Tag: Texans passing game

DeMeco Ryans says QB Davis Mills has done ‘good job’ with what Texans have asked

Coach DeMeco Ryans says Houston Texans QB Davis Mills has met his requirements for what the team has asked him to do throughout 2023.

DeMeco Ryans’ new era Houston Texans may have to borrow from the frustrating past to get through Week 15.

Rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud may be down with a concussion as the Texans face the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time at Nissan Stadium. If so, Houston will start former 2021 third-rounder Davis Mills for the 27th time.

While much outside focus has been on Stroud, internal attention has been given to Mills, like every player, throughout the year.

Ryans knows what the Texans have.

“Davis has done a good job with everything that we’ve asked him to do,” Ryans told reporters Wednesday. “He’s done a really good job of just leading in his own right, just seeing him on our scout team, just seeing how he helps out — helps us out with the defensive looks. He’s done a really good job of what he’s been asked to do.”

Mills will be asked to lead Houston to a win over the Titans and keep the Texans’ playoff hopes alive. At 7-6, the Texans are part of the “in the hunt” category and are the provisional No. 8 seed — meaning they would miss the playoffs.

The former Stanford product led Houston to a 19-14 victory over Tennessee in Week 16 last season when the Titans were 7-7 and grasping on their evaporating lead in the AFC South. The loss helped Tennessee falter in Week 18 and lose their division lead and playoff spot entirely.

Experience can be the best teacher.

Said Ryans: “If you’ve been there, you’ve done it and you’re not making the moment bigger than it should be. Experience helps us all. So, you would like to think that experience would definitely help out.”

Mills went 17-of-28 for 178 yards, a touchdown, an interception, and posted a 72.6 passer rating in the win over Tennessee.

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Texans fans react to QB Davis Mills leading first team offense

Houston Texans fans weren’t too pleased to hear Davis Mills was leading the first team offense on Wednesday.

The Houston Texans had a great thing going with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, and then a concussion hit when the No. 2 overall pick took a sack against the New York Jets in Week 14.

Stroud went from the MetLife Stadium surface to concussion protocol. Third-year Davis Mills, an emblem of the franchise’s on-field struggles the past two seasons, finished out the game. The former 2021 third-rounder may also start at the Tennessee Titans Sunday at 12:00 p.m. Central Time if Stroud isn’t able to clear protocol.

Midweek indications are Stroud won’t. Mills was spotted taking the first team snaps.

Here are some of the best social media reactions to come from Texans fans, who are no doubt heartbroken at the possibility of not having Stroud under center in Week 15.

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Texans trip to No. 10 in Touchdown Wire NFL power rankings

The Houston Texans lost positioning in the NFL power rankings following their loss to the New York Jets.

The Houston Texans took it on the chin 30-6 against the New York Jets in Week 14. With such a resounding loss, one would expect the Texans to tumble in any power poll. The determining factor would be how far.

According to Jarrett Bailey from the Touchdown Wire, the Texans’ regrettable episode against the Jets didn’t hurt their reputation too bad as they dropped just one spot down to No. 10 in the latest rankings.

That was Houston’s worst loss all season, but it came on the road in bad weather and without their best receiver. They will have to adjust to life without Tank Dell.

Houston has had games without Dell before and succeeded. The Texans ran into a ferocious defense. The Jets’ offense has always been a problem; the defense has been giving opponents problems.

Across the rest of the AFC South, the Tennessee Titans finished No. 26. The Indianapolis Colts managed to place No. 17. The Jacksonville Jaguars finished ahead of the Texans at No. 9.

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Texans Week 13 inactives: Dalton Schultz notably OUT vs. Broncos

Texans TE Dalton Schultz has been ruled out for Sunday’s game vs. Broncos.

The Houston Texans released their inactives for their Week 13 matchup against the Denver Broncos before kickoff on Sunday.

Quarterback Case Keenum, wide receiver Xavier Hutchinson, running back Mike Boone, defensive end Myjai Sanders, guard Nick Broeker and tight end Dalton Schultz were listed as inactive for the contest.

Keenum, Sanders and Broeker respectively have often found themselves inactive for this season. Boone has served exclusively in a backup capacity at running back while assisting on special teams. Hutchinson, albeit occasionally featured, has struggled to climb the depth chart as a sixth-round rookie in Houston’s talented passing offense.

Schultz stands alone as a major inactive for the Texans. His capable blocking and natural connection with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud have been a key element to Houston’s passing game. In his place, tight end Brevin Jordan will be asked to step up.

The Texans and Broncos kick things off at 12 p.m. CT on CBS.

Texans TE Brevin Jordan has a career-defining opportunity on Sunday

For the first time, Texans TE Brevin Jordan will have the opportunity to play significant snaps with QB C.J. Stroud.

It was a curious sight when Texans tight end Dalton Schultz disappeared in the fourth quarter last week.

Down late against the rival Jacksonville Jaguars, with an AFC South lead on the line, many would have expected to see the star free-agent tight end featured. Schultz has had an easy connection with rookie quarterback C.J. Stroud, and it’s led to 40 catches for 455 yards and five touchdowns. Schultz actually leads the teams in routes run with 298.

Instead, it was third-year tight end Brevin Jordan.

Jordan, a fifth-round pick during Nick Caserio’s debut 2021 NFL draft, had 14 routes to Schultz’s three and significantly out-snapped the veteran. It was no surprise when Schultz appeared on Wednesday’s injury report with a hamstring injury. He proceeded to miss the rest of the week with practice and has already been declared out for the Texans’ must-win contest against the Denver Broncos.

It has left Houston without one of their most reliable receiving targets and in-line blockers. It’s also gifted Jordan with the biggest opportunity of his career.

For the first time, Jordan will have the opportunity to play significant snaps with Stroud. He hasn’t played over 50 percent of snaps during the 2023 campaign and, in the two years prior, has only topped 60 percent of the snaps just three times.

Houston loves their 11-personnel and 21-personnel packages, accounting for 80 percent of their plays, and it’s reasonable to expect Brevin should easily top these totals for the most involved game of his career. The question now is what can he do with that opportunity?

Even Jordan acknowledged the importance of Sunday’s game for him when interviewed on Sports Radio 610.

When asked if this was the biggest game of his career, he told the “In the Loop” listeners: “Damn straight.”

If Jordan can play a strong game on Sunday, it could be a revelation for Houston. In the short term, it would give the Texans two viable tight ends and potentially open doors for more diverse groupings and plays with two tight end sets. In the long term, it would provide Houston with yet another dynamic young pass catcher.

Financially, there are some even deeper meanings. Jordan is entering the last year of his rookie contract while Schultz is set to be a free agent once again after this season. Any emergence from Jordan during Schultz’s absence could create significant flexibility with how they have to prioritize extending the veteran and could play a huge factor in how his own eventual extension turns out.

Many tight ends dream of having a featured role with a quarterback playing at the level of Stroud right now. It’s the chance to not only see strong volume but to show a contribution to one of the league’s best offenses when firing on all cylinders.

Jordan will have just that on Sunday. Now to see if he can deliver on that promise and help Houston take a pole position in the AFC Wild Card race.

Could Tank Dell break Andre Johnson’s Texans rookie record?

Tank Dell is approaching Andre Johnson’s record for the most receiving yards by a Texans rookie

Tank Dell is on a roll.

Since he was drafted 69th overall from the University of Houston to his home town team, Dell has made a name for himself. Whether that was immediately making noise as the wide receiver that fellow rookie C.J. Stroud wanted to play with or exploding in his pre-season debut against the New England Patriots.

To no one’s surprise, that momentum has carried into the Texans fabulous debut season under new head coach DeMeco Ryans. Dell has 47 receptions for 709 yards and seven touchdowns on the season. It’s a huge part of why C.J. Stroud has cemented the NFL Rookie of the Year Award with some calling him the greatest rookie quarterback of all time. It’s additionally been an undeniable factor in how Houston finds themselves at 6-5 and firmly in the AFC wild-card picture.

Dell is likely to be gifted with an All-Rookie selection in addition to playing in Houston’s first playoff game since 2019. The possibility of a Pro Bowl nod from fans he’s helped fuel to huge fantasy campaigns. There is one accomplishment, however, that can’t be ignored.

For a franchise that’s boasted All-Pros like Andre Johnson and DeAndre Hopkins, Dell looks set to take Houston’s rookie records.

Dell already surpassed Johnson with his seventh touchdown against Jacksonville to take the record for most touchdown receptions by a Texans rookie. Next up, the total yardage landmark looks well within reach for Dell.

Johnson holds the record currently with 976 yards in 2003, Hopkins himself boasted 802 in 2013. Now, one decade after Hopkins and two decades after Johnson, Dell looks like he may obliterate those totals.

He’ll need just 267 yards over the team’s next six games to pass the record. At his current pace, he could very likely pass that total with two or three games remaining on the schedule. It would be a fitting ending to see Dell’s campaign end as Houston’s first ever rookie wide receiver to have 1,000 yards.

Fans will have to keep watching Dell’s explosive offensive output alongside rookie phenomenon C.J. Stroud. Houston’s offense has never looked better.

 

Texans TE Brevin Jordan took more fourth quarter snaps than Dalton Schultz

The snap counts indicate that Brevin Jordan saw more playing time with the Houston Texans in the fourth quarter of Week 12 than did Dalton Schultz.

The unique self-centeredness of fantasy football can still be beneficial to the framework of rooting for any one of the NFL’s 32 teams. With the amount of stats that fantasy managers track, they are bound to find trends that could help fans.

According to Nathan Jahnke from Pro Football Focus, one trend that seems to be developing on the Houston Texans is third-year Brevin Jordan getting snaps over six-year veteran Dalton Schultz, who signed a one-year contract in free agency.

Jordan had 16-of-20 tight end snaps, and just one short of Schultz’ 22 snaps in 11 personnel. The former Dallas Cowboys 2018 fourth-rounder was playing over 10 times more snaps in 11 personnel than Jordan over the previous 11 weeks, according to Jahnke.

Fantasy managers would no doubt want to keep tabs on the situation. However, it would be a fascinating position battle for Texans fans to watch to see if one of their younger players can solidify a starting spot. Jordan caught one pass for nine yards on two targets compared to Schultz’s one for two on two targets.

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Texans QB C.J. Stroud prides himself on teammates’ success

Houston Texans quarterback C.J. Stroud enjoys being the catalyst for his teammates’ success on the football field.

What spectators have noticed about C.J. Stroud is his penchant for ball distribution. What the Houston Texans rookie quarterback can’t tell anyone is when the talent specifically developed.

The No. 2 overall pick met with reporters Nov. 22 and reflected on when he discovered his trait for effective ball distribution.

“Probably, honestly, growing up and playing in the street, kind of whoever was open was going to get the ball,” said Stroud. “I don’t know, I like to feed my guys that put in work every week, and I see it, physically. I get to see them work their tail off from the morning all the way until we leave here, and on top of that, dudes are watching film at home. So, I take pride in getting guys paid and making them feel their worth on the field.”

Nico Collins is enjoying the benefits of Stroud with 43 catches for 696 yards and four touchdowns. Rookie receiver Tank Dell is not far behind with 42 catches for 659 yards and a team-high six touchdowns. Even free agent Noah Brown is on the verge of matching career highs from a year ago with 21 catches for 439 yards and a touchdown.

The furthest Stroud believes he developed the ball distribution knack was at Rancho Cucamonga High School in southern California.

Said Stroud: “I don’t know, I’ve probably been thinking like that since high school. Guys wanting to get scholarships and stuff like that, my friends. These are my best friends at the time, so it probably would have meant even more. And just like I cared then, I care about that now. So, it’s been really cool to see every week somebody doing really well.”

The Texans get back into action Sunday against the Jacksonville Jaguars with a 12:00 p.m. Central Time kickoff from NRG Stadium.

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Texans coach DeMeco Ryans wants C.J. Stroud to keep attacking

Houston Texans coach DeMeco Ryans would prefer QB C.J. Stroud continue driving the ball downfield so long as he learns from his mistakes.

C.J. Stroud threw three interceptions in the 21-16 win over the Arizona Cardinals in Week 11. The Houston Texans’ rookie even underscored that he would keep shooting — a la, Stephen Curry — and stay aggressive with his reads.

Coach DeMeco Ryans has no problem with Stroud staying aggressive, albeit with a significant caveat: learning from the mistakes.

“I love C.J.’s attitude about him continuing to shoot like Curry, and that’s the only way you continue to get better,” Ryans told reporters Nov. 20. “You learn from your mistakes, and you continue to attack it, and that’s how I want C.J. to approach the game. I want him to approach the game with an ‘attack first’ mindset, and we’re not going to hold back just because he made mistakes.”

While Stroud had three interceptions, his 27-for-37 for 336 yards and two touchdowns were effective enough to win Houston its third straight and setup a first-place division matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 12 at NRG Stadium.

“He also made a lot of big plays for us in that game,” said Ryans. “So, we won’t let three or four negative plays affect how he plays the game. We continue to trust him, continue to lean on him and his leadership and what he’s done for our offense. We’re in a position that we’re in because of his play, and we’ll continue to lean on him.”

Kickoff with the Jaguars is at 12:00 p.m. Central Time.

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Texans glad to stack wins, committed to improvement

The Houston Texans are pleased to be winners again, but they have not lost focus on improving the finer aspects of their craft.

HOUSTON — The Houston Texans beat the Arizona Cardinals 21-16 in Week 11 for their third-straight victory, the longest since 2018 when the club won nine straight en route to an AFC South title.

The following season the Texans defended their division crown with a 10-win season. Many believed that the team would continue the momentum of becoming a team to be reckoned with in the AFC, including offensive lineman Tytus Howard, who was Houston’s 2019 first-round draft pick from Alabama State.

Howard, 27, had a valid reason to believe so, given the two-time Pro Bowl quarterback under center and coach Bill O’Brien putting together a roster that looked like it could sustain the test of some of the most formidable opponents in the conference.

No one could foresee what would happen next with the quick downward spiral the team would take over the next couple of seasons. The Texans gave O’Brien general manager duties as well, and then fired him after losing his first four games of the season. The Texans picked associate head coach Romeo Crennel as the interim.

 

The star quarterback became disgruntled with the direction the franchise was headed and would soon find himself in some legal trouble after being accused of sexual assault and harassment by multiple women. He would eventually be traded after sitting out the entire 2021 season. The tumultuous times would continue for Howard and his teammates as they combined to win 11 total games over the next three seasons after winning 10 in his first season.

It’s funny how a rookie quarterback with veteran tendencies and a head coach who truly believes in his players can turn an organization around and get the players who have been with the Texans over the last three years to buy into what is being built for the future. Only four current players, which include Howard, Laremy Tunsil, Jon Weeks, and Ka’imi Fairbairn, remain from the 2019 team.

Sunday’s victory over the Cardinals was the sixth win of the season and puts Houston just one game out of first place behind their next opponent and AFC South foe, Jacksonville Jaguars.

“It feels good,” said Howard about the team’s success throughout the first 11 weeks of the regular season. “We just have to keep stacking them [wins]. The energy of the crowd is great, but it feels great to be back to winning. We have to keep picking up on the little things we have to fix and keep this thing rolling.”

Howard wasn’t the only one smiling in the locker room on Sunday. Texans wide receiver Nico Collins, who was drafted in the third round of the 2021 NFL Draft out of the University of Michigan, has seen a lot of dark days with the organization with the uncertainty of the direction the team was heading. With two more victories on the season, Collins would have surpassed the seven combined since he was drafted.

“It feels so good because we know the hard work and grind we are putting in that people don’t see,” said Collins, who finished the day with seven catches for 65 yards in the win. “To get this win, it feels good because we really needed it. I feel like it is building momentum for the next game and the game after that.”

“We are just building with each other and building chemistry and just bonding. I feel like that is playing a huge part on the field, and we are just going to continue to grow.”

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