DeMeco Ryans Announces Texans’ Plans After Trading Cam Robinson
Houston Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans has his eyes fixed on the Baltimore Ravens, and his plan is brutally simple: run the football. Forget finesse. Forget airing it out.
“We have to do a really great job defensively of stopping their run game. We know [Derrick] Henry, [Justice] Hill, Lamar [Jackson], all the guys are great runners, so we have to do a really great job stopping the run.”
The plan’s other half is a mirror image. “Offensively, we have to lean on the run game more,” he continued. “We ran the ball well this past week vs Tennessee. We have to do an even better job this week vs the Ravens of running the football. That’s been a formula for us.”
It’s a formula born of necessity—a team converting a paltry 29% on third down needs a way to stay on the field. It’s a smart bet. The Ravens are in shambles. Lamar Jackson is nursing a hamstring. A lot of their core players are also down with injuries.
Baltimore’s defensive casualties mounted during Sunday’s loss as key players Roquan Smith, Marlon Humphrey, and Nate Wiggins all exited with injuries. The linebacker, cornerback trio’s departure left the Ravens dangerously thin at crucial positions.
The situation worsened as Baltimore had already lost Kyle Van Noy and Nnamdi Madubuike to injuries earlier in the week. The combination of losing five significant defensive contributors creates severe depth concerns across multiple position groups.
With their defensive line, linebacker corps, and secondary all compromised by injuries, the Ravens face an uphill battle trying to correct their historic defensive collapse. It is the perfect time to throw some punches and take the game away from the Ravens, who have been beaten and battered this season.
Baltimore’s defense has surrendered 133 points over four games, marking the worst defensive stretch in John Harbaugh’s 18-year coaching tenure. The unit’s inability to stop opposing offenses has become a defining crisis for the season.
Houston just gashed Tennessee for 129 rushing yards, part of their 103.5 yards per game ground average that unlocked their entire offense. The dominant running game gave C.J. Stroud his most efficient performance of the year with a 125.1 passer rating, demonstrating how establishing the run creates opportunities downfield.
Even with a minus-2 turnover ratio on the season, the blueprint for success exists – establish the ground game, control the clock, and take pressure off the passing attack. Ryans faces a golden opportunity against the Baltimore defense that can be exploited, provided they execute the formula that’s worked for Ravens opponents.
This sudden commitment to ground-and-pound makes a recent front-office move look less like a surprise and more like a confirmation. Just one day after their win, the Texans shipped veteran tackle
Ryans trading the Tackle
12 million dollars doesn’t buy what it used to. One minute, you’re the prized free-agent signing; the next, you’re the odd man out with a 9.5 M reality check. For Robinson, that was the dizzying reality.
The move was made possible by the emergence of second-round rookie Aireontae Ersery, who has locked down the left tackle spot. With Ersery playing like anything but a rookie, Robinson was relegated to the bench. For a guy trying to rebuild his value after a rocky 2024 season where he allowed 7 sacks and 13 penalties (999 offensive snaps), riding the pine just wasn’t an option.
Ryans, for his part, framed it as a move made out of respect, not just business. “We traded Cam [Robinson] to the Browns today. It gives Cam an opportunity to go play. Cam wants to play, so it gives him an opportunity to do that,” he explained, before adding praise for the vet’s professionalism.
“We wish Cam nothing but the best. He’s handled himself the right way since he’s been here. He’s done everything the right way, everything that we asked him to do. So, we wanted to do right by him & give him that opportunity.” The Texans get to invest reps in their promising rookie, and Robinson gets a fresh start on the Browns team, desperate for a plug-and-play tackle.
Doing right by one man meant sending him to Cleveland. Doing right by the team might just mean running straight through Baltimore.
Browns Make Final Call on Running Back Quinshon Judkins
The Cleveland Browns and Quinshon Judkins have finally reached resolution after a tumultuous offseason that had several around the NFL questioning the second-round rookie running back’s ultimate fate with the franchise that drafted him.
ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Saturday, September 6, that the two sides agreed on a contract. The deal came one day before Cleveland opens its season against the Cincinnati Bengals.
“Finally: the Cleveland Browns and their second-round pick Quinshon Judkins reached agreement today on a four-year, $11.4 million deal that now means all 2025 draft picks have deals,” Schefter wrote on his X account.
Quinshon Judkins Won’t Play in Browns’ Season Opener Against Bengals
GettyCleveland Browns rookie running back Quinshon Judkins.
Judkins’ contract doesn’t mean he will be in uniform for the team’s season opener on Sunday, however.
Part of the holdup was the NFL’s investigation into Judkins’ off-field actions, namely a misdemeanor domestic violence charge he faced in July, but which the Florida court system dismissed in August.
Just because Judkins won’t face criminal charges doesn’t mean that the league can’t/won’t impose discipline of its own. Tony Grossi of ESPN Cleveland recently predicted that Judkins will miss between two and four games.
“I think there is a zero percent chance [Judkins will play on Sunday]. I do think he’s going to be suspended, otherwise this case would have been done by now,” Grossi said. “But, the NFLPA is trying to negotiate a reduced suspension. I think the contract will fall in line once they know how many games he’s out.”
Given Grossi’s projected timeline of events, the league may have already decided on a punishment for Judkins and informed Cleveland of what is coming down. That, in turn, may mean an announcement from the NFL is coming soon on the length of Judkins’ suspension if, in fact, he ends up facing one.
Daniel Oyefusi of ESPN followed Schefter’s social media report with one of his own, stating that Judkins is not going to play Sunday. However, Oyefusi did not expressly specify whether that was a team decision due to Judkins’ lack of preparedness stemming from the overarching circumstances of his preseason, or if it was because the NFL has already suspended the rookie running back.
Browns Drafted Quinshon Judkins to Play Immediately, Compared Skill Set to Nick Chubb
GettyRunning back Nick Chubb, formerly of the Cleveland Browns.
Cleveland will miss Judkins in Week 1, and for however many more games he ends up sitting, as the team drafted him No. 36 overall with the intention of using him immediately and extensively.
General manager Catherine Hickman told Oyefusi that the Browns view Judkins’ skill set as similar to that of Nick Chubb, the four-time Pro Bowler with whom Cleveland parted ways this offseason after seven years together.
“His physicality, his contact balance, the way he runs with strength is something I’ve seen in Nick as an example,” Hickman said. “This style of play is just going to fit very nicely with what we’re trying to do.”
Cleveland will begin the season with Jerome Ford as the starter and fourth-round running back Dylan Sampson as RB2. The Browns also added undrafted rookie Raheim Sanders after waiving Pierre Strong Jr. with an injury settlement.
