My Final Draft

[texansalltheway]

Texans trade #13 and Demarcus Faggins to Jacksonville for their #21 and #52

RD1 #21 David Pollack LB, Georgia-Smart, Versitle, Hard worker, Great Character and extremely productive at a high level.
RD2 #52 Ciatrick Fason RB, Florida-Has never missed a game due to injury, does not fumble, quick, runs good routes, has good vision and can catch and was the leading rusher in the SEC.
RD3 #73 Courtney Roby WR, Indiana-Excellent athletiscm and speed and can beat his defender one-on-one, not afraid to go over the middle, makes plays after the catch
RD4 #114 Lofa Tatupu LB/S, USC-Size hurts him but if the passing of Fields helps us remember one thing is that it isn't the size but the heart, determination and work ethic and this kid has a lot of both.
RD5 #151 Rob Petite OT, Pittsburgh-Another gamer that showed he could play in college despite his lack of athletiscm. Shutting out Freeney in college has to amount for something, especially since no one else iin the NFL has been able to.
RD6 #188 Vince Carter C, Oklahoma-If you haven't noticed I like players who can play and were good football players and not on size and Carrter fits that mold. Deemed too small by most to play in the NFL, our zone blocking scheme could utilze his athletiscm, technique, and awareness.
RD7 #227 Albert Means DT, Memphis-Marred by the Alabama recruiting scandal he had nothing to do with, has excellent size and frame, stout against the run and can be a dominate 2 gap DT which makes him an ideal fit for a NT

My feelings for our needs were to improve the LB corp, offensive line help, protecting David, and helping out AJ.

Pollack is a versitle LB that could play OLB and if given time could even play ILB with is lateral agility and run stopping ability. With Wong's contract ending next year it is a good move to draft a LB this year and groom him to take his spot because you never know if a player is coming back or not. Tatupu is a gamer and you just can't deny his production in college, at the very least he could be a special teams demon and/or make a switch to SS.

Picking a running back helps in three ways; it takes pressure off of David by having a sustained rushing attack, It takes pressure off of the defense because now we can eat up the clock and rest our defense more, and this could keep DD from getting too banged up and injured.

Roby is an excellent #2 reciever with his speed and ability to go over the middle for a catch. Teams won't be able to double team him and AJ because they wil have to account for his hands and playmaking ability after the catch. He also has strong character and a good work ethic and could push AJ in work outs (not that he needs it)

Petitte and Carter are going to be developmental players for now but could be top back-ups and in Carter's case an eventual starter. Petitte is big, strong, long arms and good in pass protection and dominating in run blocking and could see a lot of time in jumbo packages. Carter is is too good of a college player to be overlooked especiall if we are serious about the zone blocking scheme which could uses more smaller athletic linemen.

Means would be a good pick up in the later rounds for depth at the DL. I know most people want to address the DL earlier and more often but we just have too much money spent on our DL our starters are all in the top 10 in salary on the team. I would like to pick up depth at the DL as well but when we have so many other need positions and protecting David is a high priority.

Thanks everyone for all your feedback this offseason and hope everyone will be happy with Charley tommorrow, enjoy the draft!

[66cobra]

I really like this draft, but if only if the pick at that point is for BPA or the short list of potential draftees dwindles to where there is only 1-2 possible players to pick and they don't fit our scheme.

[royce1054]

Do you think Jacksonville would want Demarcus faggins?

[cadahnic]

Why trade Faggins? We move down with St. Lou or Philly and take Pollack, Davis, or a Matt Jones or someone like that. Baas in the second round or spencer in the second or third. I like the LB from USC, but courtney roby does not sit well with me if mark bradley, j. mathis, or terrance murphy are available. Roby seems a bit like Gaff to me, but that is my opinion. the rest of the picks i have no problem with even though in the fifth rather than petite why not Kieft from central michigan.

[texansalltheway]

Jacksonville needs depth at CB and Faggins was going to be our nickel back before Buchanon came and we got Sanders so Faggins is expendable. They picked up Kenny Wright so I am sure they could use Faggins.

[Porky]

Great draft... except for trading Faggins. Seems like that would be akin to spinning our wheels, but not getting anywhere. We know have the depth we need at corner. Why spend all that time developing Faggins into a good, long term solution at the nickel or dime spot, and then turn him loose.

[royce1054]

Originally Posted by cadahnic

Why trade Faggins? We move down with St. Lou or Philly and take Pollack, Davis, or a Matt Jones or someone like that. Baas in the second round or spencer in the second or third. I like the LB from USC, but courtney roby does not sit well with me if mark bradley, j. mathis, or terrance murphy are available. Roby seems a bit like Gaff to me, but that is my opinion. the rest of the picks i have no problem with even though in the fifth rather than petite why not Kieft from central michigan.

Well with the Rams... i think that might happen after a few trades. If New Oreleans Trades the #16 to Tenneesee for #6 then i think we might see the Rams moving up bc of fear the titans would take Brown. I am sure the Panthers will go Barron if on the board.

As for Philly i am hearing that they are targeting Mike WIlliams. I think someone else will outbid them on that deal. I think if Washington doesnt move up to take Edwards or Williams then they will go Williamson at #9. That leaves the Eagles trading up for Clayton. I havent heard his name come up but the name sounds like a good fit doesnt it. So i dont know if the Philly trade will happen

[DRIFTAWAY]

We should keep Faggins, because he has some great potential. Glenn will be gone soon, than we could use Faggins. Sanders i'm not to sure of. Id rather us trade with Philly for their 31 and 35. Than if Roddy White is available at 31 take him and Baas at 35. Or Matt Jones and David Baas.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Porky

Great draft... except for trading Faggins. Seems like that would be akin to spinning our wheels, but not getting anywhere. We know have the depth we need at corner. Why spend all that time developing Faggins into a good, long term solution at the nickel or dime spot, and then turn him loose.

I am with you on this one--trading Faggins is a really bad idea. When Buchanon was signed Capers pointed out the Texans used 4 CB sets 45% of the time last year. It is not like with Buchanon around Faggins will be sitting on his toushy. Depth like this is where you get a great D and more opportunities for turnovers. A QB deciding he will pick on the dime back won't be facing a regular barely able to stay on the team dime back he will be facing a ball-hawking guy who some teams might start. You would also by the way be creating $600k or so of dead money on the cap.

Besides, what is your objective?--to maneuver for depth, by getting rid of depth.

[texansalltheway]

Besides, what is your objective?--to maneuver for depth, by getting rid of depth

Kind of, I agree depth is good but excess can be bad if there are other needs at other positions like LB and OL and WR. We would will still have 4 quality CB and a 5th to develope in Jason Bell. I understand what all of you are saying and I like Faggins alot but bringing in Buchanon and Sanders could possible make Faggins expendable, especially if that means upgrading another position of need. Also I think Capers would perfer Sanders this year over Faggins because of the height factor. Glenn is 5-9, Dunta is 5-10 and Buchanon is 5-11. Faggins is 5-10 and Sanders is 6-1, so I would assume that Sanders will see more time than Faggins would based on matchups.

[F-minus67]

I don't think that Vince Carter will fall into the sixth round.

[D-ReK]

RD4 #114 Lofa Tatupu LB/S, USC-Size hurts him but if the passing of Fields helps us remember one thing is that it isn't the size but the heart, determination and work ethic and this kid has a lot of both.

I'm assuming you mean Sam Mills not Mark Fields...As others have already said, trading Faggins would be a bad idea...We could probably get 21 and 52 without including him, so why do it?

[canadiantexan]

Originally Posted by DRIFTAWAY

We should keep Faggins, because he has some great potential. Glenn will be gone soon, than we could use Faggins. Sanders i'm not to sure of. Id rather us trade with Philly for their 31 and 35. Than if Roddy White is available at 31 take him and Baas at 35. Or Matt Jones and David Baas.

That's the trade I would want to see (Philly) and we grab Baas in the 1st and some defensive help in the 2nd and then Mathis in the 3rd. we could follow that up with D-Line and O-line depth and maybe a RB.

[texasguy346]

Originally Posted by texansalltheway

Also I think Capers would perfer Sanders this year over Faggins because of the height factor. Glenn is 5-9, Dunta is 5-10 and Buchanon is 5-11. Faggins is 5-10 and Sanders is 6-1, so I would assume that Sanders will see more time than Faggins would based on matchups.

Since when has Capers ever used height to determine who gets playing time at CB? Our veteran tall CB was switched from a starting CB to a starting FS. I really don't think height has anything at all to do with Capers setting his depth chart. He wants to play the 3 or 4 best CBs based on their talent and production. IMO Glenn, Dunta, and Faggins are definately in that 3 or 4 group. If Sanders makes the opening day roster it will likely be due to his versatility rather than his height. I'm guessing that your logic is that taller corners should cover taller receivers, but often times in the slot you see the quicker more precise route running WRs and not neccessarily the tall WR capable of jumping up to grab a pass out of the air. The fact of the matter is that with the new rules emphasis taller and more physical CBs are more of a rarity than a necessity. Teams are searching for smaller, quicker, and more fluid CBs who can cover a reciever w/o having to be physical and thus drawing a flag. The way I see it playing out is that Faggins and Buchannon will be fighting it out for the NB spot, and the loser will be the dime back. Then either Sanders/Simmons or even possibly both will serve as depth at both CB/S. I really don't see height as having anything to do with it at all.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by texansalltheway

We would will still have 4 quality CB and a 5th to develope in Jason Bell.

Jason Bell is a special teams player and emergency backup, not a quality CB to develop.

The Texans just let Kenny Wright go who had almost exactly the same height and weight as Lewis Sanders and vastly more experience at CB than Sanders. The Texans didn't pull Faggins last year to get more size on the field in the form of Wright. As far as CB's go--size is overrated.

[texansalltheway]

Look my main point is Faggins is a dime back, Sanders could probably do just as good of a job as our dime back as Faggins. If we could trade our Dimeback to another team to help in other areas of our team that need help than why not? Your right last year we never pulled Faggins for Wright because he was taller, and Capers has never cared about size, but from a depth point of view would you rather have our 4th CB be strictly a 4th CB or would you rather him be more versitle and also play special teams and safety, keep in mind this is our 4th string CB. I just brought up the size to show that Sanders is a more versitle DB than Faggins, like Wright was last year, who happened to be our dime back. I am not saying that Sanders is a better CB than Faggins but he has more value right now and Faggins is expendable because we have so much depth there and little depth in other areas like LB who could use some help at the expense of our DB. Also don't think Sanders is a scrub player, he was a highly decorated player at Maryland and was a Thorpe Award finalist and has a good size to speed ratio with a knack for finding the ball.

[texasguy346]

There is nothing that keeps us from having Faggins and Sanders on the roster. We could keep 6 CBs if we wanted to or even more. Sanders and Simmons are both players that are CBs by trade, but can play S as well. We could keep one or both, and still maintain Glenn, DRob, Faggins, and PB.

[texansalltheway]

I would like that and we probably will keep all the DB, my position is that we don't need all that depth when other positions could use some help, again like the LB corp, who is our top reserve LB? Polk and Evans, I would think that Capers would want an upgrade at LB over that kind of depth at DB. Again these are the tough choices that CC and Capers have to make and I am glad (as most of you probably are) I don't have to balance depth at all the different positions. With only 53 players on a roster how many DB can we carry with out sacrificing the depth of other critical positions?

[El Tejano]

You could get rid of the Lewis guy. Noone is getting rid of Peetey Faggins.

[texasguy346]

Originally Posted by texansalltheway

I would like that and we probably will keep all the DB, my position is that we don't need all that depth when other positions could use some help, again like the LB corp, who is our top reserve LB? Polk and Evans, I would think that Capers would want an upgrade at LB over that kind of depth at DB. Again these are the tough choices that CC and Capers have to make and I am glad (as most of you probably are) I don't have to balance depth at all the different positions. With only 53 players on a roster how many DB can we carry with out sacrificing the depth of other critical positions?

It's difficult to answer that without knowing the outcome of several position battles that will take place through training camp and the pre season. For example, if JJ Moses isn't unseated as a KR/PR then he will take up a roster spot. It's way too early to be able to say definitively how many players we can carry at any one position since we've yet to even finish the draft yet. All those new players are going to be vying for roster spots too. Not to mention any undrafted free agent signings we make after the draft. As far as our ILB depth we have Evans, Polk, Moreno, Chamberlin, Orr, and then whomever we pick up in the draft or sign afterwards. The depth at ILB doesn't seem to be a need that would require CC to trade a very talented player to pick up an extra pick or two. There are plenty of good ILB in the draft, and there are still lots of LBs in free agency. CC could address our ILB depth there w/o having to give up anything from his secondary.