The Texans showed interest in re-signing Steven Nelson this offseason, but the two-year Houston starter ended up retiring. Houston has identified another clear candidate to start opposite Derek Stingley. The defending AFC South champions are prepared to roll with second-rounder Kamari Lassiter as their No. 2 cornerback. Not much drama exists here, with KPRC2’s Aaron Wilson indicating Lassiter has worked with Houston’s first-team defense since the offseason program. Although Lassiter sustained an ankle injury earlier during training camp, the No. 42 overall pick reclaimed his starter post — ahead of former first-rounders Jeff Okudah and C.J. Henderson — and will be expected to work in tandem with Stingley.
“For a young guy to come in and not be noticed a lot for doing something negative, everything has been positive with Kamari,” Texans HC DeMeco Ryans said. “He’s exactly the guy we saw from the Georgia film.”
Here is the latest from several other DB situations:
- The Chiefs still need to decide on a No. 2 corner opposite Trent McDuffie. Long known for moving on from corners after one contract (as they most recently did with L’Jarius Sneed), the Chiefs have a few options — most acquired in 2022. Fourth- and seventh-round picks from that draft Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson, who played extensively last year, lead the way. No one has seized the job, per The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, who has 2022 seventh-rounder Nazeeh Johnson, rookie sixth-rounder Kamal Hadden and former Cowboys second-rounder Kelvin Joseph making the team as well (subscription required). Versatile performer Chamarri Conner, a 2023 fourth-rounder, will be in the mix at corner, but Andy Reid said (via Taylor) this could be a rotation into the season.
- Justin Simmons accepted a one-year, $7.5MM Falcons deal. That price being so far beyond what other veteran safeties commanded confirms a decent market formed for the perennial All-Pro. The Colts‘ questions in the secondary did not lead them into this chase, however, with the Indianapolis Star’s Nate Atkins indicating the team did not make the ex-Bronco an offer. Former third-rounder Nick Cross, recently re-signed veteran Ronnie Harrison and third-year performer Rodney Thomas have rotated in alongside Julian Blackmon in camp. Colts assistant GM Ed Dodds said no safety moves are anticipated.
- Seeing his three-year contract traded from the Buccaneers to the Lions, Carlton Davis remains scheduled to be a 2025 free agent. Davis will be 27 for most of this season, which should give him a decent market — should no Detroit extension be reached in the meantime — come March. A new agency will be representing the former second-rounder for his next negotiation. Davis is joining Athletes First, per a recent announcement.
- Jalen Ramsey and Kendall Fuller will start on the boundary for the Dolphins, with former UDFA success story Kader Kohou in place as Miami’s slot defender. Despite Cam Smith being a second-round pick, the Miami Herald’s Barry Jackson notes Ethan Bonner — a 2023 UDFA who has stood out in training camp — is the frontrunner to be Miami’s top backup CB. Bonner, who recently returned from a concussion sustained in camp, played only 11 defensive snaps last season. While Smith recently came back after missing nearly three weeks due to injury, ESPN.com’s Marcel Louis-Jacques adds he is week-to-week after sustaining another injury against the Commanders. Despite playing 15 games last season, Smith only saw 20 defensive snaps.
- The base value on Julian Love‘s second Seahawks contract checks in at $33MM, per OverTheCap. The three-year deal includes $11.97MM guaranteed at signing and dropped Love’s cap number by just more than $1.6MM. Option bonuses (worth a combined $4.8MM) are in place to keep the cap hits lower, with both Love’s 2024 and ’25 cap figures coming in at just over $6MM. Love’s 2025 base salary ($1.2MM) is guaranteed for injury and will shift to a full guarantee five days after Super Bowl LIX, ESPN.com’s Brady Henderson tweets.
- The Jaguars‘ Tashaun Gipson reunion pact is worth $2.55MM, Wilson tweets. It comes with $525K guaranteed. The Jags will still be shorthanded at safety for a while. In addition to Gipson’s six-week suspension, Doug Pederson said (via ESPN.com’s Michael DiRocco) Andrew Wingard‘s recent knee injury will sideline him for at least a few games.
If no extension takes place with the Lions,
CARLETON can always go back to being a
DOORMAN !!
Kamari Lassiter was always going to be a starting corner, no matter which team drafted him, and no matter whether they needed him to play outside boundary or in the slot.
The Texans are extremely lucky that Kamari fell to them in the draft, and it’ll be just the latest example in a long line of draft mistakes when GMs and coaches significantly overvalued a player’s 40 time.
From his film and production at UGA, Lassiter was easily a late 1st Round pick, and even despite his slow 40 time I thought he would still get snatched up at the very beginning of the second round, but nope.
I think each year maybe GMs might get a clue and quit putting so much stock into 40 times for football players, but it never fails. Every single draft there is always a player that moves up 30-45 picks or falls 30-45 picks solely based off of their 40 time they run at the combine. It is the definition of insanity, because the guys with the great 40 times, yet inconsistent film rarely ever workout, and the guys with the strong pedigree from college and great tape almost typically always outperform where they end up getting drafted, despite their slow 40 times.
Slow is an extremely relative term here, as well. I mean, when it comes down to it, we are talking about a player falling because he ran in the mid 4.5’s instead of running a mid 4.4…News flash, they aren’t even wearing pads!? Not to mention, even in pads, it’s a rarity that a player ever even has the chance to just line-up and run 40 yards unimpeded…lol
I can understand shuttle times and stuff like that, because they measure a player’s foot speed, short area burst, and their quickness and acceleration in and out of cuts. Those types of measurements translate, and actually make a difference on the field.
Maybe for a DB measuring how long it takes them to backpedal 10 yards might be more helpful, or measuring the time it takes a WR to run a shallow cross or a comeback route. Those things would actually give you more insight than just measuring a guys 40 time. It just seems so obvious and archaic, I’m honestly surprised it hasn’t already been changed.
I think the team I’ve seen get burned the most by being in love with 4o times might be the Raiders. It seems like they love their combine warriors, even though they typically almost always have subpar coaching, so I’m not entirely sure how or why they’d expect that to work out…lol And right on cue, typically said draft pick is getting released before he’s due for a second contract.
The draft is about evaluating potential. Some guys have worked extremely hard and reached their ceiling in college, and some guys have never worked out or been coached very well and have a higher ceiling even though they aren’t the “better” player right now.
You wrote a lot of paragraphs about how sprint speed isn’t a good evaluation tool. That’s a really hard sell. Nearly every player and coach when asked what’s the biggest difference between college and the NFL replies “the speed of the game” I suspect that will continue to be the case.