The Battles Have Begun..

[HeartofHouston]

W. Lundy vs A. Smith vs C. Taylor
B. Joppru vs J. Putzier
A. Peek vs J. Babin
D. Ryans vs Everybody (LBs)
P. Buchannon vs D. McCleon

Here's my input on these battles...

W. Lundy vs A. Smith vs C. Taylor

The RB position was manned by Davis but since his injury Kube and Co. have been scrambling to find the perfect back to take over for Davis. They done everything from signing a undrafted back to drafting a back to Sign A Veteran to attempts to make a trade for Michael Bennett. The person that I thought would have one of the better chances seems to be struggling in the one-cut and up-field style of running and that's Morency. Chris Taylor is another guy that I was amp'd up about, 6'1 - 220 with 4.4 speed.. given the proper chance.. (which he has) and given the proper system (which he's in) he could turn ALOT of heads. Smith is a proven veteran and he's got the ring to prove it. While his 3.9 career ypc average looks kinda bad he still is a great vet to have on the team. Wali Lundy is a rookie from Virgina avg 4.4 ypc in his college career. He has been a shocker to some people that have seen him practice, Kube seems to like the guy so he must be doing something right. Personally I would like to see Taylor and Lundy have at it for the starting position.

B. Joppru vs J. Putzier

Praise the Lord Joppru is not injuried, I commend him on his steps toward starting his career and I hope for the best for him he's had to go through a lot since he's joined the team as a second round pick out of Michigan. He definetly has the talent to come in and start for this unit but the only downside is that NOW when he seems to be on the right road. Kube bring in one of "his" guys in Putzier. This is gonna be rough forJoppru for the simple fact that Putzier knows Kube's system so this is most likely just a refresher for him going into TC. While Joppru has more potential I think that Putzier might end up taking this spot.

A. Peek vs J. Babin

The battle that has been brewing ever since the Texans picked up Mario Williams in the draft. Peek vs Babin, well as we all know that they are both supposed to be a little "Undersized" for the position but i think that they could perform the job properly especially with all eyes on Super Mario on the other side. This could be the worst thing to happen to them or the best thing to happen to them. Worst being.. well now somebody is gonna be out of the starting job, and the Best being, whoever gets the starting job is gonna have less attention on them and more on Mario so this best situation to be in at this particular point. It seems as if Babin is winning the battle seeing as how I've gotten word he's been taking the 1st team reps. I believe that Babin could be better built for it position because of his discpline and control HOWEVER i do believe Peek would be better for this particular system (aggressive) Peek is extremely tenacious and has a very high motor that could cause offense a lot of problems if we can get him to kepe it under control.

D. Ryans vs Everybody (LBs)

The Line Back position has gotten a completely new make over and THANK GOD for that. I'm sorry to say it but our LBs were atrocious last season. Greenwood is going back outside, Wong will most likely go back outside and Cowart could be commanding the middle. But creeping in the shadows is a 2nd round draft from Bama by the name of DeMeco Ryans. His versatility allows him to play every position at the second level. If anybody goes down or anybody has a bad TC then Ryans could see hisself right into that starting role at no time at all. From what I heard Ryans is EXTREMELY smart, very instinctive and a leader at heart, and that's something that we've been missing since Sharper left.

P. Buchannon vs D. McCleon

We'll the CB position is somewhat shaky cause Opposite of Robinson we have Faggins who currently went down and will be out from a estimated 6-10 weeks. Who does that leave Buchannon and McCleon. Buchannon has been having trouble since he was drafted in the first round by the Raiders. He lacked the aggressiveness and the tackling technique and ultimately bench and traded away to us. McCleon is a vet from STL to KC has a super bowl ring and a LOT of experience. He could come in and start for the team given he picks up the system well. The 2nd CB was shaky before but now that our number 2 has went down it really starts to bother me. I would like to see McCleon take the reigns on this one, strictly because of his experience and knowledge. But good luck to both nevertheless.

----

so tell me what do you think..??

[Coach C.]

First, McCleon is just coming back and will have to knock off some serious rust. If Phillip can string together several practices like he did today the starting job is his to lose. Ryans is not even a starter yet and gets duty with the first team sometimes, but will be a major part of first team nickel. So he is not really competing with everyone just the MLBs and WLBs(Wali hope you are ok man). Babin and Peek are going at it eventhough Peek was not at practice today. Babin is better against the run and can rush the passer, Peek is a terror against the pass, but is out of position often against the run, so take your pick. Putzier and Jopp are not even in a battle. It is not even a skirmish or dispute. Putzier is the likely starter with Bruener as the backup and pass blocking TE. Jopp is battling Owen Daniels for time at TE and H-back. The RB battle is on and getting good. Morency and SMith are clearly ahead of Lundy and Taylor. Taylor looks better than Lundy running the ball and seems to understand the blocking a bit better, but Lundy is the draftee so Taylor will have to work alot harder to supplant him as a ST player and spot guy.

Overall good job, just did not have all your facts completely together.

[threetoedpete]

Originally Posted by HeartofHouston

W. Lundy vs A. Smith vs C. Taylor
B. Joppru vs J. Putzier
A. Peek vs J. Babin
D. Ryans vs Everybody (LBs)
P. Buchannon vs D. McCleon

Here's my input on these battles...

W. Lundy vs A. Smith vs C. Taylor

The RB position was manned by Davis but since his injury Kube and Co. have been scrambling to find the perfect back to take over for Davis.
so tell me what do you think..??

I dissagree strongly with the perfect back to take over for Davis

He'll hit his 1200 this year. The kids are there IMHO to ease the load a bit.
What they {The Kids}are fighting for, again my HO, is playing time. Putting DD out the door is a.....mistake.

[gwallaia]

I will be curious to see how Morency progresses this season. I imagine he will get plenty of carries in the preseason.

[texflex513]

Originally Posted by threetoedpete

I dissagree strongly with the perfect back to take over for Davis

He'll hit his 1200 this year. The kids are there IMHO to ease the load a bit.
What they {The Kids}are fighting for, again my HO, is playing time. Putting DD out the door is a.....mistake.

I agree davis is clearly our starter those guys are here to pick up the slack for davis barring injury

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by threetoedpete

I dissagree strongly with the perfect back to take over for Davis

He'll hit his 1200 this year. The kids are there IMHO to ease the load a bit.
What they {The Kids}are fighting for, again my HO, is playing time. Putting DD out the door is a.....mistake.

Davis didn't practice again this morning, he's only made it thru 2 of the first 6 practices and looked somewhat tentative in both. I really think his knee problem is more serious than any of us are aware of, and I think if he can even recover enough to play this year that he'll only have a half season of healthy play for us, whether that be 8 games of running the ball a lot or 12+ games of getting 60% or so of the carries each game. I really don't think he'll hold up for a 1000 yard season this year, hopefully they'll find the usualy diamond in the rough out of this group of guys and/or Davis can get back and be healthy next year if not this year.

[tsip]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

Davis didn't practice again this morning, he's only made it thru 2 of the first 6 practices and looked somewhat tentative in both. I really think his knee problem is more serious than any of us are aware of, and I think if he can even recover enough to play this year that he'll only have a half season of healthy play for us, whether that be 8 games of running the ball a lot or 12+ games of getting 60% or so of the carries each game. I really don't think he'll hold up for a 1000 yard season this year, hopefully they'll find the usualy diamond in the rough out of this group of guys and/or Davis can get back and be healthy next year if not this year.

Besides 'fluid on the knee,' what is actually going on with DD's knee? Has he been a 'border line' candidate for surgery and they've been hoping to avoid the 'knife?' I mean, this 'knee issue' has been going on for 3 yrs, and the team needs stability at RB, a position crucial in K's system. There is no doubt DD is a good back when healthy--can we get him healthy?? On a side note, the Pat fans talk about DD on their MB and want to eventually trade for him to replace Dillon as his career winds down...

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by tsip

Besides 'fluid on the knee,' what is actually going on with DD's knee? Has he been a 'border line' candidate for surgery and they've been hoping to avoid the 'knife?' I mean, this 'knee issue' has been going on for 3 yrs, and the team needs stability at RB, a position crucial in K's system. There is no doubt DD is a good back when healthy--can we get him healthy?? On a side note, the Pat fans talk about DD on their MB and want to eventually trade for him to replace Dillon as his career winds down...

He already had at least one surgery on the knee this offseason, I don't think he really needs another surgery, it just sounds like his knee isn't responding real well and it is still consistently sore. I really do have concerns about his ability to be effective long-term for us. I wonder if this was a problem he's always had that has just been gradually progressing or if Capers & co. ruined his knee by overusing him at several points in the last couple years.

[texan279]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

He already had at least one surgery on the knee this offseason, I don't think he really needs another surgery, it just sounds like his knee isn't responding real well and it is still consistently sore. I really do have concerns about his ability to be effective long-term for us. I wonder if this was a problem he's always had that has just been gradually progressing or if Capers & co. ruined his knee by overusing him at several points in the last couple years.

I thought he had surgery in December around the end of the season?

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by texan279

I thought he had surgery in December around the end of the season?

Correct, I don't remember if I heard he had another later athroscopic procedure to attempt to clean it up more since it was still bother him. I could be wrong on that. Either way athroscopic surgeries usually don't take anywhere near this long to recover from, I think CnD gave us a good summary of such things in another earlier thread.

[BigDTexansFan]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

Correct, I don't remember if I heard he had another later athroscopic procedure to attempt to clean it up more since it was still bother him. I could be wrong on that. Either way athroscopic surgeries usually don't take anywhere near this long to recover from, I think CnD gave us a good summary of such things in another earlier thread.

I think DD's knee problem is overuse, we rarely passed to WR's and mainly to RB which when added with carries makes a lot of work. I think with several solid RB's we will do much as Denver has done, put 2-3 backs in who can anyone of them reel off a long run or score.

[tsip]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

Correct, I don't remember if I heard he had another later athroscopic procedure to attempt to clean it up more since it was still bother him. I could be wrong on that. Either way athroscopic surgeries usually don't take anywhere near this long to recover from, I think CnD gave us a good summary of such things in another earlier thread.

...so, he's basically had 'clean out' surgery--has structural (ligaments,etc.) damage been ruled out? You are correct IMO about the 'lingering' surgery time, and I also agree with other posters that Caper's 'one at a time/play till they drop' use of RB's has put DD in his current predictamemt. My hope now is that the team--good or bad--can get a 'definitive' answer for the problem(s), so they can be corrected.

[ocd]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

Davis didn't practice again this morning, he's only made it thru 2 of the first 6 practices and looked somewhat tentative in both. I really think his knee problem is more serious than any of us are aware of, and I think if he can even recover enough to play this year that he'll only have a half season of healthy play for us, whether that be 8 games of running the ball a lot or 12+ games of getting 60% or so of the carries each game. I really don't think he'll hold up for a 1000 yard season this year, hopefully they'll find the usualy diamond in the rough out of this group of guys and/or Davis can get back and be healthy next year if not this year.

Kubes has already been thru this with the Terrell Davis saga. There was always hope he was gonna come back but he never did.

Kubes learned that you get your ducks in a row and plan for a career ending injuries with proper back ups.

[HeartofHouston]

Overall good job, just did not have all your facts completely together.

First thank you for the feedback but, I'm not exactly sure what facts youre talking about, nothing in this post was a fact, this is all just my personal opinion on how things will go (trying to kill time before the season lol).

But I think alot of people are misundersanding what I'm saying I put the blame on myself for not stating my opinion throughly. I didn't mean that Kube and Co was looking for someone to start over Davis. That's not what I meant in the least way. What I meant was Davis had been hurt and they have been trying to find someone that can takeover until Davis is healthy and then when Davis is ready to go they will ease the load for him. I know the type of offense Kube runs and he like have 2 great quality back in his system which is understandable..

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by tsip

...so, he's basically had 'clean out' surgery--has structural (ligaments,etc.) damage been ruled out? You are correct IMO about the 'lingering' surgery time, and I also agree with other posters that Caper's 'one at a time/play till they drop' use of RB's has put DD in his current predictamemt. My hope now is that the team--good or bad--can get a 'definitive' answer for the problem(s), so they can be corrected.

They did an MRI a couple days ago since it was bothering him again and they said they didn't see in further damage, he just gets really sore after 1/2 a practice. He also had inflammation in his knee during minicamp after a walk-through practice. I really don't think we'll see much more of him on the field, which is unfortunate because he's a solid runner and would do very well in this system if he could stay healthy. I hope I'm wrong on this but I fear I'm not.

[Coach C.]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

They did an MRI a couple days ago since it was bothering him again and they said they didn't see in further damage, he just gets really sore after 1/2 a practice. He also had inflammation in his knee during minicamp after a walk-through practice. I really don't think we'll see much more of him on the field, which is unfortunate because he's a solid runner and would do very well in this system if he could stay healthy. I hope I'm wrong on this but I fear I'm not.

Mork are you thinking limited carries or a game on and a game off?

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by Coach C.

Mork are you thinking limited carries or a game on and a game off?

Either one depending on the preference of the coaches, more likely a limited carries thing so he's at least available for max games.