Wand is this his big test???

[ArlingtonTexan]

Unless I am mistaken, wand has not faced a great speed rusher this year and has seemed to hold his own at left tackle. Dwight Freeny represets great speed off the corner and it will be interesting to seehow wand adjusts to one the quickest of the edge rushers in the league.

[Vinny]

As a pass blocker, Wand has a great base. Watch how he can bend at the knees and hips to maintain is balance like a much smaller man. Many tall 330 pounders are stiff and Herman Munster-like when they move. He may struggle against Freeney as much as any NFL lineman could but I am not worried about Wand being a good decision. From what I see he was an excellent pick when you look at the Tackle position in his draft class.

I'm not arguing your point AT, just expanding on it.

Here are all the first day Tackles in the 2003 NFL Draft...

First round
Jordan Gross Panthers - Gross was a top ten pick and struggles at Left Tackle.
George Foster Broncos Georgia - Mr Ankle-breaker. Solid young player, rarely on the active roster his first year.
Kwame Harris 49ers Stanford - Plays behind someone named Kyle Kosier

Second round
Jonathan Stinchcomb Saints - Georgia - Don't know much about his development but plays behind Wayne Gandy. Gandy is still a solid NFL Tackle.

Third round
Wayne Hunter Seahawks - Plays behind Chris Terry
Seth Wand Texans Northwest Missouri State
Wade Smith Dolphins - Solid player. A Chester Pitts clone @ LT. Not sure if he still starts.

[ArlingtonTexan]

Did not take you as arguing...even though it has been quite a while since we have found something we really disagreed about

[Lucky]

Wand did struggle early against Steve Foley, James Hall, & Jared Allen (Jared Allen?). That was to be expected. I think he's improved since then and that's to be expected, as well. But 5 of the next 7 games have the Texans facing legit pass rushers at RDE. And Freeney is the best of the bunch. I feel that the Texans need to run at Freeney early and allow Seth to lean a bit on Dwight.

From a thread this preseason.

Originally Posted by Vinny

...I read somewhere that the Colts will be moving Freeney from right to left this year to create a bit more opportunity for him and for teams to have more to scheme for...

That's happening on some passing downs, as the Colts have flipped Freeney to LDE and put pass rush specialist Robert Mathis at RDE. With Todd Wade's injury, Freeney vs. Marcus Spears isn't the greatest matchup, either. Speaking of Mathis, he has 5 sacks thus far (Freeney has 6) and has become one of the better players taken in the 2nd day of the '03 draft. I'm hesitant to mention this for fear that Bill's Fan is lurking, but Mathis was selected with the 5th round pick the Texans traded the Colts. Not a bad pick at all considering he's an ace on special teams, too.

[ArlingtonTexan]

My only thought was that Wand has not been an embarrassment, so i probaly not going to fight you either. Allen, btw, has 4 sacks for Chiefs and has a decent combination of moves.

[drdjsmm]

After Jared Allen gets in the weight room with the chiefs, he'll be a force to be reconned with!!

[phan1]

Originally Posted by Vinny

As a pass blocker, Wand has a great base. Watch how he can bend at the knees and hips to maintain is balance like a much smaller man. Many tall 330 pounders are stiff and Herman Munster-like when they move. He may struggle against Freeney as much as any NFL lineman could but I am not worried about Wand being a good decision. From what I see he was an excellent pick when you look at the Tackle position in his draft class.

I'm not arguing your point AT, just expanding on it.

Here are all the first day Tackles in the 2003 NFL Draft...

First round
Jordan Gross Panthers - Gross was a top ten pick and struggles at Left Tackle.
George Foster Broncos Georgia - Mr Ankle-breaker. Solid young player, rarely on the active roster his first year.
Kwame Harris 49ers Stanford - Plays behind someone named Kyle Kosier

Second round
Jonathan Stinchcomb Saints - Georgia - Don't know much about his development but plays behind Wayne Gandy. Gandy is still a solid NFL Tackle.

Third round
Wayne Hunter Seahawks - Plays behind Chris Terry
Seth Wand Texans Northwest Missouri State
Wade Smith Dolphins - Solid player. A Chester Pitts clone @ LT. Not sure if he still starts.

Nice stats. I guess that means we should look for Olineman in free agency and not the draft?

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by phan1

Nice stats. I guess that means we should look for Olineman in free agency and not the draft?

Everyone that thinks a rookie lineman is going to come in and 'fix' this line doesn't realize that it is fairly rare for a rookie to come in and start immediately (unless he is a top 5-10 pick...that we likely don't get, or we have pure scrubs starting). The offensive line takes the most time of all the position groups to play well as a unit. As our current group of guys play together they will get better. It's just that most fans have zero patience.