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Houston Texans minicamp: 11 observations you need to know about from Day 1
Jun 13, 2023, 1:13 pm
Photo by Alex Bierens de Haan/Getty Images
2 undeniable x-factors that will determine success for Texans prized rookie
The Houston Texans had their first mandatory minicamp practice of the offseason. Here are 11 observations from the practice.
1. C.J. Stroud had an up-and-down day. There was nothing horrible about his day but Stroud had some bad moments. The bad moments were often followed by an impressive play or two. There’s plenty to dig into from this practice for a rookie quarterback.
2. C.J. Stroud’s worst moment of the day was on a rollout. The naked bootleg had Stroud with a roll to his left, but the throw left plenty to be desired. Stroud threw it to nowhere and nobody.
3. The previous play was bad, but the next one was the throw of the day. Stroud hit Nico Collins down the sideline for a big play. The pass was perfectly placed to beat the coverage of the defense. Collins hauled it in and went out of bounds. Fantastic stuff from the rookie quarterback.
4. Noah Brown dropped a pass out of the slot that would have been a big play. The coverage was there, but it hit Brown in the hands and he didn’t come up with it. Later, Brown came over and dapped up C.J. Stroud, who had thrown the ball, and the two had a discussion in what can be assumed about the offense and that play.
5. Brevin Jordan dropped a touchdown pass in 7-on-7 work that C.J. Stroud threaded perfectly. Another rep in the red zone 7-on-7 drill saw Stroud find rookie running back Xazavian Valladay for a touchdown. Stroud had checked it down to shortly before the end zone and Valladay took it in.
6. C.J. Stroud threw the best ball to the back corner of the end zone. His pass in that 7-on-7 set was better than Davis Mills and Case Keenum.
7. Davis Mills outperformed C.J. Stroud in the 7-on-7 drills in the red zone. Mills had a nice day, but I wouldn’t categorically say it is for sure better than C.J. Stroud’s day. Both quarterbacks led “game-winning drives” in the two-minute drill near the end of the practice.
8. Will Anderson was a menace. Well, as much of a menace as you can be when it is no pads at minicamp. Anderson flashed the suddenness and speed you would expect from him. One play saw him dart into the backfield for what would have been a tackle for a loss. There was another play where he was held but would have had a sack. It’s no pads, and it wasn’t the team’s top linemen he was beating, but wins are wins.
9. The secondary is going to be interesting and fun to watch this season. There are deep options at the corner spot and Jalen Pitre is still all over the field. Derek Stingley looks like he’s competing for Mr. Universe. He looks like a million bucks, and nobody really challenges him. Eric Murray lined up where the absent Jimmie Ward would likely line up. The secondary is one of the stronger parts of the team.
10. The linebacker room is intriguing. Christian Kirksey is larger than almost all the backers and his long-term fit is unclear with some free agent additions in the room. Sleek and lean is how I would describe a lot of the linebackers, maybe venturing into the small territory. Henry To’oTo’o was barking orders, but his size disadvantage is clear. Christian Harris will be fun to watch this season.
11. The tight end room is something to monitor. We know about veteran Dalton Schultz, he will obviously be on the team and contributing a ton. Second-year tight end Teagan Quitoriano has leaned out a lot compared to how he looked last season. His athleticism is easy to see. Brevin Jordan might be in a fight to keep his spot, but I couldn’t tell you for sure who would take it. Andrew Beck is the hybrid player for the team. Part tight end, part fullback. Beck is constantly chatting and talking with the other tight ends about plays and the results of plays.
BONUS OBSERVATIONS!
C.J. Stroud might as well be tied to quarterback coach Jerrod Johnson’s hip. The two are constantly next to each other and talking.
Dameon Pierce was absent from practice as he was sick.
No clear reason for the absences of offensive lineman Kenyon Green and safety Jimmie Ward.
Tank Dell dropped a punt. He is small. You knew that, but he is jarringly small and skinny compared to his peers.
The weirdest number on a player is cornerback Shaquill Griffin wearing number 16.
Devin Singletary dropped a touchdown pass in 7-on-7 work.
Jalen Pitre had what would have been a sack in a live rep when he blitzed C.J. Stroud.
Ka’imi Fairbairn nailed his two field goals at the end of the practice.
DeMeco Ryans is fun to watch at practice. He is so excited and constantly smiling. He’s very vocal too.
Both Cal McNair and J.J. Watt offered the first question to Mark Berman today in their media availabilities. Berman, of course, finished a legendary media career yesterday.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or nine games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after a 4-8 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez (though not Breggy Bad). A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.