Houston Texans fans are eager to see Bobby Slowik lead the Texans offense

Whether it’s a promising season like the one ahead, or a disappointing one like 2021 or 2022, Houston Texans training camp is my favorite time of year in the sports calendar, largely because I’m busy virtually every minute of the day. Between my early morning radio show, Texans practices in the morning, lunchtime media sessions, and articles here and podcast recordings in the afternoon, every minute of the day has something going on. I love it.

This season, we’ll have training camp a week early, due to the Texans’ participation in the Hall of Fame Game in Canton, OH on August 1st. The rest of the league, with the exception of the Texans’ Hall of Fame opponent, the Chicago Bears, will start training camp next week. Here, Christmas comes a week early, with the first practice this Thursday, July 18th.

With that in mind, here are the four storylines that intrigue me the most as the 2024 Houston Texans training camp begins:

4. Kenyon Green and the Battle at Left Guard
If there’s an Achilles heel on what should be one of the league’s most electric offenses, it’s the interior of the offensive line, where second-year center Juice Scruggs will move to his natural center position after a season at left guard, and the left guard spot is open to completion between the remodeling Kenyon Green, Kendrick Green and Jarrett Patterson. The headliner of this battle is Kenyon Green, who missed all of last season so surgeons could put his body back together. Green has had a myriad of injuries since being drafted in the first round in 2022. More importantly, Green has used his time off to completely reshape his body type, and for the first time since arriving in the NFL, he has the physique of a potentially abused left guard. This will be one of the most important position battles to watch.

3. Incorporation of new weapons
The Texans made major upgrades at starting running back, with the addition of Joe Mixon from Cincinnati, and at receiver, with the addition of four-time Pro Bowler Stefon Diggs. Watching Mixon do his thing in this offense in training camp should excite Texans fans after a training camp that overwhelmed Dameon Pierce last year. Diggs is the most interesting one here. If he had accepted fewer targets, Diggs would probably still be a Buffalo Bill. However, he is very vocal when he doesn’t get the ball. Here’s the thing – there’s a VERY good chance he’ll see less of the ball now, on a team with Nico Collins and Tank Dell. How does Diggs handle that, if that’s what happens? So far, things have gone well with Diggs and his teammates in offseason workouts, but the rubber meets the road in camp, and REALLY meets the road in September. The pressure is on offensive coordinator Bobby Slowik to make it all work, a challenge I’m sure he’s relishing.

2. What does the camp look and feel like?
I don’t think it’s a stretch to think that this Texans training camp is going to be the biggest circus of any camp in team history. The team has the most popular head coach they’ve ever had, they have the quarterback that’s the envy of virtually every fan in football, and the star power on this team is off the charts. Tickets to the camp sessions where they allow fans were gone within an hour. In 2021, you could have stood in the parking lot for an hour with two tickets and a hundred dollars stapled to them, and people would rather run you over than accept the tickets and the money.

1. CJ is the owner of the premises
Last season, Stroud was a rookie who wasn’t officially named a starter until just before the season began (even though it was clear the best guy was the best player). Stroud was looking to build trust with his teammates, learn the playbook, and acclimate to life in the NFL. Stroud’s teammates have already said this spring that there’s a different side to Stroud heading into his second year, that he’s much more vocal about urging his teammates to focus and get better. Get used to it, Texans fans. God willing, training camp is the CJ Stroud show for the next decade.

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