EVERY-THING SPORTS
How Houston Texans latest triumph unlocks thrilling, unexpected opportunities
Dec 21, 2023, 2:02 pm
DeMeco Ryans and Nick Caserio could both win prestigious awards. Composite Getty Image.
roundtable free agency (1)
I'm the last person to be a prisoner of the moment. I will get caught up in certain moments. Like the time the Saints got hosed on that call against the Rams. I did call it the worst call in NFL playoff history. I still do. At least I'm consistent with that one. Typically, I reel myself in, and reset.
After the Texans beat the Titans, I caught that prisoner of the moment feeling. Some called it the biggest or best or most impressive win in Texans history. I was feeling some of those statements. I stepped back to re-center myself, then came back to the idea. This was a pretty big win. Where it ranks in Texans history, I'm not sure. But I think it was a huge win for other reasons. Two to be exact.
This win was the clinching factor for DeMeco Ryans to win coach of the year, and for Nick Caserio to win executive of the year. When you're missing your two prized rookies in starting quarterback C.J. Stroud and starting defensive end Will Anderson Jr, plus C.J.'s top targets, plus others, and you still pull off a win on the road against a division opponent coming off their biggest win of the season, what do you think should happen?
The team came into this season with little to no real expectations of making the playoffs. Some fans kept the faith and had those wild thoughts. Some would express as much very vigorously, I might add. The overwhelming majority figured they'd win maybe five to seven games at most. They'd been left for dead after previous terrible seasons. Talent was still an issue, even after they'd been on a path to respectability with their recent drafts and free agency findings. Most thought they'd be more competitive under DeMeco but needed more time.
14 games into the season, they're tied for first in the AFC South with three games left. There's a serious shot they make the playoffs. This team was put together over the last few years by Caserio. His previous coaching hires and talent fumbles aside, he's ultimately responsible for the guys on this roster being here. He's also partially responsible for DeMeco being here. Partially because DeMeco has a documented history here as a player. That, and the fact that I believe the McNair's had a lot to do with it also.
DeMeco has completely changed the culture on Kirby. I've seen fans go from despair and pessimism to elation and long-term optimism. Players believe they can beat any other team in front of them. People in the organization have always been pleasant but seem to have a lot more pep in their step. It's a lot more fun when you're winning. What DeMeco did was restore the feeling of what's possible when you believe. Fans, players, staff, they all believe. Getting the players to buy in was easier for him since he's only 39 years old, recently removed from his playing days, has a track record of developing players, and came up the coaching ranks in a successful organization.
The work both guys have put in deserves to be recognized. The Texans have already more wins this season than they had the previous two seasons combined. Some of that was by design, given the state of the franchise a couple of seasons ago. Now, things have been totally turned around. Playoffs are now the expectation moving forward. Nothing else will suffice. There's cap space and a normal allotment of draft capital in the upcoming draft (minus 5th and 6th rounders, but an extra 4th). They have a pick in every round in the '25 draft. Stroud and Anderson Jr are both on rookie deals. Three fifths of the offensive line was re-signed this past offseason. Caserio and DeMeco have built something sustainable that's winning ahead of the schedule most had set for them. For that, they should both be recognized as the best in their respective categories this season.
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Cam Smith brought three dozen Shipley's glazed donuts to his Houston Astros teammates Thursday morning before his major league debut.
Then he really delivered, with an opposite-field single on the first pitch he saw in the major leagues to help Houston to a 3-1 win over the New York Mets.
“They all liked it, so that’s a good thing," Smith said of the donuts, a sentiment that could also apply to his second-inning hit that set up the first run of the game.
The 22-year-old prospect reached the majors after playing just 32 minor league games. Batting seventh and starting in right field, he became the second-youngest Astros position player to make his MLB debut as a starter on opening day and the youngest since Rusty Staub was 19 in 1963.
With one out in the second, Smith grounded a single to right field on a sinker from Clay Holmes to get his first big league hit in his initial plate appearance. Jeremy Peña dashed from first to third on the play and later scored on a groundout.
“I was just looking for a pitch and I wanted to ambush it and I got lucky with that base hit,” Smith said.
The poise he showed in his debut impressed his coaches and teammates.
“He's amazing," Jose Altuve said. “He went the other way on a tough pitch and he set the tone to score the first run. I know he's going to help this team a lot. He's going to be out there getting better and better. He's just so talented.”
Most believed that Smith, the 14th overall pick in last year’s amateur draft, would need more time in the minors when he was acquired in December from the Chicago Cubs along with Isaac Paredes and Hayden Wesneski as part of the Kyle Tucker trade.
Instead, Smith hit .342 with a triple, four homers, 11 RBIs and a 1.130 OPS this spring to earn a spot on the major league roster.
The Astros announced he’d make the big league roster earlier this week, with manager Joe Espada inviting Smith's mother into the clubhouse to deliver the news. Video of the moment shared by the Astros captured the touching exchange.
After the trade, Smith moved from third base, where Paredes is starting, to right field, where he replaced Tucker.
Still wearing his dirt-stained uniform long after the last pitch Thursday, the kid who was playing college ball at Florida State at this time last year said he hadn’t had time to reflect on his whirlwind journey to the big leagues.
“I have not,” Smith said. “I was just out there with my family on the field appreciating this day and ... good thing we got done early so I can go home and get my feet under myself and think about it.”
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