When the Houston Texans drafted safety Calen Bullock in the third round last April, it was with the intent that he would one day become one of the team’s starting safeties. Through three weeks of the season, the day may have arrived.
Bullock played in 53 of 63 defensive snaps in Sunday’s loss to the Minnesota Vikings. For the first time this season, Bullock out-snapped veteran Eric Murray, who finished with 21 snaps Sunday.
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Bullock’s playing time has increased each week, beginning at 25 snaps in Week 1 before jumping to 37 against Chicago and then peaking at 53 on Sunday.
The USC product provides exceptional range at safety, something that wasn’t made ready on last year’s roster. He had one interception in Week 1 against the Indianapolis Colts. He has missed out on potentially two more in the last two weeks, including Sunday, when he collided with Derek Stingley Jr. in the air while going for the ball.
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Bringing in the rookie allowed head coach and defensive play caller DeMeco Ryans to comfortably move Jalen Pitre closer to the line of scrimmage at the nickel position. In turn, Ryans has had his defensive playbook open up through three weeks in the season.
Houston followed the NFL trend and played Cover 3 more than any other coverage, but it also used Cover 4 or “Quarters” nearly double the league average last season, according to The Kneel Down.
With Bullock, Houston now has a safety that can cover most of the field, which allows it to use more one-high safety looks, such as Cover 1.
The best example of Bullock’s range occurred in the preseason when Houston used him as the single high safety and entrusted the cornerbacks one-on-one. Bullock read Pittsburgh Steelers quarterback Kyle Allen’s eyes and reached the sideline as the ball spiraled toward the receiver and out of bounds.
Bullock caught the pass, but he did not get two feet in bounds.
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An area of concern for Houston entering the season was its ability to defend explosive plays. Last season, the Texans led all AFC in explosive plays allowed of over 20 yards.
Week 1 only further intensified the concerns with the Texans surrendering three 50-yard completions. Despite seeing eight attempts of 20 or more air yards, Houston has yet to allow a completion in the past two weeks, which coincides with an increase in Bullock’s playing time.
Houston’s also increased its willingness to send extra pressure in the past two weeks with Bullock playing more. Its Week 2 meeting with the Chicago Bears was the most pressure Ryans has sent since taking over as the Texans head coach, and Sunday, he also called a blitz slightly above his average from a year ago (20.9%), albeit only one percent higher.
Bullock’s physical talent was never a question, but he fell to the third round because of his tackling woes during his three seasons at USC.
So far, Bullock has yet to miss a tackle in three games, albeit in only five attempts. He also did not miss a tackle in the preseason. It’s a notable improvement in a short time frame because, during his final season with the Trojans, Bullock posted a 13.5 percent missed tackle rate.
Houston extended fellow safety Jimmie Ward’s contract through 2025 before the season, and Pitre’s emergence at slot defender role likely signals he’ll be with the team for the next few seasons. After the season, Stingley will become extension eligible and is in line to become one of if not the highest-paid cornerback in the league.
Fellow 2024 draft pick Kamari Lassiter has the lowest passer rating allowed (14.9) among rookie cornerbacks.
Suddenly, Houston’s secondary, the subject of most of the questions concerning the defense entering the season, has four starters with under three years of NFL experience and is holding up well.
It may be too early to declare, but Bullock is on pace to be the latest third-round hit from general manager Nick Caserio. Day 2 has been kind to Houston, but Caserio has crushed Round 3 of the draft through his first three seasons, landing Davis Mills, Nico Collins, Christian Harris and Tank Dell.
