Brooks Reed

[Scooter]

very impressive outing from the rookie today ... make that both rookies. reed and watt (WATT?!?!?! as i shout at my tv) are noticably growing every week. not to get ahead of what's going on now, but i cant help but wonder what these two look like in future seasons because the only flaws i see are cured by experience.

[BSofA04]

Originally Posted by Scooter

very impressive outing from the rookie today ... make that both rookies. reed and watt (WATT?!?!?! as i shout at my tv) are noticably growing every week. not to get ahead of what's going on now, but i cant help but wonder what these two look like in future seasons because the only flaws i see are cured by experience.

This is how you build a defense for years to come!!! I actually look forward to the defense going on the field. It's fun to see who's going to get a sack, fumble, INT, etc. No more cringing

[TimeKiller]

Another day, another OL destroyed by Reed, Barwin, Cushing and Watt. These dudes are really gettin' after it!!!

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by jtexas

I'm not sure if you're joking or not, but he isn't even close to ROY or DPOY. Von Miller, Cam Newton, Andy Dalton, AJ Green, Marcell Dareus, Aldon Smith, and Julio Jones are all playing great and getting noticed. Peterson has been picked on in coverage all year. He gets targeted about 6 times a game.


Opposing QBs have an average 80 qb rating against him and they have racked up over 400 yards this season with a 55% completion rate. Without his special teams TDs he would be in bust watch.

Not sure how Newton, Dalton, Green & Jones qualify for DROY as they are all offensive guys....

& Lol, Stop kidding yourself..Dareus is not in the running, he's done nothing to stand out..not a bust, but certainly hasn't done anything to warrant DROY consideration.

& you said it yourself Smith isn't even an every down guy & is just another guy playing on an outstanding defense.

It's between Miller & Peterson

Miller probably should be the guy, but he's getting killed by Tebow-mania; If he doesn't show up this thursday in prime time he may be doomed.

I say peterson b/c he's made the most "highlight" plays that have directly impacted games....that's all anyone's looking at.

Reed & Watt fall somewhere in where CM III did in his rookie yr. He had 10 sacks that year but noone really paid attention b/c he was hurt early on & he wasn't a full time starter just yet............... It was also Rodgers' coming out party that year.

[Errant Hothy]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

Watt's a freak'n football player. PERIOD!!

Country Hulk.

I'd be all for this becoming the offical JJ Watt nickname.

[Rey]

Brooks Reed and JJ Watt looked good yesterday.

The most impressive thing I saw from Reed was the batted ball...That is showing activity. Affecting the game in multiple ways.

[b0ng]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

Not sure how Newton, Dalton, Green & Jones qualify for DROY as they are all offensive guys....

& Lol, Stop kidding yourself..Dareus is not in the running, he's done nothing to stand out..not a bust, but certainly hasn't done anything to warrant DROY consideration.

& you said it yourself Smith isn't even an every down guy & is just another guy playing on an outstanding defense.

It's between Miller & Peterson

Miller probably should be the guy, but he's getting killed by Tebow-mania; If he doesn't show up this thursday in prime time he may be doomed.

I say peterson b/c he's made the most "highlight" plays that have directly impacted games....that's all anyone's looking at.

Reed & Watt fall somewhere in where CM III did in his rookie yr. He had 10 sacks that year but noone really paid attention b/c he was hurt early on & he wasn't a full time starter just yet............... It was also Rodgers' coming out party that year.

It's more between Aldon Smith and Von Miller than anybody else.

[steelbtexan]

Originally Posted by Hoth-Boy

I'd be all for this becoming the offical JJ Watt nickname.

Me too

It's a fitting description

[Texecutioner]

Man Brooks Reed looked like an animal yesterday. This kid excites me!

[mussop]

Peterson has zero chance at DROY. ZERO! You don't win DROY for returning kicks.

I know some of you will never get this and some just don't want to but this defense is better with Reed at LB than it is with Mario at LB. Not saying Reed is better than Mario either. Just saying that with Reed in there with Barwin we are Unpredictable. Reed and Barwin are interchangeable. They are both good at dropping into coverage.

When Mario is in the game you know he is the one coming 98% of the time. And for the guy who says you can't blitz all the time, sure you can as long as you mix it up and come from different positions. Wade has done a beautiful job of this since Reed has Become a starter. I don't see him letting up either. Why stop if it is working?

Having said all this I still hope Mario is signed to a reasonable contract and is put back where he belongs, DE. Watt would be a huge upgrade over Cody. Like I have been saying all year, this gets our best players on the field.

[Insideop]

Originally Posted by mussop

Peterson has zero chance at DROY. ZERO! You don't win DROY for returning kicks.

I know some of you will never get this and some just don't want to but this defense is better with Reed at LB than it is with Mario at LB. Not saying Reed is better than Mario either. Just saying that with Reed in there with Barwin we are Unpredictable. Reed and Barwin are interchangeable. They are both good at dropping into coverage.

When Mario is in the game you know he is the one coming 98% of the time. And for the guy who says you can't blitz all the time, sure you can as long as you mix it up and come from different positions. Wade has done a beautiful job of this since Reed has Become a starter. I don't see him letting up either. Why stop if it is working?

Having said all this I still hope Mario is signed to a reasonable contract and is put back where he belongs, DE. Watt would be a huge upgrade over Cody. Like I have been saying all year, this gets our best players on the field.

Watt is better suited to a 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT. I don't think he would be a good NT in a 3-4. I do agree Mario would be better off moving back to DE in a 4-3, but he wasn't doing too bad as an OLB in Wade's system. He is still tied with Reed for the most sacks (5) on the team, and he's missed like 5 or 6 games. So he was doing a pretty good job. Do I think Reed is better suited to that position? Yes, but I don't think moving Mario to a 3-4 DE and Watt to a 3-4 NT is the answer.

What is the answer? IMO it is to franchise Mario and see how he comes back at the OLB position. If he's doing well, then we have great depth at that position and after next year you can resign him or look for a trade for multiple draft picks. If he doesn't work out or Reed is just too good to sit, then I'm sure there are multiple 4-3 teams out there that would love to trade for Mario.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Insideop

Watt is better suited to a 3-4 DE or a 4-3 DT. I don't think he would be a good NT in a 3-4.

Shaun Cody is basically playing as if he were a 4-3 NT.

[LikeMike]

Originally Posted by b0ng

It's more between Aldon Smith and Von Miller than anybody else.

I agree... but if things continue as they are going now, I´m pretty sure that either Watt or Reed... maybe both... will be in the discussion as well. Reed may very well end up with around 10 sacks, and Watt just does everything extremely well and reliable. But in the end, my money is on Von Miller...

[Mr teX]

Originally Posted by mussop

Peterson has zero chance at DROY. ZERO! You don't win DROY for returning kicks.

I know some of you will never get this and some just don't want to but this defense is better with Reed at LB than it is with Mario at LB. Not saying Reed is better than Mario either. Just saying that with Reed in there with Barwin we are Unpredictable. Reed and Barwin are interchangeable. They are both good at dropping into coverage.

When Mario is in the game you know he is the one coming 98% of the time. And for the guy who says you can't blitz all the time, sure you can as long as you mix it up and come from different positions. Wade has done a beautiful job of this since Reed has Become a starter. I don't see him letting up either. Why stop if it is working?

Having said all this I still hope Mario is signed to a reasonable contract and is put back where he belongs, DE. Watt would be a huge upgrade over Cody. Like I have been saying all year, this gets our best players on the field.

All this crap reminds me about how everyone was sooo concerned about the middle of our run defense & how we'd get killed up the middle b/c noone on our team is big/good enough to hold up in a 3-4 as a run stopping plug. 10 games later, our run defense has been great & this has been a non-issue.

I say that to say, just b/c you keep saying the above doesn't make it true.

You guys just don't get it. Here it is pretty much from the horse's mouth about how much dropping into coverage Wade's OLB do in his version of the 3-4:

" Phillips said DeMarcus Ware, who filled the same role for him in Dallas, dropped maybe 15 times total last season. Shawne Merriman, who also played the spot for Phillips in San Diego, was rarely used in coverage, either. "It's really just an outside rush guy who rushes most of the time," Phillips said. "It should be a good thing for Mario. That's what he does well. They know he's going to be coming. We just have to move him around."

So spare me the BS about unpredictability. Wade doesn't run his version of the 3-4 the traditional way & wasn't/isn't too concerned about it. My question to you all is why are you guys so obsessed with the getting an OLB that's great at dropping into coverage when he'll being do so a total 15-20 times a season in wade's system. What's more is why be concerned about "unpredicatability" when the proven D-coordinator who's run his system successfully in the NFL for 20+ years isn't? Not sure why this is so hard to grasp for some.

Furthermore what plays has Reed made in coverage to give you this idea that Reed is sooooo much better in coverage than Mario is/was? The answer is none.

I like Reed too & foresee him being a force next year, but the reality of it is I don't foresee his play affecting whether or not Mario is here next year or not. He will be here. its just a matter of where will Reed be.

[Naiirb]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

.....It's between Miller & Peterson

Miller probably should be the guy, but he's getting killed by Tebow-mania; If he doesn't show up this thursday in prime time he may be doomed.

I say peterson b/c he's made the most "highlight" plays that have directly impacted games....that's all anyone's looking at.

Reed & Watt fall somewhere in where CM III did in his rookie yr. He had 10 sacks that year but noone really paid attention b/c he was hurt early on & he wasn't a full time starter just yet............... It was also Rodgers' coming out party that year.

As others have said you don't win DROY by returning kicks. See Devin Hester who played on the defensive side of the ball, had a phenomenal rookie year, made all pro, and didnt win the award.

Originally Posted by b0ng

It's more between Aldon Smith and Von Miller than anybody else.

Von Miller is certainly in contention but at this point i would consider Brooks Reed over Aldon Smith. Smith only has 1.5 more sacks than Reed despite playing since the start of the season and Reed has nearly double the amount of tackles. Add on top Smith is not a every down player mostly plays on passing down unlike Reed.

If the Texans finish in the top 5 in defense and Reed has 10 or more sacks its gonna be a real tight race between him and Von Miller.

edit: I haven't really payed much attention to the Redskins but it looks like Kerrigan is having a pretty good rookie year just looking at his stats.

[El Tejano]

You know what, they can have DROY. Watt and Reed will be our DROYs and we will go to the playoffs.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

I like Reed too & foresee him being a force next year, but the reality of it is I don't foresee his play affecting whether or not Mario is here next year or not. He will be here. its just a matter of where will Reed be.

Just imagine how tough Reed is going to look when he's playing with Mario on the other side of him next year.

We'll have to come up with even more nick-names.

[TheCD]

Originally Posted by mussop

Peterson has zero chance at DROY. ZERO! You don't win DROY for returning kicks.

I know some of you will never get this and some just don't want to but this defense is better with Reed at LB than it is with Mario at LB. Not saying Reed is better than Mario either. Just saying that with Reed in there with Barwin we are Unpredictable. Reed and Barwin are interchangeable. They are both good at dropping into coverage.

When Mario is in the game you know he is the one coming 98% of the time. And for the guy who says you can't blitz all the time, sure you can as long as you mix it up and come from different positions. Wade has done a beautiful job of this since Reed has Become a starter. I don't see him letting up either. Why stop if it is working?

Having said all this I still hope Mario is signed to a reasonable contract and is put back where he belongs, DE. Watt would be a huge upgrade over Cody. Like I have been saying all year, this gets our best players on the field.

I agree with you about the blitz being unpredictable, but the thing I'm looking at with Mario in is that not only is he still racking up sacks when they know he's coming, he's also causing guys like Watt and Antonio (who has been good but not as much since Mario went down) to get one-on-one matchups that garner sacks.

We will re-sign Mario, no doubt. And if Brooks develops solidly not only will we not have to worry about depth anymore, but we have a wonderful luxury of always having fresh rushers. I'm certain that this would allow Mario to rest more often, which will cause him to get better, and also allow the uncertainty of where the rush is coming from, as you were mentioning.

[TdotTexas2Step]

There were rumors going around that Green Bay were going to draft Brooks Reed and team him up with Hawk and Matthews, because good teams like to accumulate depth and talent.

If Kareem and Allen continue to develop under Wade's system, who's to say we can't have Mario be a part of our linebacking core, while attempting to plug other holes through the draft?

Eventually, Brooks - if he continues to improve at this pace - will command big money, are we going to throw him aside too then?

[4x4tx]

Dump marios salary and use it for a legit WR and another lockdown corner. No way we should burn 20 million for mario when we havent missed a beat and one could argue we have actually gotten better.