Graded the O-line from my game tape

[Texans86]

Originally Posted by jppaul

I just picked up several free agents Terry and Dixon on All-madden mode and my offensive line is all going to the probowl.

Oh and I cut seth wand

You cut Seth Wand? He's my best lineman. I guess that tells you how accurate the game is.

[vtech9]

Originally Posted by aj.

I saw this in camp at the public practices and commented on it a couple of times - not sure if it was here or elsewhere. It struck me as unusual since I hadn't seen him like that before. His body language is telling and his lack of confidence is showing.

Wand kind of reminds me of an OT we had in High School. This guy was huge compared to the rest of us, but he just wasn't a very motivated person. He was TOO nice. The coaches couldn't figure out how to motivate him, and for every mistake he made his head would drop a little lower. It wasn't until a group of players started pushing him around, calling him names, and even slapping his face a couple times, before a game, that he finally got pissed off and had his best game. I think our RB had 328 yards rushing in that game.

Maybe someone needs to take Wand out and slap him around a little bit and tell him that if he doesn't get his **** together, He is going to find himself looking for a REAL job. Maybe it will piss him off enough to motivate him.

[edo783]

Some guys are hardend by the fire and others just melt. Seth may be the latter. I am still pulling for him, but I am afraid the clock is running out on him.

[Davis37]

As I was watching the Raiders game Saturday, I had to ask myself this question. Why is this waste of space (Seth Wand) still in a Texans jersey? I know that the cuts arent to be made till later, but putting this guy in the game to block for Carr is just asking for Carr to get injured. I would rather see Travis Johnson play RG until Weigert is healthy! The only good thing I can say about Wand playing RG is that at least Carr can see the defender before he takes the hit! :brickwall

I have tried to be optimistic about the OL this year, and I think they can be average (as long as Riley pans out). From what I have seen so far, Riley has done well. I am personally sick of seeing Wand now after the showing he had Saturday. I hope Weigert comes back soon and the rest of our line stays healty. If I were Carr, I would hold out and refuse to play against the Cowboys unless they replace Wand with ANYONE at the RG spot.

[dalemurphy]

My guess is that if the season starts with Weigert unavailable we'll end up with some combination of Washington/McKinney at C and RG. I guess Milford Brown gets his shot at RG this week.

[Vinny]

Brown was the RG when we plowed the Jaguars last year for over 200 yards...I think he probably wins the job behind Weigert.

[Runner]

I wasn't even going to post in this thread, since it was so far out in left field. Maybe I should start by saying I graded game tape to make it sound official.

Cut him to make an example of him? Wand is one of the 5 best lineman on the team at his position. Even if the assumption is made that Riley is better at LT, Wand is a better LT than McKinney is a center. Just because he couldn't play guard well after a handful of practices doesn't define him as a player.

Cut Wand - great. Then if Riley can't get the job done or gets hurt we can all scream about lack of depth.

This "epic battle for left tackle" never occurred in camp anyway - it seems all Riley had to do to practice with the first team was to make weight. The coaches inserted him as starter almost as soon as camp opened. The coaches are certainly within their right to do that, that's their job. However, their history hasn't proven much to me about how well they do that job.

I still think the team is making a mistake not developing the younger player and going with a player who in his previous 7 years never played left tackle. Maybe our coaches have seen something other teams have been missing? Maybe. Maybe not. I think the season will tell the story. Can you see Riley blocking Freeney one on one with constant 7 step drops like Wand had to do last year? Victor just doesn't have the lateral speed. It could get ugly.

Some of the improvement in the line so far this year has been in the revamped offense. For instance, if Carr hadn't been rolling out on the first touchdown pass against the Raiders and had taken a normal drop, he would have been plastered, since Riley didn't touch his guy coming around the corner. If that had been Wand he'd have been crucified for that.

Look at Carr's quote earlier about this year the line being better because he doesn't have 2 or 3 guys in his face every play. Wand gets to be the scapegoat for last year's play (somebody needs to grade THOSE tapes), but the LT isn't responsible for 2 or 3 guys.

About his attitude and "what did he do in the off-season". Well, during the off-season from what I've heard Wand stays in Houston and works out according to the Texan program at the Texan facility. I don't think you can say that about a lot of the guys.

Second, let's look at his attitude. A lot of people don't like their interpretation of his body language. What I see is a player who is trying to do all the things the coaches ask him to do, even as they use him as their whipping boy. If he really had a poor attitude, he'd develop one of those "sore hamstrings" so many people in the league get during training camp.

I think a fair test would be to see how Wand does with the new offense, and I still think he'll get his chance this year. Writing him off doesn't make much sense. He should be given the same opportunity to show his improvement from year 2 to year 3 that Pitts had. Remember, in camp Wand was going up against our best pass rusher (Peek) for most team drills, Riley was usually against the second team.

Wand may yet prove he is our best LT. The revamped offense, an occasional double team of premier rushers (as the Patriots do to Freeney very successfully), and Wand's speed and length could be a nice combination if given the chance.

[Marcus]

Runner, that was a good post!

[Runner]

Thank you.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Davis37

Why is this waste of space (Seth Wand) still in a Texans jersey?

I got a question. What happened to Wand between last season and TC right
here and now that is responsible for his performance to regress as it has, because its difficult for me to understand that he could have
remained our regular LT last year for most of our season if he was playing as poorly then as he apparently is playing this summer in TC ?
I certainly don't want to delve into the young mans personal affairs, but maybe something has happened in that area, maybe even a family situation.
Divorce or perhaps death of a parent ? Yea Freeny made him look foolish last
year, but as we know Freeny made All-Pros look foolish last year (for reference, see Colts vs. Ravens, i.e. Ravens Pro Bowl LT Ogden). We all know Wand had some good games last year, else he would have been yanked very
early in the season. Maybe just the demotion after Rileys arrival was a real tramatic thing for him that so devasted his confidance ? I dunno....its a real
mystery to me that there seems to be such a dramtic regression in his performace in such a short period of time ?

[Runner]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I got a question. What happened to Wand between last season and TC right
here and now that is responsible for his performance to regress as it has, because its difficult for me to understand that he could have
remained our regular LT last year for most of our season if he was playing as poorly then as he apparently is playing this summer in TC ?

Excellent question.

Do you really think his performance has regressed, or is everyone focusing on the negative because it makes the news? The forum is like a mob mentality, once the negativism starts it's pile-on time. He may be playing at the same level (at tackle) but Riley is a little better to the coaches.

The coaches, for whatever reason (and maybe they had a good one), put Riley in as starting left tackle before enough camp time had passed to do a serious evaluation of on field performance. Still, they obviously haven't lost all confidence in Wand or they wouldn't have tried him at a position he's never played before to see if he could be their second option there.

Many posters see the highlights on the news, or read an "I graded the line" post and think it's the full story. This is especially dangerous in judging O-lineman, because when they do their job well it is usually unrecognized. They get camera time for giving up sacks or getting a penalty.

[TexanExile]

I vaguely recall comments from last year when the coachig staff said that by starting Wand they were making an effort to get the "best 5 linemen on the field." They do like the guy. And as one of his critics around here, I do want to draw the line at cutting him. That's a waste of good depth at LT. If it's true that it takes a young tackle a season or two to learn the position, then whatever the team's invested in him to date makes him a very valuable backup there, even if they've (wisely) decided he shouldn't be starting at LT.

Didn't Weigert's injury and the Wand RG experiment just show us what can happen when there's a serious dropoff between 1st string and the backup at an O-line position?

That's an extreme example, of course. One preseason game in the book is WAAAAAY too soon to call Wand a total failure at RG, because he'd never played there before. BUT even though he's definitely not the Texans' best backup for Weigert, I'd argue that he's still the best and most experienced backup for Riley, though.

Side note: the Dolphins, who may have the worst offensive line in football this year, just benched one of their offensive linemen and moved two others to new starting position--with the season less than a month away!! That group makes the Texans line look like Hall of Fame material. Thank goodness the Texans aren't in THAT much trouble.

[Vinny]

Wand's not in danger of getting cut. I wouldn't worry about that.

[Runner]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Wand's not in danger of getting cut. I wouldn't worry about that.

Most of us know that; I just didn't want that post to stand unchallenged.

[beerlover]

Wand is a natural Left Tackle not a Right Guard. seeme like the staff is trying to get in his head to make him excell, though I'm not sure its working as they had expected

[PapaL]

Everyone has to remember the most important part, preseason is for evaluating what you have. They know what Wand can do at LT, that's why Riley is getting snaps there. The RG experiment - just like someone else said getting the 5 best linemen on the field. Lets say Weigert's injury keeps him from playing for a few weeks, would it not be in our best interest to have Wand, who has started at LT, play RG; and Riley, who last played LT in college, play LT to evaluate them?

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by Runner

Most of us know that; I just didn't want that post to stand unchallenged.

Yeah, I understand. Some of this stuff just makes me go

[beerlover]

thats fine, then why not try Riley at RG since he has 7 years of NFL experience at RT & move Wand back to LT?

[PapaL]

Maybe you'll see it this game. Point is they have what 16 games worth of footage of Wand playing LT in our scheme, and 1 preseason game of Riley.

[dalemurphy]

Originally Posted by Runner

Excellent question.

Do you really think his performance has regressed, or is everyone focusing on the negative because it makes the news? The forum is like a mob mentality, once the negativism starts it's pile-on time. He may be playing at the same level (at tackle) but Riley is a little better to the coaches.

As I stated before, up until Saturday night I was one of his biggest supporters. Just watch him in the first half. It was such a pathetic display. No intensity. No agressiveness. He was getting tossed around by men 80lbs lighter. He didn't make one effective block the entire first half. As a matter of a fact, the man he attempted to block essentially made almost every play through the first two series. I suggested that if he doesn't respond then he should be cut as an example to the team that this organization doesn't coddle babies and quitters- effort always should be there.