be necessary to get this deal done, with Houston taking a sixth-rounder just to get anything back.”

Roby, 28, is going into the second year of a three-year extension at a $10.3 million cap hit (there’s an out built into it after the season). He had a weird falling-out with the rebuilding Texans last season before getting suspended for six games for violating the league’s PEDs policy, meaning he’ll miss Week 1 of next season.

The 2014 first-round pick posted a solid 71.6 PFF grade last year, allowing 23 catches on 37 targets and has 10 interceptions on his career.

This is one of many potential fallback ideas for the Bengals if the team can’t get Jackson back under contract. Considering WJ3 is one of the very top corners set to hit the open market, it’s always a possibility the team has to look for help opposite Trae Waynes — who didn’t play a down last year after signing.

Still, Roby’s contract is big, he’d be joining his third pro team already and will miss the first game of the season. There are plenty of other trades, stop-gap free agents or even draft picks the team could make to offset the loss of WJ3.

As always, Cincinnati’s best course of action is probably doing whatever it takes to keep WJ3 and edge-rusher Carl Lawson.

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4 reasons the Texans weren’t as bad as you think in 2020

The Houston Texans’ 4-12 finish from 2020 was abominable, but there were some bright spots during the unsuccessful 16-game campaign.

The Houston Texans finished third in the four-team AFC South, which was a prediction some in the national media had for the defending division champions. The 4-12 record was horrendous and abominable.

Even though the Texans were largely disappointing in 2020, there were some bright spots on the team. Here are four reasons why the 19th season in Texans history wasn’t as bad as it seemed.

Texans S Justin Reid says it will take group effort to replace CB Bradley Roby

Houston Texans safety Justin Reid believes it will take more than one player to replace cornerback Bradley Roby for the final five games of 2020.

The Houston Texans were dealt a challenge on Monday evening when they learned of the suspension of their best cornerback, Bradley Roby.

With the former 2014 Denver Broncos first-round pick out for the final five games and Week 1 of 2021 due to violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy, the Texans will have to find solutions from within.

Safety Justin Reid acknowledges that Roby excels at man coverage, but his absence could present an opportunity for cornerbacks Keion Crossen, Phillip Gaines, Vernon Hargreaves, and John Reid to step up to the challenge.

“Roby is one of our best man coverage players but there’s going to be an opportunity for Keion or Phil or whoever else may be in out there on the field to step up and take some of that effort,” said Reid. “It’s not going to be something that’s going to be replaced by one guy. It’s going to be split between those responsibilities between all the DB’s in the backfield.”

Adversity reveals character, and Reid sees the loss of their best man-cover corner as an opportunity to overcome just another hurdle in the obstacle course of 2020.

Said Reid: “We’re going to make the most out of it. We want to stay true to the defenses that [defensive coordinator] Coach Weave (Anthony Weaver) is calling and plays we’re putting in for them. We’re just going to have to go with that.”

The Texans’ first test without Roby comes against the 7-4 Indianapolis Colts Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium. Part of the Colts’ competitive season that still has them as a strong dark horse to take the AFC South is the play of 39-year-old quarterback Philip Rivers.

“We played Philip last year and had some success against him,” Reid said of the Texans’ 27-20 Week 3 win over Rivers’ old team, the Los Angeles Chargers. “Phil is one of the smartest quarterbacks in the game. He’s going to call out everything that’s going on around him, really take control of the offense.

“The biggest thing is going to be just being sound defensively in both our gap schemes and guys just being with their responsibilities.”

Andre Johnson: ‘Hard thing to see’ Texans WR Will Fuller, CB Bradley Roby suspended

Former Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson says it is difficult to see WR Will Fuller and CB Bradley Roby suspended and out for the year.

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The Houston Texans took a blow on Monday when receiver Will Fuller and cornerback Bradley Roby announced their suspensions for six games for violating the NFL’s performance enhancing drug policy.

Former Texans receiver Andre Johnson told Jake Asman on “The Jake Asman Show” Tuesday that he was shocked by the news.

“I think it’s probably more surprised than anything,” Johnson said. There’s just something you don’t want to see happen. Those are two key players for the team, and just to have them both suspended for the rest of the season was a hard thing to see.”

Johnson, who was with the Texans from 2003-14 and is their inaugural Texans Ring of Honor member, says Fuller and Roby are key parts to the team, and he would be crestfallen if he were a player in the locker room.

While Johnson would not speculate as to what Fuller and Roby were taking that may have triggered their suspensions, the former All-Pro indicated players have to be careful with what goes into their bodies.

Said Johnson: “I really can’t speak what it was they may have or been taking or whatever. I think that’s like the biggest thing, especially now, just guys try to take things to help their body recover and things like that. And it may not be — we may not see it as anything big, but it may contain something that has something in it that’s maybe on the banned substance list. With stuff like that, you just have to try to be careful with going to GNCs and stuff like that and just buy things. But, like I said, I don’t really know what they were taking. I think it’s just something you hate to see.”

The Texans will have to come up with answers quickly at receiver and cornerback as they take on the Indianapolis Colts Sunday at 12:00 p.m. CT at NRG Stadium.