2012 Final Draft Grades (Texans)

[rush2112mn]

I think you need to wait on a draft grade for a year or two. See how many of these guys stick with the team...especially after the 1st 2 picks.

I like the positions we drafted......

I knew we were going to draft a kicker after Rackers went to the Redskins.

I am confident in Rick Smith and the scouting department. They have shown year after year they know what they are doing.

[badboy]

Originally Posted by PockyAF

What was your thoughts on drafting Ben Tate again? Duane Brown? What would've been your thoughts on drafting Aldon Smith?

Not surprisingly, I feel alot better that you are upset with this pick.

We know what RMartin65's thoughts are ...because he told us. Your thoughts? Oh yeah, you did not post them. Way to go, Hocky..I mean Pocky.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by rmartin65

Round 3- Ohio State WR DeVier Posey Grade: D
Bah, I like the position, but that is about it. He has good size, but is average everywhere else- average hands (drops some he should catch, catches some that were incredibly difficult to bring in), average playing speed, average route runner, above average blocker, but shy over the middle. Add in some character concerns (not just the tattoos, but what some people are saying on campus about him as a person) and the other receivers that were still on the board, and I am disappointed in the pick. That said, he is a Texan now, and has my full support. I truly hope that I am wrong.

I get the idea that you dont like this pick more for lack of exposure than the guy's skills .... along with the fact that he wasnt one of the "Big Names" that many had been discussing for the last several months.

I dont at all agree with your assessment of his skillset.

Average hands ? He catches everything .... His hands are probably his best asset. He also won the allstar challenge hands competition over Floyd and Sanu. Nothing hit the ground at his pro day.

He's also a great route runner (to echo Dennison's comments) and has the speed to make defenders being timed between 4.37 and 4.48. He's got a knack for getting open .... and often embarrassed defenders ending up with no one within 10+ yards of him. (That kinda reminds me of #80)

And those reports of him being soft across the middle .... are a crock. Just take a look at the catch at 0:41 and again at 1:12 of this video or at "0:30 and again at 0:54 as well as 2:54 of this video and tell me he's not willing to take a shot across the middle. He made a living going across the middle and up the seams .... while not burning defenders on the outside.


As for the character concerns - What do you hear on campus that Smith , Kubiak and the rest of the Texans staff didnt? Who is saying what on campus?


You are entitled to your opinion .... but I think its flat out wrong. This might just be the best pick the Texans made in this draft.

[SteveSlaton20]

probably one of my favorite draft.

i love the mercilus pick. posey, this kid could be special, and i think he can start/play slot this season, so i think he'll be use quite a bit this season. love, love, love the brandon brooks pick. ben jones is a good player and that was at a very good value, and i think he can step in for myers or any guard spot if anyone goes down. i dont know much about keshawn martin, but he was kirk cousins favorite receiver, or at least in the article i read in said that. never going to play #2 wr, only slot and really doesnt block much, but supposed to be a good returner. 66 rec 777 yards 4 tds is pretty good for a slot wr IMO. jared crick was a great pick, great depth to go along with tim jamison. wouldve been a first-second rounder if it wasnt for the injuries. randy bullock, love the pick as well, hopefully he'll have no problem replacing neil rackers. i dont have any idea who nick mondek is, but he's probably project for now. Practice squad, unless we plan to carry ten OLs.

I love the UDFAs as well. Case Keenum, Davin Meggett, Dwight Jones, Logan Brock, Hebron Fangupo, and Shawn Loiseau all have great chances to make the 53 man roster.

[kiwitexansfan]

Originally Posted by SteveSlaton20

probably one of my favorite draft.

i love the mercilus pick. posey, this kid could be special, and i think he can start/play slot this season, so i think he'll be use quite a bit this season. love, love, love the brandon brooks pick. ben jones is a good player and that was at a very good value, and i think he can step in for myers or any guard spot if anyone goes down. i dont know much about keshawn martin, but he was kirk cousins favorite receiver, or at least in the article i read in said that. never going to play #2 wr, only slot and really doesnt block much, but supposed to be a good returner. 66 rec 777 yards 4 tds is pretty good for a slot wr IMO. jared crick was a great pick, great depth to go along with tim jamison. wouldve been a first-second rounder if it wasnt for the injuries. randy bullock, love the pick as well, hopefully he'll have no problem replacing neil rackers. i dont have any idea who nick mondek is, but he's probably project for now. Practice squad, unless we plan to carry ten OLs.

I love the UDFAs as well. Case Keenum, Davin Meggett, Dwight Jones, Logan Brock, Hebron Fangupo, and Shawn Loiseau all have great chances to make the 53 man roster.

Keenum might make the 53, I would guess we might end up with a couple of the UDFA on the PS but I don't think any of those you listed will make the roster. Time will tell.

[Wolf6151]

Whitney Mercilus, OLB wasn't our biggest need but I love the player, pick, and value of the pick. Grade A
Devier Posey, I hate this pick when you consider who was available at WR at the time. This was a complete WTF pick. I just hope it doesn't take us 4 yrs. to admit it like Jacoby. Grade F
Brandon Brooks, OG was a need and I love the player, pick, and value of the pick. Grade A
Ben Jones, C wasn't really a need but quality O-line players in the draft are always a good thing and the value of the pick was about right. Grade B+
Keshawn Martin, this was better than the Posey pick but not much. KR/PR fills a need, and any pick that moves Jacoby off the squad can't be all bad but again when you consider the quality of WR's that were still available this pick sucks. Grade C-/D+
Jared Crick, fills a need at DE depth with quality talent and size, great value to the pick as well. Grade A+
Randy Bullock, fills a need with the best available talent just ahead of others that started picking K. Hopefully fills the K spot for years to come. Grade A
Nick Mondek, OT was a need but I'd like some earlier/better talent here. I honestly don't know anything about this guy. Grade Incomplete.

Overall grade: B

[GNTLEWOLF]

Overall draft grade???..."meh minus"

[Texsker]

Originally Posted by beerlover

Round 4- Nebraska DE Jared Crick Grade: A
Anybody who follows my work knows I love this pick & had given him a 2nd rd. grade. I did not realize the extent of his injury's other than torn pectoral muscle that sidelined him his senior year. When healthy, he is a disruptive interior linemen who can back-up both Watt & Smith. I would love to put some weight on his 6-4 frame & stick him @ nose tackle in Wade's system he could be another Jay Ratliff.

I believe you can probably forget about trying to put substantial weight on Crick. Nebraska's tried and failed to do this for years. He's never really been able to keep his weight much north of 280 during the season. I don't see that changing, and as a DE, it won't need to. I just don't see him ever being able to play inside except as a nickel rusher.

Crick has the height (6'4 1/2") to make you think he should be able to get a lot heavier, but that just hasn't been the reality of his career at Nebraska. I see him as a guy who will play his entire career in the 280-285 range.

[rmartin65]

Originally Posted by Corrosion

I get the idea that you dont like this pick more for lack of exposure than the guy's skills .... along with the fact that he wasnt one of the "Big Names" that many had been discussing for the last several months.

I dont at all agree with your assessment of his skillset.

Average hands ? He catches everything .... His hands are probably his best asset. He also won the allstar challenge hands competition over Floyd and Sanu. Nothing hit the ground at his pro day.

He's also a great route runner (to echo Dennison's comments) and has the speed to make defenders being timed between 4.37 and 4.48. He's got a knack for getting open .... and often embarrassed defenders ending up with no one within 10+ yards of him. (That kinda reminds me of #80)

And those reports of him being soft across the middle .... are a crock. Just take a look at the catch at 0:41 and again at 1:12 of this video or at "0:30 and again at 0:54 as well as 2:54 of this video and tell me he's not willing to take a shot across the middle. He made a living going across the middle and up the seams .... while not burning defenders on the outside.


As for the character concerns - What do you hear on campus that Smith , Kubiak and the rest of the Texans staff didnt? Who is saying what on campus?


You are entitled to your opinion .... but I think its flat out wrong. This might just be the best pick the Texans made in this draft.

Hey, thanks for the response.

I dont think his suspension impacted me too much in terms of his grading. I never really liked the guy as a pro prospect.

Average hands- I stand by that. I watched damn near every game of his college career, and I saw drops that should not have happened. I also saw catches that were incredible, so I am going with average. Nothing wrong with average.

Average route runner- Again, I stand by my comments. He does not get a ton of separation out of his breaks. Now, this may have been highlighted by having a god-awful QB who could not "throw him open". So, I say average.

Highlight vids are just that, a compilation of a player's best plays. I know what I saw, he gets alligator arms when he hears footsteps. It has gotten better, but it is still there.

I should not have said friend in the other thread, most of what I heard was from a guy with whom I had class with last year that had taken a comm class or something with Posey last year. Just said the guy was an entitled prick that talked to his buddies/texted all class and generally disrupted everyone that sat near him. It fits with the buzz on campus, but now that I have it typed out I guess that it is something that all athletes get tagged with.

Thanks for your post... It has made me take a long look about the pick. I still think 3rd round was a bit early, but there is nothing wrong with a big receiver with an average skillset and a big body in the middle of the draft.

I dont hate the pick anymore.

[ckhouston]

Whitney Mercilus - Will have double digit sacks his rookie year in this system IMHO. Grade A

Devier Posey - Size, quickness, reliable hands, and can adjust to poorly thrown balls (if Matt comes back) makes this a good pick IMO. Grade B

Brandon Brooks - Excellent pick to address need. Grade A

Ben Jones - In our offensive system the O-line is key and depth never hurts. Grade B

Keshawn Martin - My grade here is based on one thing and one thing only ... goodbye Jacoby Jones. Grade A

Jared Crick - former 1st round talent that has had a rough spell, but I believe in Wade and his system to get the most out of this guy. Could turn out to be the future when Smith is gone. Grade B+

Randy Bullock - Should be a solid starter for the forseeable future. Grade A

Nick Mondek - Started his college career as a D-lineman, then started a year at RT and did well, the moved to OG and adjusted and had a solid year. Shows diversity and the ability to adapt, as well as experience at different positions. Solid pick. Grade B.

[nytexan]

Although I don't think we're going to get the immediate BANG out of this draft that we did from last years, this was a very solid draft. Very good value out of Brooks, Jones and Crick. Hopefully Philips can get Mercilius to contribute early.
My only temperance on rookie WR's it that they don't contribute much in their 1st year and although I won't necessarily be disappointed if JJ is gone, Posey 3 years ago was rated with AJ Green and Julio Jones. So if he pans out, he may be the steal of the draft.
A solid B if for nothing else but upgrading the depth of the team. There really isn't any major holes to fill this year if we don't get a major injury bug we had last year.

[GP]

Grade: B

Mercilus: A.

Natural beast. No doubt this guy loves football. We again take a guy who craves the game.

Posey: C.

I don't care how it gets spun, this pick is a gamble. He has the most pressure on him out of all of our picks. Rightly so. We'll see if he was worth trading out of the 2nd round for.

Brooks: B-.

Iffy on this one. Big? Yes. Rated in top 5 of the OG class? Yes. But if Reuben Randle slipped to end of 2nd round, why did Brooks slip to the 3rd? Ultimately, he has to get off the snap faster. I think this is what bothered teams the most.

Jones: B-.

Has a few negatives. Short arms, for one. But Myers has short arms too, so big whoop. I rate it B- because it's the 4th round and he'll be depth at best in 2012.

Martin: B-.

Another depth guy. Destined for the PS because he'll clear waivers easily. Other teams will want to PS their own brand of Keyshawn Martin. Sounds like a long-term project at slot and KR. I'm fine with it.

Crick: B.

Tempted to put B+ but injury concerns have me cautious on the grade. He seems like a Tim Bulman type to me: Lots of effort, not the "star" type of player. Just brings his lunch box and gets to work. I like it. Another "Serious about football" pick.

Bullock: A.

Smith gets kudos for not panicking. I would have been tempted to grab Bullock with last pick of round 4. Instead, we got Crick and still got the best kicker on the board. We had an obvious need, we filled it. And saved millions if dollars on the cap in the process. Rackers can still kiss my ass because I liked the guy and he had to **** on our team in the press like a punk ass.

Random dude in the 6th: C.

Yeah, it's a 6th round JAG. I can't place a B on a guy here. Sue me.

---------------

Mercilus, Posey, Bullock, Brooks make final roster.

I don't know how they'll handle Jones and Crick. Depth needs might put them on final roster, but I dunno.

Martin to the PS.

Random 6th round dude gets cut, not sure about PS potential yet.

-------------------

Outside of the trade out of 2nd, I think they added good solid players for a team that just needed depth and reliable players. Posey, you got some convincing to do with this fan.

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by beerlover

Initial reactions to 2012 draft -

Round 1- Illinois OLB Whitney Mercilus Grade: A
Once again Texans fool me with first overall pick, what's new..... Drafting a 4-3 DE & projecting him to OLB. If he works out half as well as JJ Watt we''ll all be happy right? Quality young man who adds pass rushing speed dimension. Mario Williams missed on a lot of sack opportunities because he was a split second too late numerous times. Mercilus will make those plays. His closing speed is elite, his first 10 yard split confirms this as well posting tops in position 1.55 sec.

Round 3- Ohio State WR DeVier Posey Grade: C+
Better size than I thought @ 6015 211 so that helps reassure me a little. Had similar sense they go with bigger WR early then slot type WR later. Character issue aside, Texans had inside track on this angle & did their due diligence. So feel comfortable we can move on with his skill set that matches what fits profile/need. Reminds me a little of a bigger Mario Manningham & if that's the case better value than imagined.

Round 3- Miami (OH) OG Brandon Brooks Grade: B
One of the top four elite OG's in this draft. Great value. Little surprised went with this big of offensive guard, but that tells me Texans want to run with more power & punch it in the end zone over right side. Has high ceiling if fully developed has pro bowl potential.

Round 4- Georgia OC Ben Jones Grade: B+
Ben one of those wanting to take a Center higher for years so guess this will have to do because this position is set now for probably the next 10 years. Has leadership & toughness to make line calls will earn respect of teammates.

Round 4- Keshawn Martin, WR, Michigan State Grade: B
Rated just ahead of Ryan Broyles because of explosiveness, plus speed & toughness. Very smart pick that signals end of road for Jacoby Jones as a Texan. Elusive in open field & will make the clutch catch.

Round 4- Nebraska DE Jared Crick Grade: A
Anybody who follows my work knows I love this pick & had given him a 2nd rd. grade. I did not realize the extent of his injury's other than torn pectoral muscle that sidelined him his senior year. When healthy, he is a disruptive interior linemen who can back-up both Watt & Smith. I would love to put some weight on his 6-4 frame & stick him @ nose tackle in Wade's system he could be another Jay Ratliff.

Round 5- Texas A&M K Randy Bullock Grade: B+
Had to take him a little early because of run on position so good job addressing need. I hope he is the Texans kicker for the next decade, but you just never know. He seems polished & mature so should make the transition.

Round 6- Purdue OT/OG Nick Mondek Grade: C+
Love the position, question the prospect with guys like Matt Reynolds & Levy Adcock still available. It's always reassuring to hear the GM discuss a prospect you know nothing about but is making comparisons to Eric Winston the right direction? I was under the impression someone with a little more attitude & athletic ability, but will see maybe he is a diamond in the rough.

Overall Grade: Solid B

now onto undrafted free agents when all the dust settles.

One year later, for those interested for those who don't screw Em

[badboy]

BL, I am still ok with that draft. Martin and Mondek may be on their way out depending on TC and preseason. Wish I had a clearer picture of Posey. I'm also hopeful Ben Jones can settle in behind Myers & get that position down pat. If Brooks is what I think he is that will happen. It would be cool for me if Oline was Brown, Brooks, Jones Quisenberry/B.Williams and Newton. Do you agree that Brennan can play RG? I think so but not sure 100%.

[76Texan]

Well, I have never graded a draft, and I never will, I only have thoughts about the picks and how well it may work for the Texans.

Round 1- Illinois OLB Whitney Mercilus
I was cool with the player. I saw him as an insurance policy for Barwin.
He turned out to be an insurance for both Barwin (long term, injury and pending future contract) and Reed (short term, when he got injured.)
I was among those who pushed for a WR, can you blame me?
But I didn't mind this pick at all, even though I figure he wouldn't get a whole lot of playing time. The jury is still out on the pick as Mercilus needs to improve in the running game. If you base your valuation strictly short-term (which I'm never a fan of) then this pick was probably between a C and a D at the moment with potential to increase in value.

Round 3- Ohio State WR DeVier Posey
For a third rounder, my thought was that Posey represent a solid prospect who's much more consistent than Jacoby. Need a year before rounding into shape with potential to become a solid number two to replace Walter.
Too bad his fate is now up in the air.
His performance when he was on the field was at least a C.
That he didn't see much playing time was due to coaching decision to hold on to Walter a bit too much and to count on Jean and Martin a bit too much.

Round 3- Miami (OH) OG Brandon Brooks
I felt that this was a solid pick; in time, he should become a starter.
He's on track to do just that. As a rookie, his on-field performance should be in the B to C range; give him a B- or C+ at this time.

Round 4- Georgia OC Ben Jones
Another solid pick that can play both C and G.
On-field performance as a rookie was slightly better than Brooks, due to extensive playing time. Slightly ahead of the curve. B- thus far.

Round 4- Keshawn Martin, WR, Michigan State
A fourth rounder with return ability.
Probably was given too much on the plate to start out and fizzled somewhat.
I expected fewer dropped balls based on his history.
His performance was at most a D- while I expected at least a C as in Consistent.
Easily the most disappointing pick in that regard.
If only he had managed to stay true with the consistency he showed in college with his hands, the whole game could have been totally different.

Round 4- Nebraska DE Jared Crick
Not much to expect here as the second 4th rounder.
Performance was ho-hum as projected.
Incomplete grade.

Round 5- Texas A&M K Randy Bullock
Not being on the field is always a disappointment.
Incomplete grade.

Round 6- Purdue OT/OG Nick Mondek
I had no idea who he was and didn't feel like going through his game tapes.

Overall, a subpar performance as a group with Mondek and Bullock as no-show and nobody who took the ball and ran with it.

The draft group could have been a C with a healthy Bullock, but as is, at best it receives a C- from me for the year.
Long-term, however, this group should grade out better.

[Playoffs]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Well, I have never graded a draft...

Generally agree with your updated grades -- and that the jury is very much still out. This year will show more, next year most.