Connor Barwin?

[Mr teX]

Yeah, he's in witness protection right now..I haven't noticed him at all this year. I've never liked the Barwin pick though so some may call me biased..i don't think he's anything special as a passrusher. He is athletic as hell, but i don't think he's a guy that teams will really fear coming off the Edge. I kinda predicted he'd struggle a bit this year when teams started to focus on him more. I think he got a role in this defense, but i think he could be replaced....

Our schedule last year was easier, we played lots of bad qbs & he padded his sack #'s by racking up 4 against the great Blaine Gabbert....or as some jag fans call him Plaine Garbage.

My guy has always been Reed b/c he's explosive & it's just a matter of time before he finally "gets it". Can say that i've noticed Mercilus too mcuh though..

[bhsman]

Originally Posted by badboy

One of many does not get him a one of a kind contract. He needs sackos to get pesos.

And I agree, I just felt like he's been on the verge of getting sacks in games - Jackonville, most notably - where it literally came down to being beat by Watt. Hell, one of the sacks was a three-way tie between Barwin, Smith, and Watt.

I think it's just a matter of time until he has a game that breaks him out of this sackless dearth.

[Porky]

The OLB's in general haven't been as good this year, with Barwin moving into the witness protection program. Let's give them a few more games though before we start to draw any real conclusions.

[amazing80]

I think the problem is more scheme related. It seems like we're lining up in a 4-3 front more often than we did last season, not sure why we continue to do this, but you see Barwin on the line quite often this season. Maybe someone can pick a random game from last season and look to see how often he lined up with his hand in the dirt compared to recent weeks.....

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by amazing80

I think the problem is more scheme related. It seems like we're lining up in a 4-3 front more often than we did last season, not sure why we continue to do this, but you see Barwin on the line quite often this season. Maybe someone can pick a random game from last season and look to see how often he lined up with his hand in the dirt compared to recent weeks.....

Sounds like a job for 76Texan

[76Texan]

I'll try to take a long look at it.

[jtexas]

ProfootballFocus has him rated as the 28th out of 29 best OLB in 3-4 this year. He was god awful in the last game. Out of all the defensive starters on the Texans he has the worst rating by far.

Last year he was ranked 19/29 OLB. The worst part wasn't his rank, it was the fact he had only had 3 good pass rushing games. The guy has potential, but plays like a rotational player.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by amazing80

I think the problem is more scheme related. It seems like we're lining up in a 4-3 front more often than we did last season, not sure why we continue to do this, but you see Barwin on the line quite often this season. Maybe someone can pick a random game from last season and look to see how often he lined up with his hand in the dirt compared to recent weeks.....

We got off to pretty good starts in our last two games. Opening ~ 20 pt leads make the other team one dimensional. On obvious passing situations, we'll most likely be in the 4-3

[badboy]

Originally Posted by bhsman

And I agree, I just felt like he's been on the verge of getting sacks in games - Jackonville, most notably - where it literally came down to being beat by Watt. Hell, one of the sacks was a three-way tie between Barwin, Smith, and Watt.

I think it's just a matter of time until he has a game that breaks him out of this sackless dearth.

My concern is Wade has set up his defense for OLB to get sacks from Mario thru Barwin last season. Why would it change this season? Watt is getting his despite his position based on skills. Seems like with Watt's productivity especially his blocks, OLBs would be doing even better this season but they are not, so far.

[76Texan]

Alright, so I had taken a pretty long look at Barwin (even though not as extensive as I'd like), I think he's done at least OK.

Kubiak said he's been playing well; I don't agree with that whole-heartedly, but I do think that he's been doing his job, even though there wasnt' much to write home about.

In the run game, now that Cushing is playing more at WILB and the opponent does not prefer to run to his side, Barwin doesn't see as much action since he plays mostly WOLB.

In the passing game, even though he didn't show much on the stats sheet, Barwin did apply adequate pressure to make a contribution in the pass rush.
There are several contributing factors:

- Long (Dolphins) and Clady (Broncos) are good LTs
- The 3 teams we faced mostly go with a quick passing game such that the DE or OLB doesn't quite have the time to get there as their path to the QB is farther.
- Wade chooses to play soft when we have a big lead in the fourth quarter (and we did in all 3 games). He came with a straight 4-man rush against the Jags and especially the Broncos (not even a zone dog) that is quite predictable.

Against the Broncos, we were trading time for a chance to get off the field.
Forget about the miscues that gave Stokley an easy TD.
In the next drive, everything went right for the Broncos but it still took them over 5 mins to score.

McCain dropped an INT.
He then committed holding on 4th and 16.
Watt missed a tackle in the backfield on third and one.
A bogus PI call on Jackson.
An oh-well pass play that ended wtih Dreessen making the TD catch on third and 6.

In the straight 4-man pass rush, Barwin was rather ineffective for the reasons mentioned above. That and Manning's ability to get the ball out quickly unless he got jumped quickly up the middle.

[76Texan]

As far as the 4-man front is concerned, there's not really any change, except that we went to it straight off the bat in the fourth quarter against the Broncos.

We see the 4-man front (including fronts with an edge guy taking his hand off the dirt) when the Texans go to a nickle or a dime package.

The occasions may include:

- When the offense is in a 3-WR set.

- On second and very long.

- On third or fourth and long.

- In prevent defense or soft defense at the end of the half or in the fourth quarter.

- When we show a 46 look, but drop back into a regular 4-man front.

Basically, we anticipate a pass.

[GP]

Connor's a goner.

Did he even make the stat sheet today? I think he's checked out, tbh.

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by GP

Connor's a goner.

Did he even make the stat sheet today? I think he's checked out, tbh.

ESPN says he registered 0 tackles, 0 sacks, 0 passes defensed, 1 QB hit.

I don't remember seeing him on the field. Too bad.

[STEEL BLUE TEXANS]

At least we aren't paying him 100 million.

[TimeKiller]

What's weird isn't his lack of production. I think he's better on the strong side anyway....what's weird is how despite having what seems like a good 3 man rotation, Wade doesn't rotate Reed and Barwin or Mercilus with either at any point. Or Braman. Like nearly everywhere else we see a rotation, even Watt goes out occasionally.

[wolf123]

Originally Posted by GP

Connor's a goner.

Did he even make the stat sheet today? I think he's checked out, tbh.

Come on saying a player has checked out?? He's playing hard out there just struggling in his pass rush.

[HJam72]

To be honest, I've always felt like guys who have 1 great game have not proven anything. I know he probably had other good games, but his 4 sack game last year reminds me of Mario Williams, having a killer game once a year and disappearing the rest of the time (as far as sacks go that is).

I wouldn't swear that Barwin isn't going to turn it on again at some point, but, based on what I'm seeing, I'd bet money against him before I'd bet it on him.

Having said that, JJ Watt is getting all of the LB's sacks right now. You can't get LB sacks if your 3-4 DE is getting to the QB faster than the speed of light.

[Scooter]

i'm going to rewatch the game to focus solely on barwin, but my first reaction through 4 games ... invisible.

[GP]

Originally Posted by wolf123

Come on saying a player has checked out?? He's playing hard out there just struggling in his pass rush.

He had a chance to sign a Texans-friendly contract extension this summer.

He passed on that opportunity. Numerous Houston sports media are on record as saying that the Texans wanted to target Duane Brown and Connor Barwin for an early extension before this season began...and Connor didn't get one completed, but Duane Brown did.

Now tell me this: Do you think Connor and his agent turned down an offer from the Texans? The reports point toward the answer being "Yes, he did." Otherwise, he's under a new contract like Duane Brown is.

Which means he and his agent, and this is speculating (but probably pretty fair to count as being 99% true), they wanted more than what the Texans valued Barwin at.

So tell me, if you're Connor Barwin...and you've just watched Eric Winston get cut (for cap reasons). DeMeco traded (for salary reasons), and the Texans not keeping Brisiel and Dreessen, matched up with how the Texans have been knocking draft days out of the park with Wade Phillips at the controls...don't you think it's at least SOMEWHAT plausible or possible that Connor might be sort of gearing down a bit? How could he not? He's as human as Dunta Robinson and others who knew they were headed elsewhere.

I am not just trying to bag on the guy. He's done nothing that I think is despicable or whatever. I'm just saying that, to me, he doesn't look like a guy whose amped up and getting his business handled out there. He looks way too out-of-the-picture.

I'm wanting Wade to pull two guys out of the starting lineup: Bradie James and Connor Barwin. They're not sinking our team, by any means, but we've got two guys in Dobbins and either Braman or Mercilus who I think give us more on the field of play. I'll hand it to this Texans team, however, coaches are loyal and Barwin and James are going to be out there until they ring the bell or get hurt.

So I'm not just trying to say Barwin us garbage or anything. But he sure doesn't seem to be in the middle of the action very much through 4 games.

Two guys who got cute with their diets, Barwin and Foster, need to stop trying to be the smartest guys in the room and just go back to doing what made them good last year. That's why I like Cushing and Reed and Braman...those guys are just freakish machines who don't care about being seen with the coolest tweets (Foster), the coolest hair styles (Barwin), etc. Football 24-7-365.

[TexansFanatic]

Originally Posted by GP

So tell me, if you're Connor Barwin...and you've just watched Eric Winston get cut (for cap reasons). DeMeco traded (for salary reasons), and the Texans not keeping Brisiel and Dreessen, matched up with how the Texans have been knocking draft days out of the park with Wade Phillips at the controls...don't you think it's at least SOMEWHAT plausible or possible that Connor might be sort of gearing down a bit? How could he not?

What doesn't add up about that theory is that typically when a player is in a contract year, you see that player stepping up his game to improve his value---not coasting.