The former Houston standout answered all questions at the combine
UH's Ed Oliver aiming to "change the whole defense" when drafted
Mar 3, 2019, 7:26 am
Cody Stoots/SportsMap
"Just the different swag I could bring to a d-line could probably change the whole defense honestly."
The words of Ed Oliver his next team will hope ring true with every snap he takes in the NFL. Speaking Saturday at the NFL Scouting Combine, Oliver covered everything from the rumors of a position change to his relationship with both of the former Cougars head coaches.
The reports surfaced early Saturday Oliver had been asked to work out at linebacker in addition to his defensive line workouts. The future top-ten pick didn't shy away from the additional challenge.
"I've asked myself to play linebacker too," Oliver joked. "I'm a very athletic defensive tackle. You never know. I might end up playing linebacker in the league. I'm not going to object to it. I feel like I'm a d-lineman. I feel like I'm a 3-technique, but if they pay me to play linebacker that's what I'm gonna be doing, playing linebacker."
The Tennessee Titans asked Oliver to play outside linebacker in his meeting with the team.
While his positional future is up in the air his past came up. Oliver was seen in a shouting match with then Houston head coach Major Applewhite in the team's defeat of Tulane on national TV last season. What does he say when NFL teams ask him about the dust up?
"I answer like I've always answered," he said. "I answer 100 percent truthfully. It was what it was, it was a misunderstanding, we hashed it out a day later. I still keep in touch with Coach Applewhite, and he was my head coach."
Oliver said he still stays in touch with his first head coach at Houston, Tom Herman, the now Texas head coach.
"When (Herman and his staff left) I was proud of him," he said. "As a man you always want to better yourself and he left to better himself."
Oliver has been working to better himself towards an NFL career for years. Just last year he was projected to be the first overall pick in this year's draft but the chances of that are nearly gone.
"You're not the number one pick until you're drafted number one," he said. "I pretty much knew the size thing was going to come up so I never got into it."
Regardless of where he goes and who plays for or against Oliver plans to showoff his playing style which he detailed as fast and violent.
"I do everybody the same way," Oliver said. "Rather your TSU (Texas Southern) or Oklahoma my first game of college football. I play every game the same way just as violent just as fast just as hard."
The Oliver family will take in the draft from home despite the chance he could be one of the first players out of the green room if he attended the draft in Nashville. He said they will "rock out together as a family."
His family is what got him into horses at a young age. He saw someone riding a horse and requested one from his dad. Weeks later he had a horse of his own and still has a couple. He's also got a clear investment plan that aligns with his love of animals.
[ia_video https://s3.amazonaws.com/roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F9316-IMG_9661.MOV source="https://s3.amazonaws.com/roar-assets-auto.rbl.ms/runner%2F9316-IMG_9661.MOV" caption="Ed Oliver retirement plan" attribution="Cody Stoots" videoControls=true shortcode_id=1551571562263 expand=1 ]NFL teams are probably hoping Oliver is as ferocious as his eventual money-making steers.
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The Houston Texans travel to Minneapolis this Sunday to take on the Vikings, with both teams entering the matchup undefeated at 2-0.
CJ Stroud will be tested against a Vikings defense that specializes in disguising coverages pre-snap, and likes to blitz at a high rate.
Stroud tends to target Nico Collins when being blitzed (62% of Stroud's passing yardage), so don't be surprised if Vikings DC Brian Flores shows Collins some extra attention when bringing the pressure.
Which means this could be the week Tank Dell finally breaks out. Another thing working in Dell's favor is the amount of Cover 4 the Vikings are playing this season. Flores has used Cover 4 over 30% of the time this season, up about 10% compared to last year.
Dell has been Stroud's top target versus Cover 4 since the start of the 2023 season. Of course, the addition of Stefon Diggs could impact Dell's usage against that coverage moving forward.
One thing working for the Texans in this matchup is timing. The Vikings dominated the 49ers last Sunday, giving QB Brock Purdy fits. Per PFF, Purdy had three interception-worthy plays in the game, and none of them came when he was pressured.
It stands to reason that Stroud and OC Bobby Slowik will benefit from watching last week's tape to get some insight into how Flores will attack a Shanahan-style offense like the Texans run.
Texans on defense
QB Sam Darnold has played well in these first two games. And like the Texans offense, Houston's defense also has a lot in common with the 49ers'. Remember, Darnold played for the 49ers last season. He and Vikings head coach Kevin O'Connell (Shanahan coaching tree) are very familiar with the 49ers' schemes on both offense and defense.
Superstar receiver Justin Jefferson will keep the Texans secondary busy, and don't be surprised if the Vikings are able to rack up yardage using screen passes to running back Aaron Jones. Jones had 5 catches last week against the Niners.
There were two big takeaways from the Vikings upset of the 49ers last week. First, the San Francisco staff was out-coached on both sides of the ball. Vikings receivers were open all afternoon, and even when the 49ers made plays on offense, they had to do it seemingly with defenders draped on them at all times.
Second, Darnold was able to escape pressure several times and pick up first downs with his legs. Something the Texans struggled with against Caleb Williams and the Bears in Week 2.
The other issue the Texnas defense will encounter is the surprisingly good play from the Vikings o-line. Through the first two games, the Vikings have the fourth-best graded o-line, according to PFF. Sacks could be hard to come by.
X-factors
Revenge could play a role in this game. Jonathan Greenard and Blake Cashman will both want to prove the Texans wrong for replacing them with Danielle Hunter and Azeez Al-Shaair, at least on some level. Hunter may want to prove a point against his former team as well.
And let's not forget Brian Flores sued the NFL (and added a claim against the Texans), claiming he didn't get the Texans job a couple of years ago because of his lawsuit.
What does Vegas think?
The Texans are favored by 2 points on the road, and the total for the game is 46.
Be sure to watch the video above as the crew from Texans on Tap gets you ready for Texans-Vikings!
And don't miss our postgame show live on the SportsMapTexans YouTube channel immediately following the game.