TEXANS REVAMPED OFFENSE

Here's how the pieces are coming together in Houston Texans new-look offense

Mar 21, 2023, 5:29 pm

Running back Dameon Pierce is getting some help. Photo by Matthew Stockman/Getty Images.

The Houston Texans have made several moves in free agency that are beginning to focus in on the vision they are trying to create on offense.

Houston has signed veterans including Robert Woods, Jimmie Ward, Dalton Schultz, Devin Singletary and Case Keenum so far. One of the first things head coach DeMeco Ryans said was his goal for the entire team is to be an attack-first, aggressive program, and that includes on offense.

The signings of Woods, Schultz, fullback Andrew Beck and running backs Singletary and Mike Boone are early indicators aligning with Ryans’ philosophy. In order to be aggressive on offense, Houston needs to have a strong offensive line, but it also has to have great blockers and assertive runners all over the field.

Woods and Schultz have proven with their previous teams they are more than capable of being above-average blockers. Texans fans have first-hand experience with Singletary and his running style, and they already have Dameon Pierce, who has proven he is more than capable of being a punisher out of the backfield.

With the signing of Beck, it also adds an extra layer of versatility for Houston. The San Francisco, Shanahan style is predicated on making every play — whether it be a run or a pass — look as similar as possible.

The 49ers utilized fullback Kyle Juszczyk as a lead blocker, an occasional runner and even as a pass-game threat in the red zone. Beck could be utilized in a similar capacity.

The same can be said for Schultz, who’s caught 57 or more passes in the past three seasons. Woods outside of the trenches is a good lead blocker on potential outside runs too.

With an influx of rookies set to join after the NFL Draft, general manager Nick Caserio is positioning the team to have a great balance between veterans and first-year players. An example is with Keenum, who fits right with Ryans’ aggressive mindset.

It is expected Houston will take a quarterback with its No. 2 overall pick in the draft. Keenum is an experienced veteran that has played every role as a quarterback — from backup to starter. Woods replaces Brandin Cooks as a veteran to lead the receivers room, and Singletary is another key presence with the running backs.

With the mix of age, experience and different roles from the players Houston has signed so far, it is another remark from Ryans’ introductory news conference coming true. Which was to add diversity, in terms of different NFL backgrounds on the team in all different kinds of ways, to the Texans.

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THE PALLILOG

Here's how the Astros can reap the benefits from latest pitching shakeup

The Astros are utilizing a 6-man rotation. Composite Getty Image.

The Astros should schedule an Old-Timers Game, if not annually maybe every other year. Only the Yankees have regularly played Old Timers Games and it’s a highlight in the Bronx every season. The Astros have plenty enough history to welcome back an ample number of guys to make for a fabulous event. Maybe they could tie it into their now annual Hall of Fame Weekend. Anyway, don’t you feel that if Jose Altuve took part in an Old Timers Game in 2050 he’d bang out a couple of hits, and then if the Astros played him in the regular game he’d line one more hit somehow, at age 60?

After missing the first 43 games of the season while recovering from his broken thumb, Altuve went 0 for four in his first game back, but has since been generally fantastic with his OPS through nine games played at 1.013. It won’t stay that high, but Altuve is a direly needed upgrade to the Astros’ offense which has been utterly mediocre. Offense is the reason the Astros continue to look up at the Texas Rangers in the American League West. The Rangers’ offense has been fantastic, outscoring the Astros by a whopping 100 runs through the first third of the season.

As the regular season entered its middle third this week, the Astros are in the middle of playing a game in 17 consecutive days. It’s their longest stretch of the season without an off day. They are inserting Ronel Blanco as a sixth starting pitcher in the rotation for a couple of turns. The point of mixing in a sixth starter isn’t that the Astros are teeming with guys who belong in a big league rotation. The 29-year-old Blanco is not a notable prospect. This is about lightening the load a little on two guys: Cristian Javier and Hunter Brown.

In becoming a rotation mainstay last season, Javier blew past his previous biggest season workload by nearly 50 innings. He’s on pace to go another 25 innings beyond that this year without even accounting for the playoffs. Hunter Brown last year set his professional high with 130 innings pitched encompassing work with the Space Cowboys and Astros. Brown is on pace for about 170 innings this regular season. That’s a significant jump, and of course the Astros are hoping for another postseason of multiple rounds. Javier, Brown, and Framber Valdez are the three most critical pitchers on the staff, and the Astros hope they remain healthily so for several more years.

Lance McCullers’s latest recovery setback makes his plight increasingly sad. Well, except for him on payday. The odds now lopsidedly favor McCullers never again pitching a near fully healthy and effective season. His only one to date was 2021 (until he broke down in the playoffs), the year before his five year 85 million dollar contract kicked in. McCullers pulls down 17 mil this year (And again next year. And in 2025. And 2026), exactly two and a half times what Framber Valdez makes. I reckon Framber’s representation is aware of this, as it is of the five year 63 million dollar deal the Astros struck with Cristian Javier. Framber is more than three years older than Javier, but has been better, and can hit free agency after the 2025 season, the same time Javier could have gone to market.

Timing isn’t everything but it darn sure can matter. The Astros’ two best relief pitchers through May were Hector Neris and Phil Maton. Neris enters June with a 1.19 earned run average, Maton even better with a teeny-weeny 0.68 ERA. Maton has been especially amazing, given that last year while not pitching very well he posted his career best ERA at 3.84. His 2022 ended ignominiously when after giving up a hit to his brother Nick in the regular season finale, Phil took the ding-a-ling of the week award by breaking his pitching hand punching his locker, sidelining him for the postseason. The Hurt Locker won the Academy Award for Best Picture in 2010. Now Maton is up for Best Pitcher (per inning worked). Both Neris and Maton were James Click acquisitions. Both become free agents after this season.

Up next

Four games with the Angels at Minute Maid Park through the weekend mean the amazing Shohei Ohtani is in town. It’s “Sho-time” on the mound Friday night in a doozy of a pitching matchup with Framber, with Ohtani batting in at least three of the four games. In one player the Angels have a pitcher as good as Cristian Javier and a hitter better than Kyle Tucker. And the Angels will probably miss the playoffs again anyway. And then lose Ohtani in free agency. After the Angels series the Astros are on the road next week. They start with four games at Toronto against the Blue Jays’ very potent lineup, then it’s three at Cleveland vs. the Guardians whose offense has been pathetic so far this season.

Walk this way

Geek Astro factoid of the week: Jeremy Pena drew two walks in Tuesday’s win over the Twins. In his rookie season, Pena had only one two walk game, also in May, also against the Twins. Tuesday’s bases on balls finally got Pena into double digits for the season. He has just 11 walks drawn (largely explaining his weak .307 on-base percentage) vs. 50 strikeouts.

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Stone Cold ‘Stros is the weekly Astro-centric podcast I am part of alongside Brandon Strange and Josh Jordan. On our regular schedule it goes up at 3PM Monday on the SportsMapHouston YouTube channel, is available there for playback at any point, and also becomes available in podcast form at outlets galore. Such as:

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