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Zierlein's Mock Draft - 4/15

texasguy346

texasguy346

Mod Squad
19. *trade* Houston Texans - Clay Matthews, LB, USC: This one is a tricky one. Knowshon Moreno would be a great value on the board, but I just don't know if the Texans can afford not to improve their defense with their first pick. I still think Peria Jerry and Ziggy Hood are great fits for what the Texans want to do with their defensive line, but both players are better suited to play the same position that Amobi Okoye plays. The guy that could jump into the equation here could be CB Darrius Butler from UConn. However, when I look at the lack of depth at the LB position in the 2nd and 3rd rounds, it makes it easier to put Matthews in this spot despite having some intriguing talent still on the board. Could the Texans trade back a second time?
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He's got us trading down with the Tampa Bay. Interesting to note that he's got Moreno and Butler still on the board at the 19th pick.

Z-Report
 
I'm not a fan at all of predicting trades in mock drafts; way too many variables involved.

There will undoubtedly be trades prior to pick number 15, so in order for his mock to be accurate he would need to predict those trades or simply leave trades out of the equation all together.
 
Too many people in the media & elsewhere have us taking matthews which leads me to believe that we're most likely taking someone else for whatever reason. Think about it..

2006- Reggie bush/ VY fever. We've rehashed this so much that's it's almost become unhealthy ......who do we take?...Mario.

2007 -before & after the trade up with atlanta we were all over the place; Leon Hall, Laron Landry, Darrell Revis, Patrick Willis. Even though all but 1 of these guys were available...who do we take?...Amobi, the guy thought to be gone by the time we were up.

2008 - Most everyone agreed we'd take a tackle. Most had professed it would most likely be Clady, Williams or Otah. A run on tackles leaves us with only Otah when our original pick at 18 pops up. we trade down, Otah's taken at 19 & we're all :confused:. Then we think "oh wait, they must be targeting mendenhall since he continues to slide?" Uhh, no......who do we wind up taking?......Duane Brown, a tackle noone in the media or on messageboards had even considered b/c he was thought to be at best the 5th best tackle in the draft.

Thinking about this actually makes me kind of sad b/c i've beat my drum for Matthews from the beginning, but the smithiak draft history suggest that it's going to be someone else.
 
I would be outright sick if Jacksonville somehow managed to land Aaron Curry. i really don't want to face him twice a year
 
texasguy346 said:
He's got us trading down with the Tampa Bay. Interesting to note that he's got Moreno and Butler still on the board at the 19th pick.

Z-Report
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I would be really happy with Moreno, Butler, Matthews, or Jerry at this spot. I would be happy with Hood a little further back. I like all these guys, and like Z said, Hood and Jerry are less of a need because of Okoye.....unless, something bigger is going on with Amobi's knee than soreness.
 
Hardcore Texan said:
I would be really happy with Moreno, Butler, Matthews, or Jerry at this spot. I would be happy with Hood a little further back. I like all these guys, and like Z said, Hood and Jerry are less of a need because of Okoye.....unless, something bigger is going on with Amobi's knee than soreness.
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Unless there is long term concern for Amobi's knee, which I don't think there is, I'd puke if we got a DT other then trading up for Raji(which i'm not keen on). I'd at least like to give Kollar a year with the line especially after possbily adding Smith(whom i have hopes for).

After it's all and done I wouldn't be completely disapointed with taking Matthews, though I do think signing June allows us to be a in position where we don't NEED to take a LB. I have concerns about Cushing and Matthews. Honestly I'd love for Jenkins or Oher to fall to us at 15. Really warming up to the idea if Oher falls we can slide him inside to guard and if Brown struggles we're in a great position with Butler and Oher. If we trade back again I'd love to get ina position where the value would be in a guy like Mack, Ugner, or Wood.
 
I've been on the Butler bandwagon for a couple weeks now and he'd be the first one I'd be looking for if we were to trade back a couple few spots. I'm beginning to like him more than Mathews.
 
I don't like the Matthews pick for us at all....Not @ 15 and not @ 19.

I'd much rather take Moreno, but it would be nice to know how the Texans rate the players and what they think our weakest position is. From where I'm sitting, the answer to both of those questions is RB, but I guess we'll see which way they go when the smoke clears...
 
Polo said:
I don't like the Matthews pick for us at all....Not @ 15 and not @ 19.

I'd much rather take Moreno, but it would be nice to know how the Texans rate the players and what they think our weakest position is. From where I'm sitting, the answer to both of those questions is RB, but I guess we'll see which way they go when the smoke clears...
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The deal is.. when you have big bruising backs like Andre Brown, Shonn Greene, Rashad Jennings, etc that will be available later.... do you really want to give first round money to a RB like that? Especially in this system? Tempting I guess.... but not so sure.
 
Tailgate said:
The deal is.. when you have big bruising backs like Andre Brown, Shonn Greene, Rashad Jennings, etc that will be available later.... do you really want to give first round money to a RB like that? Especially in this system? Tempting I guess.... but not so sure.
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I'm not a big fan of Moreno but he would fit our system just fine.
 
We have to remember that Slaton is our #1 guy. Whoever we'd be drafting would be looking to get ~10 carries a game at most. I don't want to spend a top 15 pick on a situational guy like that

Im very concerned about drafting a USC LB. Matthews seems like boom or bust, and Im worried about taking a risky pick in the top 15.

After all the failures we've had at picking DL (with the exception of MW), I don't want to draft another DT.

Im all for trading back and looking at DB, T, or C
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
I don't think there's a big gap between Slaton/Moreno or Slaton/Jennings , Brown . With the 1st pick we need an upgrade .
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I agree.

I have Moreno as my #3 back behind Donald Brown. I'm not that high on him but as far as him fitting our system...he fits it just fine.

If I could choose I would want Jennings in the 3rd (won't make it to our pick) or Brown in the 4th (probably won't make it to our pick).

So if you want one of those guys you have to take them a little early. Taking a RB in the second is not ideal this year, but I wouldn't throw a fit if we took Jennings in the 2nd or Brown in the 3rd.
 
whiskeyrbl said:
I don't see the trade back to TB now that they aquired Leftwich.
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Leftwich is a back up as long as he has that big exaggerated cartoon wind up. He's like Rosencopter without the copter-hops, foot speed, and a has a slower release.
 
Vinny said:
Leftwich is a back up as long as he has that big exaggerated cartoon wind up. He's like Rosencopter without the copter-hops, foot speed, and a has a slower release.
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Yeah. But but but look how big he is and how far he can throw...
 
bah007 said:
I'm not a big fan of Moreno but he would fit our system just fine.
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I think you misunderstood me. The whole historically not use a first round pick on a RB system thing, along with already having a RB that will carry alot of the load,etc,etc.. vs. big backs that fit our need and system later on,etc,etc..
 
Mr teX said:
Too many people in the media & elsewhere have us taking matthews which leads me to believe that we're most likely taking someone else for whatever reason. Think about it..

2006- Reggie bush/ VY fever. We've rehashed this so much that's it's almost become unhealthy ......who do we take?...Mario.

2007 -before & after the trade up with atlanta we were all over the place; Leon Hall, Laron Landry, Darrell Revis, Patrick Willis. Even though all but 1 of these guys were available...who do we take?...Amobi, the guy thought to be gone by the time we were up.

2008 - Most everyone agreed we'd take a tackle. Most had professed it would most likely be Clady, Williams or Otah. A run on tackles leaves us with only Otah when our original pick at 18 pops up. we trade down, Otah's taken at 19 & we're all :confused:. Then we think "oh wait, they must be targeting mendenhall since he continues to slide?" Uhh, no......who do we wind up taking?......Duane Brown, a tackle noone in the media or on messageboards had even considered b/c he was thought to be at best the 5th best tackle in the draft.

Thinking about this actually makes me kind of sad b/c i've beat my drum for Matthews from the beginning, but the smithiak draft history suggest that it's going to be someone else.
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Great post. I think the Texans focus on character and personality a lot. Which makes them put guys higher on big boards than some.

So if they stay at 15, and Matthews is the 29th best player this year, I can see them taking him. Or if they drop down to the 20's again, I can see them plucking up a guy that some consider a mid to late 2nd pick. Say a William Moore or a Darius Butler.

When it all comes together like Mario, Amobi, Duane, I think it makes their decision a lot easier.
 
Tailgate said:
I think you misunderstood me. The whole historically not use a first round pick on a RB system thing, along with already having a RB that will carry alot of the load,etc,etc.. vs. big backs that fit our need and system later on,etc,etc..
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Then I did misunderstand. My bad.
 
I just don't see them taking a RB that high, Moreno or otherwise. Maybe if there was someone truly special ala Adrian Peterson maybe you do it. I don't think Moreno is that guy. I'm cool with Matthews especially if we trade down to do it. I think he has excellent upside as a Sam in the 4/3. I think we draft a RB in rd 3 or 4.
 
gtexan02 said:
Im worried about taking a risky pick in the top 15.
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I think anything we do at 15 this year is going to be questionable.

Matthews, certainly a boom/bust candidate.
Cushing, possibly topped out/overrated
Moreno/Wells-Beanie has the injury thing and neither seem very much better than 3rd round guys
P Jerry-already have him, name is Okoye
Butler-like there isn't a question about him at 5'9'' trying to line up against the freaks that are lining up at WR these days plus where do you put him between Dunta, Reeves, Bennett, Molden?
Moore-reaching about a round. May as well draft Smith and look for him to play some safety
Mack/Unger-definite improvements but still too early
any WR/TE/QB-I'll just **** my pants

See what I mean?

Also, if this regime's drafting has gone against the obvious choices...so now the obvious choice is something not obvious...wouldn't the obvious choice be to choose the obvious choice now and again because it's not obvious anymore? But what if....

oh **** I just went cross-eyed....
 
Vinny said:
Pick 15 isn't any better than pick 35 this year imo.
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Yep ... I think I'd rather have Connor Barwin and extra picks than I would Matthews or Cushing at 15 . I think Barwin's athletic enough to play OLB and big enough to drop down at RE on passing downs . If I had to choose between Cushing or Mathews I'd take Matthews .
 
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