Houston Texans Training Camp: Could Cam Akers change the trajectory of the RB room?

Intro on today's installment of locked on Texans coach Deo Ryan says the starters will play in Friday's preseason game and can cam Acres actually shake things up in the running back room you are locked on Texans your daily podcast on the Houston Texans part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day welcome in everybody to this Tuesday episode of the locked on Texans podcast a part of the locked on podcast Network your team every day thank you to all of our first- time listeners and viewers Please Subscribe like and comment to the locked on Texans podcast on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcast also shout out to all of our returning listeners what we call our every dayers uh continuing to come back to listen to Cody and myself talk Texans I'm your Texans football analyst John some sports goty Hickman on the other side of the screen Texans credential media member Cody Davis today we are going to dive into getting prepared for the second preseason game for the Houston Texans which again guys I think is at the advantage of the Texans to help them figure out a few things in terms of depth and just getting a roster ready and preparing themselves for any midseason or pre-season roster moves that they could make with nearly $18 million today's episode is brought to you by FanDuel make every moment more uh the Sports Stop sporting sometimes like you know we kind of want them to keep going year round everybody needs a break toe but with FanDuel they make sure that they keep you going with all of the fun they're hooking up all their customers all customers excuse me with a boost or a bonus daily there's something for everyone every day all summer long visit fanduel.com lockon to get started Cody take us away you talk about roster moves Roster Moves man I'm I I hope when we see these roster moves it has nothing to do with injuries because here we are going into what the third week of training camp and it seems like every single day somebody knew is added to the injury report so we're going to close out this this Tuesday installing of lock on Texans talking about whether or not we should have some concerns with injuries and like I mentioned in the Cole Co opening man cam Acres I didn't expect much from him but after the first preseason game looking at how well he looked it seems like he was one of a few bright spots when you take a look at the Texans preseason opening loss to the Chicago Bears John we got to talk about it cam Acres actually shake up this running back unit and this idea actually came due to the fact that on on on yesterday's installment when you was giving some of your quick takes you mentioned you know can cam Acres actually take the ham as rb2 I don't think so but I do believe believe that it's going to be a situation where he can actually shake up this running back room but we're going to get this latest installment of lock on Texans kicked off talking about the biggest news that came out of I think this was day 11 of training camp they in Cleveland and as you guys can tell I'm not in Cleveland John is not in Cleveland but we still have a lot of our great colleagues who are in Cleveland according to a good friend of the show you guys already know Brian bfield big Sarge he was one of several of our colleagues who reported that according to coach Deo Ryan that the starters will play in Friday's preseason game against the Pittsburgh Steelers I'm actually excited about that because not only do I want to see the starters and see um Stefon di make his you know quote unquote Houston Tex's debut not only do I want to see CJ Str as he began for year two but I also want to see Justin Fields you know dressed in a in a Pittsburgh Steelers uniform and I heard C to good friend Chris Carter over at the Lock podcast you know Justin Fields been looking mighty good out there in Pittsburgh but of course you know keeping things here local down here in the city of Houston man I love the fact that costao Ryan is actually going to make sure that majority of his starters are going to play in the second preseason game because Johan I truly do believe this is where you definitely want to start making sure that the players understand everything that you've been trying to install and update for the 2024 season I definitely would love to see tank Dale because this is going to be his first time playing after he went down with that broken leg and of course we have been raving about tank Dale ever since what OTAs when we finally had an opportunity to see him and even if he plays you know two or three series you know just getting an opportunity to get back in game shape or or starting to get back in game shape is going to do wonders for him speaking of getting back in game sh another guy that I'm going to be very excited to see is Titus how wanted to see him last week and he should have played last week however knowing that he's part of that first team I can't wait to see what Titus Howard got in store for us come Friday I'm really looking forward to seeing CJ stra uh if you guys remember on forget what podcast but a couple of podcast too you know we talked about you know the defense had been having their way with the offense for the first couple weeks like put it like this out of the first couple of weeks of training camp the defense won majority of the days and also the rain was playing a huge factor for the Houston Texans offense as they were going through the motions of installing uh you know different things offensively and Pep Hamilton was out there and when he was out there pep hton said you guys got to remember the defense is normally going to look better the first couple of of of preseason because you're seeing the offense go through the steps and the Motions of installing what they need to well Tuesday excuse me Monday uh according to our good friend big Sarge uh Jonathan Alexander who's out there um DJ bemy DJ who's out there a few guys that we follow you know some of the guys that are doing the groundwork for the Houston Texans local media the offense was on fire aside from Aziz Al Sher who had an interception on on um CJ St CJ St was lighting it up out there and it just so happens that this is now the third week of preseason so maybe some of the things that Houston was working on uh during the first couple of weeks of training camp is a little bit simpler now for a CJ and now he's you know just more fluid out there as a quarterback so I do want to see him man DJ even said the preseason hype that everybody has had around his team fans media alike today was justified Monday was justified for it so I don't want to see them out there a lot a couple of series and pull them honestly um but I want to see what CJ has in store for year two and if that kind of transcends to the other guys because I'm definitely looking forward to seeing some of uh Damian Pierce as well and with and with coost M Ryan talking about the starters you know going to play that also means that we're going to see Kamar Lasser as well and John you wasn't here on Friday but me and sge were talking I did say that was was one of the negatives that I thought the Houston Texans that I wanted to see from the Texans was to put like your rookie out there Kamar elass because look we understand that he's going to be CB too however I just felt like with the additional preseason game he would have he would have been a little bit more ready for the regular season knowing that he's going to be starting opposite of Derek Singley Jr man but I really do think like Friday is going to be one of the one of if not the most important preseason game heading into the 2024 season which of the players that are going to be considered starters or starters because starters will play which of those players do you think may need to be out there longer than the other starters like a Kamar eler for an examp Kamar Kamar I want to see Kamar play a half I'm G gonna already say play half you you got to he he gotta get his feet wet yes he's look good but he gotta get his feet wet Camari is up there for me a half I can't honestly I can't be mad at that typically years ago it would be a half for a rookie remember um going into game too um so I'm I'm not necessarily mad at that uh I would like to see green and juice out there a little bit longer uh those two are going to be starters I'm not worried about Shaq Mason I'm not necessarily worried about Titus Howard though you can make a case that at least a quarter he needs to be out there but if you want to go further than that I'm okay with it but I would like to see a good amount of snaps for Kenan green and juice krugs and on the defensive side I would like to see a good amount of snaps for rookie kayin Bullock as well talk about kayin Bullock we talk about a lot of the starters however I think there's a guy by the name of Cam Acres who might out of nowhere might make this 53 man roster and actually play a vital role for the Houston Texans in 2024 who knows but we're going to talk about that on the other side of the FanDuel break sports are around the corner college is is around the corner NFL is this weekend so the NFL is officially back you also got the Olympics that are helping get us through this drought that we are in right now in terms of sports but don't worry guys if you need some more action check out FanDuel they are giving out all customers a boost or a bonus daily all summer long that's right there's something for everyone every day all summer long hand on over to fanduel.com and start making the most out of your summer FanDuel is the official sports betting partner of the NFL welcome back in ladies and gentlemen Locked on Texans to this Tuesday installment of locked on Texans and in the words of the great John some sports guy Hickman and for those of you who been rocking with the show for a long time you should know that you know so Sports guy was John middle name for the for the longest is it still uh I mean you can say that it way any way that's how long me and John been rocking with each other but um in the words of John so Sports got Hitman you know the first preseason game you really don't want to overreact John I don't want to overreact I really don't but when I take a look at cam Acres just looking at how fluent he looked Thursday's game yeah once again this is a guy who just came to the Houston Texans about two weeks ago you know that first full week of training camp he was here I only saw him participating in individual drills you know he had a couple reps doing 11 on 11 and seven on seven but it wasn't much and remember I came on this show saying I'm not expecting him to make the 53 man roster I'm not expecting him to be part of the practice squad roster hell I wasn't even expecting him to play meaningful snaps in the preseason and when coach Deo Ryan was first asked about the addition of Cam makers all he said was we added him just to see if he can compete yeah now after the very first preseason game once again look at that looking at how fluid he looked coming off of not one but two Achilles tear here is what costao Ryan had to say about cam Acres performance Thursday night Cam made a couple nice plays I Cam Akers performance think everybody saw the plays that cam made running the football ball and also with the receiving touchdown cam has a very you know just Savvy way of slipping off of tacklers making play so I I like where Cam was tonight and he showed showed some playmaking ability which he has shown in the past just a matter of Cam continued to get reps and build off of what he's done that sound like that's been a change of playing from coach Deo Ryan and most likely general manager Nick cerio and John you know the running back room is something that you and I been talking about ever since the start of training camp um we have talked about it time and time again you know who your top two running backs are um Daman and Pierce Joe Mixon who missed another day of training camp practice um however Dar goomar British Brooks Gerard Jordan I mean that whole running back unit has looked good through the first 11 days of training camp we saw majority if not all of that during the very first preseason game now you add cam acres to to the list a guy when healthy has always been a pretty solid and productive running back do you see a situation where he could shake up this room and actually make the 53 man roster I do uh I really do I think uh for Houston when I do look at that back field uh like JJ Taylor got some snaps in in the preseason Dar got some snaps uh cam got some snaps jaar Jordan got some snaps British Brooks got a snap you know a carry um the overall the Texans ran for two six yards per carry and cam didn't necessarily run the greatest as well five carries for 13 yards but you look at two catches 18 yards through the air and one TD um I I think for for cam making this roster it's a real possibility he's a vet um and I'm also looking at Joe Mixon has been out there for a while you know at first I was not concerned I was looking at know right you know I was looking at the situ like you know maybe they want to give Joe some good time to rest he's been in the league a long time you know a couple of vet days to get his body acclimated to Houston's Heat and the weather and whatnot because the last time we saw him I think that was something he mentioned you know at the post pressor but now I am concerned so I look at that plan in the favor of not only cam acers by the way even you know the rookies even D making this roster with Joe Mixon being out as long as he's had uh has been excuse me I look at the running back three row as something that this team needs to address to make sure that if Joe Mixon is is not ready to start the season then Damen Pierce would be the lead back but how much of Damen Pierce will we see get majority of those snaps that could be a situation where we see some of those snaps increase for the quote unquote rb3 on his team to kind of balance everything out with that being said yes I do believe cam Acres can make this team I think there's something that he can add in terms of being able to run the ball he still has that one cut get up the field ability doesn't do a lot of dancing um I think the output would be will be different if he play behind the starter offensive line King green juice Scruggs Titus Howard Shaq Mason lamry tonson when he gets out on the field at some point I'm not going to be looking at five for3 for an entire game right so those numbers can kind of look nasty in a sense like that's not sexy and I get it but look at some of the good things that he did Thursday excuse me catching the ball out of the back field being able to be a loive as a running with the ball in his hands you know making a guy a couple of guys miss that's what cam aens can bring to a team and I think that that has some value here in Houston that has question marks at the top with the number one running back how long will he be out is Houston kind of preparing themselves right now to maybe miss him a little bit more than we are expecting and if so how will the you know productivity be splitting up between that backfield will it be 15 carries for Damen Pierce or will we see 10 and 10 between the two running backs who knows but they got to make sure that they keep talent because I think that's been an issue for Houston in the past Damen Pierce was not successful as the Le started running back but they had Deon sleary as the back of her the back he was come able to come in and have some good moments for Houston had a career high on the ground they could put themselves in a similar situation this year because they can kind of hide the fact that we don't have Joe Mixon if the two guys behind Joe Mixon which is Damen Pierce and whoever rb3 will be up for can be productive as well so I'm not looking for a one player to be de Deon sleary I'm looking at multiple guys to kind of f in that road until Joe mix can come back I do wonder if Cam Acres you know has an opportunity to make the 53 man roster um I do Wonder does this Mark the end of Dario Goomba here in Houston because I don't see a situation where they're going to put him on a practice squad I mean yeah you know we could say here and say you know well you know special teams or whatever the case might be not just for his kicking because he has had more plays on special teams but I mean just to me Dy a since in Houston whether in a rushing attack passing attack or with his blocking ability to a certain extent he has always given this organization a little bit value in the Run back unit however if Cam Acres come in and shake up the unit I I look at Dar being the OD man out because first and foremost you're looking at a situation where at this stage in his career his experience and what he can provide it could probably be useful to another team in terms of British Brooks Gerard Jordan and JJ Taylor which one of those guys would you like to keep even though we were big on Gerard Jordan I would like to see the Houston Texans keep British Brooks because I think he's been the more productive running back so far here in training camp however when you go back to Thursday game it seemed like JJ Taylor had the upper hand between those three guys I believe he had the longest run of the night for the Texans rushing for a 12 to 10 to 12 yards between Kenyan green and ju scrug so I mean cam Acres changes a lot about this offensive Back Field I said this before the start of training camp and I'm going to repeat it again make sure you guys keep your eyes on what is taking place with that offensive Back Field and speaking of the offensive Back Field John you already alluded to Joe mixing at first I wasn't worried now I'm really starting to get concerned Texans they still floating around with with you know we just give our veterans rest however you're not going to rest no veteran this long in training camp for any reason so on the other side of the break we're going to talk about whether or not it's time to be concerned with the Houston Texans and injuries Sponsor this show is sponsored by better help what are your self-care non-negotiables maybe you never Skip Leg Day or maybe you never ski therapy day when your schedule is packed with kids activities big work projects and more it's easy to let your priorities slip even when we know what makes us happy it's hard to make time for it when you feel like that you feel like it's no time for yourself the non-negotiables like therapy are more important than ever if you are starting starting of thinking of starting therapy give better help a try it's entirely online designed to be flexible and convenient to your schedule just fill out a brief questionnaire to get match with a licensed therapist and swiss therapist at any time for no additional charge never skip a leg day never skip therapy day never skip therapy day with betterhelp visit betterhelp.com locked on to get today to get 10% off your first month that's better help hp.com locked on to get started today Injury concerns welcome back again locked on Texans listeners and viewers before we close out Today's Show is there reason to be concerned with the early injuries um Cody I'm G let you take it away I think so I mean after the one preseason game some of these players played some of them didn't play but the injury list for the Texans it's getting ridiculous according to Aaron Wilson of KPRC these were the players who did not practice in Cleveland on Monday will Anderson Jr denil Hunter Blake Fisher Lonnie Johnson Jr Jake Hansen Kamar lass Noah Brown and Jeff Auda they joined a list that was already pretty concerning when you take a look at the fact that laremy tonsil Joe Mixon and Christian Harris has yet to well not has yet but there was already sideline even before they departed for Cleveland of course in the case of laramy tonsil and Christian Harris neither one of those guys has yet to practice in any training camp John for the second year in a row I'm looking at the Houston Texans dealing with injuries early on and I'm thinking to myself man one what can they do to prevent these injuries and two and most importantly how much can these injuries actually in some type of way have a negative impact on the Houston Texans and like I mention one of my biggest takeaways from Thursday's game they can't for especially on that defensive side of the ball they cannot afford to have several injuries and you looking at the depth or the lack thereof in a lot of these positions especially at this at especially when you take a look at the secondary as well I think let me say this I think that Justin Simmons and his agent have been uh taking their time I I really do I think that they're waiting to see how multiple teams rosters in the NFL Shape Up and I think that they're going to be picky with who they sign with I do think Houston is in that running um in terms of maybe a list of favorites for Simmons because quandre quandre Diggs is in Tennessee now was Tennessee yeah so you look at Tennessee getting a veteran safety so I just wanted to throw that out there I do think Justin Simmons Houston is still a possibility I think between uh himself and his agent they're kind of looking at teams like okay we fit better with what you're doing and we believe you have a real chance to you know make it to the Super Bowl so we're gonna sign with you to you know kind of be that X Factor to put you over the hump that said um one injury that I've been really concerned about as of lately like the last few days I haven't seen Christian Harris I know and and this is Christian Harris third year at least was going to say real quick at least with lar tonso it's just more so him recovering from that offseason procedure he had so I mean that makes sense right with with with lar I'm not worried like I think lar could just kind of wake up get ready for I'm ready don't worry about it but I'm kind of concerned with not seeing Christian Harris out there because he's going to be a part of the first team he's a starter on this defense and with some of the changes and updates you know I just hope that when he does finally play play he's not able to build off of last season because he's a behind a little bit so I look at that factor um Joe Mixon I'm starting to get concerned as we mentioned and my concern level is even higher because though I believe Damen Pierce will bounce back this year and be a much better back you know Houston traded for Joe Mixon uh be a seventh rounder but then extended him for three years and so I know they want to get him out there to be the the running back that they believe he can be for this team and I also don't know how much can we place on the shoulders of Damen Pierce until we know how much we can place on the shoulders of Damen Pierce like if that makes sense like I don't want to see right now Damien with 15 or more carries that that's and that's fair and I think that's fair and it's not a shot to him that's just based off of last season 15 carries is not good for Damen Pierce right now until we see otherwise now once we see otherwise my concern may go down but not ready to see that the only group that I'm okay with right now on the offensive side of the ball is quarterback is quarterback and receiver so you got you you you well I think even with tight end I'm fine with with the tight end group I'm fine um so I'll take that statement back but there are some injuries that are happening across team I'm like ah gosh we I want to see some of these guys out there I want I want to see Christian Harris by the third preseason game hopefully but the way things looking I don't think he gonna be ready about the third preseason game so how concerning is that going in the like very has four preseason games so and I that last one is like a if anybody's just not coming back a tune up for a series or two if and if I'm not mistaken I think that third preseason game that's basically going to be a whole week of training with the Los Angeles Rams so joint practices and that's what Christian Harris Sounds by way only only oh yeah oh yeah so Lonnie Johnson that's that's where they shine at well yeah you know but Lonnie he's one of those guys he's actually dealing with in concussion protocol as right now and look with Christian Harris man this is one of the small little frustrating things about you know working with coaching staffs and stuff as of right now doing training camp because we've all have asked about Christian Harris as of right now and we haven't really gotten too much of what is going on with him but John to your point third week of training camp second preseason game coming up on Friday and the only time I think we only saw Christian Harris twice in both times he was literally walking past us to go from the training field back to inside to Arena to get what whatever rehab treatment he needs to get but hopefully you know Christian Harris will be ready come week one of the regular season that's something coach Deo Ryan has contined to um repeat time and time again so at the end of the day hopefully all of these guys especially lar tonso and Christian Harris and Joe Mixon to a certain extent now will be ready to face off against the Indianapolis Coast because I guarantee you the coach will be ready because the Texans ended their season last year and with them coming back with a healthier your quarterback and Richardson you looking at it that that week one game could be very competitive let's just leave it at that and and it's been some good preseason you know Trash Talk between the two franchises so a whole Division if you think about it yeah uh no it really has been I mean this this this division can be fun this year no doubt about it a lot of people think I got it as most competitive man I you heard it from me first you heard it from me first most competitive division is going to take place right here in the AFC South in the NFL in the NFL I understand that division with with with you know Cleveland and and what is it Cleveland Pittsburgh AFC North AFC North I understand AFC North but that's a good division in in the words in the words of outcast the South got something to say thank y'all for listening to today's episode of the lock on Texan podcast please be sure to subscribe like and comment to the podcast on YouTube and wherever you listen to your podcast follow us on Twitter at lockon Texans and give me a follow as well at johore hickman2 and as always I'm your host Cody M Davis please remember to follow me on Twitter Cody davis4 once again it's Cody c t y d a v i sor4 until next time ladies and gentlemen peace peace