Texans Morning Huddle: O’Brien’s Roster, Andre Still Venting
By Randy Gurzi
Good morning Texans fans! Today’s ‘Morning Huddle” finds us looking at how Bill O’Brien is reshaping the roster to his specifications. We will also see how Andre Johnson has moved on, but not really and see what advice J.J. Watt had to say to incoming rookies. Enjoy!
How the Texans reshaped their roster to Bill O’Brien’s specifications – by Tania Ganguli of ESPN
"Upon his arrival in Houston, Texans coach Bill O’Brien made clear the team was going to get bigger, tougher, stronger and smarter.That’s taken discipline and a very clear vision for the team.“This year … and I would say last year, we really stuck to our beliefs in basically what type of, the body type of a player,” O’Brien told me. “… You’ll see a bigger team, a longer team, length of arms, length of legs, athletic ability. You’ll see a different looking team.”There has been a difference, especially on defense.According to ESPN Stats and Info’s David Kiarsis, defensive linemen acquired by the Texans with O’Brien as head coach and Romeo Crennel as defensive coordinator average 23 pounds heavier than those acquired through the draft or free agency by the Texans when Wade Phillips was defensive coordinator. The difference there when you only count draft picks is 14.5 pounds. Drafted defensive linemen averaged arms a full inch longer with Crennel as defensive coordinator than with Phillips. Defensive backs acquired in the past two years average nearly two inches taller than those taken when Phillips was here."
Andre Johnson Continues to Vent on the Texans – P.D. Starr of Scout.com
"Have you ever been miserable enough to enjoy not going to work?“Nah, that’s probably the first time that’s ever happened.”- Andre JohnsonIt has been almost four months since Andre Johnson and the Houston Texans have parted ways in a nasty breakup involving playing time, a reduced role in the offense, and an underlying contract dispute. After the ugly breakup between the Texans and Johnson, he landed with the Indianapolis Colts on a three-year deal worth $21 million, with $10 million of the contract guaranteed.Since his arrival to the Colts organization, Johnson has been upfront about the situation, even saying on multiple occasions that his current quarterback, Andrew Luck, is the best quarterback he has played with, despite the fact that the two have not played a single snap as members of the same team in a regular season game. For what it’s worth, he is likely telling the truth."
Hammond: Mallett Can Still Win Texans QB Competition – by Matt Hammond of Sports Radio 610
"If the Texans QB competition was already over, and Brian Hoyer had beat out Ryan Mallett, why wouldn’t Bill O’Brien have already said so?"
J.J. Watt’s locker room advice to rookies – by Deepi Sidhu of HoustonTexans.com
"“Good is the enemy of great.”J.J. Watt gives rookies some final parting words of advice in the locker room after their final OTA practice. Watt wanted to emphasize the importance of hard work during the next six weeks.“Never be satisfied with anything,” Watt said Wednesday. “Never be happy with just good. Every single day, you need to do something to make yourself better than everybody else. That’s the only way we’re going to improve. We can’t be satisfied with just being good. You can’t go to your workout every day, just go through the motions, and be happy with what you’re doing.”Players have since headed their separate ways for the remainder of the offseason since Watt’s speech last week. Watt, who will spend the off time at his Wisconsin cabin, hoped everyone took advantage of the down time but didn’t stray too far from routines."