The Need For Speed

[Texan in Japan]

With the shunning of Sharper and Foreman, the signing of Greenwood, the Texans have are looking to increase our team speed. Using that as a foundation, what players become our targets?

LB: DJ, Merriman, Ware, Burnett
CB: Rolle, PM Jones, Carlos Rogers, Junior Miller
WR: Williamson, Clayton

We could either move up, down or stay put with that group as our targets. If we don't trade up and a special player falls (RB, QB or someone who doesn't fit our system) we could trade down.

I have faith in our guys, this should be a fun draft to add some team speed. I feel the need.

[The Preacher]

All I kjnow is if we can't get to the QB it's going to be a long season. Last year the Texans showed the league how to slow down Peyton and that's pressure. That's why I hope we either draft Rogers so the secondary allows for more blitzes or another OLB who can plow through anything to get to the QB. I don't know if that is Pollack,Ware,Roth,Merriman etc. who knows maybe Peek. I doubt we would go ILB if we stayed at #13. If we trade down we could snag a OLB, ILB, and CB in first two rounds(if we picked up extra#2). That means no Rogers but there are a bunch of decent corners and I'd be surprised if we didn't pick one before the end of round 2. Preferably Move down 2-7 spots and snag Justin Miller before Jacksonville does. Then take your pick of DE/LB tweeners in 2nd.

[TigerBait]

Im liking the idea of us trading down and picking up Ware. Great size and athletecism at 6-4 256 and a 4.55 40, although if Merriman slides to use at 13, id rather him.

[royce1054]

Originally Posted by TigerBait

Im liking the idea of us trading down and picking up Ware. Great size and athletecism at 6-4 256 and a 4.55 40, although if Merriman slides to use at 13, id rather him.

Merriman wont get past 11. I am starting to see both Ware and Blackstock climbing. I defiitely think we can move down and get one of the 2 and then get a WR in the 2nd. if we get a 2nd round pick then we can get a better CB to be Glenn's replacement.

[Grid]

Pollack may not have the straight ahead speed (4.79) but he is the QUICKEST LB in the draft. And quickness can lead to more sacks than speed if its used right.

Ware also looks pretty good too.

Every LB/Tweener in the 1st/2nd round look pretty promising.. so if we take one.. ill try our F.O. to make the right choice.

CB.. tempting but I dunno that we will go for one in the 1st. It all depends on how far our coaches feel that Glenn has slid.. I dont think they think he has slid as far as we do. He will have it a bit easier next season when/if Dunta takes the #1 CB spot.

WR just strikes me as unlikely.. but im not paid to make those decisions so what do i know?

[TigerBait]

http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/sub/mockdraft.html
has us taking Ware. I think he is a good pick but not at 13. We should be able to trade down aways and still get him. He also has us taking Elton Brown over Baas in the second..

[Grid]

a trade with the eagles to get #31 and #35 could land us Ware, Baas, and maybe Anntaj Hawthorne.

Thats 3 players who look very promising.. who all fill very important needs for us.

[infantrycak]

Funny how many people are now treating ROLB as a very important need while LT is almost entirely discounted as a need. Seems patience applies to Wand but not Peek--interesting.

Draft season should officially be renamed the NFL Fan Silly Season.

[TexansTrueFan]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Draft season should officially be renamed the NFL Fan Silly Season.

haha yes i agree, i say let peek have his shot, and i thought everyone agreed, i guess just the thought of us getting DJ makes some forget about peek ! But i also say give Wand some time to, i dont like to jump to conclusions, i think thats what we did with Posey and Foley.

[Trapped]

I really like the idea of trading down with the Eagles. If one of the big 3 rbs are there at 13, do the Eagles jump up? I think they need a back to compliment Westbrook. For the Texans we should draft

Hawthorne, Marlin Jackson, or Ware at 31. Depending on who is there. At 35 i think we should draft Baas, Elton Brown, or Kevin Burnett.

I really think Ware and Burnett are promising players that we could possibly both pick up at 31 and 35.

We go dline at 47, hopefully Luis Castillo if not go C Chris Spencer.

CB, Ronald Bartell or Stanley Wilson at 73
WR, Courtney Roby or Terence Murphy at 78.

4th round Jason Brown or Ben Wilkerson

So in a perfect world we would get Ware, Burnett, Castillo, Bartell, Roby, and Wilkerson. Which i highly doubt that we are that lucky. We groom Ware and Burnett this year becuase Peek and Wong's contracts are up after this year. Basically all those 6 players are gonna be groomed with the exception of Ware.

I see our draft looking like this though

Williamson, 2nd round ????, Bartell, Roby, and Jason Brown.

[vtech9]

personally, I'd rather have Castillo over Hawthorne. I think Castillo would be great in our 3-4 defense at NT or even at any of the DE positions.

I don't know if Roth can convert over to OLB in our system, but if he can, I would like to have him over Ware, Blackstock, or any of the others tweeners I have heard about.

WR is such a deep postion in this draft that we can get a good one in the 2nd, 3rd, and probably even the 4th round and later. I just don't see that big of a dropoff from the top 2 or 3 WR's to the rest of the bunch. Of course I don't really see any of the top 3 being as good as A.J. or some of the other top WR's in past drafts.

Barron may be the best OT in the draft, but I don't think he would be any better than Wand, so I would pass on him. I wouldn't mind getting Baas if we trade down, but not at the 13th spot.

the other positions, I'm not really up on, though I would still like to have D.J. if he falls to us at 13, but I hate the thought of giving up picks to trade up. I know people are gonna hate me for saying this, but if QB Leflors is still around in the 4th or 5th where he is projected, I think the Texans will take him.

Just my opinion.

[royce1054]

only problem with that... is the Eagles want Mike Williams. If they decide that Troy Williamson is good enough it might happen.

[texasguy346]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Draft season should officially be renamed the NFL Fan Silly Season.

Thats true, but keep in mind that no football and no interesting football related news tends to drive alot of us crazy. I know I can't wait till the draft just to have a tiny football fix even if it's going to have to last me till Training Camp.

[outofhnd]

I like castillos atleticism and feel it would be a good fit. what about Matt jones? hed be an interesting pick up as well since he might beable to play TE or WR kinda of shockey like how he can split out into a WR slot.

[royce1054]

i saw a mock with matt jones going 28th... maybe he is starting to climb too

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by texasguy346

Thats true, but keep in mind that no football and no interesting football related news tends to drive alot of us crazy. I know I can't wait till the draft just to have a tiny football fix even if it's going to have to last me till Training Camp.

Sure, natural void to fill and I certainly like learning about the potential players. Sometimes though I just get this image of a bunch of cows standing in foot high grass looking over a fence into a field with wolves and one turns to the others and says, hey I think that grass is greener. Of course, that may just be a personal issue.

[Grid]

my reasoning for LB over OT:

Wand has been playing for ONE season.. Peek has had 3 seasons to win a starting spot.

Wand got the nod to start. Peek.. despite his production.. was limited to passing downs.


Wand is an olineman and olinemen need time, not only to develop, but to mesh with the rest of the line. Peek is playing at an "immediate results" position.. and apparently he hasnt been giving the results that the coaches want.

Pollack could possibly play ILB in our system... given time to learn the position.

We still need immediate impact players from the draft.. and OT is not an immediate impact position. Where is the logic in using our first or even second rounder on an OT when, not only will that player not start for us anytime soon, but we also need interior olinemen more than tackles.. and this is a VERY deep interior olineman draft.


This draft is not sporting alot of high quality tweener prospects in the middle rounds. But has a handful of VERY nice prospects in the 1st and 2nd.




SO.. call me a cow if ya want but LB is a logical 1st round selection to me . We are rebuilding our LBs.. we released our biggest playmaker in the front seven.. and now we need talent at LB.. quickly... there just happen to be a buttload of very promising LBs in the first too :P. In the words of T.O. "If it smells like a rat..."


I wouldnt be disappointed if we got Benson either

[royce1054]

Originally Posted by Grid

SO.. call me a cow if ya want but LB is a logical 1st round selection to me . We are rebuilding our LBs.. we released our biggest playmaker in the front seven.. and now we need talent at LB.. quickly... there just happen to be a buttload of very promising LBs in the first too :P. In the words of T.O. "If it smells like a rat..."

The problem is that there are no real LB in the #13 spot. Thats one reason why i think we should trade down take a natural OLB. Move Wong inside. Get a passrusher that can cover the RB. I think we could trade into the 20's pick up a 2nd or 3rd or even a 4th prob a combination. That is a prime area to add depth. I admit after the 5th round the chances of the player making it arent good. if we trade further back into the teen we can get 1st and 3rd. If we go into the 20's we can get a 1st and 2nd or even 1st, 3rd and 4th. Either way we can add good talent and depth at the positions we need.

[Grid]

the more I look at it.. unless a really good player falls in our laps.. trading down seems the best option. The picks at 20-50 may not be as good as those at 1-20.. but they are still really good value for where they are at. getting another pick in that range would be better than taking Alex Barron IMO.

[royce1054]

Originally Posted by Grid

the more I look at it.. unless a really good player falls in our laps.. trading down seems the best option. The picks at 20-50 may not be as good as those at 1-20.. but they are still really good value for where they are at. getting another pick in that range would be better than taking Alex Barron IMO.

I agree. I actually think 1-20 are good but the talent in this draft isnt as good as other drafts. 20-50 i think are gonna be the studs of this draft. I dont think there are many starters in this draft. This draft is going to be a depth and special teams draft until we see who will blossom. Other drafts we knew 1-20 were going to be stars. I see 5-8 stars 1-20 thats about 10-12 short to me.