Texans agree to terms with 6th-round pick Studdard

[texanfan2002114]

Deal will keep former UT guard in Houston for four years

The Texans have agreed to a four-year deal with sixth-round pick Kasey Studdard, an offensive guard out of Texas.

Studdard, 6-foot-2, 300 pounds, is the third rookie to agree to terms with the Texans, joining linebacker Zac Diles and cornerback Fred Bennett. The Texans are still working on deals with Amobi Okoye, Jacoby Jones, Brandon Harrison and Brandon Frye.

Rookies must sign their contracts before they are allowed to participate in training camp. At this point, only Diles' contract is signed. Rookies and veterans report to Reliant Stadium next Thursday with the first practice being on Friday morning.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/4986306.html

[Second Honeymoon]

omgooses, there is a Longhorn on the Texans. hell hath truly frozen over.

[Overalls]

3 down 3 to go.

[Silver Oak]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

omgooses, there is a Longhorn on the Texans. hell hath truly frozen over.

we had to go slumming at some point.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

omgooses, there is a Longhorn on the Texans. hell hath truly frozen over.

Hmmm...

Can I change my 8-8 prediction?

[Wolf]

didn't we have sloan thomas at one point?

[BattleRedToro]

Originally Posted by Wolf

didn't we have sloan thomas at one point?

Yes.

[cuppacoffee]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

omgooses, there is a Longhorn on the Texans. hell hath truly frozen over.

Token...

[nunusguy]

I'm still trying to figure out why the Texans drafted this guy ?
It's either another examle of Kubiak cronyism and/or it would seem that the Texans are moving away from the ZB system they'd been in the process of installing, as Studdard is definitely not of the athletic profile ZB teams select
to play in their OLine.

[Second Honeymoon]

Originally Posted by Wolf

didn't we have sloan thomas at one point?

yes but he couldn't make the team even though he lead the Texans WR in receiving yards in preseason.
after all, he is a Longhorn thus shouldn't be drafted.

[Second Honeymoon]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I'm still trying to figure out why the Texans drafted this guy ?
It's either another examle of Kubiak cronyism and/or it would seem that the Texans are moving away from the ZB system they'd been in the process of installing, as Studdard is definitely not of the athletic profile ZB teams select
to play in their OLine.

i agree with your assessment that Studdard isn't the prototype ZBS guy, but he is a baller. He is a guy that will fight and claw and do anything to win. Kubiak does do his share of crony work but I will give him a pass on this.

we need more guys like this and don't be surprised if he becomes a starter and has a nice career with us. He has the lineage, the strength, and the heart. Being able to run a fast shuttle drill or run a fast 40 isn't that important to an OL. It's great to measure their athletic ability but OL work is heart, teamwork, and more heart.

[awtysst]

Originally Posted by Second Honeymoon

i agree with your assessment that Studdard isn't the prototype ZBS guy, but he is a baller. He is a guy that will fight and claw and do anything to win. Kubiak does do his share of crony work but I will give him a pass on this.

we need more guys like this and don't be surprised if he becomes a starter and has a nice career with us. He has the lineage, the strength, and the heart. Being able to run a fast shuttle drill or run a fast 40 isn't that important to an OL. It's great to measure their athletic ability but OL work is heart, teamwork, and more heart.

Yeah he isnt a ZBS guy, but he is plays whistle to whistle. He fights hard on every play and will give it his all. He is a football player, and we need as many football players as we can get. Look at the Patriots. They have a few stars, but also a ton of football players. They are not well known, they are not household names, but all they do is their job. Thats what we need.

[Silver Oak]

I'm surprised to see Kubiak getting slagged in this forum for acts of cronyism. Perhaps I missed this, but can you show some examples of him showing favoritism towards players or coaches?

Also, if Kubiak does do it, I'm sure its prevalent around the rest of the league too and not a character flaw on his part.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Silver Oak

I'm surprised to see Kubiak getting slagged in this forum for acts of cronyism. Perhaps I missed this, but can you show some examples of him showing favoritism towards players or coaches?

Also, if Kubiak does do it, I'm sure its prevalent around the rest of the league too and not a character flaw on his part.

Kubiak has been friends for decades with Studdards father from their mutual association with the Broncos and was quoted as saying how highly he regarded the Studdard family when he drafted Studdard. And the 6th round pick is clearly not that well suited to play in the ZB system the Texans have been running, so the reason for drafting him is very obvious and clearly for a non-football reason.
We've got 2 or 3 other rookie lineman coming to camp next week who are more of the mold for OLineman in the ZB scheme, and I hope that Kubiak gives them as much chance to make the team as Studddard, but I'm skeptical of that happening.
And whether or not cronyism is practiced throughout the NFL, I don't want it here when it comes to picking the most qualified players for the Texans. I was a fan from the outset long before Kubaik stepped on the scene and will be a fan of the team long after Kubiak has departed and I don't want him using valuable draft picks to make his old buddies happy.

[Leahmic223]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Kubiak has been friends for decades with Studdards father from their mutual association with the Broncos and was quoted as saying how highly he regarded the Studdard family when he drafted Studdard. And the 6th round pick is clearly not that well suited to play in the ZB system the Texans have been running, so the reason for drafting him is very obvious and clearly for a non-football reason.
We've got 2 or 3 other rookie lineman coming to camp next week who are more of the mold for OLineman in the ZB scheme, and I hope that Kubiak gives them as much chance to make the team as Studddard, but I'm skeptical of that happening.
And whether or not cronyism is practiced throughout the NFL, I don't want it here when it comes to picking the most qualified players for the Texans. I was a fan from the outset long before Kubaik stepped on the scene and will be a fan of the team long after Kubiak has departed and I don't want him using valuable draft picks to make his old buddies happy.

Either way...can the tExans really be picky about their Oline?

[Lucky]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

...so the reason for drafting him is very obvious and clearly for a non-football reason.

Why didn't Kubiak select Studdard in the 5th round, if doing a favor for a buddy was so important? Or the 4th? The 3rd? And why did Rick Smith go along with the Studdard pick? He never played with Kasey's dad. There are a few holes in your conspiracy theory.

Originally Posted by nunusguy

We've got 2 or 3 other rookie lineman coming to camp next week who are more of the mold for OLineman in the ZB scheme...

Who are they and why are they better suited for the Texans system? This the same bunch of nonsense you posted back in May, and you still offer nothing to support your assertion.

[the wonger need food]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

And the 6th round pick is clearly not that well suited to play in the ZB system the Texans have been running, so the reason for drafting him is very obvious and clearly for a non-football reason.
We've got 2 or 3 other rookie lineman coming to camp next week who are more of the mold for OLineman in the ZB scheme, and I hope that Kubiak gives them as much chance to make the team as Studddard, but I'm skeptical of that happening.

What's clear and obvious to you does not necessarily make it fact, e.g. when you base the entire premise of a post on fictional information. For example, the Texans do not run a zone blocking scheme. They use some zone and some power schemes. And this year (according to Steve McKinney in radio interviews) they will be running a lot less zone blocking.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

I'm still trying to figure out why the Texans drafted this guy ?
It's either another examle of Kubiak cronyism and/or it would seem that the Texans are moving away from the ZB system they'd been in the process of installing, as Studdard is definitely not of the athletic profile ZB teams select
to play in their OLine.

The Texans never really have played strict ZB under Sherman. I was told by someone who knows that Sherman would get testy if people said they were running just a ZBS. I heard in an interview with McKinney it is going to be even less zone blocking this year.

Last year, the offensive line had strict weight requirements along with fines for not making weight. There are reports that they are no fines this year for making weight.

Today's training preview in the Chronic alludes to Ahman Green being suited to the zone blocking that that GB ran last year, but he isn't going to be running behind that. Chronic preview = Matt Schaub is leader + blurbs + Texans run zone blocking scheme (not).

For more on this subject, check out this:

Sharpen Your Pencils for the 2007 Houston Texans Test

If you are interested in the discussion of the Oline, check out the discussion in the comments between me and Lance Zierlein in the link in that post.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

If you are interested in the discussion of the Oline, check out the discussion in the comments between me and Lance Zierlein in the link in that post.

"Mike Sherman is the new offensive coordinator for the Texans, and reports are that Sherman and Kubiak are going to run a blended offense between their styles. I expect it to be a run first offense, but nobody really knows how their hybrid offense is going to look."
******************
That is certainly instructive and does undermine my premise about Studdard being unsuitable to play in our OLine because he's more of a power guy than a zone guy. Of course it begs for a clarification about the exact meaning of "blended offense" ? In other words, which system will be dominant ?
Now if we remain basically a zone team, then I think by premise is still valid.
I don't know if I've seen or heard a Sherman interview yet, but now that he's officially our OC, maybe the reticent Mr. Sherman will step up and give us all a definetive statement or two about his plans for the offense including the type of blocking schemes he'll be using and which will dominate if he's going to use a hybrid or some combination ?
And I sill have no doubt that the main reason Studdard is here is because of family ties to Kubiak, but that's not near as big a deal to me as long as he's
suitable for the position he'll be competing for reps at instead of being an obvious misfit.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

"Mike Sherman is the new offensive coordinator for the Texans, and reports are that Sherman and Kubiak are going to run a blended offense between their styles. I expect it to be a run first offense, but nobody really knows how their hybrid offense is going to look."
******************
That is certainly instructive and does undermine my premise about Studdard being unsuitable to play in our OLine because he's more of a power guy than a zone guy. Of course it begs for a clarification about the exact meaning of "blended offense" ? In other words, which system will be dominant ?
Now if we remain basically a zone team, then I think by premise is still valid.
I don't know if I've seen or heard a Sherman interview yet, but now that he's officially our OC, maybe the reticent Mr. Sherman will step up and give us all a definetive statement or two about his plans for the offense including the type of blocking schemes he'll be using and which will dominate if he's going to use a hybrid or some combination ?
And I sill have no doubt that the main reason Studdard is here is because of family ties to Kubiak, but that's not near as big a deal to me as long as he's
suitable for the position he'll be competing for reps at instead of being an obvious misfit.

As far as I can tell, there have been exactly two articles talking about Kubiak/Sherman hybridish offense. Both of them can be found in this link:

Mike Sherman as OC:What Does This Mean for the Texans Offense?

I think the answer is reading between the lines on those two articles is that between Kubiak and Sherman, they don't even know what the offense for sure is going to look like--they are going to see what works with the personnel we have.

I do expect that the running game will look more Mike Sherman's stuff. Why wouldn't he as OC run the sort of stuff that Ahman Green had most of his success with?