Hear from Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans speaking with reporters from the NFL Scouting Combine
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00:00What's up, Ken?
00:05How you doing, man?
00:06Good.
00:06Good to see you.
00:08Craig, how you doing?
00:09Good.
00:10So you started coaching college,
00:11but now you're playing for the defensive team.
00:14Could you talk about what advice you
00:16would give to a player who's out of the game?
00:17And if you could give that advice,
00:19what would it be?
00:21The best advice I can give to a coach who's
00:24supporting a student who's out of the game
00:26is continue to keep that player involved.
00:29And all the meetings, practices on the side,
00:32have that player start coaching his players in his position
00:36and start to help the guys out.
00:38I think the more you can utilize the players who are out,
00:41how can you utilize them to help their peers,
00:45help their teammates?
00:46I think that goes a long way with keeping that player
00:48engaged and keeping them involved in the process.
00:51Because being injured is a lonely road.
00:54And if you can help guys who are still playing,
00:59the players respect that all the time.
01:00Coach, how do you value rush versus run stopping
01:04for interior defenders in terms of what you need right now,
01:08stopping the run versus disrupting
01:09to get it into the pocket?
01:11How do you value that?
01:12There's a healthy balance.
01:13You have to be able to do both.
01:15So I like guys who are very multi-dimensional.
01:19You want guys who can stop the run,
01:21but also have enough athletic ability to get on the edge
01:24and also win versus their one-on-one pass rush attempts.
01:28So different guys, we like to roll our guys.
01:32So we're not beholden to just having four guys out there
01:36at one time.
01:36I like to roll guys eight deep.
01:38And all those guys have varying traits
01:42that can allow us to be multiple in how we're deploying guys,
01:46whether it's a rush attack, pass attack.
01:50Guys have to be able to do both.
01:52D'Amico, what's the biggest value
01:53that you get from being here?
01:56Hey, Matt, thanks for the question.
01:59The biggest value I get from being here
02:01is just being able to sit down across from the players
02:04face-to-face, be able to hear their story,
02:07hear their background, their upbringing,
02:09and also just get to feel their energy
02:11and feel their passion and love for the game of football.
02:14It comes off in those 15-minute interviews,
02:17and I can feel that energy very instantly.
02:19D'Amico, if you could roll back to last year,
02:21I look at the franchise wasn't good.
02:25You needed to decide, OK, am I going
02:27to get that quarterback and build around him,
02:29or are we going to build a team and then
02:31drop the quarterback in?
02:32How did you sort through that process,
02:34relying on CJ being the guy, and he's
02:37going to be the one that you're going to build around?
02:41For me, taking over this franchise,
02:43I know every team that's here.
02:47If you want to win games or you want
02:48to be, if you want to have a run deep in the playoffs,
02:52you have to have a quarterback to do that, right?
02:55And that was the main focus for us,
02:57so it was easy in the evaluation process of getting CJ,
03:02just seeing his talent, seeing the type of guy that he was,
03:05like ultimate competitor, true leader.
03:08His teammates loved him.
03:10Like, he cared about his teammates.
03:12And that's what stuck out for me,
03:15is the type, not only getting the quarterback,
03:17but getting a guy who the locker room can get behind,
03:20guys that they feel his passion, they
03:23feel his love for the game.
03:24He's competitive.
03:25He has the leadership and drive to be great.
03:28And that's what led us to getting CJ,
03:31and CJ has done an outstanding job for us
03:32these past two years.
03:33Coach, year one, you got CJ, you got Will.
03:37With year two, you were able to get players
03:39like Warren Lassiter and Kalen Bullock.
03:41What put it to some of the decisions
03:43to be able to grab players like that,
03:45maybe players that wasn't how everybody thought?
03:49Going back and thinking about Kamari and Kalen,
03:54when I think about both of those guys, what stuck out to me
03:56about Kamari was what his teammates said about him
04:00last year, being here at the combine.
04:02Like, his attention to detail, his intensity in walkthroughs,
04:06just his mindset and how he loves football,
04:09that stood out to me.
04:10And that definitely came true throughout the season,
04:13watching Kamari play, watching how physical he was,
04:16watching the plays he made,
04:17watching how locked in he was each and every snap.
04:21Kamari felt like a pro the day he stepped into our building
04:25and he's been a true pro all throughout his first year still
04:29with a lot of improvements ahead of him,
04:31but love picking him up
04:32and he's been a great addition to our team.
04:34The thing that stood out to me about Kalen
04:36in last year's draft was just his ability
04:38to track the football.
04:40All right, watching his college tape at USC,
04:43there wasn't another player
04:45who had the ball skills that Kalen had.
04:47And that showed true coming through this past season,
04:51like watching him make the plays he made for us
04:53in the back end, like he had about,
04:56I think at least five interceptions
04:57and probably dropped about three that he wish he had back.
05:00But both two young, talented guys who we saw their traits,
05:07we saw the role and where they can fit for our team.
05:09And so it was easy making those selections.
05:13Yeah, a meeting with the Texans here at the combine,
05:23we hope it comes off as very loose.
05:25We want to make sure we're not trying to grill guys too much.
05:28I want to make them at ease
05:30because I remember being here at the combine
05:32where I had some of those meetings
05:33where they were very tense.
05:36And so I just want to make sure guys are at ease
05:38and they're comfortable
05:39and we just get to know the person.
05:41That's the main thing.
05:42We get a chance to watch as much tape as we can
05:45on these guys, but to really just sit down, helmet off
05:48and like, let's know your background.
05:50Let's know why do you love the game of football?
05:54And what's your why?
05:55Those are the things that we ask our guys.
05:57And we have to get a lot of insightful comments from guys
06:01from asking those questions.
06:12Receivers under 170 pounds just need to be fast.
06:16So a guy like myself can't hit you.
06:18So, but speed is the redeeming quality.
06:21I think for smaller receivers, you're having that speed,
06:24the quickness, especially those guys
06:25who are in that slot receiver position,
06:28like them being matched up on a lesser cover player,
06:31the nickel position, right?
06:33They can really make a ton of plays in the game
06:36just by utilizing their quickness.
06:38Can you provide any sort of injury update on Tank?
06:40Yeah, Tank is, he's still going along through the process
06:44of recovering and healing, but he's in great spirits.
06:49That's the main thing about Tank, right?
06:50He's got a smile on his face
06:52while he's going through the rehab process.
06:54So he's headed there.
06:56In due time, he'll be back.
06:57What is year three like as a process for you?
07:02Year three for myself and Nick working together
07:04and it's been seamless.
07:07It's easy because we see football the same.
07:09We know the type of players that we want on our team.
07:12We know that mindset that we're looking for in players.
07:15It's guys who have that relentless mindset,
07:18guys who love football.
07:19Those guys jump out to us, right?
07:21Guys who are leaders, that jumps out to us.
07:24Those characteristics that they don't lose those
07:27when they come into the NFL.
07:28Guys who are leaders at college,
07:30guys play with a certain play style
07:32and a demeanor in college,
07:33that's gonna carry over to the NFL.
07:36So those are the type of players we look for
07:38and we want good people.
07:40And that's the thing that me and Nick agree on the most.
07:43You wanna win, but you wanna win with great people.
07:46And we both believe that you can do that.
07:49And we've shown that by some of the guys we drafted
07:51and CJ, Will, Kamari, Henry.
07:55It's just a lot of great people.
07:57And it's fun when you're working with great people
07:59who are talented and they're like-minded
08:01and we're all reaching that same goal.
08:04So when there's a discussion about a particular player,
08:07as I think the tush push or brotherly shove,
08:11whatever they wanna call it, QB sneak,
08:13it's gonna be a discussion point this offseason.
08:15Do you have strong feelings one way or the other
08:17on how the NFL should maybe legislate
08:20or stay out of that conversation?
08:22When it comes to that QB sneak play,
08:25I think each team is different.
08:26When I had Jason Kelsey, a teammate of mine,
08:29he was really good at executing that play.
08:32And it's just other teams have tried it.
08:34Some teams have stopped it.
08:36So, we'll see how those discussions go
08:39over the next couple of months.
08:40But for me, either way, when you're executing a play,
08:43it's just difficult to stop.
08:45You keep running that play and the Eagles benefited from it
08:48and they've done an outstanding job.
08:50Is there any update on how Jimmy's doing
08:54and how important would it be to get Jimmy's leadership
08:57and skills back in the lineup?
08:59Yeah, Jimmy's doing good along in the rehab process.
09:03Definitely be important to get Jimmy back,
09:05just going back and watching the season
09:07and seeing some of the plays that Jimmy made.
09:10He's a great leader.
09:11He's a playmaker when he's out on the field.
09:13He just has to stay healthy and be out there longer for us
09:17to impact the game the way that we know
09:19Jimmy can impact the game.
09:20We've seen him have a lot of success
09:21running around the classroom, really explosive.
09:24Did he put the drive into that?
09:25Maybe it's something to do with offensive stuff,
09:26and a lot of times he blocks, a lot of times.
09:29I want to go back a little bit into the conversation
09:32with most people's desires about how to defend
09:34and how to defend and see if there's any different ways
09:36that he can go out there and help out
09:37and see if he can block.
09:40I think there are a lot of different reasons
09:42for why teams are excelled in a run game,
09:45starting off with some really good backs
09:47who are getting to football.
09:49I just think instantly of Saquon
09:51and just his season that he's had, Derrick Henry.
09:54I mean, he had a lot of good backs
09:55and a lot of guys, they're tough to tackle, all right?
09:59So tackling, I think, is one thing.
10:01Is it necessarily guys getting lighter?
10:04I don't think that's the case.
10:05I think it comes back now to the fundamentals
10:07of stopping the run, right?
10:08You got to play good up front,
10:10you got to play stout up front,
10:12and you got to tackle well on the second level
10:14when it comes to the running game.
10:16For a lot of years, players have opted out of bowl games
10:20and it's not really held against them anymore,
10:22but some are opting out of games now.
10:24It's a regular season to get ready for the draft process
10:27or even a halftime of a bowl game.
10:30How do you feel about that?
10:31How do you evaluate that?
10:33Each player has his right to opt out
10:37or do whatever he wants to do.
10:38Like, we'll evaluate the full process.
10:41I don't think it comes down to one particular game
10:43when we're evaluating guys here at the combine.
10:46Our scouts, they've been watching these guys
10:48since they were freshmen.
10:49So we have a lot of history with these guys,
10:52not just on one decision of a guy opting out.
10:55Coach, with the new offensive coordinator,
10:57the new offensive coordinator, like Nick Kaley,
10:58how much is he involved as far as with the interview process
11:02with the guys at the combine?
11:05With our new offensive coordinator, Nick Kaley,
11:07he's in looking at the interviews.
11:11So he's just back just watching it.
11:13He's not here at the combine, but he's watching.
11:16We have him on Zoom, so he's able to watch those.
11:18As you continue to build out the roster,
11:20how imperative is it for you guys
11:21to get better protection for CJ's group?
11:24Yeah, getting better protection for CJ
11:26is definitely a main point of emphasis for us.
11:30We know when CJ is protected, he has a clean pocket.
11:35He's a pretty good quarterback.
11:37And I constantly show guys clips in our meeting
11:40after a game of plays when we protect well
11:43and we have a good pocket.
11:45I'll show guys explosives, show outstanding throws.
11:49CJ is able to make in the middle of the field,
11:51along the sideline.
11:53He's capable of making any throw on the football field,
11:56but it's just a matter of protecting him
11:57and giving him that comfort when he's in the pocket.
12:00When we do that, we can move the ball, we can make plays.
12:03So that is a point of emphasis for us
12:04of making sure he is protected better.
12:07As a defensive-minded coach,
12:09when you see a guy like Jameer Gibbs,
12:11an explosive running back, if that becomes a trend,
12:13finding guys like that out of the backfield to mismatch,
12:16what do you do to counter that
12:17when it comes from a personnel standpoint?
12:22We'd love to have Jameer Gibbs in that speed.
12:25Can we get a Jameer Gibbs?
12:27No, he's-
12:28Defensively, do you look for a certain type of linebacker,
12:30anticipating that the game's gonna change a little bit?
12:33No, I don't look for a particular type of linebacker.
12:37I'm not thinking about one player,
12:38but you want guys who definitely
12:40have the athletic capabilities
12:42to be able to, first and foremost,
12:44keep up with a guy like Jamar, which there are not many.
12:47Then you go to, schematically,
12:49how can you, collectively, with all 11,
12:52kind of minimize Jamar's explosive capabilities.
12:58When you look at, when you're evaluating these players,
13:00is there a way to tell the difference
13:01between a day-one starter and maybe a role player
13:04who have a long career?
13:07Players come in all different types and sizes,
13:10but I think when you look at a guy,
13:13you're taking a guy in that first round,
13:15you're looking at guys who you're leaning on
13:18being day-one starters for you.
13:20And second round, on three, you're looking for guys
13:22who can possibly upgrade the roster
13:24to eventually become starters.
13:26But you wanna see a guy and what he's done in college,
13:30how many snaps he's played,
13:31how effective has he been with the reps
13:33that he's been given.
13:34Coach, with the change of, last one,
13:36goal line coach and coordinator,
13:38is there any change you're looking for different traits
13:40or different play features from your offensive line
13:43as you're moving to scouting?
13:45No, when I look at offensive linemen,
13:47first and foremost, I'm looking at pass protection.
13:50Like how good is a guy in pass protection?
13:52And then, I know for everyone, for me speaking,
13:56offensive linemen, I wanna see that grit.
13:58I wanna see that toughness, right?
13:59That nastiness of how guys are finishing their block.