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Who will be this year's "Breakout Player"

T

TheRealJoker

Hall of Fame
Simple question to drive conversation until we start to get real news after football is finally back preseason game 1. Who will be this year's breakout player? I say that not as the person identified by the Texans Talk forum that knows all 90 players currently in training camp. But as a NFL fan that only watches the nationally televised Texans games and think the Texans have not fielded a defense outside of Clowney the past 2 seasons and the offense only consists of DW4 and Hopkins.

My pick is Will Fuller.

I truly believe if Fuller can play 16 games he is a top WR in this league similar to Desean Jackson at his best. Not your classic top WR like Hopkins catching 10 balls per game but 3-5 catches with one of them being a game changing play (80 yard td perhaps). 7 TDs in 4 games with DW4 was no accident. These two have chemistry and Fuller has speed that you can't teach along with underrated route running ability. Defenses already have to gameplan for him even though he has yet to have over 635 yards receiving in a season. The mainstream fans will get to know him very will this season!
 
Just to clarify, when I say "breakout player" I am thinking of the players mainstream fans know when they think of this team. Currently I think regular NFL fans only know of DW4, Hopkins, Watt, Clowney and Honey Badger.

Granted guys like Mercilus and Mckinney are very important to this team and Texans Talk faithful recognize their contributions. But in terms of players that regular NFL fans recognize right off the bat I don't think they are in that category.
 
Do rookies count in this equation? Because I think Justin Reid is going to have a breakout performance this season.
 
Number19 said:
Another player who has been essentially overlooked and could have a break out year is Christian Covington.
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I like Covington and think he’ll make a strong case for a 2nd contract this season. But DJ Reader is the more talented player and the one more likely to gain notoriety from national fans as a breakout player.

Covington has a great shot at solidifying his place as a glue guy on this roster if he stays healthy though!
 
Carr Bombed said:
Supposedly Covington is in a camp battle with Joel Heath.
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I haven’t read anything specific, and I don’t listen to the radio, but what I know is that Heath performed solidly last year with Watt and Covington both out.

Covington has made a complete recovery and is expected to perform without any loss from his previous play. He was having a career year with excellent play before going out. If Covington is up to last year’s performance and Heath can beat him out for that spot opposite Watt, this will be a huge positive for the defense.

But my uninformed expectation is for Covington to start. I say this while admitting I paid no attention to Heath last year, and indeed I lost interest in our team as a whole during last year’s pitiful drop.

Heath will certainly be on my radar this year.
 
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Carr Bombed said:
Maybe he's trying to be a smart, because Matthews injuried his hamstring. Either that or he confused about one of the TEs. That's the only thing I can think of.
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IBleedTexans said:
Did I miss something , or did we trade the Pat's for Mathews ?
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No trade needed, but Jordan Matthews may not be useful for anyone this year

http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap30...iots-release-jordan-matthews-following-injury

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Now Jordan Akin or Jordan Thomas... one or the other or even better both would work nicely
 
I like the Cunningham and Reid suggestions. Didn't Fuller breakout last season when Watson was healthy?

If Watson and the offense thrive, Julie'n Davenport is going to get a lot of credit. Just as if Watson faces a lot of pressure, Davenport will get much of the blame. I think Julie'n will hold his own, and become the Texans breakout player.
 
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Number19 said:
I haven’t read anything specific, and I don’t listen to the radio, but what I know is that Heath performed solidly last year with Watt and Covington both out.

Covington has made a complete recovery and is expected to perform without any loss from his previous play. He was having a career year with excellent play before going out. If Covington is up to last year’s performance and Heath can beat him out for that spot opposite Watt, this will be a huge positive for the defense.

But my uninformed expectation is for Covington to start. I say this while admitting I paid no attention to Heath last year, and indeed I lost interest in our team as a while during last year’s pitiful drop.

Heath will certainly be on my radar this year.
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I just heard Anthony Weaver discussing it in a interview on the radio last week.. FWIW, He said this is the best position group that he's ever coached. If everyone stays healthy we have a lot of quality guys upfront.
 
I want to say Fuller V, but I feel that he already did that last season. I guess I’ll go with Jordan Akins breaking out as our top TE. The reports out of West Virginia have all been very good so far. I’d love for one of our running backs to break out but I just don’t see that happening.
 
Mangler said:
I want to say Fuller V, but I feel that he already did that last season. I guess I’ll go with Jordan Akins breaking out as our top TE. The reports out of West Virginia have all been very good so far. I’d love for one of our running backs to break out but I just don’t see that happening.
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I'm already on record stating that Akins might be my favorite draft pick, so I will double down on that by nominating him as my breakout player

Although of the 2018 draft, Justin Reid should be special IMO, so he is my 1B on my favorite pick list
 
I would very much like for it to be WFV, but Cunningham is in that sweet spot career wise. Save for 1 tremendous gaffe in the Seattle game, he mostly improved as the season wore on. Ted Johnson also raved about this kid and how much he was improving last year. and since he's poised to make the biggest jump in improvement from rookie year to 2nd year, i pick him.
 
JB said:
from your lips to football gods ears
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There’s no pleasing them bastards. I’ve tried reverse psychology and we lost pretty much the entire team to injury last season. What do they want from us? Taking JJ’s back and Watson’s remaining ACL better be enough sacrifice!
 
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The stars are aligned for Cunningham to have a breakout year. He's my first selection.

I don't think Davenport will be a breakout, but I think he'll play just fine. Because he has no choice. We can talk breakout next year.

For rookies, up until this week of camp, I was putting my chips on Coutee. But his hamstring injury at a crucial learning period will set back him back months. Now my rookie selections are Jordan Thomas, Justin Reid, and Terry Swanson.

I'm picking Jordan Thomas because he's already providing skills and physical attributes that O'Brien needs (and successfully schemed with the Pats) yet no one else on the Texans roster can match.

I'm picking Justin Reid because he has a head start in his understanding of the position and being a professional because of his brother.

And I'm picking Terry Swanson because he has vision and speed, and because he racked up the fourth most yards in Toledo history while playing behind Kareem Hunt most of the time. He achieved 1363 yards and 14 TD's as the starter.
 
Brisco_County said:
The stars are aligned for Cunningham to have a breakout year. He's my first selection.

I don't think Davenport will be a breakout, but I think he'll play just fine. Because he has no choice. We can talk breakout next year.
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No, I don't think Davenport will become a superstar in one season, but he'll play very well this year and eventually reach elite status.
 
beerlover said:
Dylan Cole

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Love Cole. As soon as the team signed him as a UDFA and he took the field in practice as a Texan it was like everyone just knew he'd make the 53. How does this guy go undrafted? Gives me hope every season that the Texans will uncover a gem overlooked by the rest of the league. And upsets me when another team finds said gem instead of the Texans!
 
Number19 said:
Another player who has been essentially overlooked and could have a break out year is Christian Covington.
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It would be great if he and/or Carlos Watkins can have big years - take some pressure of the other dudes and add quality depth.
 
Seegara said:
It will be Julian Davenport. He will become a superstar at LT.
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Hey Seegara I hope you are right man, I certainly do !
And another thing is SteelB could be really pizzed-off you made this call before he did ?
 
Fingers crossed on Davenport, I think Henderson does a job on the right in a new environment and that means much improved OL performance with a QB who will hide a multitude of sins.

My concern in CB. Joseph looks past it, Johnson hasn't shown much since his injury and that is a while ago now, Colvin a question mark as to how he transitions.

So for me a key is for Johnson and Colvin to both have breakout years for this D to really bring it. They should have plenty of help over the top from 3 good Safeties and a much improved front 7 with improved health.

Hopefully the stars are aligning to make this position a strength again.
 
TheRealJoker said:
https://texanswire.usatoday.com/2018/08/05/j-j-watt-texans-nt-d-j-reader-special-talent/

Said Watt: “I think D.J. does an incredibly job at what he does. In my opinion, he’s the best nose guard in the league. I don’t know if nose guards even make the Pro Bowl anymore just because of how it’s set up, but I’ll always be pushing for D.J. to make it.”
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And his coach had this to say...

“D.J. is an absolute stud,” Weaver said. “A lot of the work he does, it just goes unnoticed. We notice it in the film room, the guys appreciate what he does. He’s like a tree trunk out there, and you’re not moving him.”
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link

edit: sure hope that doesn't mean just that our OL can't move him
 
kiwitexansfan said:
DJ Reader should be due to get the credit he deserves being the rock the defense is built around, especially if the pretty boy play ponies can stay healthy and produce.
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I too wanted to vote for Reader, even though I feel like he started to "breakout" already last year..
But knowing how good he his and how hard he works, I was thinking with the help of the new strength/conditioning regime (he's drawn praises for his current shape) and also the benefit of playing with the full arsenal of healthy defensive studs, this year I hope he takes the next leap to stardom and maybe earn a pro-bowl
 
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Mangler said:
There’s no pleasing them bastards. I’ve tried reverse psychology and we lost pretty much the entire team to injury last season. What do they want from us? Taking JJ’s back and Watson’s remaining ACL better be enough sacrifice!
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MORE BLOOD!!! :)
 
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