We are six practices into training camp for the 2024 Houston Texans, and you don’t need to be a football savant to ascertain that this is a very, very talented football team. GM Nick Caserio and head coach DeMeco Ryans have done a phenomenal job collaborating on the construction of what is now one of the most talented rosters in the NFL.
If we are tracing back to an ultimate nadir, though, of this era of Texans football, it is undoubtedly the 2021 season, when the team emerged from COVID with a quarterback who (a) didn’t want to be here, and (b) was unable to be traded, since he was the defendant in 24 civil lawsuits. They also emerged from COVID with one of the worst rosters, worst salary cap situations, and worst cadres of draft capital. In short, it sucked in 2021.
We can look back now, in this burgeoning time of glory, at the 2021 season and laugh a little. I mean, David Culley as a NFL head coach is one of the more ridiculous things I’ve experienced in my broadcasting career, if not my entire life. There’s no universe in which I can wrap my head around the fact that both David Culley and DeMeco Ryans have held the same job title in the last few years.
The disparity between those tow head coaches is obviously canyon-sized, but how about looking at the rapid three year rebuild this way — by taking a look at who the team trotted out there for press conferences the first three days of their respective training camps, in 2021 and today, in 2024. Check this out:
2021, DAY 1: Justin Britt, Jordan Jenkins, Phillip Lindsey
2024, DAY 1: C.J. Stroud, Nico Collins, Will Anderson
The first day of camp is when the marquee players get trotted out for interviews, so it would stand to reason that the Texans in 2024 would send out their franchise quarterback and Offensive Rookie of the Year (Stroud), the Defensive Rookie of the Year (Anderson), and big time wide receiver, who just signed a big contract extension (Collins). In 2021, we got a journeyman center who hadn’t played football in a year (Britt), a journeyman defensive end (Jenkins), and a running back who wound up averaging less than three yards per carry (Lindsey).
2021, DAY 2: Ross Blacklock, Whitney Mercilus, Tyrod Taylor
2024, DAY 2: Joe Mixon, Danielle Hunter, Tank Dell
Day 2 for the Texans this year was awesome! We got to hear from two of their Pro Bowl caliber offseason acquisitions (Mixon and Hunter) and one of the most exciting young receivers in football, a hometown here (Dell)! In 2021, we got the walking reminder of the DeAndre Hopkins trade (Blacklock), a nearly washed up and overpaid veteran (Mercilus), and the quarterback who would eventually get benched for Davis Mills (Taylor). Twice.
2021, DAY 3: Mark Ingram, Christian Kirksey, Laremy Tunsil
2024, DAY 3: Derek Stingley, Stefon Diggs, Azeez Al-Shaair
Onto Day 3 in 2024, where we get the most talked about acquisition league wide this past spring (Diggs), one of the best young cornerbacks in the sport (Stingley), and a rising start linebacker (Al-Shaair). In 2021, we got a washed up running back who would request a trade a month into the season (Ingram), a washed up linebacker with an annoying nickname (Kirksey, or KIRKO, for short), and Laremy Tunsil, who is and was an outstanding player, but it sucked hearing Tunsil have to lie about how good his 2021 teammates were at football.
Like many articles on here throughout Texans training camp, this is just one more reminder to be thankful for where the team is now, and for C.J. Stroud’s existence.
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This article appears in Jan 1 – Dec 31, 2024.
