Conner Barwin - kinda invisible thus far

[Ole Miss Texan]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

LZ has been pretty emphatic that Reed is more of a strongside LB with better coverage skills than rush skills.

It should be interesting to see who plays which side.

I trust LZ and enjoy his work. But I just hesitate throwing Reed in there and giving him too much responsibility as a rookie. I think Barwin makes less mistakes than him.

[Blake]

Barwin is a superstar on a better D.

[roooshi]

Originally Posted by 80tothezone

doesn't he have 2 sacks?

Loook at the date of that post? 8-22....

[TimeKiller]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

LZ has been pretty emphatic that Reed is more of a strongside LB with better coverage skills than rush skills.

It should be interesting to see who plays which side.

Not to question LZ but I find that a little hard to believe seeing as he went from being a 4/3 DE who didn't ever drop back. AND the knock on him was agility, something Barwin has in spades. I'd rather have Reed try to fill the "superstar" sack artist role on the weak side and let Barwin continue on his path.

[Big Lou]

Originally Posted by TimeKiller

Not to question LZ but I find that a little hard to believe seeing as he went from being a 4/3 DE who didn't ever drop back. AND the knock on him was agility, something Barwin has in spades. I'd rather have Reed try to fill the "superstar" sack artist role on the weak side and let Barwin continue on his path.

In addition Barwin is a converted TE, so I would think he is athletic enough to cover TE's himself.

[gary]

Time to see just what type of player the Texans have drafted in Brooks Reed not all that worried about Barwin.

[amazing80]

Sorry but Barwin is simply overrated. He is average AT best and can occasionally make a nice play. He will never be great and will never be a focal point on this defense. Will be lucky to ever make a pro bowl. Nice 11th starter on the team though. I think with Mario out you will see even less of Barwin making plays. I just hope they don't start double teaming Smith, because if they isolate him we could see a dramatic dip in our performance on that side of the ball.

[Texaninlild]

Originally Posted by amazing80

Sorry but Barwin is simply overrated. He is average AT best and can occasionally make a nice play. He will never be great and will never be a focal point on this defense. Will be lucky to ever make a pro bowl. Nice 11th starter on the team though. I think with Mario out you will see even less of Barwin making plays. I just hope they don't start double teaming Smith, because if they isolate him we could see a dramatic dip in our performance on that side of the ball.

How do you have a rep of 0?? Oh never mind I just read your posts.

[EllisUnit]

hell u dont remember him in the steelers game he had a sack and fumble that was negated due to penalty, and then had another one that stood. He has been making some good plays, remember he is coming off a pretty serious injury and is learning a new position as well,

[beerlover]

everybody is entitled to their opinions around here. me, I'm encouraged that Barwin can still be explosive after that terrible season ending injury last year.

[EllisUnit]

Originally Posted by amazing80

Sorry but Barwin is simply overrated. He is average AT best and can occasionally make a nice play. He will never be great and will never be a focal point on this defense. Will be lucky to ever make a pro bowl. Nice 11th starter on the team though. I think with Mario out you will see even less of Barwin making plays. I just hope they don't start double teaming Smith, because if they isolate him we could see a dramatic dip in our performance on that side of the ball.

isnt it evident they dont have to double team smith !!!! Did you watch the D-line after mario went out of the game, we had very little pressure. BUT with that being said i think we will still get good pressure on QBs once Reed gets settled in and gets comfortable.

[Jackie Chiles]

Originally Posted by EllisUnit

isnt it evident they dont have to double team smith !!!! Did you watch the D-line after mario went out of the game, we had very little pressure. BUT with that being said i think we will still get good pressure on QBs once Reed gets settled in and gets comfortable.

Did you? Mario played 9 snaps against Oakland and we had pressure in those snaps and afterwards. I don't want to make a huge argument over this because I thought Mario was having a fantastic year but why do you have to tear down Antonio to build up Mario? I mean Campbell was either throwing a quick pass or running for his life the entire game.

More on topic, Barwin has played excellently so far this season both as a rusher and in coverage. He looks like a football player out there.

[EllisUnit]

Originally Posted by Jackie Chiles

Did you? Mario played 9 snaps against Oakland and we had pressure in those snaps and afterwards. I don't want to make a huge argument over this because I thought Mario was having a fantastic year but why do you have to tear down Antonio to build up Mario? I mean Campbell was either throwing a quick pass or running for his life the entire game.

More on topic, Barwin has played excellently so far this season both as a rusher and in coverage. He looks like a football player out there.

im not tearing down antonio, i was simply responding to the post i quoted. I think mario is one hell of a player, but the fact of the matter is that mario made everyone around him better. you cant argue that.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by nero THE zero

LZ has been pretty emphatic that Reed is more of a strongside LB with better coverage skills than rush skills.

It should be interesting to see who plays which side.

Sorry, but where is he getting that from? Brooks Reed played DE in college...NOBODY has seen him even attempt to cover and coming out of college he was viewed as the best prospect as far as using his hands when rushing the passer. Supposedly the scouting reports was he was already well developed in that department (reason why he had no problem shedding blocks and getting to the QB despite his alleged "short arms"). The guy is a pass rusher and all he was asked to do in college has get after the QB. Nobody knows what kind of player this guy is in coverage. I like LZ, but don't possibly see where he's getting this from.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by amazing80

Sorry but Barwin is simply overrated. He is average AT best and can occasionally make a nice play. He will never be great and will never be a focal point on this defense. Will be lucky to ever make a pro bowl. Nice 11th starter on the team though. I think with Mario out you will see even less of Barwin making plays. I just hope they don't start double teaming Smith, because if they isolate him we could see a dramatic dip in our performance on that side of the ball.

What a freaking load of crap this is. This is only the guy's 2nd season and he's playing a new position (quite well I might add) and you're already going to toss the "overrated" tag on him and declare he's the 11th best starter on the defense. You don't have a clue of what type of player Barwin is and what type of player he can develop into.

[Carr Bombed]

Originally Posted by EllisUnit

im not tearing down antonio, i was simply responding to the post i quoted. I think mario is one hell of a player, but the fact of the matter is that mario made everyone around him better. you cant argue that.

Yep, it was ALL Mario.. Let's ignore the fact that the Raiders Oline completely shut out every Dline they played and only surrendered 1 single sack before the Texans played the Raiders. How about we actually wait and watch a stream of other games before we declare the Ninja dance is shutdown.

[Jackie Chiles]

Originally Posted by EllisUnit

im not tearing down antonio, i was simply responding to the post i quoted. I think mario is one hell of a player, but the fact of the matter is that mario made everyone around him better. you cant argue that.

No, I can't argue that. But saying that they don't need to double team Smith is tearing him down in my opinion. If the other teams know whats good for them Antonio will continue to see a good amount of double teams. He was not living off the attention Mario was drawing. It was certainly helping, just as the attention Antonio was garnering helped Mario. Antonio Smith is the Robert Mathis of this defense.

I'd also say that I will be surprised if we don't continue to average about 3 sacks per game for the rest of the season. Its who we are now.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by EllisUnit

isnt it evident they dont have to double team smith !!!! Did you watch the D-line after mario went out of the game, we had very little pressure. BUT with that being said i think we will still get good pressure on QBs once Reed gets settled in and gets comfortable.

Barwin, Reed, Watt....... they were all getting close. Smith was getting doubled.

With Mario in the game, I thought the Texans had a chance to be among the league leaders in sacks. High 40s...

Without Mario, I think we'll be in the high 30s, low 40s... I like Mario, I think he is special, but he's not the end all be all. He's like Foster vs Tate... the run game doesn't disappear without Foster, but it ain't the same either.

We may have to dial up a few more blitzes now, but it won't be long, our DL will start getting home, especially when we get past Tennessee & the schedule lightens up.

Jamison also had a good game. No sacks, but a good game. Cody looked good.... That DL was pretty damn good.

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by Brisco_County

Barwin will be fine. We already know what kind of player he is after he ramps up.

Barwin might not always show up on the stat sheet .... but he makes plays.

If you look at last years defense , they were never the same after Barwin went down .... nor were they the same when Ryans was lost for the season.

[amazing80]

Originally Posted by Corrosion

Barwin might not always show up on the stat sheet .... but he makes plays.

If you look at last years defense , they were never the same after Barwin went down .... nor were they the same when Ryans was lost for the season.

That doesn't even make sense. He doesn't show up on the stat sheet but he makes plays??! That sounds like a guy who just isn't fast enough or just can't diagnose a play quick enough. I am not saying he is garbage. I am saying he is overrated by Texan fans. He will get 4-6 sacks a season and might get a few lucky turnovers each year, but he will not be a focal point on our defense. I think Reed turns out to be the better pro, but neither will matter because Mario is the top dog. They are excellent role players, but the way most of you describe him and the hopes you seem to have are just unrealistic for the guy. You are basically setting him up to fail if you expect him to be great.