Finally a piece…

Check out my latest post here at BRB …

Countdown to draft day almost over

Well here’s one thing I have to say about this offseason. There are a lot of trades being made and teams are picking up great talent for CHEAP!!! Sad thing is the Texans aren’t involved in any of it.

So many mock drafts are out there I can’t evern begin to figure out which ones would be the best ones to pay most attention to. The Chronicle’s John has been keeping with his combine reports that the Texans are highly interested in Ryan Mathews. Everyone else feels that if the safety Earl Thomas isn’t available that it would be Kyle Wilson or one of the other late rising cornerbacks.

My thoughts don’t really matter at this point. Either if the three that I mentioned would be great for the Texans. This draft is so deep that as long as one is picked the other positions provide good options for the Texans in the 2nd and 3rd rounds on Friday.

The other position that was rumored was defensive tackle. I firmly believe that if a DT is one of their priorities that the should get one in the 1st round. I’m not so certain that there would be many good ones left by the time they pick in the 2nd round.

I’m geeked about this whole thing!!!

Oh wait the schedule came out too?!?!??

We knew who the opponents were just not when. My Texans obviously have the toughest road to the playoffs, but I think we play the right teams at the right times. Plus we have 2 count em 2 Monday Nighters against the Colts then the Ravens AND a Thursday night game later in the season as well. The most difficult part is that we play the Colts but seeing as though these teams have made almost no moves in the offseason and their games were so close last year, it should be a very good game and a very winnable one for the Texans. Then they play the NFC East where the Cowgirls are and the Shannies are as well. They get the game with the Skins early so that should play well for them as long as they don’t have much of a WR core there.

It’s going to be an awesome season but the next three days are going to be very exciting. I dint have a draft board but hey maybe next year I follow the season more and tendencies and crap like that I would know what to loom for and what other teams value.

ENJOY THE DRAFT!!! And do your best not to call in to the whiner line on SR610 about how big of a screw up you think the Texans are for picking whomever they chose.

Laters!!

Sunday Free Agency Update

This past weekend had some free agency noise but not so much happening early.  Chicago jumped out as the big spenders this year while the Washington Redskins have decided to play the table in a nonchalant manner for the first time in several years.

Dunta has signed with Atlanta for big bucks and a couple of trades have occurred already.  One of them which seems to have affected the Texans in a good way.  Texans wide receiver Kevin Walter seemed to be in discussions with both Baltimore and Houston.  In my mind, it felt like we had lost him.   That is until the Baltimore Ravens made a trade for Anquan Boldin from the Cardinals.  That helped the Texans lock down Walter for another 5 years. 

In addition to the Walter signing, the Texans were able to also workout a deal to keep punter Matt Turk with team for another year.  Many Texans fans don’t care much for Turk after last season’s heckling incident during the Texans-Jets game.  Say what you want about the guy, he produced for the Texans last year and you can’t argue against productivity. 

Also, Jason LaCanfora of NFL Network has been reporting an interest for the Texans in Leigh Bodden while John McClain of the Houston Chronicle has been disputing any interest in Bodden from the Texans.  Finally, this morning it has been reported at the Houston Chronicle that Bodden WILL be in Houston to meet with the Texans.  Now that Robinson’s deal is done in ATL, I wonder how much the Texans are willing to offer to a guy that has not been burned as much as Dunta.  I’m curious if they will attempt to offer the same deal that was on the table for Dunta from last season.  He did have more interceptions than Robinson last season. 

So far it doesn’t seem like the Texans have made any moves on the running backs that are available but they are scheduled to meet with interior lineman and Texas native Wade Smith formerly of the Chiefs.  This has been circulating for the past couple of days but he should now be en route to Houston.  We’ll see what happens with that.

Other notable signings, safety Antrel Rolle has signed with the Giants, Kerry Rhodes has been traded to the Cardinals, Chester Taylor and Julius Peppers both signed with the Bears, Cromartie traded to the Jets, and Kyle Vanden Bosch to the Lions after the head coach Jim Schwartz came knocking at his front door.  Literally! And I so wanted to see he and Winston square off again. 

Free Agency starts tonight

Texans! On your mark! Get set… ready!!!

By now you have heard of thetenders being placed on Daniels, Ryans, Pollard and a few others. John McClain reported earlier that the team is trying to reach a deal with Kevin Walter. Only bad thing is that they only have this day to do it before he is free game to the other 31 teams in the league.

Friday at the Combine: LT, Walter, Mathews

Friday at the Combine was somewhat eventful as far as talk goes.

According to GM Rick Smith there still seems to be a possibility that the team may still go after Ladanian Tomlinson after all.  He opened a window that it seemed like Bob McNair may have attempted to close earlier this year at the Kubiak extension press conference with comments about not wanting older running backs that have lost a step.

Houston Chronicle’s own John McClain has been so adamant that this would not happen after those comments were made that you would swear that he was making the decisions for the organization himself.  So for those of you who want LT, it’s still possible.  This would mainly be for added veteran leadership and playoff experience, which is what a couple of guys mentioned could be the reason why Texans haven’t made the jump into the playoffs.

Smith also spoke on the Texans’ Free Agent situation with their own players and several people have pointed out that he showed signs of the Texans possibly not being able to keep on Kevin Walter.  I would expect them to be looking for another WR later in this draft to compete for that job with Jacoby Jones.

Word is that Ryan Mathews, Running Back out of Fresno State, was being given some special attention by the Texans today so we should keep an eye on that.  If that’s the case, I can see the Texans trying their best to drop back a few spots and get him but not sure how far they’d want to go with the Chargers maybe being another team who could like him.

My thoughts…

Not too surprised about Walter.  Demeco and O.D. are much bigger priorities to keep around.  Happy to hear about L.T. at least being considered.  Mathews looks really good too so its no surprise the Texans are interested in how he looks.

Till next time…

1st Round Draft Options: Free Safety

Texans do seem to have a need at Free Safety.  Will they NEED to select one with the 1st pick?  I think maybe not but if someone falls into their lap they may have no choice.  Now I look at the roster and the play last year and Eugene Wilson played that spot well but he couldn’t stay on the field due to injuries.  With that being said, here are the safeties available in the Texans range in the 1st round.

Here’s who I have available there…

Earl Thomas – Texas

Thomas is a guy that everyone seems to love more and more as time goes on.  So much so that Mike Mayock of NFL Network likes him ahead of Eric Berry of Tennessee.  What may get him drafted even higher is the fact that he can cover well enough to play cornerback somewhere as well.  From the tape, I have him taking great angles on passes and once he gets there can jar the ball loose.  He helps well enough in the run and can fight off blocks to make plays on runners.  The thing I feel that counts against him are 2 big plays…  one from 2008 @ Oklahoma State where he severely undercut an angle allowing Crabtree the game winning touchdown… the other was in run support where he played the wrong hole allowing a long TD run in the BCS Championship game.

Taylor Mays – USC

Taylor Mays is a guy with the look of what everyone feels they want out of a safety in the NFL.  The main problem with him is that his physical look hasn’t resulted in any numbers as in interceptions.  From what I’ve seen, he is not good in coverage.  He doesn’t always take the best angles.  He’s a hard hitter but he is very inconsistent with his tackling style.  There are times I see him wrap up and use his hands to bring guys down in the run game but in run after catch situations he is usually trying to throw his shoulder into someone and not getting good hits on guys.

Chad Jones – LSU

Jones is not a guy projected for the 1st round but he is the next guy as far as rankings go.  Texans pick him here in the first and its a reach.  I’m looking at his tape but he looks inconsistent.  The best part of his game seems to be in run support as a hitter, and his closing speed.  At times, he takes some bad angles and at times he makes those hits that will bring fines his way.  He and Roger Goodell may become good friends. Didn’t see much in actual pass coverage as far as highlights go but more on run stops.  Coming from LSU you know he’s athletic.

My Take

As much as I want him to be there I’m not seeing Thomas making it to the latter part of the 1st round.  He is the best of these 3.  Taylor Mays is overrated.  I believe the best decision for the Texans is to wait till the second or third rounds to select a free safety. The safety class this year is pretty deep so they can still find some guys in later rounds.  The only way I see a safety taken by the Texans in the first round is if Earl Thomas is still available there.

1st Round Draft Options: Cornerback

A couple weeks ago, cornerback would not have been a need in my eyes.  We have pretty good guys with the Texans with Quin and Reeves doing a good enough job on most Sundays.  But now that Robinson has been released I looked a little further and noticed that there weren’t many interceptions out of this group of guys to flat out say no to that idea.  We need more ball skills so they could go for a guy if they like him enough.

Here are a few guys that are projected to possibly be available to the Texans at the 19th or 20th pick of the draft.

Patrick Robinson – Florida State

Robinson at first sight looks to have good size and speed.  However, I am having trouble finding a lot of tape on this guy.  From what I have seen he looks like an arm tackler and occasionally throws a shoulder at you.  He doesn’t seem to always be aware of the position of the ball but seems to get a hand up just in time and is in the area of the ball.  He does play the run pretty well though.

Kyle Wilson – Boise State

Wilson looks like a smaller guy on tape who played off a lot in college but always seemed to be in position to make plays on the football.  In one on one drills at the Senior Bowl, this guy looks to be one of the best I’ve seen coming out.  He looked really good as a cover corner and the guy doesn’t get beat.  He doesn’t seem to be able to fend off blocks well on run plays though on tape and he’ll need to work on that but the kid is aggressive and blitzes well.  He seems to have good ball skills too.  Plus he’s a solid punt returner.

Donovan Warren – Michigan

Warren is a big guy but doesn’t have much of long speed.  He seems very handsy (especially vs. Golden Tate of Notre Dame).  He can get caught up trying to read the QB too much and not covering the players.  He is a great tackler that drives through receivers and plays the run pretty well.  There was just times when he was in perfect coverage on tape and had to use his hands which would normally result in a PI but he got away with it.

My Take

First off, I don’t feel like the Texans need a cornerback so badly but one with ball skills would help.  Between Reeves, Robinson, Quin, and McCain there were only 2 interceptions in 2009.  That’s unacceptable.

If they were to choose a corner in the 1st round of this draft, I would hope that Kyle Wilson was available because he seems like a good cover corner and can be one of the best in the league.  That’s my take.

Texans & D-Rob to part ways

Goodbye, Dunta!

The Texans have decided to allow CB Dunta Robinson enter Free Agency this offseason as an unrestricted guy.  In other words, Rick says No!  He will more than likely be the top guy in the list of Free Agent CBs out there this offseason.

The news comes a year after Robinson was hit with the franchise tag unexpectedly while the team was actively working with him to extend his contract.  This was after he played the latter part of the 2008 season coming off of his 2007 ACL injury.  Robinson sat out training camp and rattled many Houston fans when he had “Pay Me Rick” on his cleats in the opening game versus the New York Jets.  He continued on to have an okay 2009 season with the team but gave up a lot of big plays.

Texans without Robinson are actually still pretty good.  Rookie CB Glover Quin had a solid 2009 campaign, posting better numbers than Robinson, and is ahead of Jacques Reeves according to the depth chart on HoustonTexans.com.  Reeves also had a solid season in 2009. Rookie Brice McCain also showed some flashes while appearing 12 games in 2009.  Reeves and McCain both had 1 interception this season while Robinson and Quin didn’t have a single one.

My Take…

I believe this a s smart move and was not surprised by the move.  I am particularly surprised by people expecting a first round draft pick spent on a CB.  This won’t happen unless they are not comfortable with Reeves & McCain being on the field together or the guys at the other need positions don’t fit their system and a CB is the highest ranked guy on their board when they pick at 19/20.

I would expect a CB selection this year in rounds 3-5.

1st Round Draft Options: Running Back

Yeah Yeah I know.  The Texans will not be picking a running back in the first round of any draft if you look at any running back that has ever ran in the Kubiak offense.  With the exception of Jay Cutler a few years back, you could’ve probably said the same about them selecting QBs in the 1st round as well.   Hey it could happen!

Here is what I have on the Running Backs that may be available to us in the 1st round:

C.J. Spiller – Clemson

Spiller will be the #1 RB selected.  Arm tackling doesn’t work on this guy.  The kid smells daylight, hits holes fast and is very elusive.  He catches the ball well out of the backfield.  He is very decisive and even when he wasn’t 100% in games he played and made people miss easily.  He ran the ball up the middle a lot at the college level and finds creases left and right.  He holds the ball tight and seems to have a nose for daylight plus I see good pass blocking ability out of him and added value in the return game as well.  No doubt he has all the skills you would want as a starting RB in this league.  He has been compared to a Marshall Faulk but faster.  If he falls to Houston, it’d be a miracle.

Ryan Mathews – Fresno St.

Looking at Mathews’ tape, I am seeing good instincts from him as well.  He has no problems running up the middle and sometimes diving over linemen to get into the end zone.  He has great speed also and is not a push over meaning he will not be taken down by the first guy or any arm tackles.  One thing that concerns me about him is that he does have a tendency to hold the ball away from his body at times while running which could lead to fumbling issues in the NFL.  He is a powerful guy and has really good instincts and is able to find holes also but not faster than Spiller.  I didn’t get a chance to see him in pass protection or catching the ball.  I hear he has a mean stiff arm also.

Jahvid Best – California

First off I see a LOT of good out of Jahvid Best in the game tape.  He looks like he’s as good as C.J. Spiller.  The thing that hurts him to me is that he is not as big of a back but does have decent size.  He looks more the part of Reggie Bush out of USC.  He also has been injured a bit each year in college so that drops him some.  He looks very instinctive, makes great cutbacks, catches the ball well out of the back field but I don’t see much of blocking or pass protection out of him either in the tape.  Basically what I’ve heard is that he has fallen because of his injury issues, but seems to be just as talented as Spiller and does not shy away from hits.  He runs up the middle fairly well unlike Bush and also seems to be an end zone leaper.  Most of the time, I saw him make good on busted plays.

Jonathan Dwyer – Georgia Tech

Dwyer is a big back that is definitely in the mold of what you want as a power back.  Things that put him in below the other guys is to me that he seems to need to be more aware of his weight plus he ran out of the option offense which doesn’t usually give scouts much to go on.  In his case though, I saw him do okay on some pass blocking and did catch the ball pretty well also.  He’s more likely to plow over guys than make a great cutback.  He’s not the quickest guy out of the blocks or an elusive electric kind of runner but once he gets going he seems to be able to run with the best of them.

 

WHAT DO I THINK?

Well, I feel as though Spiller would be a great move but I feel as though he probably won’t make it past the Seahawks.  I’m not sure if the Texans want to risk picking what may be an injury-proned kid like Best and with a much smaller frame he is not truly what they want in their offense as a power guy.  Ryan Mathews seems more like the pick if they go RB in the 1st round.  I used to be high on Dwyer but after seeing the play of the other 3 guys, he doesn’t seem that great, but maybe just the right complement to Slaton in Houston.  At this point, he wouldn’t be worthy a 1st round pick for the Texans.

Things can change of course and the Combine is coming up as well as the Pro Days.  Stay tuned!

1st Round Draft options: Defensive Tackles

At this time, there are a lot of early draft boards out there. The majority of those boards have the Texans picking up S Earl Thomas from the University of Texas. 

The rest that I have seen show the pick as DT Brian Price of UCLA, RB Jonathan Dwyer of Georgia Tech, WR Golden Tate of Notre Dame, CB Patrick Robinson of Florida State, and S Taylor Mays of USC.  I’ve also seen a couple say that WR Dez Bryant of Oklahoma State would fall to us at pick 20 or we would go for CB Donovan Warren of Michigan.

I personally thought at the Defensive Tackle position, Dan Williams would be a good fit but I have since watched tape on Price & Williams.  So far, on tape, Price wins. 

Brian Price seems to hold up his ground very well against the run and seems to get far better penetration on passing downs that Williams.  He also seems to not give up on plays no matter where he is.

A week ago, I was high on Dan Williams after his Senior Bowl practices and felt like he had a good bull rush.  He was fierce in his attack and everything.  Not so much in the video that I’ve seen on him.  He seems to be able to use his hands well and be a good run stopper but as far as getting a rush on passing downs, I just haven’t seen it.  I also have seen a few plays where he feels he’s out of the play where he gives up on the play.

My Take

No one can teach the drive and heart and I personally feel like I saw heart and a drive out of Brian Price.  He would be the 1st UCLA Bruin taken in the 1st Round since Marcedes Lewis was taken by the Jags a few years back.

I’ll be checking on draft boards to see who else creeps in as a DT prospect for the late first round and update this if someone jumps to that area.