Whitney Mercilus - First Round Pick

[The1ApplePie]

The best player on the board. Plenty of WRs aailalbe in round 2. Good move.

[HTown2ATX]

Originally Posted by Vinny

edge rushers are harder to find...just think of all those years we ran out chumps like Peek and Charlie Anderson.

Oh yeah, I like the pick to be sure! Also, I lol'ed at Peek and Anderson haha...wow....when you hear some of the names that used to be starters on this team, you realize how far we have come.

Corey Bradford anyone lol.....

[drunkcookie]

Originally Posted by Vinny

nobody is going to trade for Jones...put the smoke down.

Lol...maybe you need to re-read my original post on this topic, with the Al Davis reference... Maybe you need to pick up some smoke...

But i will stand by my opinion that there may be a coach/gm out there that might be silly enough, only remembering the Tampa Bay game and first Baltimore game...

[Corrosion]

Originally Posted by Vinny

Wade said after the draft (last night) that we are still one roster sport short on DT so I'd think that they will address that for sure.

I think the team will take a wr in the 3rd and/or 4th rounds since much of the talent is similar (as far as a finished product goes).

Originally Posted by Maddict5

wade said we were 1 short on the d-line not DT. we've cody and earl (who i cant remember playing any DE last yr) at NT/DT so i understood it to mean as they're looking for another DE along with JJ, antonio and tim jamison.

if we come away with randle/hill/jeffrey etc, and and OT/OG/DE at the end of today il be happy

I think thats more accurate - short one DL. They are really thin behind Watt and Smith at DE.

Cody and Mitchell are one or two down guy's - not in on passing situations when they go to a four man line with Smith and Watt moving inside while Barwin and Reed are the ends. Depth there is not nearly as important as at DE.

Behind Watt and Smith they have Tim Bulman and Tim Jamison. Bulman's pretty much a ST guy while Jamison showed flashes last season , they need another capable body there.

[nero THE zero]

Originally Posted by IlliniJen

Woke up with a headache and severe congestion from last night's draft.

Still incredibly happy with this pick.

First Illinois player the Texans have drafted.

I remember how excited I was when the Texans drafted their first player from my favorite college team, Georgia Tech.

Let's hope this one turns out better. haha

[badboy]

Originally Posted by Corrosion

I picked Zietler in the Texans Draft Challenge thing .... Would have loved to get him.

Pass rushers are at a premium .... and consider the who's who list of QB's this team will face this season , I cant complain.

I noticed Merciles played DT on some occasions .... Might be interesting to plug him in between Watt and Smith on passing downs with Barwin , Reed and Cushing ....







List of WR's still available -


Hill
Alshon Jeffery
Brian Quick
Mohamed Sanu
Nick Toon
Dwight Jones
Tommy Streeter
Marvin McNutt
Jeff Fuller
Greg Childs
Ryan Broyles.


Out of that group - someone will be there when the Texans are up with #4 of the 4th.
I'd almost be content to go with two of the three - OL , DE , CB in the second and third thinking that one of those big WR's is going to fall.
Sure , I prefer some over others but if you can get value at those other spots , you almost have to do it.

i agree. We will see how factual the "draft BPA" philosophy is. McNutt, Childs or Broyles in 4th (or even 2of these 3 at 4a & 4b) would be sweet and in group listed above, most are relatively the same. A CB or DE today would not stun me.

[dalemurphy]

After watching the highlights against UCLA, Wisconsin, and Ohio State, I'm in love with the pick. He's quick and explosive with very good edge speed. However, he never lined up in a 9 technique. He had 16 sacks without being put in a position by the coach to excel. Still, he executed and developed techniques (like the bull rushes) that will serve him well and make him a much more complete player.

[Dutchrudder]

I like him, but I never thought for a moment he would get past 22. Great pick at 26, I'm confident Wade will get what he wants out of him. He reminds me a lot of Aldon Smith actually, the OLB that the Texans were supposedly targeting in round 1 last year. A young guy with a high motor, great speed off the line, and also a one-year wonder in college. We all know how that turned out for the 49ers, let's hope Mercilus is the same.

[El Tejano]

Here are my thoughts on our pick. I LOVE IT. You can got to my thread El Tejano's 2012 Draft Wish List and see for yourself that I had him as my 7th player on my list. Alot of those players were placed on if they would be available to us or not and as you will see, the first 5 were gone before we could pick them leaving Mercilus and Upshaw only and I was wanting Mercilus more than Upshaw because of losing Mario and remembering how our defense played when Mario was in and now I feel we made up for that.

In terms of getting a guy who is not going to play every down, I disagree. My understanding is that Mercilus can play both end and OLB. If that is the case, this means he may be utilized differently in certain packages and will be on the field more than we think while keeping other good players fresh for the 4th.

If you look at our team in general, our problem isn't that we don't have starters. Our current situation is that we lossed our depth. Anyone we were going to pick was going to have a starter already there in their position. Sure we could've got a WR but all the 1st round guys were gone and it's such a crapshoot with WR and some have to take about 4 years to develop. OL, hey I think we did good by not reaching and many NFL OL coaches believe that Mitchell Schwartz is the best one out there and he's still available. Besides, it says alot about who we have now that we didn't go round 1 on OL. DT well we got some good ones now. Long story short everyone we are going to draft is going to be a backup with a shot to take over.

Does anyone else see this as insurance if A. Smith leaves next year?

[drunkcookie]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

I like him, but I never thought for a moment he would get past 22. Great pick at 26, I'm confident Wade will get what he wants out of him. He reminds me a lot of Aldon Smith actually, the OLB that the Texans were supposedly targeting in round 1 last year. A young guy with a high motor, great speed off the line, and also a one-year wonder in college. We all know how that turned out for the 49ers, let's hope Mercilus is the same.

Good example with Smith...another "one year wonder"... We forget about the three/four years of solid play guys drafted high who bust every year...

[Playoffs]

What he brings: Mercilus possesses a quick first step and is one of the natural finesse pass-rushers in this class. At this point, he needs to get stronger against the run, as well as when converting speed to power with his pass-rushing moves.

How he fits: He makes an already productive defensive front even better. Even though the Texans lost their best defensive player in Mario Williams in free agency, they got unexpected production from OLBs Connor Barwin and Brooks Reed. In this 3-4 defense that loves to attack and blitz from all directions with a lot of slants and one-gap penetrating schemes, Mercilus fits nicely as a rotation edge rusher in the 3-4 and possibly a guy who can play DE in 3-4 subpackages.

http://insider.espn.go.com/nfl/draft...%3fyear%3d2012

[TexansBlood]

Im happy w the pick, I hadnt paid much attention to him thinking he was gona go sonner. Actually wanted Nick Perry but with time we shall see.

[Double Barrel]

I like the pick. Wade's defense is going to be FEARED!

[97roc]

Originally Posted by Rey

His biggest attribute that I saw was his effort. Not a bad thing.

I don't think the guy sucks, I just don't think he was the best player left on the board there.

I would have rather had the guy that went off the board right after him. But whatever, he's a Texan now kick some ass.

I would consider him an ok to good pass rusher. Maybe wade's scheme can make him really good or great.

See bold... now kick some ass!

[Goldensilence]

Originally Posted by drs23

Not sure how you can say that with a whole lot of conviction. I belive the cookie may be correct.

I don't see how you can't think they're all in, committed to the guy. He's been so inconsistent and has not developed into a serviceable #2 WR yet, they still keep clinging to the hope one day the light will come on with JJ. it's also telling that they haven't really gone after anyone to legitimately push JJ the last two years, and considering there's been some nice values trades they could have made it tells me even more. The staff is all in on this guy. Hopefully it's the last time we'll see Kubiak stick to "his guy" despite all other signs saying otherwise.

The best thing I can say about Gary and Rick's drafts lately is they have decided to stop constantly proving they are the smartest guys in th nfl by taking small school projects like Molden and Jones high than they should.

Originally Posted by SheTexan

Meet Connor Barwin's replacement for 2013. I'd bet money the Texans have NO intention of resigning CB next year. JMO!

It really depends how Barwin performs this year really. One productive year last year. I don't know how big of a contract he's going to begin line for. We need 3 olb to rotate in.

[Errant Hothy]

The nickle package could look like so:

Watt - Smith - Mercilus
Barwin - Cushing - Reed
JJ - Manning - Quinn - McCain - KJ

That's mulitple rushers coming from nearly every gap.

[VTexan]

I like Jeffery (AJ will straighten him out), McNutt, and Broyles.

[leebigeztx]

Originally Posted by TheFosterTrain

Agreed. WR is extremely deep in this draft. I admit, I was really high on Hill coming out of the combine (who wasn't?) but over time came to realize just how much depth this draft has at the WR position. The only two clear cut, top tier guys were Blackmon and Floyd, and we weren't getting either of those guys.

I'd still love to be able to get Hill, but realistically we'd have to trade up for him and I don't think that's worth it. Randle or Sanu if we're looking at a wideout in Rd. 2, if not, take Childs later in the draft. The only player I'd like to trade up for at this point is Martin.

I like this thinking with childs. I'm still on board with jeffery in the later 2nd or even early 3rd with toon or mcnutt. What has to concern anyone watching hill is the lack of explosion out of his breaks. The general rule even if you watch the combine is .20 faster than you 40 time. As a wr, this is vital even for a tall guy. Hill's short shuttle was slower than his 40. That means he cant drop his hips and explose out the break and give the qb seperation. Much like jones and people rib on him because he cant get to passes on digs and dagger routes. Pre combine, hill was a given a 3rd rd grade. Gms aren't going to elevate a guy 2 rd from the combine a a developmental guy.

As for tonight, I think the texans are going to select a 5 tech to replace smith after this season in the 2nd rd. If reyes,wolf,alameeda tuamma are there, i think those will be the selections. With that early 3 we might see a wr like mcnutt,givens,sanu,or toon. The 4th or 5th rd could be chapman or jean baptiste as a nt.

[leebigeztx]

Originally Posted by El Tejano

Here are my thoughts on our pick. I LOVE IT. You can got to my thread El Tejano's 2012 Draft Wish List and see for yourself that I had him as my 7th player on my list. Alot of those players were placed on if they would be available to us or not and as you will see, the first 5 were gone before we could pick them leaving Mercilus and Upshaw only and I was wanting Mercilus more than Upshaw because of losing Mario and remembering how our defense played when Mario was in and now I feel we made up for that.

In terms of getting a guy who is not going to play every down, I disagree. My understanding is that Mercilus can play both end and OLB. If that is the case, this means he may be utilized differently in certain packages and will be on the field more than we think while keeping other good players fresh for the 4th.

If you look at our team in general, our problem isn't that we don't have starters. Our current situation is that we lossed our depth. Anyone we were going to pick was going to have a starter already there in their position. Sure we could've got a WR but all the 1st round guys were gone and it's such a crapshoot with WR and some have to take about 4 years to develop. OL, hey I think we did good by not reaching and many NFL OL coaches believe that Mitchell Schwartz is the best one out there and he's still available. Besides, it says alot about who we have now that we didn't go round 1 on OL. DT well we got some good ones now. Long story short everyone we are going to draft is going to be a backup with a shot to take over.

Does anyone else see this as insurance if A. Smith leaves next year?

Disagree about him playing 3-4 end. He's a natural edge rusher as a olb or 4-3 end. Now, in obvious passing downs, wade like to go 4-2-5 or 4-1-6, but between mercilus and barwin, he might be tempted to stay more base if its the 11 package because james,brady,cushing,barwin,and now mercilus can be pretty can cover.

[drunkcookie]

They just had Mercilus' college HC (Ron Zook) on 610 am...said Mercilus became their best DE the last half of the '10 season... 1-1/2 year wonder