Houston Texans: Important takeaways from Anthony Weaver’s video conference
By Jair Lopez
Evaluating Houston Texans pass rusher options
Weaver added he expected the Texans to be able to implement multiple pass rushers on the defense for this upcoming season.
"“The beauty for me is that I’ve got to find ways to put them in the best place to be successful. We have guys that can win one-on-ones, now we’ve just got to put the pieces in the right spots. But guys like Charles Omenihu, guys like Duke Ejiofor, who missed all of last year, Jacob Martin, Whitney Mercilus and J.J. Watt. We’ve got guys that can get to the quarterback, and it’s all about what we can do schematically to help present those matchups so they can be successful.”"
The Texans have a lot of options they could use to rush the passer; it will be interesting to see how Brennan Scarlett fits into Weaver’s scheme with the outside linebacker room getting crowded. Scarlett could be a player on the outside looking in if he isn’t able to improve the pass-rushing facet of his game with several players returning.
Weaver also went into depth on how he expects players like J.J. Watt and Whitney Mercilus to play within the scheme but will have the liberty to freelance from time to time to make plays to impact the game.
"“They’re very smart players, so they’re never trying to do anything intentional or malicious to hurt the defense. They know what they’ve got to do. That being said, while we want our defense to be disciplined, we want everybody to do what they’re supposed to do, I don’t what them to be robots. There’s certain players that you’ve got to give a little bit of professional initiative and let them go make plays. I don’t want to handcuff them. I think they’re all smart enough to do that.”"