Tag: Charles Omenihu

NFL Playoffs: Secret Superstars of the wild-card round — the defense

Which unknown players will step up in the wild-card round? Here are this week’s Secret Superstars on the defensive side of the ball.

If your team is going to win a Super Bowl, at some point along that ride, your team will have to get at least one remarkable postseason performance from a player nobody saw coming. Yes, we all expect the big names to come up big in big moments in big games, and other attendant cliches, but somewhere along the line, you will need a Secret Superstar to get the job done.

If you expected Buffalo Bills receiver Gabe Davis to go off for four touchdown catches against the Kansas City Chiefs in the 2021 divisional round, you should probably be working for a team. Because, with all due respect to Davis, I don’t think even the Bills were expecting that.

The same could be said for Houston Oilers defensive back Vernon Perry in the divisional round of the 1979 playoffs against the San Diego Chargers of Don Coryell and Dan Fouts. The undrafted rookie from Jackson State picked off four of Fouts’ passes, and blocked a field goal for good measure. As the game ended 17-14 in Houston’s favor, that block was as important as any of the picks.

You get the idea. At some point in the wild-card round of the upcoming playoffs, there will be at least one player whose name you don’t know who will pop up on the screen, and grab your attention. Here are my most likely players to do just that on the defensive side of the ball; the Secret Superstars on offense for the wild-card round can be found here.

NFL Playoffs: Secret Superstars of the wild-card round — the offense

And here’s the wild-card schedule for all who are curious; I tried to focus on repeat matchups as much as possible.

NFL sets Super Wild-Card Weekend schedule: Times, days, and networks

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How San Francisco 49ers DC DeMeco Ryans created the NFL’s best defense

San Francisco 49ers defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans has built the NFL’s best defense. Here’s how that happened.

The San Francisco 49ers have done all kinds of remarkable things on defense this season, but this Deommodore Lenoir sack of Matthew Stafford with 45 seconds left in the 49ers’ 24-9 Monday night thrashing of the defending Super Bowl champion Los Angeles Rams really stood out.

The Rams had third-and-13 from their own 30-yard line, and San Francisco defensive coordinator DeMeco Ryans was dialing up some STUFF. Pre-snap, safeties Tashaun Gipson and Talanoa Hufanga flipped deep coverage, with Gipson coming down from single-high, and Hufanga replacing him. That put Gipson in the right slot, but post-snap, when you think he’d cover Cooper Kupp upfield, Gipson instead carried Kupp to linebacker Fred Warner, who somehow (I don’t know how) matched Kupp 25 yards through the seam over the middle. Warner had come from a blitz look to do so. So, Gipson was now free to come back down and cover the flat, eliminating Stafford’s hot route to tight end Tyler Higbee.

There was a blitz, but it wasn’t the one Stafford likely expected. Lenoir, who looked to be in press position on Kupp, flew right by the receiver to the quarterback, making up for the fact that Warner and fellow linebacker Dre Greenlaw had dropped into coverage. Higbee gave Lenoir a “good job, good effort” chip on the way to his route, but that wasn’t enough. At all.

Meanwhile, cornerbacks Emmanuel Moseley and Charvarius Ward had their receivers Ben Skowronek and Allen Robinson, respectively) covered tight all the way up in a twisted version of Cover-3. Had Lenoir not gotten to Stafford first, edge-rusher Nick Bosa was on his way there, terrorizing the Rams’ offensive line with a multi-gap stunt — Bosa started head-up over Higbee, and finished the play wrestling with left guard Bobby Evans.

After watching this 4-D zone exchange, I came to one simple conclusion:

The amount of coordination that goes into these plays — the tying of specific skill sets to scheme — has worked so well for Ryans’ defense. And that’s as much about coaching as it is about execution.

The 49ers currently rank first in Football Outsiders’ Defensive DVOA metric — fourth against the pass, first against the run. They’ve done it with established stars like Bosa and Warner and Greenlaw, but they’ve also done it with under-the-radar defenders like Gipson (who hasn’t allowed a single catch on four targets this season), Hufanga (who’s playing like an embryonic Troy Polamalu these days), edge-rushers Samson Ebukam and Charles Omenihu (who have 14 and 13 total pressures in the young season, respectively), and Ward (who’s excelled as the 49ers’ most-targeted defensive back).

Head coach Kyle Shanahan knows exactly who’s responsible for his top-tier defense, as his offense struggles to transcend Jimmy Garoppolo’s ceiling.

“DeMeco is so naturally talented and he’s good at everything he’s ever done and he really understands football,” Shanahan said of his defensive coordinator the day after the Rams game. “He did as a player, he did as a quality control in his first year. He did as a linebacker coach and he has as a coordinator and he was good right away. But anytime you have someone who does have those type abilities, the more reps they get, like everybody, they get better.

“You go through experiences and you learn from the good and the bad and that’s what’s pretty neat about DeMeco because he was going to be good regardless, but just watching him throughout last year, each game, each quarter he learned something. And he’s always trying to think and always trying to challenge his players, but always trying to keep it simple, too. And it’s where it at least seems simple and that’s why he gets better every game that he goes.”

The SEC Defensive Player of the Year for Alabama in 2005. A linebacker for the Houston Texans and Philadelphia Eagles from 2006-2015. The AP Defensive Rookie of the Year. A two-time Pro Bowler, and then, a defensive quality control coach and linebackers coach for the 49ers before he became defensive coordinator in 2021. Ryans has succeeded over and over in football, he’s gotten better at his current job as Shanahan said, and his defense obviously reflects that.

But what is DeMeco Ryans doing that has the rest of the NFL in an absolute tizzy?

List of former Longhorns who will participate in the NFL playoffs

Texas will be well represented in this year’s NFL playoffs.

The NFL wrapped up another eventful regular season on Sunday.

The league battled COVID-19 all year long but found a way to make it to the postseason without any cancelations. It was also a successful year for many former Longhorns.

Justin Tucker, Quandre Diggs and Devin Duvernay were named to the 2022 Pro Bowl. D’Onta Foreman proved himself as a valuable running back while replacing Derrick Henry for the Titans and Colt McCoy picked up a few victories for his Cardinals.

The Wildcard round is now officially upon us as we are slated for six games this weekend.

Texas fans watching the playoffs will see some familiar faces on the field.

Of the 33 former Horns on active rosters, nine will participate in this year’s NFL playoffs. Five from the NFC and four from the AFC.

Take a look at a full list of Texas exes who will start their journey to the Lombardi trophy this weekend:

Texans S Justin Reid laments losses of DE Charles Omenihu, CB Vernon Hargreaves

Houston Texans S Justin Reid wishes DE Charles Omenihu and CB Vernon Hargreaves didn’t have to go, but understands it is part of the business.

The Houston Texans made moves surrounding the Nov. 2 trade deadline to better position their roster for the future.

The Texans traded defensive end Charles Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers for a conditional 2022 sixth-round pick just before the deadline. Houston also released cornerback Vernon Hargreaves a day later.

For safety Justin Reid, the release of Hargreaves and the trading of Omenihu hurt.

“Vernon’s a good friend of mine, I hate to see him go,” said Reid. “He’s going to have an opportunity to play somewhere because he’s a good player. We’re just trying to figure it out on the back end, find the best combination to eliminate those missed tackles, stop the big plays and find a way to play a tighter defense.”

Omenihu was the Texans’ 2019 fifth-round pick from Texas and brought some energy to the locker room, according to Reid.

“He came from Texas, he was always a ball of energy, too, when he was in the locker room; a good personality, a good character guy,” Reid said. “But like I said, this is a business.”

The Texans got the ball rolling on personnel moves earlier in the season with the trading of cornerback Bradley Roby to the New Orleans Saints. Houston traded running back Mark Ingram in late October.

Nevertheless, for Reid, it is part of life in pro football.

“Those are all great guys, but that’s just what the NFL is,” Reid said.

Winners and losers from the Texans after the trade deadline

The Houston Texans made it past the 2021 NFL trade deadline. Here are the winners and losers after the fact.

The NFL trade deadline has passed.

The deadline was Nov. 2, and the Houston Texans only made one move on the actual date with defensive end Charles Omenihu going to the San Francisco 49ers.

So much of the NFL is played outside the lines, not just inside stadiums 60 minutes each week. Houston has been losing outside the lines for years as the Bill O’Brien era wrapped up, and the Nov. 2 deadline represented an opportunity for the Texans to start winning again.

Some deals were made. Some deals fell through. Some just need a little more time. Here are the winners and losers from the trade deadline.

49ers announce DL Charles Omenihu trade along with several roster moves

The #49ers announced 6 other roster moves when they made the trade for DL Charles Omenihu official.

The 49ers on Tuesday officially announced the acquisition of defensive lineman Charles Omenihu along with a bevy of other roster moves as they set themselves to make additions with their injury situation improving.

Omenihu was acquired from the Houston Texans in exchange for a sixth-round pick in 2023. In 35 games since joining the Texans in 2019 as a fifth-round pick from the University of Texas, Omenihu has 80 pressures and 7.0 sacks per Pro Football Reference. His 16 pressures this season would rank him third on the 49ers behind Nick Bosa and Arik Armstead.

He spent most of his time in Houston playing on the edge, but at 6-5,  280 pounds he could play a role like Arik Armstead where he bounces around the defensive line based on the situation.

San Francisco announced six other roster moves when they made the trade official. While none of the moves in a vacuum will directly impact the team, they’re a sign that the club’s health is improving at a crucial point in their season. These are the other moves and what they mean for the 49ers:

Texans trade DE Charles Omenihu to the 49ers

The Texans traded Charles Omenihu just before the deadline.

Just before the NFL trade deadline, the Houston Texans traded young pass-rusher Charles Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers. Continue reading “Texans trade DE Charles Omenihu to the 49ers”

What Charles Omenihu offers the San Francisco 49ers

The San Francisco 49ers have traded for pass rusher Charles Omenihu. What are they getting from the Texans?

The NFL trade deadline looms, and some organizations are finding ways to add to their rosters and potentially bolster playoff chances. Other teams are looking to build for the future, by moving players and adding draft capital for the next draft cycle.

One of the teams in the second category is the Houston Texans. After trading Mark Ingram last week to the New Orleans Saints, the organization has made another move, sending young pass rusher Charles Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers.

Omenihu was drafted in the fifth round of the 2019 NFL draft, after a draft cycle that saw him generate a bit of buzz in the weeks leading up to the draft. Often, buzz does not translate into a draft spot, nor NFL success. Over his short stint in Houston, Omenihu recorded seven sacks, three as a rookie in 2019 and four last season.

So what are the 49ers getting?

Potential.

This season, despite not recording a sack, Omenihu has notched 17 quarterback pressures, according to Pro Football Focus. Diving into those plays illustrates a pass rusher who can play on the edge or in the interior, and who brings strength, power and a high motor to the table.

We can start with this play from Houston’s Week 1 victory over the Jacksonville Jaguars:

Omenihu aligns as a 5-technique, on the outside shoulder of the right tackle, and in a four-point stance. Off the snap he slants to the inside, using a quick first step to get leverage against the tackle and slice into the B-gap. He then fights through a double-team, as the guard fans to the outside and tries to help the tackle. Undaunted, Omenihu works his way towards quarterback Trevor Lawrence and forces a high through under pressure, which falls incomplete.

On this play against the Arizona Cardinals, Omenihu aligns as more of a 4-technique, head up on the right tackle. His quickness off the snap shows up again as he slices to the inside and collapses the pocket:

The pressure from Omenihu forces quarterback Kyler Murray off the spot, and while the quarterback tries to scramble, he is eventually brought down by Jonathan Greenard for the sack. Omenihu’s quick move to the inside and interior penetration first threw off the timing of the route, as Murray had to vacate the pocket quickly, and led to the sack.

Omenihu’s quick first step to the inside was a factor in this sack of Murray from that Week 7 meeting:

The defender starts in a wide alignment, on the outside of the wing tight end to the right side of the offense. But as we saw on the two previous examples, he slices to the inside on what looks to be a Pirate stunt, with the end (Omenihu) and the defensive tackle slanting to the inside while the nose tackle loops around them to the edge.

When Omenihu slides to the inside, he takes on both the guard and the tackle. Despite the double-team block, he powers through them both to again force Murray off the spot. DeMarcus Walker, the looping defender, eventually gets home to clean the play up with a sack.

Looking back at last season, the Texans even used Omenihu aligned over the center in some pass rush situations, letting him work against centers and guards in the interior. On this 3rd and 6 play against the Baltimore Ravens, Omenihu aligns as a 0-technique, head up on the center. He attacks into the A-Gap between the center and the right guard, and fights his way to Lamar Jackson for the sack:

Then there is this sack against Ryan Tannehill and the Tennessee Titans, where Omenihu aligns as a 3-technique, outside the left shoulder of the guard, and gets home with a cross-chop move along the outside of the guard and into the B-Gap:

So far, all of the plays we have looked at feature Omenihu either slicing to the inside using that quick first step, or aligning on the inside. There are also examples of him operating on the edge, and working to the outside. While the bulk of his success has come with him either aligning on the interior or slanting that way, there is potential for him off the edge.

Take this play against the New England Patriots from 2020, working against left tackle Isaiah Wynn:

Omenihu is shows impressive technique here with his hands, fighting with Wynn around the arc and preventing the left tackle from getting into his frame at any point. The defender then flattens his path towards the quarterback, showing good bend around the edge, and he forces Cam Newton off his spot. Newton’s eventual pass attempt is off the mark, and falls incomplete.

Or take this example against Green Bay from last season, as he again works to the outside against the left tackle:

Omenihu uses a long-arm technique to try and control the LT, as he drives his way towards Aaron Rodgers. He gets close enough that the QB bails the pocket and away from Omenihu, but the defender disengages from the tackle and tracks Rodgers down, getting in a shot on the QB and creating an incompletion.

The 49ers do have some productive players off the edges, including Nick Bosa and Dee Ford. Omenihu offers them some depth on the edge, but also a player who can align inside and work against guards and centers, as we have seen. Putting him in some sub packages with Bosa and Ford on the outside might be what the 49ers are envisioning. That would create some potential favorable matchups for him in the interior, and give the 49ers that inside pressure that can be disruptive for opposing offenses to handle.

Plus, quarterbacks hate that. And if you, as a defensive coordinator or player, are doing thins that QBs hate, that’s usually a good thing.

Texans failed to get the best from DE Charles Omenihu

The Houston Texans didn’t get the best that they could have from defensive end Charles Omenihu.

The Houston Texans had been intending to trade defensive end Charles Omenihu leading up to the Nov. 2 deadline, and they finally found a willing partner with the San Francisco 49ers.

As part of the rebuilding process, the Texans parted ways with their former 2019 fifth-round pick from Texas, sending Omenihu to the NFC West club.

Omenihu had a decent track record coming into 2021. In his rookie season, he produced 3.0 sacks, two tackles for loss, five quarterback hits, two forced fumbles, and two pass breakups among his 13 combined tackles in 14 games. Recall some of this was done without J.J. Watt on the field, who tore his pectoral just before halftime against the Oakland Raiders in Week 8.

In 2020, Omenihu followed up with 4.0 sacks, 17 combined tackles, five tackles for loss, and a whopping 16 quarterback hits.

Albeit the Texans went from a 3-4 to a Tampa 2 scheme under new defensive coordinator Lovie Smith, Omenihu’s progress stopped. The third-year player had 11 combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and three quarterback hits in six games, two of which he started.

However, it is the two games Omenihu wasn’t active that tell the tale.

Omenihu was inactive from Weeks 5-6 with defensive coordinator Lovie Smith saying after the New England Patriots loss that it was simply practice that influenced them to dress defensive end Jordan Jenkins and not Omenihu.

“Each week, it’s a different combination that you’re going with,” said Smith on Oct. 13. “Sometimes the numbers, we keep track of the plays. If you dress, we want you to get about — all players get about the same amount of plays. The situation kind of dictated a little bit. But Chuck (Omenihu) has been doing a good job. It’s just the numbers hadn’t allowed him to play.”

The numbers — just a luck of the draw. Lady luck just didn’t favor Omenihu that week in a cosmic game of musical chairs in the defensive line room.

Even when the club released Whitney Mercilus, an outside linebacker turned defensive end that wasn’t adapting to putting his hand in the dirt, Omenihu’s playing time was still subject to practice.

“It’s just practice, and how they practice,” coach David Culley said. “We always make that decision after a week of practice, especially when you have that many guys rotating throughout the year. We basically, on Friday make a decision based on how we do in practice of who is down and who is up. And for us at that position, we’re always having someone down who could be up, deserves to be up but because of the room and the space we are always going to have one guy down that maybe should be up.”

Jenkins provided Houston with six combined tackles, a tackle for loss, and a quarterback hit in place of Omenihu during Weeks 5-6.

The real star of the Texans’ defensive line is defensive end Jonathan Greenard, who leads the team with 7.0 sacks after producing just 1.0 in his rookie year in 2020.

The Texans had one of the steals of the late rounds in the 2019 draft. General manager Nick Caserio and assistant directors of player personnel James Liipfert and Matt Bazirgan better produce a player as good or better than what they had in Omenihu.

Texans trade DE Charles Omenihu to the 49ers

The Houston Texans have traded defensive end Charles Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers.

HOUSTON — After two and a half seasons, the Houston Texans have traded defensive end Charles Omenihu to the San Francisco 49ers, according to Ian Rapoport of NFL Network. In exchange, the Texans will receive a future late-rounder from the 49ers — details have yet to be announced.

Omenihu was drafted by the Texans during the fifth round of the 2019 NFL Draft as a prodigy from The University of Texas. Oemnihu was once projected as the future of Houston’s defensive line, but struggled to find snaps when the Texans converted to a 4-2 defense under new defensive coordinator Lovie Smith.

Omenihu’s struggles resulted in diminished snaps and two healthy scratches, which produced a growing discontent between himself and the Texans’ organization.

In 35 career games with seven starts, Omenihu recorded 41 tackles, 24 quarterback hits and 7.0 sacks as a member of the Texans.