After a few months of football thirsty fans waiting to see some version of football activities to fill the offseason void, the Houston Texans finished up their Organized Team Activites (or OTAs, for short) last week, and are on the cusp of three mandatory minicamp sessions this week at the Methodist Training Center. The NFL calendar moves swiftly.
We will look ahead to minicamp tomorrow, but for now, let’s recap the work that’s been one thus far, and the biggest topics to come out of the six OTA sessions conducted over the last two weeks:
Holy cow, it’s Tank Dell’s entrance music!
On my radio show on SportsRadio 610 Wednesday (“Payne and Pendergast” on SportsRadio 610, which you can listen to on the free Audacy app!), Texans general manager Nick Caserio gave about as direct an answer as we’ve gotten over the last year on Tank Dell’s status, indicating definitively that Dell would be coming back to practice and it would likely be at training camp in July. I’m not sure how Caserio was defining “practice” in that answer, but Dell was actually back on the field during a half speed, walk through period in Thursday’s final OTA session. Regardless of the semantics of Caserio’s answer to me and Seth Payne, it felt great to see Dell in a Texans jersey and helmet doing football things:
We will see how present Dell is for minicamp this week, and the anticipation certainly builds to see him in training camp in late July.
Keylan Rutledge playing center definitely feels like a plan
By the time the Texans made Rutledge, a guard in college, the 26th pick of the 2026 NFL Draft, they had already signed guard Wyatt Teller in free agency and brought their 2025 right guard Ed Ingram back on a three year deal. Presumably, given the money each received, Teller and Ingram would be your two guards this season. It seemed odd to use a pick on a player who would have trouble getting on the field in the next year or two, which makes moving Rutledge to center sensible. Rutledge has never played the position in real games, but he’s spent the offseason, going all the way back to the Senior Bowl in January, preparing to do so. On Thursday, he was snapping the ball to C.J. Stroud with the first string, but admittedly, the Texans have been shuffling a lot of guys through various layers of the depth chart at center.
Everybody is lauding C.J. Stroud’s offseason
All you have to do is look at C.J. Stroud and it’s evident that he’s attacked this offseason differently than the last couple, and I am not talking about his much-discussed change in hairstyle. He looks to be in phenomenal condition, not that he was some kind of fat slob before, but he is definitely sleeker and more slender. From there, the praise has come from all levels of the organization — general manager, head coach, offensive coaches, teammates — about the command Stroud has over the offense, compared to this time a year ago. DeMeco Ryans said the offense is “light years” ahead of 2025’s version, and Caserio said on my radio show that the main reason is Stroud, and the professional approach he’s taken to owning the offense and improving his game.
Will Anderson is a destructive force
Second place behind C.J. Stroud, in the category of “thing most asked about in OTA press conferences,” was defensive end Will Anderson’s penchant for completely wrecking whatever the Texans are trying to accomplish offensively. Anderson signed his record-setting contract extension a few weeks ago, and if OTAs are any indication, the money has not triggered an ounce of complacency within Anderson. If anything, judging by his behavior and play throughout the OTA sessions, it’s only made Anderson more vicious and more hungry. Will Anderson is a monster.
