Todd Wade

Hey, Vinny, you seem to be knowledgeable about line play. Therefore, could you see Todd Wade @ left tackle. He is well compensated. I don't access to Texans' games, but was Wand really poor last year, or is he better suited for RT.

houstonprofootball.com

To me, he is a pure RT although he seems to have good feet. I was told we may look at Wade at LT a bit in camp, and I was chatting with Keith the other day (privately) and he said he was told the same thing and we had two different sources that each told us this at different times so I guess it is likely true. I would not read too much into it though. If they take a look, it will probably be a short one imo. I think Wand still has good potential but after talking to a few folks I'm not sure he is going to stick at LT long term. He may also be a better RT than LT.

He has excellent feet but I don't think he can make the neccesary adjustments needed to be a great LT. But its always worth a look

I appreciate Cass & crew going after OP like they did, but up until then they had me convinced that Seth Wand was their long term plan at LT. Now I realize that was a smoke screen and they have profound reservations about
his abilities to fill that all important position. It also makes me think that they
are far more likely to take a tackle with their first pick than they led on before. They may not see a potential Pace or Bosseli amoung this years college group, but they may see a player(s) that would be a substantial upgrade over Wand. Which leads me arounde to the subject of this thread -
yea, I expect them to try Todd Wade at LT because we now know they aren't satisfied with what they've got there now.

you know i could see us drafting alex barron...i've said that for awhile now...but instead of putting him at LT his first season we could move wade over to LT for a season and have barron play RT to get used to tackle play in the nfl...remember at florida state barron was the rotating tackle on the open side...meaning he rarely had tight end help...giving him a year with TE help might be very good for him as he gets used to the speed of the nfl...and of course there is no saying we can switch him and wade half-way throughout the season

Wand is going to show marked improvement this season as will Chester Pitts at LG. Concern about the left side of our line is understandable after last season but it's going to be ok with or without adding Barron/moving Wade.

I kind of don't think that Barron will be there at 13 anyway.

For the record....I think Wand will end up starting at LT next season regardless. For all I know Wade is just getting back up reps. I'm not down on Wand myself and think that he had a pretty solid year last year and is going to get better with experience. My post above was just passing on a bit of cryptic information that I have gotten.

Vinny said:

To me, he is a pure RT although he seems to have good feet. I was told we may look at Wade at LT a bit in camp, and I was chatting with Keith the other day (privately) and he said he was told the same thing and we had two different sources that each told us this at different times so I guess it is likely true. I would not read too much into it though. If they take a look, it will probably be a short one imo. I think Wand still has good potential but after talking to a few folks I'm not sure he is going to stick at LT long term. He may also be a better RT than LT.

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While Wade is a better run blocker at this point in thier careers, I see Wade and Wand is very similiar players. they have very good feet for a right tackle, but only average to ok for a LT. I think either long term on the left side equals a guy who is adequate to good, but could always use an upgrade.

Keep in mind we did kinda rush things with Wand because Pitts was getting holding calls left and right. Pitts did a good job at LT but he has a hard time positioning his hands and usually gets outside the numbers. With Wand we had fewer holding calls fewer breakdowns he just needs to learn how to handle speed rushers. I think Wand and Peek will see plenty of each other during camp as they may try to quicken his feet. Not to mention we don't know how he is doing in the filmroom and on the practice field. Who knows we might see an improvement. It just may be the learning curve we put Wand on especially in a new scheme in which ALL of the O Line had problems I think the consesnus is that the time it would take to get him to perform better may be longer than 1 or 2 seasons. Wade will be a trial run but prolly not much if any improvment

although i thought he didnt do TO terrible last season i still feel we could really use an up grade. But i feel they will improve as a unit by next season !

Hervoyel said:

I kind of don't think that Barron will be there at 13 anyway.

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unless someone trades up to get him, I doubt he'll be off the board by the time we pick at #13... having said that, I honestly dont see us drafting him unless he truly is the bpa at the time. I'm still say that we will be drafting either a LB, CB, or WR with the first pick.