Here’s everything Houston Texans tight end Dalton Schultz said following Day 10 of training camp, including his thoughts on the new-look tight end room, the play of running back David Montgomery and the overall balance of the offense.
Question: On how the offense looks going into year two under Offensive Coordinator Nick Caley
Dalton Schultz: “It looks good. We’re excited. We’re very much further along than where we usually are. It’s allowed us to do some different stuff, work on some different stuff that we haven’t been able to work in the last year. I’m excited about the growth of a lot of the young guys, especially picking up a brand new offense. They’re almost falling in line with the guys that are in year two of the system in terms of just picking it up. So yeah, we’re on the roll.”
Q: On the addition of TE Foster Moreau
Schultz: “So annoying. No, I’ve known Foster Moreau for a few years. Having just another veteran voice in the room has helped a lot. Helps me feel younger. It’s weird when you kind of reach year eight, year nine and it’s like you look around and you’re kind of the old guy in the room. So having Foster to kind of ping pong off of has, I think, helped us a lot. He brings just a great veteran presence, but also a lot of shared experience. Whether it’s playing each other or playing in the same systems. It helps when you’ve got not just one voice kind of saying something as a young guy, but having a couple of voices that are reflecting the same ideas. I think that just kind of helps reinforce some of these teaching points in a new offense for some young guys.”
Q: On RB David Montgomery
Schultz: “I’m excited about ‘DMo’. I love ‘DMo’. I think just the attitude that he brings, the attitude that he runs with. Being a guy that’s been on the other side, like going against him for a few years, I’m happy that he’s on our side. Just another big veteran presence and I think at the end of the day we’re all going to feel good handing the ball to ‘DMo’ knowing that he’s in the backfield running with a ball in his hand. I think anytime you can get a guy like that, especially in the backfield, that’s a workhorse and is a leader, it’s good.”
Q: On what makes him feel like a veteran
Schultz: “I don’t ever think it’s like a smarter, I think it’s just like a calmer. The freak-out moments, the one-off looks that nobody talks about. When you’ve kind of been around him and you’ve seen him and you’ve been in the big moments with those things happening, it’s not so much of a, ‘Oh, what…’ It’s not a freak-out moment. I think just that calmness of understanding of, ‘Okay, I’ve seen this a handful of times. I know what to do. I’ve been through the coaching points. I’ve had years under my belt to see stuff like this.’ That always helps. I’ve also never gotten bored with understanding that I still don’t know a lot. For me, I think that’s been more evident the longer that you’re in the league and you’re around some of the coaches and the coaching staff, picking defensive coordinators’ brains about why they spin coverage the way they’d like. There’s so much more as a player that you realize you’re nine years in that you still have no idea and are just kind of getting a glimpse in some of these conversations. I love learning, so I notice those moments more than the, ‘Oh, I’ve seen this before. I got it moments.’ It’s the moments of, ‘Oh, wow, I haven’t thought of that’ or, ‘I didn’t ever expect that.’ Those moments I think are the kind of unique, cool points as a guy that’s a little older, older in the league.”
Q: On the music choices in the locker room from the younger players
Schultz: “Yeah, dude, what’s my age again? I’m always calling for Blink-182. We get it one day a week. That’s okay, we’ll stick to it. There’s a lot of stuff that I haven’t heard that’s consistent on the radio. I love it. It’s so great.”
Q: On the biggest change on defense over the years he has witnessed
Schultz: “I would say defenses are much more athletic on the second level, especially linebackers. Even the guys that came before us, you have your DeMeco [Ryans] types, where it’s just 250-pound haymakers. Like, fill the A-gap, fill the A-gap. But now, I mean now you have guys like the rookie, Wade [Woodaz], who’s as big as us, but is also just as athletic. Guys are much more pass-game coverage-focused. Way more athletic than a lot of the guys that were kind of in the league when I was maybe a rookie. As far as defense, they go in trends. Everybody kind of follows the trends. There are a lot of coverages and fronts that are trendy. I’d say you’re getting a lot more nickel packages and people along that same line of, ‘Hey, we’re just going to throw a bunch of athletes out there and say that we can still match up with a run.’ When you have a guy like Jalen Pitre, you probably feel pretty good about leaving nickel out there in a two-tight-end set, saying that Pitre could probably fit the run. It’s stuff like that where it’s maybe a little bit lighter. It allows you to do a little bit more. It allows you to present different front structures, different coverage structures and keep everything kind of blanketed.”
Q: On where the offense is taking a big step forward going into Preseason Week 1
Schultz: “There are so many. I think along my same lines of feeling more calm as the years go on. I would say that we’ve kind of fallen into just a level of, ‘Alright, heard the play call, we’re good.’ I think the communication has been so much better than it’s been. I think ‘Pop’ [Cole Popovich] has done a great job kind of drilling that into the offensive line. When you get up there, the front’s declared, the mic’s declared, we’re re-identifying the mike properly. To be able to run an offense consistently well over and over, you have to be able to communicate, defensively, too. I think getting up to the ball and having that declared immediately has helped get a lot of guys in the right spots, because half the time that’s the hardest part. When you have guys playing nickel defenses to 12 personnel, but you’re only supposed to block backers, it can get a little confusing at times. I think just that level of communication, especially from young guys like Keylan [Rutledge] up there, being able to ID a front, make a mike backer and roll, it’s been huge.”
Q: On if support from the front office boosts confidence in the locker room
Schultz: “I don’t know if that plays into it. Maybe it does, maybe it doesn’t. To me, it’s more about you look at what you’ve done on the field. We have a lot of guys that have made big-time plays in big-time moments and have a lot of good football under their career belts. I think when you have a locker room with this level, the standard just kind of gets higher and higher. I don’t know if that plays as much, but when you have a bunch of guys that have done it well for a long time, for sure.”
Q: On if there is a feeling of continuity on offense while bringing in new players
Schultz: “There’s continuity, but at the same time, there’s a lot of growth in that continuity. I mentioned a lot of the young guys stepping in and being able to get that. There’s a lot of growth to those guys that kind of get up to speed. It doesn’t feel like there’s any newness and it feels like there’s continuity, even though you might have three new guys. You know what I mean? It does feel like there’s that without actually, on paper, ‘Oh, it’s the same guys.'”
Q: On how defensive coverages have evolved since he’s been in the league
Schultz: “I wish I could give you an accurate number, because I think for my first two years, I didn’t know what the hell was going on in terms of coverage. I look at everybody [say], ‘That’s cover two. That’s cover three.’ Would I know the difference between palms and two and three match and fire zone and three hook? Like, I didn’t know my ass from my elbow. There was a ton of growth in my process for me and I was very lucky to have vets in the room that were able to talk to me about stuff like that. I had a coach that was our tight ends coach, but he was an offensive mind. He was a quarterback coach at heart. He was teaching through the lens of pass game and coverage and where you should be. I came in not knowing a whole lot of that stuff and I learned everything in my first two years just about that. Then from there, I was able to build out kind of a foundation. I wish I could tell you if it’s grown or if hasn’t. Truth be told, I couldn’t tell you, brother.”
Q: On if he sees more switch coverage in the modern defense
Schultz: “Yes. Show you one thing, flip another. There are a lot of guys that will do the opposite of their scouting reports. Defensive coordinators that are like, ‘Alright, we’ve played Tampa 2 in this. This game, we’re just going to literally play the opposite for those stat differences.’ And be like, ‘Well, you can’t say we do it all the time.’ It’s part of the game. It’s part of the chess match. As a player, you just got to be aware that that might show up.”
Q: On QB C.J. Stroud coming into Training Camp more prepared
Schultz: “We went out and we worked out prior to OTAs. Talking to him after the season, you could tell, but when I really saw him and saw the shape that he was in and how much he had been working. Just that level of focus. I think it was pre-OTAs. I think when you’re able to do that, February, March, April. Coming in April and continue to build off that. It’s dangerous. I’m excited to see him continue to put it together through this camp.”
This article originally appeared on Texans Wire: Everything Texans TE Dalton Schultz said following Day 10 of training camp
Reporting by Cole Thompson, Texans Wire / Texans Wire
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Cole Thompson, Texans Wire | USA TODAY Network
