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Which rookie needs to step up the most this season?

Jagsbch

Jagsbch

Waterboy
Rackem who needs to have the most success for the Texans to be successful this season.

Rd 1 (20) Jackson, Kareem CB
Rd 2 (58) Tate, Ben RB
Rd 3 (81) Mitchell, Earl DT
Rd 4 (102) Sharpton, Darryl LB
Rd 4 (118) Graham, Garrett TE
Rd 5 (144) McManis, Sherrick CB
Rd 6 (187) Smith, Shelley OG
Rd 6 (197) Holliday, Trindon KR
Rd 7 (227) Dickerson, Dorin WR
 
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One thing, Dickerson is a WR.

1) Jackson
2) Tate
3) Mitchell
4) Holliday
5-9) Not a clue. These guys should not get enough playing time this season to matter.
 
rmartin65 said:
One thing, Dickerson is a WR.

1) Jackson
2) Tate
3) Mitchell
4) Holliday
5-9) Not a clue. These guys should not get enough playing time this season to matter.
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That would be the way I rank them also. But I am not sure that Holliday having a big year is critical. But it would be nice.
 
If Jackson fails then we had better hope that Molden steps up and stays healthy or were screwed.

Tate is currently the #3 RB, and that is not going to kill us if he stays the #3 all season and the other two guys are producing.

Mitchell failing does not kill us, it does hurt us, but will not kill us.

IMO only a failure by Jackson has the potential to hurt the team.
 
I'm going to go with Ben Tate. I know Jackson was drafted to take Dunta Robinson's position and start right away but, since the injury, Robinson just hasn't been the same. Basically, between Jackson, and our other CB, someone should be able to play as well as Dunta.

However, if we have a legitimate running game, we could have won a few more games last year.
 
Jackson was our 1st round pick and biggest immediate need pick. His success is more important than any other rookie's this season in order for our team to win.
 
rmartin65 said:
One thing, Dickerson is a WR.

1) Jackson
2) Tate
3) Mitchell
4) Holliday
5-9) Not a clue. These guys should not get enough playing time this season to matter.
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That's how I rank them as well. Jackson should be starting right out of the gate, so he is the easy pick. Tate could be huge for Houston's running game so he would easily be second. Mitchell could be a good rotational DT for the defense. Holliday will likely be the kick returner, & I don't see anyone else playing until the end of the year barring injury.
 
I think Earl Mitchell because this regime has yet to draft a game changing defensive tackle. If he doesn't work out I'm going to begin to think DT is just something we can't have any luck finding. I give Rick credit for finding Quin in the 4th round, I give credit to Rick for finding Slaton in the 3rd regardless of how bad his sophomore year was. That shows a track record of recognizing talent at a position group (CB, RB). Rick's draft history of DTs includes Amobi Okoye and Frank Okam. Thats not enough promise to feel comfortable with his draft history with the position.
 
Its important the Texans start the season strong so Kareem is an obvious choice. With Cushing out those first four LB is actually more up in the air & since I'm picking Sharpton to really surprise people I'm hoping its sooner than later. Red zone conversion, 3rd & short conversions plus turnovers killed the Texans last year. This is where Tate steps in to help protect the ball in game winning situations. The DL is constantly rotating so Mitchell will get some opportunites but his play will be limited due to Texans finally having depth, same with OG (Shelly Smith) CB (Sherrick McManis) & TE (Garrett Graham) leaving Holiday to make the next biggest impact pushing both Jacoby & Andre Davis.

1). Kareem Jackson
2). Darryl Sharpton
3). Ben Tate
4). Trindon Holliday
 
rmartin65 said:
1) Jackson
2) Tate
3) Mitchell
4) Holliday
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Gotta go with this order too. To me Jackson is a must unless Reeves and/or Molden come back from their injuries and play lights out, which probably would not happen. Not sure how bad Reeves injury was and how his recovery is going, and Molden has barely seen the field due to injuries in his 2 yrs here. JMHO!
 
I go with

1. Jackson... no question, he needs to be a starter
2. Mitchell... i hope he surprise and is able to make okoye better on his side
3. Tate... he is near to mitchell, but if slaton is healthy and can step up, he would just be a backup...
4. Sharpton... just in the games without cush "very" important...
5-9 we`ll see
 
Kareem Jackson, hands down.

First 3 out of 4 weeks he'll be going against pass happy Manning, McNabb, and Romo.
 
beerlover said:
Its important the Texans start the season strong so Kareem is an obvious choice. With Cushing out those first four LB is actually more up in the air & since I'm picking Sharpton to really surprise people I'm hoping its sooner than later. Red zone conversion, 3rd & short conversions plus turnovers killed the Texans last year. This is where Tate steps in to help protect the ball in game winning situations. The DL is constantly rotating so Mitchell will get some opportunites but his play will be limited due to Texans finally having depth, same with OG (Shelly Smith) CB (Sherrick McManis) & TE (Garrett Graham) leaving Holiday to make the next biggest impact pushing both Jacoby & Andre Davis.

1). Kareem Jackson
2). Darryl Sharpton
3). Ben Tate
4). Trindon Holliday
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Good points and I agree except Andre Davis. I think we'll see GK make an early benevolent cut so he has a better chance of getting a job with someone else. I don't see him in a Texans uni when the regular season starts.
 
drs23 said:
Good points and I agree except Andre Davis. I think we'll see GK make an early benevolent cut so he has a better chance of getting a job with someone else. I don't see him in a Texans uni when the regular season starts.
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possibly but he has been a pretty solid & there is familarity established (someone willing to do whatever Kubiak asks return kick-offs, big WR good route runner/hands & willing blocker).
 
beerlover said:
possibly but he has been a pretty solid & there is familarity established (someone willing to do whatever Kubiak asks return kick-offs, big WR good route runner/hands & willing blocker).
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Plus I want to add that Davis is our best gunner on punt coverages, a very important job in Coach Joe's special teams.
 
1. jackson - He needs to mature whitch i think he will
2. tate - Running game needs help. I we are to keep schaub healthy
3. holladay - If he wants a job he beter find a stable position like wr / rb. I want him to stay
4. mitchell - Just beat okoya thats all you got to do.
5. Sharpton - With cushing suspended. Its up to kubes. If he starts. Sharpton gots to work hard to impress kubes.
6. Dickerson - Can be a stud 7th round pick. If he makes the team.
7. Graham - With so many Te he must wonder where he is going to fit in.
8. McManis - A cb thats on the the border line of makeing the team or being cut
9. Smith He most likely will be cut


thats my list :fans:
 
Jackson and Mitchell first, then Tate (and maybe Sharpton), then the rest of 'em. Defense needs to step up this year.

Which is pretty much want a lot of yall already said. Just doing my two cents is all. :)
 
Some thoughts:

Jackson: Reeves & Quin should be able to keep us in games
Tate: Reasonable to think that Slaton will do better and Foster looks good.
Mitchell: Okoye handled the run & that is what he is supposed to do. Mitchell will play but not as much as some on MB think.
Sharpton: despite my buddy Beerlover's optimism that this LB will surprise us (and I think he will) I do not see him getting start while Cushing is out. Diles, Ryans, Bentley, Clark and Adibi should be the go to guys.

I think we are deep enough with talent that if any of our draft picks do not set the world on fire, we will be ok.
 
I'm lookin at the D, the D picks.

Jackson, Mitchell, Sharpton with Holliday for good measure (and hopefully good field position). All of them need to step up immediately for a playoff caliber D.
 
Jackson and Sharpton. Sharpton needs to push the other guys in camp to get better and win the spot, or if he's that much better he can start in Cushing's spot for the first four games. Jackson was drafted to come in and make an impact instantly as well.
 
Ryan said:
Jackson and Sharpton. Sharpton needs to push the other guys in camp to get better and win the spot, or if he's that much better he can start in Cushing's spot for the first four games. Jackson was drafted to come in and make an impact instantly as well.
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Don't mean to pick on you but directly, but I can't see why people are pumping Sharpton up. I think we've got great depth at the position even before he was drafted and we brought in a guy that's familiar to the system to step in for Cushing temporarily. Again I love the depth here. Just had to say it again after all the lean years this team has seen.

Obviously Jackson, hands down is the guy that needs to step up. That's why he was drafted. Not just as a young CB, but looked like the most NFL ready guy. We've got a bunch of young guys at CB and while they have the best upside we've seen on the team ever. They're young and have little starting NFL experience. IMO our Secondary is going to sink or swim on these guys being able to play beyond their experience. Jackson especially.
 
Definitely Jackson and Tate. Our secondary and running game are the weakest parts on the team by far.
 
The onus of "stepping up" falls squarely on Kareem. Tate, Mitchell and Sharpton are guys you would like to do well their rookie season, but I think the staff is more or less expecting it from Jackson. From the minute he was drafted the FO has been very open about expecting him to be a starting CB his rookie year.
 
Goldensilence said:
Don't mean to pick on you but directly, but I can't see why people are pumping Sharpton up. I think we've got great depth at the position even before he was drafted and we brought in a guy that's familiar to the system to step in for Cushing temporarily. Again I love the depth here. Just had to say it again after all the lean years this team has seen.

Obviously Jackson, hands down is the guy that needs to step up. That's why he was drafted. Not just as a young CB, but looked like the most NFL ready guy. We've got a bunch of young guys at CB and while they have the best upside we've seen on the team ever. They're young and have little starting NFL experience. IMO our Secondary is going to sink or swim on these guys being able to play beyond their experience. Jackson especially.
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I think I can speak for Beerlover, RMartin 65 and me. First we are not going to "pump him up". Just give info and why we may have a gut feeling on a player. First we look at the teams history with LBs. Let's go with Diles first; a 7th round player with great skills who has given quality starter minutes. Adibi a 4th rounder I believe has done pretty good when he could get on field. I know injury decimates player time but that is not a managment issue. Ryans and Cushing? Enough said. Bently has filled the role he was signed for but he can not beat out Ryans, but who can. Most of our LBs can play more than one spot. The team has a good history of signing good LBs.

Concerning Sharpton, he was not who I would have drafted due to our LB depth but the guy should be an awesome addition. His college turns out some pretty good pros & we have a few playing for us. In 2009 he was awarded the teams "hardest hitter" award. He plays all 3 positons. Note:
CAREER: Sharpton started 30 of 52 games at Miami, including 18 at middle linebacker, nine at strong-side and three at weakside linebacker…recorded 255 tackles (154 solos) that included 2.5 sacks for minus 24 yards and 27.0 stops for losses totaling 75 yards…caused and recovered a fumble…deflected nine passes…fielded six short kickoffs for 40 yards and had a 73-yard interception return for a touchdown. Link

http://www.houstontexans.com/team/player.asp?player_id=437

40 speed 4.73 for a 5'11' 244lbs. This compares to Garrett at 4.68
Will he beat out Diles? Maybe but he could beat out Adibi.
 
beerlover said:
Its important the Texans start the season strong so Kareem is an obvious choice. With Cushing out those first four LB is actually more up in the air & since I'm picking Sharpton to really surprise people I'm hoping its sooner than later. Red zone conversion, 3rd & short conversions plus turnovers killed the Texans last year. This is where Tate steps in to help protect the ball in game winning situations. The DL is constantly rotating so Mitchell will get some opportunites but his play will be limited due to Texans finally having depth, same with OG (Shelly Smith) CB (Sherrick McManis) & TE (Garrett Graham) leaving Holiday to make the next biggest impact pushing both Jacoby & Andre Davis.

1). Kareem Jackson
2). Darryl Sharpton
3). Ben Tate
4). Trindon Holliday
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bump-

can't do anything about Tates injury, bummer but Holliday has been somewhat dissapointing so far.
 
beerlover said:
bump-

can't do anything about Tates injury, bummer but Holliday has been somewhat dissapointing so far.
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If Holliday's thumb is not too serious, we should see improvement from him. His very first return he looked pretty good, but did not do what Coach Joe wanted him too. After that, I think he was thinking too much, and trying to follow a script. But his failure to catch the ball on the fly is a concern to me.
 
Rd 1 (20) Jackson, Kareem CB
Rd 4 (102) Sharpton, Darryl LB
Rd 3 (81) Mitchell, Earl DT

Kareem is the starter, everyone else is trying to work into the rotation. If KJ fails, he can the most easily be a deciding factor in games.
 
JB said:
If Holliday's thumb is not too serious, we should see improvement from him. His very first return he looked pretty good, but did not do what Coach Joe wanted him too. After that, I think he was thinking too much, and trying to follow a script. But his failure to catch the ball on the fly is a concern to me.
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I agree on all points. He showed how quick he can be on that first return but then made bad decisions. Hopefully they can help him figure this out. I think if he can he'll be a huge asset and give us great position all year long.

TexanSam said:
Jackson. If he isn't a quality CB then our D is going to suffer.
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I'm not so sure...they looked pretty good with out him. I know it was against Leinart but it was still a NFL first team.
 
Texas T said:
I'm not so sure...they looked pretty good with out him. I know it was against Leinart but it was still a NFL first team.
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That is a very limited sample though. If we have Reeves (or whichever CB would start in place of Jackson) and Glover Quin as our 2 starting CB's then I will be very nervous about our D. It would be the equivalent of having Chris Henry starting at RB.
 
TexanSam said:
That is a very limited sample though. If we have Reeves (or whichever CB would start in place of Jackson) and Glover Quin as our 2 starting CB's then I will be very nervous about our D. It would be the equivalent of having Chris Henry starting at RB.
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Even though he's small, I think McCain would do OK in there. I'm not totally hating Molden, either.
 
Honestly I thought the whole secondary played waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what was expected (or at least above my expectations). I know, I know, it was only Matt Leinart but you can say that about a lot of QB's that have torched us in the past (Alex Smith being one of the most recent). Hell, even Jamarcus freakin Russell torched us for 230 yds and 2 TD's with no picks once, in 2008. In terms of the secondary play, vs the Cards on Saturday that was like. . . an epic performance.
 
b0ng said:
Honestly I thought the whole secondary played waaaaaaaaaaaaay better than what was expected (or at least above my expectations). I know, I know, it was only Matt Leinart but you can say that about a lot of QB's that have torched us in the past (Alex Smith being one of the most recent). Hell, even Jamarcus freakin Russell torched us for 230 yds and 2 TD's with no picks once, in 2008. In terms of the secondary play, vs the Cards on Saturday that was like. . . an epic performance.
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This is why I don't think last Sat. was a true test. Let's see what we do against the champs and Jerry's kids over the next two weeks.
 
ObsiWan said:
This is why I don't think last Sat. was a true test. Let's see what we do against the champs and Jerry's kids over the next two weeks.
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I agree completely. I was just expecting worse (based solely on what I've read) without Jackson and was happy with the performance that they put up.
 
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