The Houston Texans turned to Lovie Smith as their fifth full-time coach in team history.
With the defensive coordinator and associate head coach from a year ago getting promoted to the big job, clearly the Texans are going to run a basic Tampa 2 scheme that will send rushmen upfield, drop linebackers, and have the defensive backs play zone with two safeties over the top. The Tampa 2 kills offenses with its execution, not so much with its disguises.
According to general manager Nick Caserio, the defense has worked on its ability to disguise throughout the spring and has excelled at the endeavor.
“I’d say one of the things that our defense has done a really good job of is the disguise element,” Caserio told Texans Radio play-by-play Marc Vandermeer and sideline reporter John Harris. “They’ve done a great job pre-snap, it’s one thing.”
The defense’s ability to disguises coverages has been beneficial for second-year quarterback Davis Mills, who is getting most of the reps at first-team quarterback. Due to the defense frustrating Mills at times, it provides an opportunity for correction and instruction.
Said Caserio: “A lot of it is understanding when the ball is snapped, okay, what happens and being able to anticipate and being able to see what’s my answer if they do this, we’re going to do this. So, I think seeing those things in real speed, this is the opportunity to do it, and to our defense’s credit, they’ve done a nice job of putting some stress on the offense, but it’s a great learning opportunity.”
As long as Mills is able to learn from the defense’s disguises, and the defense is able to adequately pull them off, the Texans should be able to add more elements that could help the club win more than four games for the first time since 2019.
