Garret Wallow has been talked about in the offseason.
Where it is general manager Nick Caserio, coach Lovie Smith, or his Houston Texans teammates, Wallow has gotten the endorsements throughout the spring.
The former TCU linebacker met with reporters after the eighth day of training camp practice at Houston Methodist Training Center and talked about where he has taken the next steps in development in 2022.
“I would just say, mentally on the field, just being a lot quicker, reading things a lot quicker and that comes with being in the system for a second year,” Wallow said.
The fifth-rounder has the advantage of playing in the same defensive scheme, albeit the Texans switched coaches with the dismissal of David Culley after one year and the promotion of Smith. However, the Texans are still running the same Tampa 2 scheme from 2021 that they are this season, regardless of Smith’s promotion from defensive coordinator to associate head coach.
Wallow has the same continuity among position coaches as he is in his second year working with Miles Smith as linebackers coach. The comprehension and application of the Texans’ defense is able to be built upon for Wallow, not torn down and reconstructed as what typically happens with the onboarding of a new coaching staff.
The 6-2, 230-pounder has also been working with Texans strength and conditioning coach Mike Eubanks in the offseason, taking full advantage of an NFL program.
“Physically, working with Mike all season and the whole strength staff has helped me change my body around and just help me get in better shape for year,” said Wallow.
The 23-year-old produced 23 combined tackles, two tackles for loss, a quarterback hit, and 1.0 sack through 17 games as a rookie, two of which he started. Even though Wallow is vying for more defensive snaps — 180 to 286 special teams snaps — he knows Kamu Grugier-Hill, Christian Kirksey, Neville Hewitt, and third-rounder Christian Harris won’t make it easy.
“There’s a lot of great guys in the room, great competition going on right now,” Wallow said. “The main thing is just coming in every day for everybody and just being consistent and just let everything take care of itself.”
