We know, thus far at least, that it’s been a miserable baseball season here in Houston. The Astros can’t find any degree of consistency, and it seems like when they welcome one guy back from the Injured List, another guy gets hurt and goes on the list. It’s been brutal.
Thankfully, it appears our NFL team has turned a corner, and given us reasons to get excited about literally everything they do. Free agency? Crushed it. NFL Draft? Nailed it. Want a big trade? Welcome in, Stefon Diggs! New uniforms, anybody? Oh yeah, those were dope, too. Thus, if there were ever a time to get amped for rookie minicamp, it’s 2024, baby!
The Houston Texans rookie class — nine draftees, six undrafted free agents, and a handful of tryout bodies — hit the practice field on Friday and Saturday. There’s no pads or tackling in minicamp, and the small number of bodies limits the types of drills they can do. However, it’s SOMETHING football related, so I was excited to watch!
The Friday session was open to the media, so here are four observations for you from our first look at the newest batch of Houston Texans:
Continuity was palpable
As I was watching the coaching staff work with the young players on Friday, it dawned on me that this is the first rookie minicamp I’ve attended since May 2019 in which the coaching staff was the same group (aside from a few position coaches) as the season before. That’s how much disruption, some caused by the pandemic and some their own doing, that the Texans have experienced in the last five years. In 2020, there was no rookie minicamp because of COVID. In 2021, David Culley had his only rookie minicamp. In 2022, Lovie Smith had his only one. Last season was Ryans’ first, hopefully first of many. Simply put, it was nice to see the same staff at rookie camp two years in a row. Very nice.
Private lessons
As I mentioned earlier, the numbers at rookie minicamp are sparse, maybe 20 bodies total. One side benefit of the small numbers, though, is that some guys are essentially getting private coaching for a few days. Cade Stover, rookie tight end out of Ohio State, is literally the only tight end. Kamari Lassiter, cornerback out of Georgia, is the only corner. USC safety Calen Bullock is the only safety. At any given time, these guys have up to three coaches working with them. Every little bit of coaching counts, especially for those particular players, who are all expected to contribute this season.
Body type observations
Because the drills are fairly basic, and there’s more mental work than physical work going on, much of the commentary among the media at rookie camp is about body types of the players. Who looks heavy, who looks skinny, who needs time in an NFL weight room, that kind of stuff. So here goes — Blake Fisher, second round tackle out of Notre Dame, looks like he needs to spend some time in the weight room. Big dude, but needs to fill out. Bullock is SKINNY. Like dangerously skinny. He has skinny chicken legs and looks like he would spontaneously combust if he tried to tackle Derrick Henry. Lassiter and Stover both look NFL-ready.
“Follow 51”
When you draft great leaders, it makes it much easier to set a culture in the building. Taking it a step further, when you have someone like Will Anderson, DeMeco Ryans doesn’t even need to give a long explanation to the rookies on what “being a Texan” means. He can just tell the young guys to “follow 51”. Here was Coach Ryans in his media session following minicamp on Friday:
The rookies will get mixed in with the veterans this week, inside the building, and then at several Organized Team Activities (OTA’s) sessions from May 20 through the first week in June.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
