Following each game this season, I will be looking at the rookies and how they fared each week. This will consist of thoughts such as the positive and negatives from that game, areas to watch or work on and clips to support what I’m sharing. Hopefully, this will shed some insight on some things you may or may not have seen.
Week Four Houston Texans
Active Players
#77 Broderick Jones (Round One) – 51 offensive snaps, 2 special teams snaps
Jones saw his first significant action after starting left tackle Dan Moore had to leave the game early. He had some struggles early. He overset on his first pass play and struggled with his hands on other allowed pressures. His hand timing was late, exposing his chest to the smaller, quicker rushers. He dropped his head at contact on one rep and lunged on another late in the second quarter. The sack that forced Kenny Pickett out of the game was more on the quarterback than Jones in my opinion. Pickett should have gone forward rather than using a 360 spin to the outside.
It wasn’t all bad, however. In the second half Jones was solid. He showed better alignments in his sets to handle the inside moves more effectively. His timing and execution on stunts also improved. Some rust was expected with just four offensive plays prior to the game and there were encouraging signs.
The run game was solid overall. He had a couple nice double-team blocks with Isaac Seumalo and as the post on combo blocks. He walled off the edge on a couple of big runs including the long run by Jaylen Warren. His timing and effectiveness getting to the second level could use some work.
For his first significant work I felt there were more positives than negatives.
Check out Jonathan Heitritter’s film room on Jones.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 55 offensive snaps, 12 special teams snaps
#24 Joey Porter, Jr. (Round Two) – 10 defensive snaps, 3 special teams snaps, 1 assisted tackle
Porter saw his snap count go down, and two of those snaps were spike plays by Houston late in the second quarter. All his snaps were on the left side of the defense. He had four underneath zone assignments, two in press man and one in Cover 3. The Cover-3 play included a poor cut tackle attempt. There was also one running play that went to the far side of the field.
He looks very comfortable in press coverage. He is very patient with his feet to match receivers’ releases, speed to stay in their pocket in the routes and reads the receiver’s eyes well. His lone target in this game was more of a throw away and he had the receiver blanketed.
More playing time should be coming his way.
A sample of Porter in press coverage. He’s at the bottom of the screen.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 58 tackles, 17 special teams snaps, 4 tackles, 3 solo, 1 PBU
#95 Keeanu Benton (Round 2) – 29 defensive snaps, 2 special teams snaps, 4 tackles, 2 solo, 1 forced fumble.
Benton was used from the nose guard out to the 5-tech rushing against the left tackle. Overall, he was much more effective against the run this week. His strength was impressive on several plays, either shoving blockers out of his way or holding them off with a long arm to cover his gap. Against double-team blocks he had several nice reps to split the defenders and get in on the stop. He also forced his first fumble in the second half.
As a pass rusher, he did not connect with his hands very well. He missed on some chops and swipes, but the effort was there. There were several stunts he was involved in as well. The first one he needed to sell the penetration part more to open a gap behind him. He executed it later in the game and ran over the left tackle. Also, he was supposed to be the looper on one play, but it looked like DeMarvin Leal ad-libbed with a spin move instead of acting as the penetrator.
Be sure to check out Heitritter’s film room on Benton.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 107 defensive snaps, 4 special teams snaps, 10 tackles, 4 solo, 1 TFL, 1 sack, 1 FF, 1 QB hit.
#80 Darnell Washington (Round 3) – 25 offensive snaps, 8 special teams snaps, 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards.
As a run blocker, Washington was solid overall with several good blocks on some of the Steelers’ more effective runs. The first two of three wham blocks opened holes before the defensive tackle caught on. He walled off the edge a couple of times as well to help the run game.
In the passing game, he had a couple nice blocks on slide protection. As a receiver, his route tree was limited to a few digs, flats, and a couple releases after blocking. He did have his first NFL reception on a block/release where he gained about eight yards after the catch. He was one on one with the 5-foot-11 Jalen Pitre in the red zone and open on another block/release that could have been a solid gain, but he suffers from BTE Syndrome. Blocking tight ends often get overlooked by the quarterback.
My one criticism for this game was his snap quickness. He was slow to get out of his stance and teams will start to take advantage of that.
Washington (80) blocks and releases to the middle of the field. If Pickett sees him there is lots of green for him after the catch.
Check out Heitritter’s film room on Washington.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 104 offensive snaps, 34 special teams snaps, 1 target, 1 reception, 10 yards.
#51 Nick Herbig (Round 4) – 4 defensive snaps, 20 special teams snaps, 1 solo tackle
Herbig had a quiet game defensively with just four snaps and wasn’t really involved in any of the plays. His first play was a pass and the Texans sent two blockers his way and he shoved the tight end to the ground.
The core special teamer did come up with a stop on a Brad Wing punt at the start of the second quarter.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 50 defensive snaps, 86 special teams snaps, 5 tackles, 3 solo
#74 Spencer Anderson (7th) – 2 special teams snaps
Congratulations to Anderson for getting his first NFL action. He aligned as the left tackle on the field goal unit. If Dan Moore Jr. misses any extended time Anderson’s role could increase over the next few games.
2023 Regular-Season Totals – 2 special teams snaps
2023 Rookies Of The Week
Week 1 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 2 – CB Joey Porter Jr.
Week 3 – NT Keeanu Benton
Week 4 – TE Darnell Washington
Inactive for Week 2 – None
Practice Squad – #79 OL Joey Fisher (UDFA SF), #40 OLB David Perales (UDFA PIT), #15 WR Jacob Copeland (UDFA TEN), #85 WR Duece Watts (UDFA GB)
Reserve/Injured – #27 DB Cory Trice Jr.
