Our new look ILB position moving forward.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Insideop

Nice work, but a couple of your base 3-4 lineups would have 12 men on the field. I assume McCain would be the odd-man-out. Also, this thing about Reed possibly being moved to ILB, is this a rumor started by fans or is there some evidence the Texans are looking at this? If so, could you or, anyone else, provide a link? I haven't heard of this being mentioned from the Texans at all and I just wonder if Reed has the skill set to do this. I know it looks good on paper, moving him to ILB and having Mercilus as OLB, but has Reed ever played ILB? It's a lot tougher position mentally than OLB. Not saying he couldn't handle it, but if he's never played the position, that's a tough move to make this quickly.

The Reed thing is totally fan based. As far as skills go, he looks like an ILB to me, every bit as much as Cushing did. In a base 4-3, your OLB is usually playing what is termed the Mo in a 3-4, at one time or another, regardless if he's the SAM or the WILL. Usually your SAM will play over the TE, but when he is motioned to the other side, your SAM backs up & lines up over the now weakside guard (MO), the Mike will shift over towards the strongside & the WILL will drop to the line over the TE.

As our SAM, in our 3-4, Reed has been dropping into zones & playing man coverage, there will still be some learning curve, but it's time for someone to step up.

IMO, the idea of moving Reed inside, is to get another dynamic player on the field to replace the dynamic player we are loosing. That's Merci who is not suited to play inside. Barwin is playing Merci's "natural" position, but I don't think he fits well inside, not as quick twitch as Reed, or able to change direction as well (all my opinion of course).

Dobbins is depth, Rudd (Ruud) is depth. Replace Cushing for a few plays... sure. A game..... maybe. But for 11 games, not my first choice.

[pec0sb0b]

I think a lot depends on whether Sharpton can return from the PUP list in a couple of weeks. I don't think he's going to be ready to play until late in November maybe week 10 or 11.

[pec0sb0b]

With Brian Cushing now on injured reserve, many fans are wondering if the Texans will move one of their top three outside linebackers – Connor Barwin, Brooks Reed or rookie Whitney Mercilus – to inside linebacker.

They won’t.

Asked Thursday if he had given any thought to that idea, Texans defensive coordinator Wade Phillips responded with a resounding “no” – before the question was even completely finished being asked.

That’s because they’re not inside linebackers, right?

“That’s right,” Phillips said as he walked through the Texans’ locker room at Reliant Stadium.

Simple as that?

“Yeah,” Phillips said. “You don’t take guys that do well at what they do and try to change ‘em into something that they’re not as adept at. But, we’ll work some things out. And like I’ve said, we played OK last week when Cush was gone. Hopefully, we’ll get better.”

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...7-49e00b4d4bfc

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by pec0sb0b

http://www.houstontexans.com/news/ar...7-49e00b4d4bfc

This is the guy that moved Cushing from an outside player to an inside player. From Mo to Mike, then back to Mo...... is he saying that Cushing wasn't adept at any of those positions & he's still trying to figure out Brian's best position?

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

This is the guy that moved Cushing from an outside player to an inside player. From Mo to Mike, then back to Mo...... is he saying that Cushing wasn't adept at any of those positions & he's still trying to figure out Brian's best position?

When Wade decided to move Cushing to ILB, I agreed.
I believed Cushing can play both, but with his tenacity and speed to play sideline to sideline, having him in the middle as THE ENFORCER brings more to the table.

[Rey]

Reed at ilb is not just fan based. I can't remember where I heard it, but herring said when they drafted reed they saw him as an ilb or something like that.

I think if The coaches thought merci was ready to play more they'd have been playing him more.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Rey

Reed at ilb is not just fan based. I can't remember where I heard it, but herring said when they drafted reed they saw him as an ilb or something like that.

I think if The coaches thought merci was ready to play more they'd have been playing him more.

See, I think Merciless is stashed as an emergency guy...if they don't have to rush him out there, they won't.

First time in franchise history that we've got that luxury. And I agree with it of that is their thinking.

Plus, it's a deep roster position full of guys who aren't rookies and there's that sneaky rookie-veteran seniority thing going on.

I don't chalk his limited action up to him not being where they want him at the moment.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by GP

I don't chalk his limited action up to him not being where they want him at the moment.

I didn't say that he's not where they want him to be. He could be right on schedule as far as I know.

What I said was they don't think he is ready to help the team more than what he has been.

When Merci was first drafted Wade talked about how they saw him as a guy that could get in the game in passing situation because of his "pass rushing skills". He even talked about maybe having Merci, Barwin, and Reed all on the field together to get "his best players on the field"...

That hasn't been the case. I don't think they've all been out on the field together for any snaps at all. Also, I could be wrong, but just from memory it seems like Merci was playing more earlier in the season but has not been playing as much now. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not and if it is I have no idea what the reason behind that would be. I haven't been seeing him much on special teams either.

But I will say this...The times that I've seen Merci on the field he's looked overmatched and timid. I didn't like the pick at all when we made it, and I still don't like it but I don't ever say that guys can't get better. I don't know what the staff thinks, but IMHO Merci needs to get a lot better if he's going to play and make an impact for this or any NFL team.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Rey

I didn't say that he's not where they want him to be. He could be right on schedule as far as I know.

What I said was they don't think he is ready to help the team more than what he has been.

When Merci was first drafted Wade talked about how they saw him as a guy that could get in the game in passing situation because of his "pass rushing skills". He even talked about maybe having Merci, Barwin, and Reed all on the field together to get "his best players on the field"...

That hasn't been the case. I don't think they've all been out on the field together for any snaps at all. Also, I could be wrong, but just from memory it seems like Merci was playing more earlier in the season but has not been playing as much now. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not and if it is I have no idea what the reason behind that would be. I haven't been seeing him much on special teams either.

But I will say this...The times that I've seen Merci on the field he's looked overmatched and timid. I didn't like the pick at all when we made it, and I still don't like it but I don't ever say that guys can't get better. I don't know what the staff thinks, but IMHO Merci needs to get a lot better if he's going to play and make an impact for this or any NFL team.

I wonder if Mercilus is nursing a minor injury; the snap counts show a red flag:

Mercilus Barwin Reed
Week Def ST Def ST Def ST
1 16 15 61 2 47 2
2 8 20 41 17 37 2
3 12 20 75 11 75 8
4 15 21 47 8 47 2
5 zero 5 57 10 57 5

[pec0sb0b]

http://www.battleredblog.com/2012/10...d-bradie-james

Breakdown of Bradie/Dobbins vs. Jets...worth reading.

[Home team fan]

Originally Posted by pec0sb0b

http://www.battleredblog.com/2012/10...d-bradie-james

Breakdown of Bradie/Dobbins vs. Jets...worth reading.

Good read. Thanks

[GP]

Originally Posted by Rey

Reed at ilb is not just fan based. I can't remember where I heard it, but herring said when they drafted reed they saw him as an ilb or something like that.

I think if The coaches thought merci was ready to play more they'd have been playing him more.

Originally Posted by Rey

I didn't say that he's not where they want him to be. He could be right on schedule as far as I know.

What I said was they don't think he is ready to help the team more than what he has been.

When Merci was first drafted Wade talked about how they saw him as a guy that could get in the game in passing situation because of his "pass rushing skills". He even talked about maybe having Merci, Barwin, and Reed all on the field together to get "his best players on the field"...

That hasn't been the case. I don't think they've all been out on the field together for any snaps at all. Also, I could be wrong, but just from memory it seems like Merci was playing more earlier in the season but has not been playing as much now. I'm not sure if that's accurate or not and if it is I have no idea what the reason behind that would be. I haven't been seeing him much on special teams either.

But I will say this...The times that I've seen Merci on the field he's looked overmatched and timid. I didn't like the pick at all when we made it, and I still don't like it but I don't ever say that guys can't get better. I don't know what the staff thinks, but IMHO Merci needs to get a lot better if he's going to play and make an impact for this or any NFL team.

Huh? You said it in one post, I replied, then you re-reply that you didn't say it?

Help me to understand.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by pec0sb0b

I think a lot depends on whether Sharpton can return from the PUP list in a couple of weeks. I don't think he's going to be ready to play until late in November maybe week 10 or 11.

If he has not recovered from his hip (most likely hip flexor injury which is not uncommonly seen with recovery from quad problem) injury enough to practice by the 9th week (2 weeks after the Bye), we won't see him at all this season.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by GP

Huh? You said it in one post, I replied, then you re-reply that you didn't say it?

Help me to understand.

They're two totally unrelated statements. In one, he is saying the coaches doesn't think he's ready to play more, like maybe they have a cap on say 13 snaps. That's all they think he's ready to play during a game for one reason or another.

His second statement is that that may very well be on schedule or ahead of schedule for all we know. The coaches may be very pleased to get 13 snaps out of him.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by Fiddler

They're two totally unrelated statements. In one, he is saying the coaches doesn't think he's ready to play more, like maybe they have a cap on say 13 snaps. That's all they think he's ready to play during a game for one reason or another.

His second statement is that that may very well be on schedule or ahead of schedule for all we know. The coaches may be very pleased to get 13 snaps out of him.

That's exactly what I was saying.

He could be right on schedule as far as the coaching staff is concerned. But on schedule doesn't have to mean ready for more reps.

Like if you have kids...as they get older you trust them with more things. Just because you arent ready to give them the keys to the car so they can take it for a spin doesn't mean you arent pleased with their maturity level.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Texn4life

We'll have to give up a ton to get him I think. To me he's a better prospect than Luke Kuechly and I don't see him falling past the 10-12 range.

I just really loathe the idea of possibly giving up a first in 2013 to move up for a guy. I mean Aaron Curry was supposed to be the safest draft pick like ever, and look what happened there.

Lately the Texans have been perfectly fine with staying pat or even moving backwards slightly in the first round to find the guy that they think will be the most useful. To move into the 10-12 range from the possible high twenties would take a kings ransom and I'm not completely comfortable with that idea.

Here's a great breakdown of James/Dobbins post Cushing in the Jets game. I feel that this matches what I saw on the field on Monday, and when we saw Dobbins in 2011.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by b0ng

I just really loathe the idea of possibly giving up a first in 2013 to move up for a guy. I mean Aaron Curry was supposed to be the safest draft pick like ever, and look what happened there.

Lately the Texans have been perfectly fine with staying pat or even moving backwards slightly in the first round to find the guy that they think will be the most useful. To move into the 10-12 range from the possible high twenties would take a kings ransom and I'm not completely comfortable with that idea.

Here's a great breakdown of James/Dobbins post Cushing in the Jets game. I feel that this matches what I saw on the field on Monday, and when we saw Dobbins in 2011.

Rep coming your way. A great breakdown of Wade's Cushingless adjustment schemes.

[powda]

How we feeling about james and dobbins after the packers? I haven't had a chance to watch the game yet.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by powda

How we feeling about james and dobbins after the packers? I haven't had a chance to watch the game yet.

From what I saw in the stands, Wade Phillips put his dudes in Dime formation pretty much the entire game. Most of the times if we had an ILB on the field it was Bradie James, with Glover Quin pretending to be the other ILB. While the Packers really didn't try to run the ball except the occasional "are u playing run dfense? lol" type plays, we didn't really get burned by their TE's or RB's catching passes out of the backfield much. Almost all the damage the Packers seemed to do came on the outside where they had Nelson matched up on JoJo and that seemed like easy money for Rodgers.

As far as that game went, I don't think the drop off from Cushing to James is what killed us on defense. The lack of a consistent pass rush outside of Watt, and JoJo and Quin getting burned repeatedly really did us in.

I haven't watched the TV version of the game though, this is just what I saw half drunk at the stadium.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by b0ng

As far as that game went, I don't think the drop off from Cushing to James is what killed us on defense. The lack of a consistent pass rush outside of Watt, and JoJo and Quin getting burned repeatedly really did us in.

I haven't watched the TV version of the game though, this is just what I saw half drunk at the stadium.

Don't forget a lack of tackling. If they could have put the guy on the ground on the initial contact, that would have been a totally different game. That includes the guys that got their hands on Rodgers & Rodgers managed to get away & burn us.

Then those two personal fouls there in the third Qtr... sheesh. Usually I don't have a problem with what Manning did. I don't think this is a soft team & don't want them to let anyone think we are. But the Barwin thing..... is that really a personal foul?

The PI on Kj... c'mon, that's a little ticky-tak. I don't have a problem with that as long as they called it both ways, which I didn't see.

When you watch the game again, look at how many times Aaron Rodgers puts the ball over the receivers head, outside, away from the help. That's an amazing grasp of placement. Friggin Troy Aikman like. Not much a DB can do about that.