It was a hot one, yet again, at the Houston Methodist Training Center.
Even in the searing heat, it was one of the most exciting practices throughout training camp. In fact, yesterday's workout was much the same in similar heat.
I had more asterisks all over my notebook than in any other practice.
So let's dive into my Harris Hits. Buckle up, Sparky, there are a few.
1. Let's start with the 1-on-1's, trenches style. DE Danielle Hunter was up first and he continued to bring out his bag of tricks off the edge. Inside. Outside. Hands. Chops. Speed. Power. He has the full package off the edge. He knows how to use his hands and body to get leverage on his rush so incredibly well.
2. DT Khalil Davis won his first rep, ripping up underneath the pads of Shaq Mason, but on the second rep, Davis tried to bull rush the veteran and Mason anchored STRONGLY to win that rep.
3. Similarly, DT Foley Fatukasi and OC Juice Scruggs had nearly identical reps as Davis/Mason. Foley bull rushed to win the first one and Juice anchored against Foley's power on the second one.
4. DT Mario Edwards is a problem. If he can get on the edge of an interior OL, he's going to get free to the QB. He's quick, athletic and slippery, so it's really tough on IOL because he forces an IOL to overset wide to square him up and then he dekes out and flies back inside like he did on one of his reps.
5. I thought the two reps that OT David Sharpe had against DE Derek Barnett were two of the better reps from Sharpe in this training camp. That was good competition from the vets for those two reps.
6. What does experience do for you? Even though training camp has not even been a month yet, OT Blake Fisher has faced Will Anderson Jr and Hunter over and over and over again, so it feels like he's a veteran already. As such, when Fisher faced fellow rookie DE Solomon Byrd, Fisher was primed and ready, sliding easily to cut off Byrd's pass rush on the first rep and then anchoring easily against Byrd's power move on the second rep.
7. I wonder how many reps Jarrett Patterson and Kurt Hinish have had against one another dating back to their days at Notre Dame. They always seem to face one another in 1-on-1's in Houston as well. Patterson held up to Hinish's power on the first rep. Then, Patterson gave Hinish an excellent quick set pop on the second rep but then got overextended a bit which got Hinish into the backfield.
8. It was great to finally see rookie DT Pheldarius Payne, who was injured back in OTAs but re-signed this week. He is ACTIVE, to say the least but he just doesn't have the four weeks of practice time that the rest of the guys have. That said, I can see some twitch and suddenness on the inside. He threw a move that I was 100% sure was going to get to the quarterback, but somehow, and I'm not even sure how it happened, OL Cam Erving got back in front of Payne and kept him from the QB. Erving has played all over the line since he arrived with the team in Ohio and could be this year's version of George Fant, potentially.
9. I mentioned DE Ali Gaye yesterday and how much I think he's improved. When he uses his length and his power, he's tough to deal with for sure. He used a long arm/stab move to get all the way to the QB on one of his pass rush reps.
10. If I've seen OT Nick Broeker use his length to ride pass rushers around the QB once, I've seen it a dozen times, in college too. Some guys have a knack for doing that and Broeker did that to DE Malik Fisher on one of their competitive reps. I liked the way those two got after it against one another.
11. DT McTelvin Agim got free with one of the sickest arm over moves I've seen this camp. He grabbed that near shoulder pad of the IOL, yanked it toward him and slid right on by as his arm came over the top.
12. I have exclamation points all over the next two sentences when Davis battled Kendrick Green. Two freakin' bulls going at one another like it's fourth down on the last play of the Super Bowl. It was INTENSE and great competition.
13. It's really tough to beat Mason when he's playing with great pad level and the one thing DL WON'T do is bull rush him if he's squared up in an athletic stance. My goodness. He stopped Fatukasi in his tracks on their final rep, my goodness. The power that Shaq must have to do that? Holy cow.
14. Then, it was time for the first team period of the day and QB C.J. Stroud picked up right where he left off on Tuesday. On the very first play, he ran a bootleg and my eyes were on the linemen. So, I couldn't initially understand why no one was tackling the running back. Then, I realized that C.J. still had the ball moving to his right side. He then threw a dart to Stefon Diggs for a wonderful completion. That was such good ball handling and quality throw. Nice hook up to start the day.
15. Then, Fatukasi slowed up a running play by holding the point of attack and then LB Henry To'o To'o did a wonderful job of blasting through the chaos to chase down a toss play. My goodness, his recognition and speed showed up in a big way.
16. When Stroud's group came back into the drill, he started back up with Diggs, throwing a SEED to the talented wide receiver for a completion on the dig route. I mean, as soon as Diggs turned his head, the ball was right there in his bread basket. Two asterisk/three exclamation point play in my notebook.
17. Oh, yeah, there was a false start, but I'm going to gloss over that for now.
18. Then, the offense went south - two fumbled snaps, bad execution. Not great but that wouldn't last at all.
19. QB Tim Boyle ran a bootleg with one of his first throws. He booted to his right and saw TE Cade Stover. But, he overshot Stover a bit on the throw. I thought for sure it was an incompletion, but Stover reached out with his left paw and snagged it one handed. What a catch! Two asterisks, bordering on three for a one handed grab.
20. The defense then blitzed right into a run and stopped it four yards into the backfield.
21. When Stroud re-entered for his series, the defense decided to heat him up too. I love watching C.J. work his progressions and make decisions against the blitz. He's so darn good at making the right decision. So, on first down, he did that and found RB Joe Mixon over the middle but couldn't hang on to the throw. Either way, it was an awesome decision and throw.
22. On the next play, another pressure package, Stroud dropped the arm slot down a bit to fire one to Diggs on the far sideline. Completion, dime.
23. Then, on the next blitz, Stroud spied the defensive coverage and took off on a run for a big gain with all defenders having their backs to him. Smart. So smart.
24. Boyle then stepped under center and ripped two straight throws for completions. He hit WR Johnny Johnson against an all-out blitz for a completion and then he drilled one to RB Dare Ogunbowale after a brilliant route got Dare open.
25. The defense then had seen enough and DE Malik Fisher and DT Khalil Davis teamed up for a "sack", a training camp sack, if you know what I mean.
26. C.J., then again, threw three absolute dimes against the defense, only one of them caught. The middle one, the one that was caught, was to Robert Woods and was such a great, quick decision. A blitzer was nearly there to sack C.J. but he spit that pill out to Woods who made the catch and turned upfield for yardage.
27. Stroud's throw on the sail route to TE Brevin Jordan was so darn gorgeous but Brevin couldn't quite come down with it.
28. Then, the defense blitzed QB Case Keenum and he threw a laser to WR Johnny Johnson for a catch and run gain - that was pretty.
29. DB Myles Bryant made a couple of two/three asterisk plays on Wednesday and one of them came on the play after Johnson's catch. He was in deep coverage down the seam and snatched Keenum's throw out of the air for his first interception of the day. That was one heck of a catch too. Later in practice, he made another tremendous catch in underneath zone coverage to steal an interception on a Tim Boyle throw too. Two INTs for Myles Bryant today.
30. But, we know Case, he's going to keep firing and he threw his best pass of the day to WR Steven Sims on the far sideline on the very next play. Corner route from Sims, DIME from Case - completion that got the offense some juice.
31. Okay, I've got defensive players over my shoulder saying that Agim would've had a sack on this play…which is true. Okay, so, the defense didn't coerce me, either, just having fun.
32. The play that followed that one, the first one in the third team period, was the unquestioned best offensive play of camp, without question. First play. New series. Time to go Week 18 deep on the defense. Stroud took a deep drop and then LAUNCHED a deep route for Diggs down the middle of the field. I can just see that beautiful parabola in the air, falling into the waiting arms of Diggs beyond the two Texans safeties for a TD…just like the one he threw to Collins in week 18 against the Colts. MAN, THAT WAS SO PRETTY!
33. LB Azeez Al-Shaair gets to the ball so fast and that was evident on a screen to WR John Metchie III. Al-Shaair saw it the whole way and was able to corral Metchie III before he could really get a head of steam. But, Metchie III was undeterred.
34. On the next play, I saw Metchie III go in the slot and Jalen Pitre followed him. So, I had my eyes on that matchup the whole way. Thankfully, I did because that's the matchup that Stroud eyed too. Metchie III ran a BEAUTIFUL route, getting yards of separation and Stroud dotted him with the pass for a big catch-and-run gain. I mean, THAT was PRETTY. Great protection. Great recognition. Great route. Great catch. GREAT result.
35. One guy who consistently shows up during practices is LB Jake Hansen. CONSISTENTLY. On the next play after Metchie III's catch, Hansen blew through the line to make a play in the backfield. I've seen it since his rookie year, that dude just steadily makes plays, can run and fits in this defense well. I don't know what his role will ultimately be, but he's a ball player.
36. Keenum then sold the defense a bill of goods on a bootleg. His ball handling was sooo good that there wasn't a white jersey anywhere in the zip code of intended receiver Dalton Keene. Ball handling - an underrated, yet key, aspect to QBing that these Texans QBs thrive upon.
37. Case followed that up by hitting his third or fourth option on a play, delivering to Stover for another completion. His next throw was a dime DEEP down the sideline to Metchie III, but the third year pass catcher was unable to hold on. However, Keenum drilled one to WR Quintez Cephus on a slant route on his final throw of the series. Great throw.
38. Stroud then went back to Diggs on a crossing route and it was straight cash homie. Diggs caught the ball on the run, not breaking stride and hit the gas after the catch. That was fun.
39. Man, Diggs had a DAY. All over the field, it was his day for sure.
40. When the defense decided to blitz, Stroud threw hot to his RB Joe Mixon, who made the catch on what was third down.
41. Okay, so three plays later, I saw a play and I'm still trying to comprehend everything that happened. So, Stroud went back to pass on a straight dropback throw. Collins had initially run a route, turning to the outside. Stroud wasn't able to throw on time, but eventually let the ball go, throwing it to a spot on the inside of Collins. As soon as I saw him throw it, I thought "dang it, Nico turned outside and C.J. threw it inside." Didn't matter. Collins knew exactly what to do when he didn't get the ball on the outside. He made the adjustment back inside as if those two were in perfect sync and made the diving catch for a first down. I'm still trying to figure out how C.J. knew Nico would turn back inside after his initial out breaking route. That was STUPID GOOD!!
42. I said it on radio on Tuesday night and will say it again on Wednesday night, ALL of the quarterbacks threw the ball extremely well today. Boyle took the reps after that Stroud-Collins connection. He hit Woods on a speed out. Then, he beat the blitz, throwing a fadeaway check down to RB Jawhar Jordan who caught the pass on the dead run. He then hit Stover in the numbers for a comp…well, it got knocked away for an incompletion, but the throw was on the money. Then, Boyle beat the blitz again, with some great protection around him, throwing to Dalton Keene for another completion. He only missed one throw, a low throw to Xavier Hutchinson, and that was it for that series.
43. After a Stroud to Collins completion, Pitre mucked up two straight Texans run plays. He beat two blocks in doing so as well. He didn't just have a free run; he fought off a block on each play to make the TFLs.
44. RB Dameon Pierce then had probably his best run in camp. He took a zone handoff to his right and got immediate penetration. He sidestepped that penetration and didn't miss a beat, bursting into the second level for a really nice run.
45. Stroud finished that drive, completing a pass to a wide open Diggs who nearly walked 30 yards into the end zone.
46. I'll close with this one, the best catch of camp, potentially. Boyle was under center and was ready to sling one deep down the field. He saw Cephus in man coverage on the outside and launched one toward the sideline. Cephus went up…and up…and up…and even higher and snatched the ball out of the air as it appeared from my angle that the pass would just sail out of bounds. But, no, Cephus made the circus catch, like many he made at Wisconsin years ago.
Okay, that's going to do it for these Harris Hits. What a day it was, my goodness. We'll see you tomorrow, everyone!
