For the third time in his head coaching career, DeMeco Ryans kicked off the offseason training program with a press conference, this time just three days before the upcoming 2025 NFL Draft. Ryans was very easygoing, as he discussed the upcoming draft and just how engrained the culture and his blueprint have become over the 27 months that he’s been head coach of the Texans.
The players viewed as “foundational” for the next generation of Texans football have come into sharp focus over the last few months. The team has extended cornerback Derek Stingley, Jr., safety Jalen Pitre, and defense end Danielle Hunter on big time contracts. It’s just a matter of time before Will Anderson, Jr. and C.J. Stroud join those three as very, very wealthy young men.
With the stated goal being to take the team to “new heights,” i.e. the AFC Title game, at a minimum, in the upcoming season, here were the four most interesting and relevant things Ryans shared on Monday afternoon:
Ryans is excited about Jalen Pitre’s new deal
“[S] Jalen [Pitre] represents everything you wanted in a player, and in a person. He is consistent, hardworking, very dedicated to putting the team first and doing whatever it takes for the team to be successful. He’s been an outstanding young man to work with. So I am fired up for Jalen. Jalen was a truly impact player for us. When he was on the field he all over the place, causing havoc, and we expect to see the same for a long time. So I’m excited for Jalen, happy for him. It is a cool example of a guy who puts his head down, works hard, and does things the right way and he is rewarded for it. That is the beauty in this game and the NFL, what is provides for you and your family. Jalen is a representative of everything you can ask for.”
As we discussed in this space a couple weeks ago, when Pitre got his new deal, there was very little surprise. From the day he walked in the door in 2022, which actually predates Ryans by one full season, Pitre seems to have been earmarked as a future captain and leader for the Texans for the next several seasons. The extension validates that.
The players have become a vessel to carry Ryans’ messaging to new guys on the team.
“We have a really solid group of guys who’ve been here. They understand who I am. They understand my mentality, my approach, and what I expect out of guys. So, it’s not so much of me, so much of messaging on how we do things. Those guys can carry along with the message. Follow [QB] C.J. [Stroud], follow [DE] Will [Anderson Jr.], follow Jalen, follow a lot of guys who done it the right way. They’ve seen how to operate for the past two years. We don’t need to be out there. We know we have really good leadership on our team, guys who do it the right way, guys who bring other guys along, and guys who expect to build a winning culture here. So, if they just follow those guys, they’ll fit in just fine.”
This is the true sign that Ryans’ and Caserio’s blueprint is gaining traction. The Texans have a few dozen guys who don’t leave Houston at all during the offseason, and are in the building working out every day. These are Ryans’ messengers to younger guys or free agents who join the team. Guys like C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson set the tone.
Ryans reiterated that the main thing they are trying to find in evaluating prospects is their love for football.
“The mentality that I’m looking for in guys when I meet them in person, I just want to get a feel for their love for football. That’s really what separates guys, in my mind. You can tell asking the right questions, you can see how dedicated a guy is to really growing and being better, being coachable and wanting to grow. You see the film and how a guy finishes, what effort a guy puts in. What is a guy doing away from football, away from the set schedule? What is he doing to prepare himself on his own as a player? That speaks to me as far as a guy’s mindset and his willingness to play with all-out effort. To play with that physicality that we like to see. So, some guys definitely have it, it can be enhanced in other guys. You just have to get a sense of what guys have been taught as well from their college programs. You can see how you can help guys get better in that regard.”
Vetting a college prospect’s love for football is more important now than ever, given the amount of guaranteed money in NFL contracts. If a guy doesn’t truly love it, then the finish line is not the Super Bowl, it’s the second contract after their rookie deal.
Ryans and Caserio are in synch on drafting “best player available,” as opposed to drafting for need.
“That is always the big talk in the Draft, need and best available. For us, we are going to take the best guy on the board, we won’t just pass up a top player on our board just because we have a need at a certain position. It’s okay to enhance and have a really strong position group if the Draft falls that way. You can in there and there are no handcuffs on we have to draft a certain position and stuck at only looking at that position. We have a broad view of how we want to enhance our team. And it’s not just looking at it in just a tight lens of only one way. If there is a position there, if there is a player that can really changes our team, we are going to take that guy. That is where we talk about not truly drafting for need, we want to take the best players on our board.”
Ryans’ answer is right in line with what Caserio said last week, when the GM was almost defiant about the concept of drafting for need, almost as if doing so were a weakness. It will be interesting to see how this plays out on Thursday night, when the world all thinks they’ll be taking an offensive lineman.
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