Dutch's Mock Draft v1.0

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

True, but you don't want to draft a back up with your first round slot.

seems to be the thing to do recently, if you know what I mean

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by beerlover

seems to be the thing to do recently, if you know what I mean

Sorry, I don't know what you mean.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Sorry, I don't know what you mean.

c'mon man you know, teams reaching for a QB too early in the draft!

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by badboy

I agree on your kicker.

Well that's a start

Originally Posted by beerlover

Very interesting take, good read. Wondering if Schaub gets hurt again what the contingency plan would be? Or worse yet, another big money cap casualty next offseason when his contract expires. I would probably evaluate the QB class as a group & find better value later like they did with TJ Yates

Thanks, I just thought I would throw out a curveball since everyone else seems deadset on WR, OLB or DT in the 1st. I really do think we need to draft a QB at some point in this draft, just not sure where at the moment. Probably the 3rd or 4th would be best.

Originally Posted by Wolf6151

JMO.

1. Weedon, I've been trying to wrap my mind around this pick all day and although what you say about Schaub's injury etc... makes sense I have to believe that Smithiak knows alot more about Schaub's injury and recovery than we do so I'll just have to trust them on this decision and pass on Weedon at this time.
2. Thompson, I love this pick, he's perfect for the Texans at NT thus the reason I put him in my last mock in the 2nd round, but getting Thompson late in the 2nd will require some luck.
3. Schwartz, I really like the player but I think he goes in the late 2nd round so this pick will also require some luck.
4a. Robinson, I like this pick, decent/good quality in the 4th for depth.
4b. Egnew, I like this pick, I'd hope for Ladarius Green down here but if not available I think Egnew is a good 2nd option if we take a TE.
5. Fuller, I don't think I'd touch this guy in the draft he has just imploded from what he was last year and his potential. He had a bad Combine, Pro Day, Senior Bowl, and senior season. He had some injuries but he also dropped the ball alot and wasn't even the best receiver on his team. This is a very deep WR class and we can do better.
6. Bullock, this could be the best pick in your mock as he should lock down the K position for the next 10-15 yrs..
7. Page, I don't know anything about this guy but it's a 7th round pick that most likely won't make the team anyway so why not.

I'd sure like to see a quality ILB somewhere in your mock.

1. Weeden I think would have the most impact on the team in 2012, if we want to look for 2013 and beyond, then guys like Cousins, Foles, etc would be the pick. I am laying out the assumptions there to turn the QB spot into a need, as I don't think Yates is going to be good enough to win now.

4b. I like Green as a pass catcher, but I don't like him as a blocker. In Kubiak's offense, TEs have to be able to block. Also, the guy had a lot of injuries in college, and I don't want another Anthony Hill. Per ESPN:

"Reportedly has tendonitis in his knees and medical report could negatively affect his draft status. In 2011, missed Kent State due to shoulder injury suffered in opener vs. Oklahoma State and missed MTSU with shoulder injury. In 2010, missed two game (North Texas and Oklahoma St.) with ankle injury. In 2009, suffered a neck injury vs. FAU and missed the next three games (returned for final two that season). "

5. Fuller's a late pick, I wouldn't take him before this because there are much better prospects in the 2-4th. However, he fits the measurables of Kubiak's interest, and he was great his Junior year. He had injury issues that really screwed him over this year, and I think that had a lot to do with his drop off. It's a flyer, but it's only a 5th, so I'm happy to get him here.

7. Check out Page when you get a chance, he's an interesting player and a great returnman.

Thanks for the feedback.

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

I agree with Cousins at the Texans spot in the 2nd or at the latest early in the third (even though I think some team will reach and draft him before that.)

I disagree about the passing defense of the Big 10 vs the Big 12.

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2011/Intern...0000827TD.HTML
The big 10 had 2 teams in the top 5, 5 more teams in the top 20 (for a total of 7), 2 more in the top 50, then Purdue at 53, Iowa at 58, and NWstern at 71.

http://web1.ncaa.org/mfb/2011/Intern...0025354TD.HTML
The only team in the Big 12 ranked in the top 40 was UT at 42.

I've seen plenty of bonehead plays from both Weeden and Tannehill.
Weeden, being close to 30, would never find a place on my draft board with that skill set. Sorry, but that's just how I would approach if I were to build a team. I would not draft Weeden before the fourth round, especially when I knew I could have had Dalton in the third last year (as a comparison). I would have drafted Dalton and have nothing to do with Weeden, actually.

I know this is something we won't agree on, but a couple things I'll put out there. Big 12 had 10 teams last year, Big 10 had 12. More teams makes it more likely to have more teams ranked highly. Also, the Big 12 passes a lot more, so their pass defense is more likely to be ranked lower on the whole. Just for comparison, the Big 12 had 4554 pass attempts last year, the Big 10 had only 4201, despite having more teams. More passes = more passing stats, so it deflates their pass defense numbers. Anyways, I just think the level of competition and talent from top to bottom is higher in the Big 12 than the Big 10.

With regard to Cousins, the couple games I watched of his were against Ohio State (Buckeye fan), Nebraska, Wisconsin B10 champ game and the bowl game against Georgia. None one of those gave me much interest in drafting him before the 4th. Lots of WTF moments in all of those games. I think he has the tools to be successful, I just don't think it will be 2012, and that's the basis of the assumptions that leads to Weeden. I'm looking for a 2012 starting QB, not 2013/14/15 guy.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

There's a first time for everything, so I thought I'd throw out a mock draft of my own. The fanbase consensus seems to be that we will go WR or D-line for the first pick, and then address other needs with our 2-4 picks as they come up. So I'll try something different here and see how it looks. It's a bit offense heavy, but I think it addresses our main needs, including one that everyone is avoiding...


4.121 - Michael Egnew, TE Missouri

Kubes fills Dreesen's role with the 3rd best TE in this class. He can block pretty well, and he is a good pass catcher. He unknowingly helped the Texans quite a bit in 2010 when he helped make Blaine Gabbert look like an NFL QB prospect. He's a big guy at 6'5⅛" 252 pounds, which is a bit different than our TEs of the past, but I think he could be a very good #2 TE. Casey stays at FB in this scenario, which is good because his versatility would be great to have in the lineup.

2010 Positives and Negatives

Egnew is a OD clone. I really like him alot. He is my second favorite TE in this draft. I we don't draft Fleener I hope we get Egnew.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

I know this is something we won't agree on, but a couple things I'll put out there. Big 12 had 10 teams last year, Big 10 had 12. More teams makes it more likely to have more teams ranked highly. Also, the Big 12 passes a lot more, so their pass defense is more likely to be ranked lower on the whole. Just for comparison, the Big 12 had 4554 pass attempts last year, the Big 10 had only 4201, despite having more teams. More passes = more passing stats, so it deflates their pass defense numbers. Anyways, I just think the level of competition and talent from top to bottom is higher in the Big 12 than the Big 10.

It's a legit point.

But then, you can look at pass efficiency defense or ypa and it still works out in the Big10 favor.

Or you can look at their non-conference schedules.
For example, the following were the pass offenses that the Big10 faced:

Ill - Az St (10), W Mich (8) , Ak St (16), S.Dakota St (13)
Ind - Va (56), Ball St )53)
Iowa (58 in pass defense) - Okl (5), Tenn Tech (53), La Monroe (53)
Mich - ND (40), W Mich (8)
Mich St - ND (40), C Mich (25), Ga (48)
Minn - USC (15), N Mex St (26), Mia Oh (14)
Neb - Fresno St (27), Wash (35),
NWestern (71) - E. Ill (27), A&M (18)
Ohio St - Toldedo (30), Mia (62), Col (57), Fla (89)
Penn St - Ind St (67), Ala (69), Houston (1)
Purdue - Middle Tenn (37), ND (40), W Mich (8)
Wisc - Oreg St (19), Northern Ill (51), Oreg (68)

I checked the whole non-conference schedules of both conferences, and I must say that the Big10 defenses fared better against better passing offenses when compared with the Big12.
...

In head to head, for example:

Iowa (ranked 58 in pass defense, a weakling in their conference) - Okl (5th in passing offense, a power house in the big 12.)
Oklahoma averaged 349 passing and 163 rushing
They gained 161 and 141 against Iowa.

NWestern is another weakling (71 in pass defense in the Big10)
A&M (ranked 18 in pass offense, another powerhouse in the Big12.)
Against NWestern, A&M gained 317 (slighty more than their average of 291) passing and 80 yards rushing (much less than their average of 199).

...

Yet another metric: The data base of the top 500 draftable players in this upcoming draft by CBSSports.

The Big 10 had 64 on the list, the Big 12 had 41.
If you extrapolate, it still comes up 53 to 41 in favor of the Big 10.

The same goes for the top 1000 list.
The same goes fot the top 500 defensive players.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

With regard to Cousins, the couple games I watched of his were against Ohio State (Buckeye fan), Nebraska, Wisconsin B10 champ game and the bowl game against Georgia. None one of those gave me much interest in drafting him before the 4th. Lots of WTF moments in all of those games. I think he has the tools to be successful, I just don't think it will be 2012, and that's the basis of the assumptions that leads to Weeden. I'm looking for a 2012 starting QB, not 2013/14/15 guy.

It just so happened that you pick out 4 of the worst games Cousins had (against 4 good to very good defenses).

As a comparison, you could check out Weeden's games against: La Lafayette, UT, Okl, Tulsa, Ks St for example.

On top of that, the Spartans offense is much much closer to what the Texans run than what Weeden runs at Okl. St.

I'm not sold on Cousins either, but I think he's as ready as Weeden now (but fits the scheme better) and also has better potential than Weeden in the long run.

If I run the Texans, I would take Keenum and Wilson (who ran another similar offense to the Texans) in the lower rounds (as compared to Cousins and Weeden). Both of these small guys played better under pressure.
If one of them gets hurt, I still have the other.
I will have to carry 4 QBs or I can put Wilson on the PS.

I have been concentrating mostly on QBs and WRs so I had watched a lot of these guys' games (including Osweiler, Tannehill, Foles, Moore, all the top prospects that are scheduled to appear on Jon Gruden's QB camp.)

Wilson is the only one that I haven't seen in more than 7 games.

[76Texan]

duplicate

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

It just so happened that you pick out 4 of the worst games Cousins had (against 4 good to very good defenses).

As a comparison, you could check out Weeden's games against: La Lafayette, UT, Okl, Tulsa, Ks St for example.

On top of that, the Spartans offense is much much closer to what the Texans run than what Weeden runs at Okl. St.

I'm not sold on Cousins either, but I think he's as ready as Weeden now (but fits the scheme better) and also has better potential than Weeden in the long run.

If I run the Texans, I would take Keenum and Wilson (who ran another similar offense to the Texans) in the lower rounds (as compared to Cousins and Weeden). Both of these small guys played better under pressure.
If one of them gets hurt, I still have the other.
I will have to carry 4 QBs or I can put Wilson on the PS.

I have been concentrating mostly on QBs and WRs so I had watched a lot of these guys' games (including Osweiler, Tannehill, Foles, Moore, all the top prospects that are scheduled to appear on Jon Gruden's QB camp.)

Wilson is the only one that I haven't seen in more than 7 games.

Well 3 of those teams happened to be among the best pass defenses he faced all year. Those are his most important games of the year, and you want to forget about them? OK... I watched those games because they were on TV down here in Texas, he failed to help his team much in each game, that leads me to think he's kind of mediocre at best. When the going got tough, he fell apart. Not a quality I look for in QBs. He also played pretty poorly against Nebraska and Michigan, which are the other two big games of the year. So what opponents did he play well against? At home against Wisconsin appears to be the only quality win in which he did well.

Weeden on the other hand stepped up in the Fiesta bowl, against Kansas State, @TAMU and @UT, which I attended. The UT defense was a bit underrated this year, but they played hard in that game and it was surprising that Weeden did as well as he did in Austin. He handled the big games this year really well, and was one Thursday night OT win away from making the National Championship.

As a comparison, you could check out Weeden's games against: La Lafayette, UT, Okl, Tulsa, Ks St for example.

Lafayette wasn't a great game for him, but it was the first of the season, so I'm willing to let that go. He certainly wasn't at the top of his game, as you can see by watching just about every other game that year for comparison. I would say that was his worst game of the season.

@UT is never an easy game for any opponent. Their home record over the last decade is insanely good and is probably akin to playing @Ohio State or @Michigan. Weeden did play decently in that game, despite what the statline may tell you. He certainly didn't throw away the game at any point.

@Tulsa, well the game started at midnight and finished at 3:30am. I dunno about you, but I'm willing to give him a pass on those two INTs. He still completed 74% of his 39 passes with 2 TDs. What more do you want?

Oklahoma was a beat down. They were up 24-3 at half and ran the ball for over 250 yards that game. I don't think they really relied on him to pass much. It was a pedestrian game for him, 216 yards, no TDs or INTs. I don't know what you want from the guy in that scenario as the coach clearly preferred to run it down OU's throat.

Kansas state? What? He completed 78% of his passes for 502 yards with 4 TDs and 2 INTs. What could you possibly complain about that game? The two INTs? Oh well, when you average 43 pass attempts a game, you're gonna get some INTs, it happens. Cousins on the other hand averages 30 pass attempts a game, and yet the INT numbers between the two of them are 13 and 10.

------

And just an FYI to your conference argument, using the ratings from the site you linked, Cousins did not play against the top 3 pass defenses in the B10 conference this year, Penn Stat, Mich St and Illinois. All of the Big 12 teams had to play against guys like Griffin, Weeden, Tannehill and company. It's a passing league, so when the passing defense is lower ranked on a national rating, I'm not surprised.

Also, using the top 500 draftable players or whatever you were talking about is kind of a sketchy indicator. Just because players are drafting doesn't really give a good idea of how good the conference is. Could be a lot of guys graduating or leaving school early to draft. It's not always consistent.

[76Texan]

Before I respond to your post, Dutch, let's take a quick look at the Iowa St. game.
I haven't watched it before so I decided to watch it two nights ago.

Weeden was one of the main reasons for the loss, if not the biggest.

Weeden were 42-58 for 476 yards, 3 TDs and 3 INTs.

There were 20 pass thrown behind or at the LOS (swing passes, screen passes, shovel passes, etc...)
These types passes contribute in a major way in the spread offense, especially for Weeden (as opposed to Cousins and Wilson who ran versions of pro-style offense at Mich. St. and Wisconsin, respectively.)
The vast majority of them are completions, except for a rare drop by a receiver or RB.

Then there were quick outs, quick slants, check downs - passes that are 7 yards or shorter when the defenders played off the LOS.

Take these out of the equation, and his completion percentage is easily under 50%... and that's with Weeden having a lot more time than Cousins or Wilson or Keenum.

Both Wilson and Keenum were much more accurate than that, and Cousins was also quite better than Weeden. All 3 faced much more pressures than Weeden.

Both Weeden and Keenum ran the spread offense.
On the average, Keenum's passes left his hand at least a full second sooner than Weeden. That is a long long time.

With Weeden, there were a good amount of balls in the dirt or way off the mark for no reason at all.
Or Weeden would stare down a receiver leading to batted balls at the LOS or INTs.

[76Texan]

The 3 INTs can be seen here:

http://espn.go.com/ncf/video?gameId=313220066

The first one (first qtr) was a case of the stare down, throwing off his back foot.
Throwing from tight space will be another problem area for Weeden in the NFL, where he'll have less time in the pocket.


The second one (12:56 in the fourth) was another stare down that resulted in a batted ball and the INT.


The third one (in OT) was simply a bad pass into tight man coverage.
The ball was tipped by the LB and intercepted by a safety.


It wasn't just a bad game for Weeden; the defense tried to help him when they scored a TD on an INT return.
The receivers bailed him out on occasions, while Iowa St dropped at least 8 passes.
And generally, Weeden had a lot of time in the pocket.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Lafayette wasn't a great game for him, but it was the first of the season, so I'm willing to let that go. He certainly wasn't at the top of his game, as you can see by watching just about every other game that year for comparison. I would say that was his worst game of the season.



@Tulsa, well the game started at midnight and finished at 3:30am. I dunno about you, but I'm willing to give him a pass on those two INTs. He still completed 74% of his 39 passes with 2 TDs. What more do you want?

Didn't you want to draft Weeden to be the QB to play right away in 2012?

If he wasn't ready to start against Lafawho, how do you expect him to start on day one in the NFL?

The same goes with the Tulsa game. He's what, 28-yr old? Shouldn't he be the one player that can be ready on the field for that game? Or was he too old and needed his sleep?
This is a defense that gave up 456 yards to Keenum and the Cougars (5 TDs, no INT as opposed to 2 INTs by Weeden). There were some more completions and a TD by the reserved QB.


Both teams ran a spread offense (OSU and UH).



Tulsa didn't have their starting QB Kine.
Weeden benefited from a return TD, two forced fumbles by the D, four INTs by the D, and a lot of good field positions.
He hardly saw any pressure, and yet missed wide open receivers and threw those two bad INTs.

Keenum received 2 INTs from the D (Weeden stil got a plus four advantage in turnover plus the return TD).
Keenum faced a ton of pressure and made an awful lot of plays under duress.
He didn't throw any inaccurate pass.

Here's the break down of Keenum's incompletions:

- 7 incompletions due to direct pressure (within 1-1/2 to 2 secs). All passes were still close to intended targets.
- One pass too "hot" for a receiver to handle.
- One drop.
- One QB scramble and throw away due to quick pressure.
- Another throw away due to quick pressure.
- Another incompletion was due to the failure to make adjustment by a receiver on a blitz (he stopped and Keenum got ready to throw to him, but he took off downfield even though he can see that the blitz was getting to Keenum).

And he was sacked twice due to very quick pressure.

Keenum completed several passes under pressure.
With 1:31 to go in the third, leading 20-16, this was what the analyst had to say about Keenum:
"He had to thow quickly because he's got a lot of quick pressures.
But he made a lot of good plays too.
Keenum did a great job finding where the pressure is coming from, and that was the big key.
The question now is will he have enough time to look down the field or will he (continue to) have to get the ball out of his hands quickly."
....

Keenum overcame all the pressures to make one play after another.
With Keenum, it doesn't matter if it was 3rd and 10, 3rd and 15, 3rd and 22, third and 25 or fourth and 15. He's dangerous just the same; the same thing can never be said about Weeden. Third and long and most usually you will see a punt, or an occasional INT.

The difference was night and day when you watch these two guys played against that common opponent (Tulsa).

What more do I want from Weeden?
I think you can find the answer from the above.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

The UT defense was a bit underrated this year, but they played hard in that game and it was surprising that Weeden did as well as he did in Austin.

@UT is never an easy game for any opponent. Their home record over the last decade is insanely good and is probably akin to playing @Ohio State or @Michigan. Weeden did play decently in that game, despite what the statline may tell you. He certainly didn't throw away the game at any point.

I sincerely disagree. Following is the break down of the game (as I saw it).

vs UT

Defense forced UT to punt

Weeden's inaccuracy stopped a drive.
....

Defense came up with an INT, giving the ball to Weeden at the 36.
Running game was in gear.

In this scoring drive, Weeden completed a lone pass for 37 yards when he had plenty of time and the slot receiver Cooper beat the safety (nickel?) easily in man coverage (No help); it was Pitch and catch.

...

Defense held on 4th down giving Weeden the ball at the 32
After 2 runs that resulted in minus 6 yards, Weeden dumped off the ball for 8 on 3rd and 16. There was no attempt by him to look downfield.
What was on Gruden's QB camp, I found very funny as Gruden poked fun at Weeden regarding the stupid check downs like the above play: "If we're living on hots, we're dumb and dumber".

...
Defense stopped UT again with a sack on 3rd down.
UT punt but OSU fumbled.

UT recovered and scored in one play.
7-7
....

A bad pass by Weeden was nearly intercepted on the sideline; Blackmon played defender and pushed the CB out of bound. It looks like the CB had a foot inbound (field turf came up), but somehow, the ref ruled it an incomplete pass and not an INT.

(This wouldn't matter in the NFL because the defender has to have both feet in bound to call it an INT; the receiver can push him out of bound due to the change in rule a few years back.)
We also want to remember that the college receiver only has to have one feet in bound to make a catch, and college QB is help in the stat sheet due to this difference in ruling. Weeden was one of those QBs who benefited greatly from this.

Weeden tried the same pass and was almost intercepted again; Blackmon had a hand in there just enough to prevent it.

On third and 10 Weeden threw short and behind (in the dirt) the receiver.
So far, Weeden tried very hard to give the game away (a little over 14 min to go in the second).

PUNT

[76Texan]

Defense forced UT to punt gain, however.

On the next series, there was a 23-yd shovel pass to Blackmon.
This is a quick flip of the ball to the receiver in motion across the backfield that is considered a forward pass (a completion and 23 yard gain).

On third and 9 Weeden threw a pass high that went thru the hands of the safety (receiver was nowhere near); I don't think Manning, Quin, or even Nolan would miss that opportunity.

On 4th and 9 at the Horns 34, Weeden completed an "easy" pass to Blackmon on a slant to the middle of the zone (no pass rush), receiver wide-open.

On the next play, Weeden found Blackmon on another simple slant for a 15yd TD. This is another pitch-and-catch, a very common pass for Weeden the whole year long.

14-7 OSU
...

Defense did enough to limit the Horns to a FG

14-10 OSU

With 3'09 left in the half, UT didn't play close enough to the receivers, allowing a lot of short passes.

On 2nd and 2, the pressure did force Weeden to throw away a pass (should have been intentional grounding here - receiver ran a slant route; Weeden threw the ball toward the sideline, out of bound; he purposedly threw the ball away to avoid a sack.)

On 3rd and 2 OSU ran for 1

On 4th and 1, RB Smith rushed 30 yards for a TD.

All of the passes Weeden completed (4 of 6 for 44 yards) were uncontested on this drive.

OSU led 21-10 at the half.

Weeden was 15-24 for 172 yards (including 4 passes thrown behind the LOS - So he actually was 11-20 for less than 140 yards, including dump-offs and short passes). There were 3 near-INTs. A few balls in the dirt. A few more innacurate balls. All this without being pressured much.

[76Texan]

To start the second half, OSU and UT traded kickoff returns for TD.
Score was now 28-17

Weeden threw a pass behind the LOS (5th) to Blackmon for 3 yards.

A quick out to the flat gained another 3.

On 3rd and 4, against a blitz, Weeden pass was errant (wide) for Blackmon (not accurate). He had enough time.

Analyst: Weeden went to the wrong side. He had a stack on the left (a hi-lo with the underneath receiver wide open as both defenders tried to cut off the deep receiver first).
The term errant was used by the analyst.

PUNT
....

Defense forced a 3 and out.

On 2nd and 4, Weeden threw behind (inside) the receiver Cooper on an out route (confirmed by analyst).


On third and 4, Weeden threw to Blackmon in a crowd of 3 defenders; the result, understandably, was an incompletion.
...

UT drew within 24-28

On the next drive, Weeden underthrew the receiver on a post route; the pass was almost intercepted by DB #4.

On a swing pass (behind the LOS), Weeden stared down the receiver and got the ball batted down by #44 Jeffcoat. If he went up like Watt, he would have a pick-six right there.

On first and goal at the UT 9, Weeden held on to the ball too long (3-1/2 secs) and was sacked for a loss of 11. He was in the grasp of two linemen, but the ref ruled that he was able to throw the ball away and that the ball got back to the LOS (wrong, the ball went out of bound at least 2 yards short.) There wasn't a receiver 25 yards from the ball in the direction of the throw. That was intentional grounding and should have put the Cowboys out of FG range.
Dumb decision by Weeden.

The Cowboys ended up kicking a FG to lead 31-24

...
Their D held again; with less tan 5 mins to go in the third, OSU scored with 2 running plays.
They led 38-24
....

[76Texan]

In the 4th, UT had the ball at the OSU 5 but failed to score in 4 downs.

OSU got the ball back at their 1/2 yd line.

After a run that went nowhere, Weeden attempted a pass instead of throwing the ball away (he had the chance to). The pass was terrible (you should be able to see it on ESPN highlights) it was easily intercepted and returned for a TD. Luckily for OSU, Weeden stepped out of bound for a safety.

This play was also documented on Gruden's QB Camp as a double whammy, LOL! Gruden really put it to Weeden on this one.

UT still trailed 38-26 (it could have been 35-31 without the FG and a pick-six here).
...

OSU forced another 3 and out.

Then Weeden returned the favor.

What's worse, on 3rd and 11, Weeden stared down the receiver and was almost picked off by the safety #28, who promptly dropped the ball. That was a sure INT as there's one. It had strong possibility for a TD return as well.

Yah, I would say Weeden tried very hard to give the game away despite what the stat lines showed.
...

With less than 5 mins to go, the Horns were moving the ball when David Ash was sacked and fumbled the ball; OSU recovered.
They basically ran out the clock afterward.

No, Weeden didn't play decent; he played very poorly, IMHO.

[Lucky]

Wow, where else on the internet will you see a Weeden vs. Keenum breakdown? Two things:

1) Weeden will go ahead of Keenum in the draft (size, arm strength, strength of competition).
2) The Texans will not draft Weeden in the first round.

I have to disagree with the Texans going QB early. Maybe late, real late, to have an extra arm in camp and take practice squad snaps. If the Texans are concerned about Schaub's health, they should look to bring in another vet.