HOUSTON (SportsRadio 610) -- When first-year defensive coordinator Anthony Weaver was asked which players have stood out most at Texans training camp, the coach was very specific.
He named three players, admitting that as a former defensive lineman, he's partial to the guys up front.
The first player he named was Jacob Martin, who just earlier in the week talked about adding 21 pounds to his frame, and aspiring for double-digit sacks in his third NFL season.
"That's the goal and that should be the outcome," Martin said on Monday.
Weaver on Wednesday described Martin as someone who can do multiple jobs for the Texans' defense, whether that's rushing off the edge or dropping into coverage.
"He's a guy that can absolutely be a playmaker for us on defense," Weaver said.
This is encouraging for Texans fans, considering Martin was a central piece to the Jadeveon Clowney trade last year.
The Texans dealt their former No. 1 overall pick for Martin, Barkevious Mingo (now with the Bears), and a third-round pick they ultimately traded to the Raiders for cornerback Gareon Conley.
They decided not to pick up Conley's fifth-year option, though he's in competition with second-year defensive back Lonnie Johnson Jr. for playing time at outside corner.
Whether Conley and/or Martin can be major contributors this season is key to helping rationalize trading Clowney when he could've played on the franchise tag. That Clowney still isn't on a team helps, also.
Weaver also named fourth-year inside linebacker Zach Cunningham, who the Texans could sign to a long term extension any day.
Put simply, Cunningham is an outstanding athlete who also fits the Texans' "dependable, tough, smart" mantra.
"Zach Cunningham is a guy who day in and day out just gets the job done and makes plays that always leave you shaking your head a little bit," Weaver said. "You're like, 'how did he make that play?'"
Cunningham, for his part, said last week he's not worried about his contract situation. Cunningham just wants to make plays he felt like he missed before, and see what that looks like at the end of the season.
It should surprise no one that Justin Reid made Weaver's list as the third and final name he mentioned.
Reid spoke last week about having All-Pro aspirations, but all of it being within the context of team success.
It's also clear his coaches and teammates value his leadership. Reid played with a torn labrum for much of 2019, and still made plays.
He's healthy now, and will have an opportunity to be more creative under Weaver's system.
"It's just a lot of opportunity for versatility and just a lot of opportunity in general," Reid said Aug. 20. "We have a bunch of veteran players that all know ball. We're able to just move around, talk a lot. We're able to just do a whole bunch of different things just with the veteran presence, being able to communicate with each other. I'm just excited with the plays that we're installing.
"A lot of it is the same stuff that we've been doing, but just to have that experience on the field and be able to trust that my teammate's going to be there doing his job, I'm going to be able to do my job and to play full speed and have an aggressive mentality and be violent while doing it. That's the biggest exciting part for me. This is definitely the most experience that I've ever been around on a defense as whole, and you can feel that on the field."
