Dreessen, Ryans, Winston, Brisiel, Leach.

[Norg]

another thing is winning organzations sometimes get players who want to come here 4 less ........... tho in this day of age for the players its all about getting payed and whats best for the family and IMO that comes first i dont care what logo im wearing on my helmet ..and im fine with that

but hopefully from here on out we can be contenders from here on out like the Pats and steelers and balty ..who have been to the PLayoffs going on like 6 years straight

[Double Barrel]

Well, on one hand it sucks that you can't keep all your players. Get rid of the salary cap! Of course, I can say that because the Texans are one of the more profitable teams in the league and I don't think McNair would have a problem spending some money.

But, on the other hand, this is kinda' positive as Texans fans since it's the first time that we see what successful teams experience all the time. You cannot keep players stocked in this day and age, so you develop them and they move on as casualties of the salary cap. The consistently good teams reload and keep doing what they do. This is what the Texans need to be, keep the wins coming and get used to losing good players every year because you cannot keep all of them.

[Norg]

thats why if your team model is to build through the draft its sooooo IMPORTANT to hit on your draft picks

[rush2112mn]

Always easier to look back vs ahead.....

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by Norg

Welcome to the AGe of free agency and Cap limit LOL


Dreessen-Yeah he was a put on your miners helmet and lets do work kinda of guy but so is Garrett he was younger he was cheaper and did i mention hes younger faster and prob stronger then dreesseen .........but like alwasy lacks EXP

Winston....i think if said my opn on him he sucks dude in pass protecting is like on roller skates ..i think Newton is a Upgrade to him... give newton time

Brisiel- i liked him but he was hurt and old so yeah it was time

Leech- last year foster proved he didnt need leech to be a star nuff said

i really dont mind the Front office decesion to let these guys go look u gotta keep your core guyz they have a plan and pay scale there going to pay there players in the now and Future

they showed there piroitys are Paying Scahub paying your LT BROWN and in the future prob paying Cushing ...well maybe not now they already payed Andre

i guess next will to Obvs lock up JJWATT if we had kept all thoes guys down the line we would be struggling to Keep JJWATT is that what u WANT !!!!????

Who said anything about keeping all of them?

[Playoffs]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

The loss of Dreesen definitely affects the blocking,...

I still think Dreessen was our biggest loss.

[utahmark]

1 - I hate to see this board when we start losing more than once every six games.

2 - I think we should of kept Winston and Brisiel and traded foster for draft picks. I know it's not a popular opinion but imo offensive lineman are more important to a consistant run game than running backs. They also protect the quarterback.

3 - This thread is about how the loss of certain players effects this current team. Why would you want him to put it in the NFL thread?

[Kthx]

I think we miss Leach honestly, and Ryans obviously now that Cush is gone if not for how he was playing when he was with us last, than as a leader on the team, and on the field, which is a big part of what were missing with Cush gone.

I still don't understand why we dropped Vickers.. it isn't like the guy was getting paid tons of money and it seemed like at the end of the last season he was really starting to click with our offensive line and RB's. He wasn't a Leach level FB but he did the job very well.

[Tailgate]

Originally Posted by Double Barrel

Well, on one hand it sucks that you can't keep all your players. Get rid of the salary cap! Of course, I can say that because the Texans are one of the more profitable teams in the league and I don't think McNair would have a problem spending some money.

But, on the other hand, this is kinda' positive as Texans fans since it's the first time that we see what successful teams experience all the time. You cannot keep players stocked in this day and age, so you develop them and they move on as casualties of the salary cap. The consistently good teams reload and keep doing what they do. This is what the Texans need to be, keep the wins coming and get used to losing good players every year because you cannot keep all of them.

And that was my whole point. Will this regime maximize vs losses? Can this team go through these situations without a true game changer at QB and expect to win a Super Bowl? Have we regressed overall?

[Goldensilence]

Winston was a tough cut to make, but 5/5 times I'd rather sign Brown long term than Winston. Though like others I really would've liked to even gotten a late round pick back instead of straight cut.

Brisiel got overpaid, plain and simple. What some people on the board forget is how long it took for Brisiel to develop into a solid player, he wasn't and isn't likely going to get a pro bowl nod, but he was solid. I think Jones probably compares well in physical terms, but Brooks has an insane ceiling.

I hated losing Ryans, but I'm not sure if he was going to get the amount of snaps to match his pay. I do think he would probably have a better plug in than Dobbins after Cushing's injury.

I really do like Casey's versatility, but I do think its unfair to compare him to Leach. Leach is a prototypical skull crushing FB, while Casey is more of an H back who brings a lot more in the passing game. I'd really love to see him get more snaps at TE.

I would have liked to keep Dressen because he was a bigger redzone target than OD last year. I hope in the end the Texans can get the same with he combined efforts of Graham and Casey.

[Texan_Bill]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Will these guys ultimately be the undoing of our Team?

I knew coming into this season that this would be the year that defines our current regime. I know there is ALOT of ball left to be played, and its certainly possible that we improve on last year. But, I have this bad feeling that these guys are going to ultimately be the death of us.


Dreeseen - We sorely miss his blocking abilities in the 2 TE formation.

Ryans - He was a true leader and the ONLY reason we could afford losing him was because of Cush. We now have a gaping hole in the middle of the field as a result of the injury.

Winston and Brisiel - Well, looks as though these guys are not as easily replacable as we had hoped to this point. It has been a never ending rotation at both positions and I see no light at the end of the tunnel yet as far as long term solutions.

Leach - I know he was gone 2 years ago, and having Casey is fantastic and adds another dimension, but I dont think this balances out positively for us.

Dreessen - Meh, he opted to go back to his home. I would've liked to keep him but Daniels, Graham and part time H-back(ish) Casey aren't exactly chopped liver.

Ryans - Better suited for the 4-3. That said, the FO and probably Wade probably overestimated what Bradie James had left in the tank. That coupled with the Cushing injury didn't work out well, but hell everyone is a MMQ.

Winston - Love the guy as a person and everything he did while here (I'm looking at you Gary) as a person. With that comes football facts. His last two seasons weren't all that great, especially for the money he was due.

Briesel - He chose to opt out. His choice. Disappointing for sure, but nothing we could've done about.

Granted the last two were the right side of the line and maybe that's why we're seeing a decline in our offensive production. On the positive side both those guys leaving helped lock-up Duane Brown. Once Newton, Jones, Caldwell (or whatever combination) get some continuity, they'll be fine.

Leach - I love the guy. In fact, he was on 1560 earlier this evening. He just was too expensive for a true Fullback which is an antiquated position nowadays. I hope nothing but the best for him except this Sunday and sometime in January.

First off, losing good players that you would love to keep is a good sign. I truly mean that. It means you have a pretty good football team with good players that other teams want. That's never been the case prior to the players you outlined above. Second, we're 5-1 about to be 6-1, so quit being:

[rolyat93]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

You forgot Jason Babin, Tramon Williams and Bernard Pollard.

Jabar Gaffney and Jacoby Jones.

[2slik4u]

We're 5-1. Me thinks we're going to be fine.

[GP]

We cannot pay everyone.

It's the price/cost of becoming a GOOD TEAM...all these players want bigger money, and they know they can leverage it against us OR get what they want from lesser teams who have more space than we do.

I think we should have found the money and space to retain Brisiel, though. He was a consistent blocker on the right side that would not have cost much more money. How is he faring in Oakland, anyways? I have not followed the guy there.

[TimeKiller]

1 loss and people pine away for the days and players that regularly missed the playoffs.


I'll take 2012 Texans over any other year, please and thank you.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Playoffs

I still think Dreessen was our biggest loss.

The problem with keeping Dreessen is that we don't have enough snaps to go around.

Last year, we pretty much put Graham on the shelf; and that was with Casey out for part of the year.

It's time to use our draft choice.

Same thing with keeping Leach, or Vickers now that Casey is fully healthy.

Graham is making steady progress in his blocking, so far he's looking better than OD in this regard.

Against the Packers, his blocks ranged from not-so-bad to very very good.
He held his own against Clay Matthews on 3 occasions. He didn't get beat like D. Brown or O.D.

Against the Jets, he was pretty dominant; his blocks ranged from decent to excellent.

Actually, he's already way ahead of Dreessen at the same stage of their career.

We should be just fine, knock on wood.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Tailgate

Will these guys ultimately be the undoing of our Team?

I knew coming into this season that this would be the year that defines our current regime. I know there is ALOT of ball left to be played, and its certainly possible that we improve on last year. But, I have this bad feeling that these guys are going to ultimately be the death of us.


Dreeseen - We sorely miss his blocking abilities in the 2 TE formation.

Ryans - He was a true leader and the ONLY reason we could afford losing him was because of Cush. We now have a gaping hole in the middle of the field as a result of the injury.

Winston and Brisiel - Well, looks as though these guys are not as easily replacable as we had hoped to this point. It has been a never ending rotation at both positions and I see no light at the end of the tunnel yet as far as long term solutions.

Leach - I know he was gone 2 years ago, and having Casey is fantastic and adds another dimension, but I dont think this balances out positively for us.


The Texans are currently 23rd in the league with a 3.8 ypc average. 23rd in the league. Color me very concerned. Will our playaction continue to be a strength?

Look... the Texans may very well go out and beat Baltimore and everything might be hunky dory. But I feel like we have lost some serious toughness in the O-line and the teeth of our D, the middle (which was already a weakness) is going to be exploited.

And I know we could not afford all of these guys, and its all apart of the business. But man, all the talk was a Super Bowl run after last year, when in reality... its looking almost like a stop gap solution, another playoff hello, until we can fix these areas of the team long term and become true contenders for the Super Bowl.

I would not want to be Kubiak or Phillips right now. But I hope they find the way. A 5-0 head start certaily helps the cause. Lets hope we get that hot again at the end of the season.

Beat Balty! Go Texans!!!

You might want to look at more than just YPC before declaring the demise of the Texans season.

[Dutchrudder]

So who do you wanna keep?

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by GP

We cannot pay everyone.

It's the price/cost of becoming a GOOD TEAM...all these players want bigger money, and they know they can leverage it against us OR get what they want from lesser teams who have more space than we do.

I think we should have found the money and space to retain Brisiel, though. He was a consistent blocker on the right side that would not have cost much more money. How is he faring in Oakland, anyways? I have not followed the guy there.

This is what I have on Brisiel:

He has yet to give up a sack and was charged with two penalties so far.

He suffered a concussion last week agains the Falcons (so he's in the same boat as Caldwell on this end; otherwise, he's healthy.)
Before he left the game late in the second quarter, the Raiders were 12-22 in the running game.
Without him, they went 20-127.
Big difference.

The Raiders RBs averaged 3.15 ypc with Brisiel in the game (all 5 games.)
I don't know how much it has to do with Brisiel.

One thing I know is that ProFootballFocus reported him as having a bad day against the Dolphins (at least as bad as Caldwell did, it looks like.)

"Offensive Line Questions

A large part of the difficulty the Raiders have found in running the ball has to do with the play of the offensive line. The interior of the unit — left guard Cooper Carlisle, center Stefen Wisniewski, and right guard Mike Briesel – combined for an overall grade of -8.8 this week. The entire group had problems with the Dolphins’ defensive line and was constantly overpowered, struggling to get movement laterally to execute their zone blocking scheme and looking equally unimpressive in the passing game."

https://www.profootballfocus.com/blo...lphins-week-2/

...

Overall, it doesn't seem like we missed Brisiel all that much.
Had Caldwell been fully healthy, I don't think we miss Biscuit at all.
I like his tenacity and give-it-all attitude and his solid play, but going forward I think we'll be fine at RG with either a healthy Caldwell or a more seasoned Ben Jones (not to mention the upside of Brooks.)

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by b0ng

You might want to look at more than just YPC before declaring the demise of the Texans season.

Right!

We might be the team that pound the rock the most on 3rd or 4th and short.
These are instances where the defense stack the line and it's difficult to gain much yardage.

I looked at the Chiefs for example.
They only ran on those occasions 8 times in 6 games with 3 different backs.
We use Tate that much by himself, and we use Foster almost 3 times as much.

We also run the ball a lot near the goal-line.
We also had several instances where we were back-up near our own and decided to run the ball some to get out of risky situation by passing the ball.

And there were times when wanted to consume the clock (when we had a big lead.)
Against the Dolphins, Foster netted 2 yards on 3 carries toward the end.
Schaub knelt down 3 times for -3.
All of that reflects in the 3.8 ypc.

Against the Jags, Schaub knelt down twice for -3

Against the Broncos, Foster ran 5 times for 12 yards to run down the clock.

Against the Titans, Schaub knelt down twice for -2

Against the Jets, Foster ran 3 times for -5

Against the Packers, Foster ran twice for 3 yards with 12 seconds left in the half.
We were on our 13-yd line and just wanted to end the half, but the Packers called a stupid time-out to make us run another play.

Take out just these 20 times that we ran out the clock, and the average is already up to 4.15