TEXANS BULLISH & BEARISH: Jared Wayne RISING, Braden Smith FALLING? Winners,+ Edge Depth Concerns?

The Houston Texans have officially played their first preseason game — and now the questions get real.

Are you impressed? Or are we still waiting to see what this team looks like when C.J. Stroud and the starters take the field?

John Hickman and Big Sarge break down Houston's preseason opener against the Los Angeles Chargers with the straight-up takeaways Texans fans need to hear.

The offense showed some serious promise. The biggest thing we wanted to see was functionality, and Houston gave us plenty of it. The situational play-calling stood out, and there was an aggressive effort to do more than simply get players into space — the Texans worked to CREATE the space.

But defensively? That's a different story.

Houston had 10 missed tackles, and the Chargers recognized the Texans' undisciplined defense and attacked it with play-action throughout the night. That's NOT GOOD.

So who's stock is UP? Who's stock is DOWN?

Jared Wayne's stock is UP. He's making this roster decision a whole lot harder for Houston.

Jake Hummel is making a legitimate case for himself in the Texans' linebacker room.

And then there's Braden Smith and the question of whether Houston has enough quality depth coming off the edge.

We'll break it all down.

In This Episode:

Segment 1 — Immediate Texans Preseason Takeaways

• What did we learn about the Houston Texans offense?
• Offensive functionality and situational play-calling
• Creating space instead of simply finding space
• Why the offense showed promise
• 10 missed tackles and Houston's defensive issues
• How the Chargers attacked Houston with play-action
• Texans defensive discipline and tackling concerns

Segment 2 — Texans Stock Up / Stock Down

• Jared Wayne is making a statement
• Is Jake Hummel forcing his way into the linebacker conversation?
• Braden Smith's stock takes a hit
• Texans edge rusher depth remains a concern
• Which players are making the roster decisions harder?

Segment 3 — Where Do the Texans Go From Here?

• What needs to improve before the regular season?
• Why we still need to see C.J. Stroud under center
• What changes when the Texans' starters take the field?
• Can Houston turn preseason promise into regular-season production?

The preseason is here. The evaluation is underway. And Texans football is back.

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