There is a lot of Houston Texans news going on this preseason, and earlier this week the team made a move where they released second-year wide receiver Isaiah Coulter, and to be honest, it is tough to agree with the move so early into his career.
Granted, the Houston Texans front office that drafted Coulter in the 2020 NFL Draft no longer runs the show. Coulter never had a great opportunity for an extended period of time to really get used to the level of NFL play, or even to get accustomed to playing within the Tim Kelly offensive system as he had no real training camp a season ago.
Before being drafted Coulter played at the University of Rhode Island where he collected 72 receptions for 1,039 yards with eight touchdowns. We all know those numbers don’t mean much when it concerns his abilities of playing in the NFL, but again, he is a talented player who it would have been interesting to see a little bit longer in a Texans uniform even if he wasn’t having the best of training camps in 2021.
The NFL is a business and Coulter being cut is just apart of the game and releases happen on a daily basis in the NFL. Releases especially as teams have to get their rosters cut down to 85 players before the end of business Tuesday.
Coulter hopefully will get another shot in the NFL with another franchise as his situation is interesting because he was a fifth-round pick for a reason. He must possess some talent to have more of an actual chance than he’s had so far with his time as a member of the Houston Texans, and hopefully he gains that chance with another team.
Houston Texans News: David Culley and fourth down decisions
A video clip making the rounds on Monday was David Culley giving his opinion on fourth down situations and how he plans to handle such decisions during games in the 2021 season. In a quick version of his response the Texans head coach basically said it will be a “gut feeling” on going for it on fourth down, rather than depending on analytics.
Here is a clip from his press conference with the Houston media on Monday as he spoke about fourth down situations:
David Culley on probabilities w/ fourth-down decisions: "I know analytics has those things out there, we do have access to all of that, but I'm old school in a way that ... if I'm not feeling it, we're not doing it, regardless of what that chart says." pic.twitter.com/yXVpDfxYxZ
— Rivers McCown (@riversmccown) August 16, 2021
With how many expect the regular season to go there should be plenty of opportunity for the Houston Texans head coach to make decisions concerning fourth down. Hopefully those decisions will be on fourth-and-goal from the 1-yard line as that would be a welcome situation for the Texans head coach to make a “gut-feeling” decision.
Houston Texans news: Release Dontrell Hilliard; trade Keion Crossen
In a bit more Houston Texans news they also released running back Dontrell Hilliard and traded defensive back Keion Crossen to the New York Giants. These aren’t the biggest moves made by the Texans, but it needs to be noted they are making decisions to get down to the 85-player limit by Tuesday afternoon this preseason.
All-in-all it was another day at the office for the Texans and more of these type of days will be had from here on out. Hilliard had an uphill battle to make the running back roster for the Texans, and Crossen has history with the Giants coaches, so these two decisions made sense.
After the Houston Texans get to their 85 player limit they will next face the Dallas Cowboys this weekend. That game will show even more which players on the roster are staying, and which players will be asked to turn in their playbooks as the Texans get prepared for Week 1 next month.