Duane Brown: First Round pick of the Texans

[Nawzer]

Hey if left tackle doesn't work out we can always move him to the tight end position. He could be the league's fattest TE.

[BSofA04]

Originally Posted by Texanballer

Duane Brown was ranked:

56th best overall player by Gosselin.
66th best by SI.com
85th best by ProFootballWeekly.com
165th best by Scout.com


and he went 26th overall?

we could have got him in the third round

No man, things never go as planned. Brown was a second round grade and the best "pure LT" left....the Texans reached but no way would he be available for the 16th pick in the 3rd round. Considering that we don't have a second round pick, maybe this wasn't sooo bad.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Heath Shuler

seems like a reach to me; a project. I hope I am wrong.

Way before the draft, Kubiak and Smith said they were looking for a LT to bring in and GROOM for the LT position. That's what they got. They searched through all the LT's available and this is the guy they decided they liked.

This guy is the classic Alex Gibb's LT.

[scourge]

Originally Posted by GuerillaBlack

At least we traded down this time.

we traded down when we picked up Travis Johnson, too... I did boo for that one. I thought we should've stayed put for a LT or LB(Derrick Johnson)

For this one, i didn't boo, but i was sure blindsided. More like a "WTF?!?" I didn't think the rest of the Tackles were 1st round material.

I told my wife as soon as they said Dallas was leap frogging us that they were gonna take Jenkins before we could. When that happened i was hoping for a trade down, or possibly Phillips or Flowers. But whatever, as long as he turns out alright, I'm ok with it. It was a position of need. Now in the 3rd I expect to see a db and/or rb.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by Mr PC

Im pretty sure it was 8.5 sacks in one season. The VT O-line was very bad last year, gave up 50+ sacks.

It was the 2007 season that the Hokies gave up 56 sacks, 8.5 going to Brown.

Yogi Berra once said that "when you come to a fork in the road, you take it"...................I guess Gibbs/Smithiak "took it"............Maybe they see something that allows them to feel that the 8.5 sacks were not truly on Brown alone since the rest of the OL could hardly have been considered a decent support cast. Although with some healthy skecpticm, I'm willing to wait for final judgement..............hopefully, we won't end up "taking it".............in the butt.

[Hottoddie]

When the Texan's traded down to #26, I said to myself, they're going after Baker or Brown, in that order. Then, Atlanta comes out of nowhere & snags Baker. If what's being reported is true, & the Texans were after Brown all along, then I'm happy & it proves that the front office is exceptionally good at getting their man. My only gripe is that we just got a 3rd & 6th round pick for trading down 8 spots with Mendenhall on the board.

[NitroGSXR]

Originally Posted by Brando

He looks like he fits in Alex Gibbs offensive line. I'm easy to please as a fan.

Go Texans!

Best type of fan a team could ask for! Glad you're still on TexanSam's bandwagon along with me and Grid and others.

[beerlover]

found one mock draft site who had projected Duane Brown as a 1st rd. pick going #27 to San Diego. so maybe not that far off base at all

http://walterfootball.com/draft2008.php

[GP]

Originally Posted by swtbound07

i've been here since the beginning...and some people will cosign on anything. Im calling this like i see it..and i see huge mistakes. Epic, franchise killing mistakes.

I was upset, too. But remember we got a starting center from the Broncos.

Secondly, Duane Brown might allow Spencer to move to the right side.

Those three things, in addition to having a legitimate oline coach (finally), might just upgrade the whole offense.

But I know what you're saying: Amobi fell to us last year, and I was ready to yell "MENDENHALL!" over and over until the Ravens logo popped up...and then I knew it was all over. I mean, when the Ravens logo popped up...my gut began to twist BIG TIME.

Watching Mendenhall go to the Steelers was like raking razors on my rear. Watching Chris Johnson go to the Titans was like sliding into a pool of rubbing alcohol afterward--I had said that Chris Johnson would go in the first, and some people here thought he was no better than a 2nd rounder. And with Mike Jenkins going right in front of us, I knew what to expect here on the boards. Missing out on 2 RBs and a decent DB was r-o-u-g-h.

My only hope is that Schefter said he felt this was the "sleeper" pick. He seemed to like it a lot, and I think Schefter is a fairly unbiased guy when it comes to identifying teams' needs.

Kubiak just showed us what he thinks of Alex Gibbs.

[Heath Shuler]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Way before the draft, Kubiak and Smith said they were looking for a LT to bring in and GROOM for the LT position. That's what they got. They searched through all the LT's available and this is the guy they decided they liked.

This guy is the classic Alex Gibb's LT.

I'm pretty sure he also said we needed a CB and edge rusher.

[Imatexanfan]

Well I'm pissed about the Pick but at least we "could" get Jamaal Charles in the 3rd that'll kick ass

[disaacks3]

Originally Posted by swtbound07

this pick will haunt us. mark my words....we messed up bad. We traded back ignorantly, and for what??? really? im curious...espn hasn't covered the trade. What did we get for passing on mendenhall

Mark your words?....like the time we weren't getting rid of HWSNBN?

Like I told the guy who interviewed me after the game...I wasn't "ecstatic" by any means, but I was satisfied. Lotsa depth in this draft, and we missed the guys we really wanted early. (including the last-minute snipe from the cowgirls).

[beerlover]

Originally Posted by GP

My only hope is that Schefter said he felt this was the "sleeper" pick. He seemed to like it a lot, and I think Schefter is a fairly unbiased guy when it comes to identifying teams' needs.

throughout the process Adam has impressed me more than any other media reporter, concise, accurate, insightfull & seems to really enjoy what he is doing. great pick up on your part

[GP]

Oh, and we just drafted an OL for the first time (correct?) in the first round. This is a major miracle that a lot of us thought would never happen. There's guys here who were aching for an OL in the first round every year, and we got one now--He's not the hyped OL we've had crammed down our throats by the media for 4 months, but hey....whatta' ya gonna do?

Duane might have lasted to the 2nd, but we didn't have a 2nd. It's not a reach when your oline coach was willing to trade down, scoop up an extra 3rd rounder for the trade-down with Balitmore (we need MORE picks, remember???), and still get a mobile yet aggressive OL that was thought to be a fit for our team/system.

I had said we'd pass on Mendenhall even if he fell to us, because Kubiak will never ever take a RB in the first. Thus, I can't wait to see how many drafts before we take a RB in the first round. Passing on Mendenhall and Chris Johnson was hard for me, because I felt those two guys are legit RBs, but I'm going to trust that our new center, a rookie OLineman, and maybe Spencer healthy and moved to the right side is going to solidify what has always been a weak line.

Draft season is my favorite time of year--It's like watching the results show on American Idol. Only better.

[TexanSam]

Originally Posted by GP

Watching Chris Johnson go to the Titans was like sliding into a pool of rubbing alcohol afterward--I had said that Chris Johnson would go in the first, and some people here thought he was no better than a 2nd rounder.

I don't know what the Titans are doing with their RB corps. They have Lendale White. They drafted Chris Henry from Arizona last year then this year they take Chris Johnson from ECU in the 1st round. Seems kinda dumb to me.

[bah007]

Originally Posted by TexanSam

I don't know what the Titans are doing with their RB corps. They have Lendale White. They drafted Chris Henry from Arizona last year then this year they take Chris Johnson from ECU in the 1st round. Seems kinda dumb to me.

Johnson is the real deal, but one year later, I still have no clue what happened with the Chris Henry pick. Still don't get it.

[NitroGSXR]

Originally Posted by bah007

Johnson is the real deal, but one year later, I still have no clue what happened with the Chris Henry pick. Still don't get it.

Watch them get dumber and take Jamaal Charles.

[GP]

Originally Posted by TexanSam

I don't know what the Titans are doing with their RB corps. They have Lendale White. They drafted Chris Henry from Arizona last year then this year they take Chris Johnson from ECU in the 1st round. Seems kinda dumb to me.

But I think THIS pick is like hitting the "undo" button.

I think THIS pick is the real deal. Nobody, not even the casual NFL fan, thought Chris Henry was a good pick.

I watched Chris Johnson play in his bowl game...he was a FORCE. It got to the point where they were faking handoffs, or faking pitches, or faking throws to Chris Johnson...just because he was doing so much damage earlier in the game...and it was opening up the whole offense.

And unlike Regie Bush, Chris Johnson would lower his shoulder and plow a defender. He is a scrapper. He's a Marshawn Lynch-type player, but with amazing speed.

But hey...we needed RB AND OL. We chose OL. That's how it goes. I expect RB in the third.

[Ole Miss Texan]

Well we talked about the worst case scenario and what it would be and it pretty much happened, except Mendenhall was available. No LT worthy of the 18, and the Texans top 2 CB's off the board, to top OLB's off the board. I thought we'd take Mendenhall or Jenkins there or trade down.

Kind of surprising seeing Mendenhall and Jenkins fall so far in the 1st round today. Lance called it yesterday, that these two were slipping (his final mock had RM at 23 to Pitt and MJ at 30 to ATL). So, it makes me feel a little better the Texans saw the same thing in them as everyone else...kind of odd.

Was Duane Brown my top choice? No, but after Albert and Wiliams were off the board, we HAD to trade down to get our LT and that's exactly what we did. Duane Brown is not a Nobody and if you've never heard of him, then you havn't read up on the draft particularly about possible Texans Prospects.

Don't let everyone fool you, he was not going to last to the 3rd round, just like Matt Forte we weren't going to get Matt Forte in the 3rd round, and like Antoine Cason wasn't a late 2nd or early 3rd rd pick.

Duane Brown was shooting up the boards and was easily an early 2nd rd pick. We traded down, gained more picks and selected him very near the end of the 1st round.

He's a prototypical Left Tackle and exactly what Gibbs and Kubiak were looking for. For them to select an OL in the 1st round- I knew I was going to be on board with whomever it was because these are extremely smart minds, esp. when it comes to the OL. If he was the LT for our team we HAD to take him there, he wouldn't have been available later, despite what many may think.

I too was really looking forward to Mendenhall, Jenkins or Cason. But I'm not going to bash the pick of Brown because we finally got the LT we've been waiting for and our OL is pretty darn near complete. I fully believe that our OL of the future are now all on the team already and they just need the coaching. LT was the most important position we needed to address and we did.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Hottoddie

My only gripe is that we just got a 3rd & 6th round pick for trading down 8 spots with Mendenhall on the board.

If you look at the "Draft Value Chart", you'll see that the exchange is not that
far off. It's pretty close. And I'm glad we got 2 more picks in the deal.
Now for all of those people who are upset that we didn't get the Illini RB, just remember he got a lot of pub and hype about his Rose Bowl game, etc. when
he only played one year as the starter in college. The guy that started ahead of him last year was an undrafted FA who went to the Saints. So
Mendenthaul probably wasn't really that good. Frankly I like the mentality of
treating running backs as a commodity. A few of them are special, but there's so many athletic, talented backs coming into the NFL every year a team just doesn't need to waste high draft picks on securing one.
But I dunno about this pick ? We got 2 excellent OTs 2 years ago, and that was in the third round. I think we deserved more for this years 1st rounder ?