Texans Rarin' To Run In '09

[Wolf]

By Jim McCurdy

These guys have always been a defensive-oriented team.

So when you're studying the X's and O's of the Houston Texans, and five of the eight draft choices were used on defensive players and two tight ends chosen along with a center, you know where the team placed its emphasis.

But following a year in which rookie Steve Slaton rushed for 1,282 yards and nine touchdowns, and two of the draft choices were used on run blockers, the offensive scheme clearly seems to be geared toward upgrading the ground game.

Tight ends coach Brian Pariani said teams have to run the ball in the National Football League, justifying the Texans' selection of run-blocking tight end Anthony Hill in the fourth round.

Houston General Manager Rick Smith said the team would continue to make efforts to improve the talent level at the running back position throughout the summer.

Slaton's 1,282 yards led NFL rookies last year, while setting a team single-season rushing record in the process. He ran the ball 268 times for a 4.8 yards per carry average. The Texans' 115.4 yards per game ranked 13th in the NFL last season.

Houston threw the ball for an average of 266.7 yards per game, which ranked fourth in the league.

The Texans added depth at running back with the addition of rookie free agents Jeremiah Johnson (Oregon) and Adrian Foster (Tennessee). Six-year veteran Chris Brown, who signed with the Texans as an unrestricted free agent following five seasons with the Tennessee Titans, and Ryan Moats, Slaton's primary backup last year, give Houston other options on the ground.

"We will continue to look as we keep marching our way toward training camp," Smith said in an interview for HoustonTexans.com, "and if there's a veteran player or another young player that’s out there and is available and looks attractive to us, then certainly we will entertain those options."

All of this is not to suggest the Texans will abandon the pass by any means. Not with a talented quarterback in Matt Schaub, and one of the best receivers in the game in Andre Johnson.

http://bleacherreport.com/articles/1...n-to-run-in-09

[RipTraxx]

This might be one of the first non-houston based journalist that realizes schaub is good.

Good find

[valleytexfan]

i'll second that. Texans are getting more ink, hope it leads to more wins...

[pbat488]

If the opening line of a story about the Texans is..

These guys have always been a defensive-oriented team.

.. I tend to take whatever that person might say with a grain of salt.

[CloakNNNdagger]

Originally Posted by pbat488

If the opening line of a story about the Texans is..



.. I tend to take whatever that person might say with a grain of salt.

That was the first thing I noticed. Gee.......I hope our running game this year catches up with our defense of past years.

Nice find.

[DiehardChris]

Also - this is the same site (not the same writer) who said we were going 0-16 last season. Or maybe it was 1-15. Every time I see an article from bleacherreport, I'm going to have to drop that little reminder. They'll literally post anything.

I can see an outsider calling us a defensive oriented team...

We've gone defense in the first round a lot...Our first couple years defense was better than O...We beat the Steelers that one time with defense...The win against the Raiders when Carr was here he threw -5 passing yards and we won...

If you think about it, our highest profile players are on defense...Demeco, Mario, Dunta, Okoye, Now Cushing...

I can see why an outsider that has observed the Texans since they came into the leauge would say "the Texans have been a defensive oriented team"...In fact thats probably a true statement up until recently...Offense got better under Kubiak his first couple years, but its really just now starting to become 'lethal'...

[DiehardChris]

Originally Posted by Polo

I can see an outsider calling us a defensive oriented team...

We've gone defense in the first round a lot...Our first couple years defense was better than O...We beat the Steelers that one time with defense...The win against the Raiders when Carr was here he threw -5 passing yards and we won...

If you think about it, our highest profile players are on defense...Demeco, Mario, Dunta, Okoye, Now Cushing...

I can see why an outsider that has observed the Texans since they came into the leauge would say "the Texans have been a defensive oriented team"...In fact thats probably a true statement up until recently...Offense got better under Kubiak his first couple years, but its really just now starting to become 'lethal'...

I get what you're saying - but if you're going to take time to blog, write, or cover a team that's not the team YOU follow closely - put in some research. Put in some time. Don't just put something out there that's not well thought-out.

Not that this guy's article isn't - but he should know better than to call us defense-oriented. I mean - it's fine for him to say it if it's immediately followed by "...but it hasn't worked out that way for the Texans, who are consistently one of the worst defensive teams in the NFL."

Anyway - this guy is a HUGE improvement over the other Texans writer's they've had on that particular site.

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

I get what you're saying - but if you're going to take time to blog, write, or cover a team that's not the team YOU follow closely - put in some research. Put in some time. Don't just put something out there that's not well thought-out.

Question....

Would you say that the Texans have been an offensive oriented team throughout their brief existence?

I actually kind of agree with the writer. For the most part we've been a defensive oriented team...

And we still haven't actually started putting up the points to match our offensive output...

[TimeKiller]

Yeah, this team's always been known for defense.

Bad defense.

[DiehardChris]

Originally Posted by Polo

Question....

Would you say that the Texans have been an offensive oriented team throughout their brief existence?

I actually kind of agree with the writer. For the most part we've been a defensive oriented team...

And we still haven't actually started putting up the points to match our offensive output...

I would absolutely NOT say we are an offensive-oriented team. I would say we have been a team desperately seeking an identity, and totally unable to find one to this point, but that the tide is finally starting to turn. I think the team WANTS to be defensive-oriented, but it hasn't happened yet. I really hope that changes next season, but I think we're probably yet another year away.

I guess our disagreement is in what exactly we define as "defense-oriented." Does that mean you WANT to be a defense-first team? If so - then yes, I think our draft picks and philosophies would indicate that's what we want to be.

If defense-oriented means that you ARE a defense-first team, or that your defense dictates the game and is responsible for creating good field position for your offense - then no, we are most certainly NOT that.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

I would absolutely NOT say we are an offensive-oriented team. I would say we have been a team desperately seeking an identity, and totally unable to find one to this point, but that the tide is finally starting to turn. I think the team WANTS to be defensive-oriented, but it hasn't happened yet. I really hope that changes next season, but I think we're probably yet another year away.

I guess our disagreement is in what exactly we define as "defense-oriented." Does that mean you WANT to be a defense-first team? If so - then yes, I think our draft picks and philosophies would indicate that's what we want to be.

If defense-oriented means that you ARE a defense-first team, or that your defense dictates the game and is responsible for creating good field position for your offense - then no, we are most certainly NOT that.

Capers regime - absolutely defense oriented team - wanted to play great D (never achieved) and have an O good enough to get it done.
Kubiak regime - offense oriented team - just doesn't want the D giving the games away so has been drafting D because they suck so bad.

[beerlover]

"These guys have always been a defensive-oriented team" meaning from the standpoint of addressing need via free agency & the draft, thats the way I read into it.

other than QB (Schaub/Carr) the only big offensive investment has been Andre Johnson. only recently have the Texans invested into the OL (Spencer/Winston/Caldwell/Brown) otherwise in free agency/draft the emphasis has been ALL defensive-oriented.

The big free agent signings have been CB Reeves & DE Smith. Mario #1 overall & DeMeco 1st pick of 2nd (06) Amobi Okoye 1st rd. selection 07 now Cushing/Bawin 1-2 in 09.

I didn't have the heart to ask Kubiak personally what he thought about adding another offensive playmaker (Maclin) all I could say is "you had a great draft that addressed defensive needs".

I think we're all hoping & waiting for that transformation as a "defensive-oriented team" to manifest itself under the new Bush regime so that when draft time rolls around next year if a special playmaker like a Maclin is available this time the Texans can add him to Schaub/Shanahan arsenal

[badboy]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Capers regime - absolutely defense oriented team - wanted to play great D (never achieved) and have an O good enough to get it done.
Kubiak regime - offense oriented team - just doesn't want the D giving the games away so has been drafting D because they suck so bad.

I lovedCaper's defensive philosophy "We want to stay close enough to take advantage at the end of the game if the other team makes a mistake". What?

[HOU-TEX]

Nah, Capers' defense was all about "execution".