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Leach who?

srrono

srrono

All Pro
Are you guys still upset over the loss of Leach seems to me the Texans running game isnt going to miss a beat. Plus the addition of Casey in the offense seems like a huge plus. Kubiak is getting creative with his use of Casey I am excited to see what happens when the season starts.
 
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James Casey did a wonderful job of blocking. He sealed off a defender, beautifully, to allow our RB to score a TD.

Vickers adds another element to the FB position, too.

We are stacked on offense. 2 good FBs, 1 All-Universe RB and 2 more behind him who are no slouches, 4 or 5 WRs, 3 TEs, and 2 QBs.

And now the defense has a true d-coord leading it. Last year, we got manhandled by the Saints in preseason...and this year, they were marching down the field (again) and it looked like more of the same. Until we jacked up Drew Brees and made him fumble the ball. From that point forward, it was night and day.

I won't proclaim us Super Bowl caliber. But I will say that it looks like we can make the playoffs and have a shot at it.
 
srrono said:
Are you guys still upset over the loss of Leach seems to me the Texans running game isnt going to miss a beat. Plus the addition of Casey in the offense seems like a huge plus. Kubiak is getting creative with his use of Casey I am excited to see what happens when the season starts.
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I was not sad at all to see vonta go.

I thought that with Casey our offense would overall be more effective. And I also thought that we'd see a lot more movement with the fb position and because Casey is a legit receiving threat I knew defenses would have to honor him when he motioned out to a receiver position.

I think Casey is going to be huge for thus offense.
 
If it doesn't upset the locker room, too much, I'm not missing him too much. After having time to think on it, I'm glad we didn't pay him what he was asking. We seem close to salary cap hell right now.
 
TexansFanatic said:
The AFC South is Kubiak's to lose. This team will live or die depending on how well or poorly he manages each game.

Fingers crossed!
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That's a bold statement. Untill #18 up in Indy misses more then 6 games, I'd still have the Colts as the team to bet in the AFC South.
 
Casey was all over the field last night. Motioning out to WR, they have to honor his catching ability and it leaves one less LB to deal with on runs. Talk about taking his man out. Or the block for a Jacoby screen pass, nice. They had a wide array of motions in use last night, I think that really kept the Saints D on their heels and Casey was a big part of that. He's a ram running up the gut too, he brings everything Leach brought but better hands and better athleticism. Upgrade: Complete.

Vickers....on the other hand....looked rough against 2nd teamers. AGAIN. He's not even close and with the need for special teams depth or to keep a young talent like Jean, Maehl, Braman, McMannis, etc...I don't see room for all mouth, no impact as a backup FB.
 
TimeKiller said:
Casey was all over the field last night. Motioning out to WR, they have to honor his catching ability and it leaves one less LB to deal with on runs. Talk about taking his man out. Or the block for a Jacoby screen pass, nice. They had a wide array of motions in use last night, I think that really kept the Saints D on their heels and Casey was a big part of that. He's a ram running up the gut too, he brings everything Leach brought but better hands and better athleticism. Upgrade: Complete.

Vickers....on the other hand....looked rough against 2nd teamers. AGAIN. He's not even close and with the need for special teams depth or to keep a young talent like Jean, Maehl, Braman, McMannis, etc...I don't see room for all mouth, no impact as a backup FB.
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Ya know, the fact that Casey will not be used as a battering ram on every running play will go a long way towards keeping him healthy. That might make it possible to keep only one FB. Is Vickers contract gauranteed?
 
GP said:
James Casey did a wonderful job of blocking. He sealed off a defender, beautifully, to allow our RB to score a TD.

Vickers adds another element to the FB position, too.

We are stacked on offense. 2 good FBs, 1 All-Universe RB and 2 more behind him who are no slouches, 4 or 5 WRs, 3 TEs, and 2 QBs.

And now the defense has a true d-coord leading it. Last year, we got manhandled by the Saints in preseason...and this year, they were marching down the field (again) and it looked like more of the same. Until we jacked up Drew Brees and made him fumble the ball. From that point forward, it was night and day.

I won't proclaim us Super Bowl caliber. But I will say that it looks like we can make the playoffs and have a shot at it.
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It's like other folks have said , there's more than one way to skin a cat . When Leach comes on the field they bring in a run defense . With Casey they're really not sure what's going to happen . Casey in motion is just as good as a lead block sometimes .
 
Not to be "Debbie Downer" .... But we have to put into perspective the run defense the Texans faced yesterday in the Aints ...... They were the leagues worst last season giving up an average 5.5 yards per carry.


I dont think people realize they were a poor rushing defense because they werent run on a whole lot because teams were always playing catch up due to their high powered offense.


The above said , Foster and Tate looked like they were running against a pop warner defense and could have racked up double the yardage they got ..... with ease.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
It's like other folks have said , there's more than one way to skin a cat . When Leach comes on the field they bring in a run defense . With Casey they're really not sure what's going to happen . Casey in motion is just as good as a lead block sometimes .
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This. Kubes is a good offensive schemer. Having a 5 receivers on the field in every set is extremely dangerous and difficult to scheme for. As much as I liked Vonta, he was never a threat to catch the ball other than the occasional dump.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
It's like other folks have said , there's more than one way to skin a cat . When Leach comes on the field they bring in a run defense . With Casey they're really not sure what's going to happen . Casey in motion is just as good as a lead block sometimes .
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Casey has been a pleasant surprise to me .... He's like a swiss army knife ....
 
Casey is the kind of guy that could spend 3 seasons on a team's bench, get cut, get picked up by the Patriots and become a household name. I'm glad we found a way to use him, it looks like he is going to be a versatile weapon for our offense.
 
srrono said:
Are you guys still upset over the loss of Leach seems to me the Texans running game isnt going to miss a beat. Plus the addition of Casey in the offense seems like a huge plus. Kubiak is getting creative with his use of Casey I am excited to see what happens when the season starts.
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I'm not upset at all. I think the players we are replacing him with will fill in admirably, and I'm happy for Vonta because he got paid and he is on a good team with a chance of competing. I think everyone won on this one.
 
Corrosion said:
Not to be "Debbie Downer" .... But we have to put into perspective the run defense the Texans faced yesterday in the Aints ...... They were the leagues worst last season giving up an average 5.5 yards per carry.
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The Saints gave up 1797 rushing yards on 421 attempts in 2010. A 4.3 ypc average, good for 19th in the league. Not great, but not as horrible as they looked last night. Or on that Marshawn Lynch TD run in the playoffs.
 
All I know is I hope to see few drives where we pass the ball 3 times. I understand it is our strength...or was...but when you can run the ball THAT well, passing should be a distant option.

Control the flow of the game with the run, give your defense some rest, and pass when you need to. It's worked so well for the Steelers all these years...

Casey looks to bring more versatility though, and the run game didn't suffer when he was in there. Think it is his job to lose, although I think Vickers will still get snaps.
 
This thread title is extremely disrespectful to someone who played very well for the Texans. I really do not support that sentiment at all.

That said, I thought James Casey played very well, and I am really excited regarding the matchup problems he can give opposing defenses. I really love this new flexibility that we didn't have with Vonta back there.
 
DocBar said:
Ya know, the fact that Casey will not be used as a battering ram on every running play will go a long way towards keeping him healthy. That might make it possible to keep only one FB. Is Vickers contract gauranteed?
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I think it's a one-year deal, IIRC.

EDIT: It's a 2-year deal. Doesn't do any real damage to us, either.

After a few days of courting each other, Houston Chronicle writer John McClain is reporting that the Houston Texans have officially signed ex-Cleveland Browns fullback Lawrence Vickers. Per The General, the deal with Vickers is two-years and worth $3 million with a $500,000 signing bonus, modest compared to Vonta Leach's $11 million deal over three years with the Baltimore Ravens.

Vickers was made expendable in Cleveland after the Browns drafted Stanford two-way star Owen Marecic in April's NFL Draft. This came after Vickers started all 16 games last season and cleared the way for Peyton Hillis to run for 1,177 yards and the Madden NFL 12 cover. Vickers helped three running backs rush for over 1,000 yards over the last four seasons as a starting fullback for the Browns.
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Link to story here.

There's "depth" and then there's "crazy wicked awesome depth." Vickers is the latter. Between those two guys, Arian Foster or other RBs will have a quality FB leading the way each time.
 
Rey said:
There is no way I'd cut vickers.
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Oh it won't happen. I don't think anybody here would even suggest it.

There's room on the roster for both guys. It's a need position to have two FBs, but it's also become a luxury issue with how well Casey has applied himself thus far in the preseason.

Best of both worlds. And we've got him locked up for two years.
 
GP said:
Oh it won't happen. I don't think anybody here would even suggest it.
There's room on the roster for both guys. It's a need position to have two FBs, but it's also become a luxury issue with how well Casey has applied himself thus far in the preseason.

Best of both worlds. And we've got him locked up for two years.
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LOL!! I hinted at it. I'm really wanting us to keep 5 WR's. How many FB's were on the roster last year? Does Vickers play ST at all?
 
Leach = powerful running game, but can't get anywhere after a catch.

Vickers = same thing, but a tad less power and a tad more receiving.

Casey = D can't worry about the run as much, because he adds ANOTHER receiving threat.

In a nutshell, we run well because of the talent of the O-Line and runner (vision). Let's hear it for the O-line. :fans:
 
Watching late pieces of the 49ers game, Vickers looked a bit lost to me. I didn't see him finding the right guy to block or he'd only chip the guy. I thought he'd be a quick fit into our system.

Casey seems to have clearly won -- and expanded -- the FB role at this point.
 
I dont see Vickers sticking ..... I think he was an insurance policy just in case Casey didnt cut it at FB .... Its become apparent that Casey is more than capable blocking the position and adds another dimension to the passing game. So long Vickers .....
 
i think casey deserves a fair amount of credit for his blocking so far. obviously not the 'dozer that leach is (is anybody?), but i'm giving him the tony richardson seal of approval ... smashing his assignment and very technically sound. richardson being the best fullback in the past 15 years in my opinion.

in a perfect world i would rather have leach just because he is so dang destructive and works well with foster able to follow that lane (as opposed to slaton who needs the cut-back to hit his homerun), but casey isnt the letdown in power that we all expected.

i dont see vickers making it.
 
Didn't really watch Vickers today, but James Casey has been great on blocking. And Kubiak is smart enough to make him a H-Back type of player, motion him to the outside, pass to him, etc.

And while Leach is a great blocker, he doesn't bring anything else to the table imo, he was okay catching the ball out of the backfield, but really couldn't get much YAC.
 
Did Vickers even play? Casey really showed his versatility last night but those two holding calls were maddening not to mention the block in the back call he got.

So basically the 38 yards he produced were wiped out by penalties. Still a Casey fan though and I think he adds to the offense in a way that Leach could not.
 
I think we'll be fine. Many people were worries when we got Leach in the first place, because we were letting Moran Norris go. We were okay then, and I think we will be again.
 
Scooter said:
in a perfect world i would rather have leach just because he is so dang destructive and works well with foster able to follow that lane (as opposed to slaton who needs the cut-back to hit his homerun), but casey isnt the letdown in power that we all expected.
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I don't like your choice of words there.

We ALL didn't expect a let down in power. You should said "I" or "some" because myself and a few others had been saying all along that Casey was going to make the offense even more dynamic and wouldn't be a liability blocking.
 
prostock101 said:
Did Vickers even play? Casey really showed his versatility last night but those two holding calls were maddening not to mention the block in the back call he got.

So basically the 38 yards he produced were wiped out by penalties. Still a Casey fan though and I think he adds to the offense in a way that Leach could not.
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Casey did get caught on the holds. Just as you have to learn how to block, in the NFL you have to learn how to hold. Winston's tackle of a Niners d-lineman on Ward's TD run illustrates that.

Having the ability to lineup in a power set, then send out Casey in motion will give defenses fits. Unlike other FBs, when Casey motions out, he's a threat. A mismatch on a LB. Casey will make some big plays this year.
 
In the 49er game there was a play where Casey was lined up as a single back.

The play never got run and kubiak called a timeout.

I just thought it was an interesting look and even further demonstrated how we will be able to manipulate defenses.

I liked another play that lz pointed out where Casey and a rb (I think ward) were in the huddle and they had in their base personnel.

When they broke the Huddle, casey lined up in the slot. Ward lined up in the backfield, then motioned out wide and all of a sudden the base defense of the 49ers had to cover a 5 wide set with mismatches all over the place.

I think aldon smith or one of their other olb's had to go out and cover ward out wide which is obviously not where their team would prefer to have lb's covering legit receiving threats.

I think this offense will be extremely fun to watch and I don't think there is a defense out there that we won't be able to put up points on. We will be able to gameplan for just about every situation and against most types of personnel. I think we have the ability, with Casey, to really force some teams hands. Especially if he continues to block as well as he has.
 
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