Houston Texans vs New York Jets: How are the Young Guys Doing?

Well, it’s official I’m a junkie. Who watches all the preseason games they can? I do.

I tried to pay attention to the young players and here are my thoughts based on watching the game live, though I must first mention that I missed almost all of the first quarter so I’ll be dealing with what I saw from the second quarter on, if I get a chance to go back to the tape and watch more closely I’ll write that up as well.

Brooks reed

During the second quarter Reed had a nice series. He was putting some pressure on McElroy and also jumped up to knock a pass down. In the 2 minute drill at the end of the first half he also bulldozed Joe Mcknight to put the pressure on McElroy. The Texans are hoping that Brooks Reed is the next Clay Matthews, and while I’m not convinced that’s going to happen, he should be at least an above average pass rusher. He has the same hustle and tenacity as a player like Matthews and obviously the same hair. The presence of well-respected defensive coordinator Wade Phillips can’t hurt either. All in all I was very impressed with what Brooks Reed brought to the table today. Now, I’ll be paying close attention to what he does first the first string of another team, but early signs are good.

Chris Ogbonnaya

Showed that he can catch the ball out of the backfield as well as run it a bit. He’s kind of shifty for how big he is, on one particular draw play he shake and baked and made a few Jets miss tackles. I’m not drafting him in my fantasy league or anything yet, but he had a nice showing in the first half. He has five receptions for 56 yards in the early part of the fourth quarter. Though reports have been that he’s had a very impressive training camp. Good size, agility combination.

New York Jets

Bilal Powell, RB

Wasn’t overly impressed with his running ability tonight, but it’s always a little tougher to judge running backs when they are playing with the scrub offensive linemen vs the scrub defensive linemen. Powell has 9 carries for 25 yards and 3 receptions for 27 yards with a few minutes left to go in the game. He did show an impressive acceleration on a little short pass that he brought down to the 1 yard line around the 8 minute mark int he third quarter.

Joe McKnight

McKnight might finally be working himself out of the doghouse. He was getting a lot of carries early in the second quarter and was doing pretty well. He was hitting the wholes decisively, even though through this point he hasn’t made any big plays on offense. He also had 26 yards on one kick return, though he did bring out one and didn’t get it back to the 20 yard line, which was offset by a Texans offside penalty.

Greg McElroy

McElroy started really slow missing his first few attempts. He also threw an interception on a terrible pass, but was bailed out by a Texans penalty. After he got a second chance he made a few nice passes included a slant pass and swing pass to former USC and Miami Dolphins WR Patrick Turner. He really settled down and through the early part of the fourth quarter was 16 for 27 for a 138 yards. Even though he didn’t have a great yards per pass attempt, he showcased some decision making. He’s got a ways to go, but not a terrible showing.

Jeremy Kerley

Kerley isn’t Brad Smith yet, but he’s going to ease the loss of Smith on special teams. He looked pretty sharp on kick off returns.

TE Jeff Cumberland

Jeff Cumberland was a favorite target of Greg McElroy. He has 77 yards on 6 receptions with five minutes left to go in the game. He’s not going to unseat Dustin Keller, but looks to be a nice safety valve as a pass catcher and has some good speed after the catch.

Kendric Ellis

Got his big paws on a pass from Matt Leinart in the middle of the third quarter and caused an interception.

Players I need to watch more of next game.

Muhammad Wilkerson and J.J. Watt

Eh I missed most of their playing time so someone fill me in on how they did. I’ll have to watch them closely if I can catch another one of their pre-season games.

I loved Brandon Harris at The U and I thought Reshad Carmichael was great value for the Texans, but I didn’t focus enough on the passing defense of my first live watch. I think the overall talent of the Texans secondary is clearly noticeable though. Much improved. As is Kareem Jackson. I thought he was a reach pick last year, but he played pretty well overall, I thought.

Let me hear your thoughts on the Texans and Jets young players.

Home/NFL Draft