Texans

Texans OL coach Cole Popovich detailed what he’s looking for in his offensive line and wants them to be intelligent and tough.

“The two main things are tough and smart, I just want to see tough and physical play,” Popovich said, via Click2Houston. “When you’re watching the tape, you’re really looking for awareness. Does the guy communicate with other people? That’s kind of like the smart piece of it. How does this guy learn? What does he know? What doesn’t he know? Does he have an ability to learn new stuff or not? Those two traits stand out more than anything else. They’ve got to be tough and they’ve got to be smart. I’m happy with all the additions. We don’t even have any pads on right now. So, they’ve got a long way to go. Once we get to camp, we’ll really see what we’ve got.”

Texans HC DeMeco Ryans raved about Popovich and how good a coach he believes Popovich is.

“Cole is a brilliant coach,” Ryans said. “He’s a very smart guy, and he’s not just offensive line driven. He’s very thoughtful and seeing the entire picture of the offensive line, and how it all fits together. He’s very thoughtful in making sure, which guys do I need, what do they do well, and he does a really good job. If you guys ever get the opportunity to see him work with his individuals and how he takes the time to coach the guys up on all the fine, small details, that’s really important for an offensive lineman. It’s him being detailed, being thorough as a coach and never stuck on what he’s always done. He’s always trying to help his players, always trying to improve his players. To me that’s the sign of a really good coach. He is an excellent communicator. Does a really great job on gameday as well. We need to make adjustments. Cole is the guy who sees it, can make the adjustments and get us in the right situations. He’s all the things you want in a coach.”

Texans

• ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler polled coaches and execs around the league for the top-10 safeties in football, with Texans S Calen Bullock landing at number 10: “He’s probably an adequate-to-average tackler, but his range is elite,” an NFL coordinator said. “So I value that superpower. I’d rather you take the ball away and just be an adequate tackler than the other way around.”
• Texans S Jalen Pitre received an honorable mention on this list as well: “He’s a nickel but can play safety. Don’t think he gets nearly enough credit. Would love to have him,” an NFC scout said. (Fowler)
• Houston LB Azeez Al-Shaair came in at number six on the off-ball linebacker version of the ranking: “He’s the Dennis Rodman of linebackers,” an NFL personnel evaluator said. “He gets in everyone’s head. He can run all day and can play every down.” (Fowler)
• *“He’s specialized by...