I called in from vacation for this All-Access episode because there was no way I was missing it.
Training camp is right around the corner — rookies report July 21, veterans the 28th — and the energy is starting to build. You can feel it. Phil Collins said it best. In the air tonight. Andre Johnson's pregame anthem. Every time I hear that song, I think of number 80 walking out of that tunnel. Johnny does too.
John Harris went to work on Bill Barnwell's ESPN rankings that put our skill position group at 24th in the league. Twenty-fourth. Down from fourth two years ago.
Johnny wasn't having it.
He pulled up Jayden Higgins' yards-per-route-run numbers from the second half of his rookie season — 2.11 from Week 10 on, which would put him around 15th in the entire NFL. "I'm using the nerd numbers against the ultimate nerd," John said, and he was right. You can't evaluate a rookie on his full-season average without looking at the growth curve. The second half told you everything you needed to know about what Higgins is becoming. And Barnwell didn't even mention Woody Marks in the running back breakdown. Not a word. I compared David Montgomery and Woody to Simon and Garfunkel — Montgomery writes the songs and carries the load, but without Garfunkel you don't get "Bridge Over Troubled Water." Some games, Woody is going to absolutely crush it.
Then we went back in time. Our 25th anniversary retrospective took us to 2023, the season that changed everything. Johnny and I walked through it all. Andrew Beck's kickoff return touchdown in Jacksonville. Tank Dell's 68-yard bomb from C.J. that opened up the floodgates.
The Tampa Bay game — my goodness, that game.
Dare Ogunbowale kicking a field goal as a running back. Baker Mayfield scoring with 37 seconds left and everybody thinking it's over. And then C.J. Stroud, the rookie, marching down the field and hitting Tank in the end zone on a play they drew up together on the sideline. "Let's see what the rookie's made of," is what I remember thinking. Ten seconds left. Post route. Touchdown. I still get chills.
The Cincinnati walk-off was incredible — Noah Brown refusing to go down, Matt Ammendola drilling the 38-yarder as time expired, and for the first time that season, I really thought playoffs. And then the Tennessee game. Case Keenum starting in the Oiler throwbacks with C.J., Nico, Will Anderson, and Blake Cashman all out. Case threw a pick-six early and we're down 13-nothing and I'm thinking this might not work. But Case put on a masterclass. Dalton Schultz ripped the ball out of a defender's hands on a play I still can't believe happened. And then Ka'imi Fairbairn from 54 yards in overtime. "Put those uniforms back in the trunk!" Andre Johnson said it and we all felt it. What a season. What a ride. 2023 was special, and revisiting it reminded me why we do this.
Don't forget to subscribe to Texans All-Access on Spotify and Apple Podcasts. Training camp is almost here. We'll see you tomorrow.
