Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!

[610] Antoine Caldwell Interview

I LOVE his honesty. They asked him if we were on his radar - he said I'm not going to lie, no. I saw them on the clock and was going to go to the bathroom.

Expects to play back-up center or swing man as guard.

Played guard freshman year, 1/2 left and 1/2 right (15 games total). Mostly played as center, tackle a few games.

Knows Demeco.
 
Not intending to hijack your thread, sounds like a good kid and agree that the questions were pretty week, and I absolutely love this pick. Think he will make a huge difference on the line with his ability to hold his block and get to the second level as well.

Something that I've done in the past and doing again this year is looking at highlight video of other players on the team of the players that we draft. Fortunately for us, Andre Smith has plenty. Here's one highlight video of Andre Smith, but it might as well be a highlight video for Caldwell too. Looks like the guy can pick up the run block pretty well in my opinion as well. There are others...but it's always nice to look what someone else is doing when we aren't seeing just highlights of that player.


http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=alabama Andre Smith&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
 
hookinreds said:
Not intending to hijack your thread, sounds like a good kid and agree that the questions were pretty week, and I absolutely love this pick. Think he will make a huge difference on the line with his ability to hold his block and get to the second level as well.

Something that I've done in the past and doing again this year is looking at highlight video of other players on the team of the players that we draft. Fortunately for us, Andre Smith has plenty. Here's one highlight video of Andre Smith, but it might as well be a highlight video for Caldwell too. Looks like the guy can pick up the run block pretty well in my opinion as well. There are others...but it's always nice to look what someone else is doing when we aren't seeing just highlights of that player.


http://video.google.com/videosearch?hl=en&q=alabama%20Andre Smith&um=1&ie=UTF-8&sa=N&tab=wv#
Click to expand...
I counted exactly ONE play on that whole video that Caldwell's man made the tackle. He looks absolutely beautiful in RUN mode, but seems to lack vision is pass-block mode (could just be the scheme) as he was often left searching for someone to hit. In the plays against top-tier competition (Florida) he was getting stood up pretty well, and wasn't playing with leverage. Hopefully our O-Line coach can fix that deficiency, but he sure moves pretty good for a big guy.
 
Now before you guys pile on me, I did go on record and said that Caldwell was my preference if the Texans decide to take a C/G type.

Furthermore, I had stressed many times before that I'm no expert, just a guy who luvs me some football.

I had watched about 9 Bama football games, at least two times each.
My observations and opinions cannot compare with the scouts.
But it's not like I pull things out of thin air.

I understand that this is the time for optimism, but let's not get overboard here!

The following is the breakdown of some plays in just the first quarter of the Bama-Utah game.

I'm not trying to ditch the guy, but I saw what I saw.
Caldwell has a good burst off the snap, and that helps him.
It's also advantageous in the combo block.
But when he's in one-on-one, he's not the strongest guy out there.
So be patient and let's put things in perspective.


13:59 1-10
Pushed back by the LDT Greg Newman #56 (6'4 - 260 lbs), more than 3 yd into the RB for a 4 yd loss.
3 and out. Punt

10:55 1-10 ZB run to the left.
Pushed back by #90 DE/DT Derrick Shelby (Freshman - 6'3, 245 lbs ???) about 3 yd behind LOS into Coffee.
Luckily, Coffee was able to avoid traffic and managed a 2 yd gain.

10:25 same series 2-10 shotgun
The same #90 lined up at the nose simply got past him on a twist move to the left.
That left a big void for the LG who couldn't take on two defenders.
They all collapsed on the QB, forcing a bad throw and an INT.

7:32 1-10 An outside zone run left.
Pushed back by #92 Elapio (Junior - reserve DT - 6'0, 303 lbs) into Coffee 3 yd behind the LOS.
Coffee managed to spring wide and settle for a one yd gain.

2:45 2-6
Pushed back more than 6 yd behind LOS into the pocket.
That's never good for the QB 'cause he didn't have anywhere to step up to avoid the rushing DE Kruger.
But he managed to dump a quick pass to the RB.

1:50 1-10 Outside left strecth run.
Couldn't lock onto any defender. Instead, got pushed onto the ground.
Luckily, Coffee was good enough to cut back thru the tiniest of daylight.

1:18 2-4 Run off LG.
No push up the middle in one-on-one.
Coffee just crashed behind the LG/LT a la Ron Dayne for 3 yd.

:33 3-2 penalty Bama to make it 3-7 passing situation.
Couldn't find any guy to block as the Utes simply ran all around and crash onto the QB.
There goes another drive.
Now, he wasn't the only one who blew on this play or a few others, so I'm not just picking on him.

*** Measurements of Dlinemen are from ESPN.com
 
It's safe to assume that his strength will improve over his first 2-3 seasons. It usually is the case for young OLinemen.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top