Antwan, Dunta on 610 about Jerome Mathis

[TEXANS84]

Antwan and Dunta were both on 610am this morning. When both of them were asked "Who's the rookie going into training camp that the fans should watch, or the player to watch?". They both agreed immediatley on WR Jerome Mathis.

Dunta said that he lined up against him in man coverage, "Jerome just went on a straight deep play.....I underestimated his speed, he caught the ball over the top. I took my helmet off and walked straight over to the offensive coaches and told them man, this kid can fly".

[texasguy346]

Sounds pretty impressive if he can get up the field quicker than DRob.

[Doug]

"Immediately" is the key word. I was listening myself and it was like there was no need to think about it at all..as soon as the question was asked the answer was given by DRob and Peek agreed.

[nunusguy]

That's great news - a thumbs up from D-Rob is a big time recommendation
for a rookie WR in my book ! The Texans said they really wanted burner Troy Williamson as their top pick, wouldn't it be sweet if we get somebody whos
roughly the same kind of #2 receiver we need to go along with AJ in the form
of a pick in the 4th round. Maybe sounds a little like another 4th round pick we made a couple yers ago who turned out to be a steal ? I'm getting ahead of myself of course, but the initial talk about Mathis is sounding real good.

[jmantexfan]

so could this mean we might actually have us a blazing # 2 to help spread the field and catch defenders lost deep in the secondary?

[TheOgre]

How are his hands, his route running, and his ability to block on run plays?

[jmantexfan]

Originally Posted by TheOgre

How are his hands, his route running, and his ability to block on run plays?

if he was a returner he must have decent hands, hopefully he runs good routes and i would assume cuz of size we should not expect great blocking unless he loves to hit like D-rob. Not many WRs block really well anyways.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by jmantexfan

if he was a returner he must have decent hands.

umm, no. It's an entirely different issue. Catching the ball while running near full speed is something many returners can't do: jermaine lewis. It's actually not about hands as much as sight. Some people run smoothly and their eyes are quiet in the socket and they can see well. Some, however, run hard and their eyes are jiggling in the sockets and they have a very difficult time fixing their sight on the ball.

[Vinny]

They are still talking NFL football with Andre Ware in this hour.

[keyfro]

mathis can be a solid #2 reciever in this league...he just needs to be coached up...he played DAA ball so the competition wasn't that good and is routes are not that good...but everything that he has to work on is easy to correct with good coaching...and i think andre, gaffney, and armstrong are signs that our receivers coach knows what he's doing...give mathis a year or two to develop and we'll have our man

[jmantexfan]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

umm, no. It's an entirely different issue. Catching the ball while running near full speed is something many returners can't do: jermaine lewis. It's actually not about hands as much as sight. Some people run smoothly and their eyes are quiet in the socket and they can see well. Some, however, run hard and their eyes are jiggling in the sockets and they have a very difficult time fixing their sight on the ball.

catching the ball requires hand eye qoordnation, and who said returners never have to run after a ball. in the punt game half a squad will at times be in your face as the ball reaches you. you want a punt returner with good hand eye qoordnation and hands, and someone who will catch the ball under pressure. Remember, a drop on a return is not incomplete, it is a fumble, and no coach wants that.

[F-minus67]

What else did Peek and Robinson talk about?

[TEXANS84]

Originally Posted by F-minus67

What else did Peek and Robinson talk about?

They asked Peek if he's going to break Jeff Posey's record of 7.5 sacks. He said "I really don't care, as long as we make it to the playoffs". They also asked him if he thinks about what move he's going to put on the lineman (spin/juke) before the next play. He pretty much said he'll test the Tackle or Tight End and if they run at him on the outside, he'll put his spin move on to get inside.

Dunta also felt that if we can take it to the Colts this season, that'll we'll be a playoff team.

[texasguy346]

Originally Posted by TEXANS84

Dunta also felt that if we can take it to the Colts this season, that'll we'll be a playoff team.

I'm psyched for the Oct 23rd Battle Red day against them. That looks like our best chance to beat them.

[mexican_texan]

Originally Posted by TheOgre

How are his hands, his route running, and his ability to block on run plays?

he won't be on the field for run plays, being the 3rd or 4th reciever, and the only route he needs to know is running straight and

[Vinny]

Our base set has been the 3WR set. Doubt that will change much.

[Nawzer]

Jerome Mathis will wow us a couple of times this season but I doubt he sees much playing time. He has to learn how to run routes and block. His value this year will be to simply spread out the defense but for that to happen he has to show he has good hands consistently. If we can make other defenses spread out just a bit more then I say it's good for us and guys like David Carr and Andre Johnson because that little room may allow for more big plays.

[Jwwillis]

So I assume Mathis is our new kickoff and punt returner?

[El Tejano]

You think we will ever go 5 wide? If so, that would be a pretty good group to do that with.

[jppaul]

That would be nice if we could get a Eric Moulds/Peerless Price like combo out of Johnson/Mathis