Chiefs encouraged by Houston

Chiefs encouraged by what they’ve seen from Justin Houston
By KENT BABB
The Kansas City Star

ST. JOSEPH | It’s still early in the NFL career of Justin Houston, the
beleaguered but talented linebacker who was the Chiefs’ third-round
pick. And though the team is optimistic that questionable days are
behind him and spectacular ones are ahead, that optimism is laced with
caution.

“I think he can be an outside linebacker for us. Beyond that, who
knows?” defensive coordinator Romeo Crennel said. “It’s hard to say.”

Houston, a former Georgia standout, started as a draft pick with some
baggage. Privately and publicly, the Chiefs have said they accept that
drafting him with the No. 70 overall pick was a risk. He allegedly
failed a drug test before the NFL combine, which for prospects is
something like the most important job interview of their lives. A little
more than three months later, Houston appeared at training camp — after
a brief holdout — in poor cardiovascular condition.

Two weeks have passed since then, and the Chiefs’ hopes have begun to
rise, and the odds of their gamble paying off have begun to shift in
their favor.

“Physically, he’s done a pretty good job, and it’s getting better pretty
quickly,” coach Todd Haley said. “That means he hasn’t let himself go.”

Through a team spokesman, Houston declined four interview requests made by The Star over three days.

Houston played in Friday’s preseason loss to Tampa Bay, finishing with
three combined tackles and an assist on special teams. He was drafted
with rushing the passer in mind, and Crennel said the team believes he
can pressure opposing quarterbacks — in time.

“He hasn’t played many games and doesn’t know what the NFL is about
yet,” Crennel said, “so let him get his feet wet, and then we can talk
about what he may or may not be.”

Haley said the fact Houston held up during the preseason game was a
source of encouragement, considering that about a week earlier in
practice Houston continually removed his helmet and took a knee after a
shuttle-run drill.

“That was a good sign,” Haley said of Friday night, “and to me, that’s
what I feel best about right now: that despite being a young guy on his
own for the last two or three months, or more really, he’s done a good
job having himself physically in a position to have a chance to
compete.”

Before camp began, Houston was a candidate to perhaps start opposite
Tamba Hali at outside linebacker. Mike Vrabel retired and became an
assistant coach at Ohio State, leaving a vacancy in the lineup that the
versatile and dogged Andy Studebaker or the hyped Houston — who had 18½
tackles for losses and 10 sacks in his final year with Georgia — was
expected to fill.

Houston’s late arrival and climb back toward proper conditioning
hindered his chances to begin the season in the starting lineup, but
that hasn’t halted talk about what the Chiefs would like to see from the
youngster this preseason.

“I’d like to see about 20 tackles a game and 13 sacks,” Crennel said, joking. “… If I could see that, that would be great.”

But what do the Chiefs expect to see from him?

“About two sacks, maybe, if he’s lucky,” Crennel said. “A couple of mental errors, but generally, he’ll give good effort.”

Crennel said Houston’s coverage ability is better than expected, and his
upper-body strength and pass-rushing ability have made an impression.

“He’s a young man that I think has a lot of potential,” Crennel said.

The Chiefs seem to be geared toward bringing Houston along slowly. He’s
listed as the third-string outside linebacker, behind Studebaker and
second-year defender Cameron Sheffield. Haley said the listing is by
design, at least in part.

“We’ve got to resist the urge to give these guys too much too early,” he
said, “because we will miss an evaluation or two, I’m sure, just
strictly off somebody being a little behind, trying to sort things out
and then not playing to their ability. Just trying to keep it fairly
simple for all these guys and get a good, accurate reading on where they
are.”

Crennel and Haley said they are hopeful that Houston might eventually
emerge as the player the team envisioned on the draft’s second day, when
the young defender’s mistakes in a sense benefited the Chiefs; he was
considered perhaps a first-round talent who dropped into the third
round.

Now, the team will wait for the final result of its risk.

“For where he started,” Haley said, “he’s progressed nicely. But that doesn’t mean that he’s caught up, by any means.”

End of camping trip
The Chiefs finished Wednesday with the St. Joseph portion of their training camp.

Chiefs at Ravens
•WHAT: Second preseason game

•WHEN: 6:30 p.m. Friday in Baltimore.