The Houston Texans‘ loss to the Dallas Cowboys dropped them to 0-4 on the season, marking the worst start to a season in the DeMeco Ryans era.
I suppose that’s why this week’s mailbag had a record number of questions. I’ll try to keep my answers concise in this one. Thanks to those who asked questions.
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As a reminder, I do a mailbag every Wednesday. To ask a question, use the form below, send me an email at jonathan.alexander@houstonchronicle.com or send me a message on X.
Some of your questions may be lightly edited for brevity and/or clarity.
Let’s get to them:
Q: Who could the Texans trade at the deadline to improve future draft capital?
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JMA: Nico Collins, who is signed through 2027, would command the most outside of C.J. Stroud and Will Anderson Jr.
But I don’t think the Texans are even thinking about that. They’d have to believe that they have no chance of getting to the playoffs. And I haven’t talked to a single player or coach who believes that.
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Q: Do we need WR help even with Nico Collins back ? I’ve seen around here (Tank) Dell is not coming back soon even after the 21-day window was opened today? –
JMA: Personally, I don’t think a team can have enough talented receivers. So the answer to your first question is yes.
As for your second question, the Texans wouldn’t open the 21-day window on Tank Dell if they didn’t believe he could return. He’ll practice. They’ll see how his knee responds to that practice, and they’ll make a determination after that. The Texans would just keep him on the physically unable to perform list or put him on injured reserve if they thought he couldn’t return.
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Q: Can we move (Keylan) Rutledge back to center like in training camp, start (Braden) Smith at LG as soon as he’s off IR, and leave (Trent) Brown at RT?
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JMA: It’s an option. But I get the sense that the Texans think Rutledge is more comfortable at guard than he is at center. He has spent his entire playing career at guard.
And Smith hasn’t played guard since his college days. The Texans aren’t ready to make that gamble. They’d likely only do something like that out of necessity.
Q: What are the “supposed changes” that are supposed to happen this week? –
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JMA: DeMeco Ryans is keeping that close to the vest, but he has said he is looking at anything and everything.
My first thought would be a potential change at safety. M.J. Stewart is likely to return, and Houston has a lot of trust in him.
Jalen Pitre also has experience at that spot. If you’re wondering if anyone will be fired, no. But Ryans could choose to take on new responsibilities or become more heavily involved in certain areas than before.
A Texans season that began with sky-high expectations has hit rock bottom for owner Cal McNair and wife Hannah McNair, a high-ranking executive with Houston’s charitable foundation. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)
Q: Does the McNair family care about their fans and winning or just money and revenue ? –
A: I get the sense they care about the fans and what they think. I get the sense that they want to have a winning team. They’re frustrated about the 0-4 start. They were frustrated when they were 0-2.
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Q: I want to know why DeMeco didn’t make the adjustment to follow CeeDee (Lamb) with a DB? I want to know why he continued to let the Cowboys line up CeeDee and (George) Pickens on the same side and scheme him to be matched up with Jalen Pitre. – JOB
JMA: That’s one of the many questions we’d like to know. If a player is gashing you, you’d think one option would be to have your best cornerback follow him and take advantage of his strengths. But Ryans rarely has cornerbacks follow, so maybe that’s it.
Credit to the Cowboys, who did a good job of exploiting the vulnerabilities in Houston’s defense.
Q: Why has Nick Caserio consistently neglected getting top offensive players instead of settling for the bare minimum? – HedgesTM
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JMA: Another million-dollar question that I’m still waiting to get the answer to. The Texans have failed at evaluating offensive line talent.
Q: Will Braden Smith be expected to start when he returns? –
JMA: He was better last week, so I’d expect them to let it play out. And if Trent Brown does not play well, then they’d give Smith a shot to start.
But in training camp, though it was close, Brown outplayed Smith.
Q: Will the Texans organization continue to embrace mediocrity or will there be a change? If there’s a change, will the Texans organization have the guts to make the tough decisions? When will these changes come? –
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JMA: It’s a subjective question. But I’ll assume you’re asking if the McNairs will fire DeMeco Ryans?
I personally don’t think Ryans should be fired. The season isn’t over. And even if they have a losing season. He’s been the most successful coach in franchise history. He’d deserve another season to correct his wrongs while the Super Bowl window remains alive.
To me, firing him would be a major overreaction.
If you’re referring to Nick Caserio, I’ll wait to see how the season plays out. But there would certainly need to be a reassessment of how things are working.
Texans general manager Nick Caserio’s roster building, particularly on the offensive line, has come under heavy scrutiny with the team 0-4. (Jason Fochtman/Houston Chronicle)
Q: At what point does (Nick) Caserio’s job come into question? –
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JMA: I don’t think the McNairs would allow the Texans to have a losing season and not assess Caserio’s job performance. So maybe the answer is if they have a poor season this year.
That doesn’t mean he’ll be fired after a losing season. Cal McNair has typically shown patience when needed. But Cal and Hannah’s goal is to win games, and they haven’t been afraid of making chances if they are clearly necessary.
Q: What was the purpose of drafting (Marlin) Klein in the second round for him to be a healthy scratch and barely gets play time? –
JMA: I reported this back when they drafted him. The Texans actually wanted to draft Klein in the third round and attempted to trade back to get him. But the trades fell through, forcing them to pick him in the second round.
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They viewed him as a player with a lot of potential who could be a big contributor down the line. Unfortunately, I think that catch on that seam route had you guys thinking he might contribute in Year 1.
He has a lot of talent, but as a team source told me, if a talented player is not playing, then there must be other areas of his game he must improve.
Q: Why is our secondary playing soft zone coverage. Allowing Keenan Allen to run a 5-yard slant to set up a game-winning field goal, and allowing CeeDee Lamb to catch 17 passes? –
JMA: Ryans and defensive coordinator Matt Burke have both been asked that question several times, and neither has addressed it directly.
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Q: Why did you decide to fire an OC without experience just to hire another green OC? The definition of insanity? – Jason O.
JMA: If we’re being fair, Nick Caley hasn’t been the problem when he’s had Nico Collins on the field. They scored 31 and 30 points in those games, and engineered a go-ahead score this week against the Cowboys before the defense let them down. My question is, of the guys on the market after Ryans fired Bobby Slowik, not before, who clearly made the most sense? It definitely wasn’t Chip Kelly, one of their other options.
Q: Should (Kamari) Ramsey replace (Jalen) Pitre? –
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JMA: No. Pitre had a bad game last week. The Cowboys got him in favorable situations on Lamb, but absolutely not. Pitre is one of the Texans’ best defenders. He’s versatile. He’s got to communicate better, and it’s on the coaching staff to put him in better positions.
Q: What percent of the time do the Texans run on first down and what is the average yards per attempt? What is the average yards per pass on first down? –
JMA: The Texans ran it on first down 43% of the time last week. They averaged 4.1 yards per rush attempt on first down, and averaged 13.5 yards per pass attempt, if you don’t include the spike to stop the clock.
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Q: There’s just one question, will they make any significant changes? –
JMA: Significant changes likely wouldn’t happen until the Texans are officially eliminated from the playoffs or until after the season.
That is consistent with Ryans’ style.
Q: What is up with the secondary play? Why are there so many assignment mixups? –
JMA: The issues I saw were a lack of communication. I saw several times Derek Stingley Jr. alerting his fellow defensive backs and linebackers about the crosser, and no one responded. That’s where the Cowboys exploited them. It was a better game plan by the Cowboys.
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Q: Did we all overlook DeMeco’s poor in-game time management and decisions because the team was winning games in spite of him? –
JMA: I don’t think so. It’s always been a topic of conversation each year, but rarely has it lost them games as clearly as it has done this season.
Q: Do you think they can make another push at paying C.J. (Stroud) before the end of the season? –
JMA: I’d be surprised if there was another push. I think Stroud’s agent will let the season play out. As you can see, Stroud is having a great year. And the longer he has a great year, the more that price goes up.
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Also, Bryce Young’s agent and Stroud’s agent will be watching each other to see who gets a deal done first and use that as a barometer of where negotiations start for the other.
Texans cornerback Kamari Lassiter had a rough game Sunday, getting beat on a deep ball to George Pickens and committing two key penalties in the end zone. (Brett Coomer/Houston Chronicle)
Q: What is going on with Kamari Lassiter that has caused him to go from one of the best CBs in football last season to one of the worst this season? –
Q: Has something happened to Lassiter? There’s a stark difference to how he was playing the last 2 seasons to the current one. –
JMA: I think he’s gambled on a couple of plays that didn’t go his way. I think the communication issues between him and the safeties have been below average. And I think teams have targeted him.
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Having said that, I think he can fix it. He’s a smart and tough player who cares about his craft.
Q: Why did the Texans not re-sign Joe Mixon? – Joey C.
JMA: They wanted to go with an option they were sure would be healthy. Remember, they traded for David Montgomery before cutting Mixon, though they knew his fate before making that trade.
The Texans’ doctors weren’t convinced that Mixon’s foot was completely healed when they did their evaluation. It’s why they decided cutting him and saving $8 million made more sense.
And as you can see, after the Seattle Seahawks seemingly agreed to add him to their practice squad, they backed out of the deal after doing a physical on him.
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It’s an unfortunate situation for Mixon, who has tried hard to get back on the field.
Q: Why don’t they utilize (Jaylin) Noel more down the field? –
JMA: The Texans have mostly used him downfield, and you even saw that increase last week when he had three catches for 85 yards. He’s averaging 23.2 yards per catch this season.
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Q: Any chance DeMeco takes play-calling back from Matt Burke? –
Q: Will DeMeco be more involved in solving the defensive issues? –
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JMA: I think there’s a chance there could be a change. That would be an easy move for Ryans, who has called the plays for most of his time in Houston.
However, I don’t think there would be a drastic difference if that change did happen.
Ryans and Burke together come up with the game plan. Ryans already heavily involved. And he has the power to override a call if he sees fit.
Q: I am trying not to get too depressed with this team, looking at their upcoming schedule, if they win six in a row their playoff chances will exceed 60 percent. Am I crazy for thinking that’s not impossible with the defense needing to be righted? –
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JMA: It’s probably unlikely but definitely not impossible. This team has enough talent, that if they can learn how to finish games and communicate better, they can go on a streak. There isn’t a team on their schedule that they can’t beat.
Now, the other team gets paid, too, which is why I say it’s unlikely. But the Texans have done it before.
Q: On a scale from 1-10 with 10 being utterly pathetic, where does the Texans’ defense score, especially when they allow 17 catches by one player in the Dallas loss? –
JMA: It was all the way pathetic. I gave the coaching staff an F on my last report card. I guess that would be the equivalent of a 10 on your scale.
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This article originally published at Texans mailbag: Will DeMeco Ryans take over play-calling? Why Houston didn’t re-sign Joe Mixon.
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