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Brantly Signs With Texans (Then is Cut)
- Thread starter Wolf
- Start date
Wolf
100% Texan
Goldensilence
hipster elite
On first glance it looks like the Texans have quietly signed a good rookie FA class. I think Foster and Johnson have a chance to contribute in the running game. Brantley is an interesting addition and has a good leg, question is...can he out run Turk?!
Another interesting guy might be Brandon Walker
http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/walker_brandon00.html
http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/brandon-walker?id=71507
Graded out higher then Duke Robinson. Gained some mass evidently from his junior year and weighs in at 306. Has good size and and nice reach(34 1/2"), link says he has a good hand punch too. I think he has a shot of sticking considering Studdard is on the roster and we don't have great depth at guard. Well I guess that was implied with naming Studdard as depth.
Mike Jones has great height(6'4") and size(211lbs). Caught 10 Tds his junior year.
Josh Leonard is a bit small But I think he he benched like 41 times and is pretty quick.
Another interesting guy might be Brandon Walker
http://www.soonersports.com/sports/m-footbl/mtt/walker_brandon00.html
http://www.nfl.com/combine/profiles/brandon-walker?id=71507
Graded out higher then Duke Robinson. Gained some mass evidently from his junior year and weighs in at 306. Has good size and and nice reach(34 1/2"), link says he has a good hand punch too. I think he has a shot of sticking considering Studdard is on the roster and we don't have great depth at guard. Well I guess that was implied with naming Studdard as depth.
Mike Jones has great height(6'4") and size(211lbs). Caught 10 Tds his junior year.
Josh Leonard is a bit small But I think he he benched like 41 times and is pretty quick.
beerlover
Hall of Fame
Turk is getting along in years.....
also agree about Walker. underrated component of Oklahoma's impressive OL been one of the best for several seasons in my opinion. once again Texans target interior lineman, Brandon has explosive punch, good arm extension w/enough lateral quickness to play in ZBS. With his ability to leverage in short-yardage situations & drive defenders off the ball he matches up well against bigger NFL NT types.
also agree about Walker. underrated component of Oklahoma's impressive OL been one of the best for several seasons in my opinion. once again Texans target interior lineman, Brandon has explosive punch, good arm extension w/enough lateral quickness to play in ZBS. With his ability to leverage in short-yardage situations & drive defenders off the ball he matches up well against bigger NFL NT types.
TheRealJoker
Hall of Fame
Looking at his numbers methinks Brantly could be our future punter. I hope he can beat out Turk in TC. We need a guy who can flip the field when we're punting from our own 20.
Porky
Hall of Fame
My take FWIW (which isn't much)
NAME POS HT WT COLLEGE
Bell, Aubrey WR 6-3 216 Mississippi State - No chance
Brantly, Justin P 6-3 252 Texas A&M - Slight chance to beat Turk, but doubtful
Dedrick, Doug OT 6-5 285 Iowa State - No chance
Foster, Arian RB 6-1 215 Tennessee - Decent chance at final 53, very good chance to PS.
Helms, Brett C 6-2 270 LSU - No chance
Jamison, Tim DE 6-3 263 Michigan - Very slight chance at PS
Johnson, Jeremiah RB 5-9 210 Oregon - Small to decent chance at final 53, very good chance to PS.
Jones, Mike WR 6-4 210 Arizona State - Very slight chance at final 53, good chance to PS
Leonard, Josh DT 6-3 305 Hawaii - Slight Chance to PS
Walker, Brandon G 6-3 284 Oklahoma - slight chance at final 53, very good chance to PS
Watkins, Jason OT 6-6 302 Florida - slight chance at final 53, extremely good chance to PS
Verdell, Toddrick LB 6-3 225 Florida State - Very slight chance to PS
Visser, Jake DT 6-2 275 Ferris State - Decent chance at PS
The team also released the following player:
NAME POS HT WT EXP COLLEGE
Anderson, Courtney TE 6-6 270 5 San Jose State - Eh.
I think the most underrated guys here are actually Watkins and Walker. I think both might actually be players for this offense somewhere down the road at least as depth/swing guys. Looking forward to seeing those two in the trenches in the pre-season. Brantly has a slight chance if Turk screws the pooch, but my guess is that they are going to want a vet punting for this team.
NAME POS HT WT COLLEGE
Bell, Aubrey WR 6-3 216 Mississippi State - No chance
Brantly, Justin P 6-3 252 Texas A&M - Slight chance to beat Turk, but doubtful
Dedrick, Doug OT 6-5 285 Iowa State - No chance
Foster, Arian RB 6-1 215 Tennessee - Decent chance at final 53, very good chance to PS.
Helms, Brett C 6-2 270 LSU - No chance
Jamison, Tim DE 6-3 263 Michigan - Very slight chance at PS
Johnson, Jeremiah RB 5-9 210 Oregon - Small to decent chance at final 53, very good chance to PS.
Jones, Mike WR 6-4 210 Arizona State - Very slight chance at final 53, good chance to PS
Leonard, Josh DT 6-3 305 Hawaii - Slight Chance to PS
Walker, Brandon G 6-3 284 Oklahoma - slight chance at final 53, very good chance to PS
Watkins, Jason OT 6-6 302 Florida - slight chance at final 53, extremely good chance to PS
Verdell, Toddrick LB 6-3 225 Florida State - Very slight chance to PS
Visser, Jake DT 6-2 275 Ferris State - Decent chance at PS
The team also released the following player:
NAME POS HT WT EXP COLLEGE
Anderson, Courtney TE 6-6 270 5 San Jose State - Eh.
I think the most underrated guys here are actually Watkins and Walker. I think both might actually be players for this offense somewhere down the road at least as depth/swing guys. Looking forward to seeing those two in the trenches in the pre-season. Brantly has a slight chance if Turk screws the pooch, but my guess is that they are going to want a vet punting for this team.
m5kwatts
Veteran
Yes but can he run for first downs?
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
His postitives on NFL.com are almost more than balanced out by disconcerting negatives:
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Fox
Rookie
Brantly can kick the hell out of a football. My first impression is that he has a pretty decent shot at dethroning Turk, he's one of the few Aggies I thought had NFL potential last year..... sadly enough. By the by while I'm on the subject of Aggies, there's no way in hell I would've taken McGee in the 4th if I were the Cowpies. Dude was a prolific passer in high school, tough as nails on the field, and a fantastic guy in the locker room but inconsistent offense or no, he was a wildly erratic passer and poor decision maker. Decent guy for an option-type offense, but I think he's gonna sink as a passer in a pro offense.
Goldensilence
hipster elite
To me looks like technique flaws that can be corrected.
Punter is a hell of a tough gig. There are only 32 on NFL rosters each year, so for a guy to remain in the League, he has to continue to be one of the top 32 guys. It amazes me, with the influx of new legs each year, that a guy like Turk can remain in the NFL as long as he has.
The Texans must feel that Brantly has a legitimate chance to beat out Turk, because I highly doubt they'd use one of eight lucrative practice squad spots on a punter.
bah007
Hall of Fame
I think these guys will have a shot at making the team or the PS. Everyone else is just camp fodder.
Brantly, Justin P 6-3 252 Texas A&M
Foster, Arian RB 6-1 215 Tennessee
Helms, Brett C 6-2 270 LSU
Jamison, Tim DE 6-3 263 Michigan
Johnson, Jeremiah RB 5-9 210 Oregon
Jones, Mike WR 6-4 210 Arizona State
Walker, Brandon G 6-3 284 Oklahoma
DiehardChris
You betcha!
I doubt Foster would make it to the practice squad. The Texans had to fork out a two-year deal to land him. If he's at least good enough for the Houston practice squad, I think someone else will snap him up.
bah007
Hall of Fame
I think Foster makes the roster for sure.
TheRealJoker
Hall of Fame
Hopefully Foster will give the Texans an excuse to cut Chris Brown.
I wouldn't be too upset with a Slaton/Moats/Foster backfield. I would like to see who comes loose on June 1st though, you have to always look for ways to upgrade your team.
I wouldn't be too upset with a Slaton/Moats/Foster backfield. I would like to see who comes loose on June 1st though, you have to always look for ways to upgrade your team.
C
Ckw
Guest
I am ecstatic about Brantly. I truly believe this guy can be our punter of the future. He was extremely poised and had a boot in college. Turk is getting up there, so it is good we are going to give Brantly a shot.
As far as McGee is concerned: you have got to remember who is coach was at A&M. From the time McGee took over at starting QB, he was being coached by IMO one of the worst coaches in college football. As soon as Fran started using McGee, he was so enamored with McGee speed and athleticism that he neglected McGee's natural passing ability and turned him into an option QB. It was not McGee's choice.
Anyway, that isn't to say he will be a good or even average NFL QB. I can just see things from both perspectives. Obviously, he looked like nothing more than an option QB in college. But that was also the only thing Fran let him do. The A&M offense rarely if ever threw the ball down the field. That can definitely hurt a QB's maturation process.
I guess the questions are: at 40, will Turk be able to hold up much longer, and can we use a PS spot on a Punter in case Turk goes down or to replace him in a year?
I know that PS spot is valuable, and they will probably keep Turk as the team's Punter because of his experience, but if Brantly shows he has the leg and skills to be a good NFL Punter, I think you have to find a place for him on the PS. JMHO!
jppaul
Cut and Dry
He would probably have to beat out Brown, not saying much there but I think you see
Slaton
Slaton Back up: Ryan Moats v. Jeremiah Johnson
Power Back: Chris Brown v. Arian Foster
We will bring some others into compete too. Honestly, I hope Brown doesn't make it he is just an empty roster spot soon to be on the IR once there is contact.
Right now, there are too many unknown variables to determine whether or not the Texans would be able to keep a punter on the practice squad. It will mostly be determined by how many players from this year's draft and FA class who don't make the 53-man roster are players the team wants to hold onto. Right now it's just too early to tell. I just have a hard time seeing a free agent punter making the team's practice squad.
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
If Brantly does prove to appear to carry his collegiate skills to the NFL........and ends up on our PS............count him as gone as soon as an active punter anywhere on an NFL team goes down, or even shows early signs of "sucking."
infantrycak
Hall of Fame
Practice squad spots ain't that valuable. They are storage spots for players you are comfortable with leaving. The only draft picks that go there generally are 6th or 7th rounders and then the remainder are undrafted guys. If anything, CnD may be right and the kid is too good to put on the practice squad but unless you dump Turk that is pretty much the only option.
pbat488
gig 'em
Lord knows he punted enough this year at A&M.. he was pretty good from what I remember. Usually during punts though, I had my head in my hands trying to figure out how an offense could be so anemic and just plain bad.. I think it was the Tech game though he hit an incredible punt that literally stopped dead on the sideline within 10 yards of the endzone IIRC... it was awesome -- probably the best play of the year for us...
Keep in mind though, that Kris Brown has done the best kicking of his career with Matt Turk as holder.
Also, Turk rushed for an average of 18 YPC last year. Tops on the team....
mexican_texan
Furry Tractors
If we're going local, Turk's replacement currently plays for the University of Houston. Chase Turner has the strongest leg I've ever seen(and I play soccer)...and all his kicks had pretty damn good spirals.
Maddict5
Hall of Fame
c'mon he was an UDFA- a somewhat sought after FA but a FA all the same. when you consider late/7th rounders usually dont make the 53- why is he suddenly a cert to make the 53 when nobody even wanted him in the 7th?
DiehardChris
You betcha!
Well, first of all - he got a two-year deal, which shows there was more competition for him than the average UDFA.
Secondly, it's widely believed (not necessarily by myself - I didn't watch any Tennessee games) that lot of his problems/low production as a senior were from Tennessee's brutal offensive line... so if he looks good in training camp it would seem to support that bit of speculation.
So if it looks like he's back to his old form, I'm sure there would be at LEAST one team who would want to snatch him up if we tried to put him on the practice squad.
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
Aren't most punters usually chosen in the late rounds?
usually not at all.
Smart thinking on behalf of the front office in signing an Aggie punter. Those guys always get a lot of work at A&M so they are well seasoned.
C
Ckw
Guest
Touche.
P
Polo
Guest
Does that mean if I need a good police officer for security Austin is where its at?
Or should I look elsewhere because they might be exhuasted?
J/K that was pretty funny...
That could be, but there are solid veteran punters out of work right now. Kyle Larson, for example, was recently released by the Bengals. He's a quality punter with a lot of NFL experience and hasn't found a new home. I have a tendency to believe that he'd get a call before a rookie like Brantly would, but I could be wrong.
TimeKiller
Guest
Turk can't possibly have much left, business is business. If the new guy is better than the old guy I'm taking the new guy and telling Turk thanks for the memories.
Foster and Brown are probably fighting out power spot. I'm taking Foster to win that battle.
Interesting to see the WR frames they target. 6'3'' 210-220 would describe most of the Texans WR. I don't know if that's true everywhere or not but it seems like we go after bigger guys outside.
I'm betting the G from Oklahoma is worth a PS spot at least.
Foster and Brown are probably fighting out power spot. I'm taking Foster to win that battle.
Interesting to see the WR frames they target. 6'3'' 210-220 would describe most of the Texans WR. I don't know if that's true everywhere or not but it seems like we go after bigger guys outside.
I'm betting the G from Oklahoma is worth a PS spot at least.
Texan4Ever
All Pro
I hope Mike Jones gets a look and hopefully he can make the team. He played for my high school (Stephen F. Austin HS) in Sugar Land, TX and he was a stud for us.
Specnatz
Hall of Fame
Only use Austin police if you want to see someone get tased.
I'm not so sure that you can say that, infantry. The value of practice squad spots is determined by the depth of a team's roster. If you have a really deep roster, those practice squad spots are more relevant and more lucrative, because they're populated by more talented players.
If you put pen to paper right now and build a hypothetical regular-season roster, you're going to see players left over that you'd probably want on your roster but don't have room for. I'm talking primarily about young players with a lot of potential who maybe just aren't ready to play yet.
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CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
This is one time I would take pause before suggesting this. Larson punted an NFL record 100 times last season............his average of 34.1 yards ranked near the bottom of the league (35th). Turk wasn't any bargain either last year at 35.2 yards (30th). There's a very good reason for why Brantly might be the favorite with a 45.7 yard average (at least 44 yards x 4 years). You might say that those are college stats. But punter is a position that transitions pretty well from college to NFL because of the nature of the skill.
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Larson did have a very disappointing season -- his worst as a pro. Just two years ago, his net punting avg. was 38.6, though that was by far his best season. I'm not saying he's a great punter by NFL standards, but he's a veteran, and teams know what they're getting with him. Brantly is far more of an unknown.
Also, you're comparing net punting avg. with Larson and Turk vs. raw avg. with Brantly. There's a big difference. Until last season, Larson had averaged between 41.3 and 44.5 in avg. yards per punt. Brantly's net punting avg. last year was 36.0.
I would also contend that there is in fact a difference in punting in college vs. the pros. Punters often have less time to get the ball off in the NFL than they did in college. Using Larson as an example, he had an avg. of 45.1 yards per punt as a college senior, which exceeds any avg. he's had in any of his five NFL seasons, and puts him within 0.5 yards of Brantly's college average.
kiwitexansfan
Hall of Fame
This quote by Kubaikfrom HT.com interests me....
(on if there will be a competition at punter with rookie Justin Brantly coming in) I think its a few things. Its too hard to go through training camp with two punters and two kickers because of numbers. So we said if we are going to take a look at another young man, lets do it during OTAs. Naturally, hes a local kids and hes an Aggie, which is like five pluses. Hes a very good punter, so we thought we would bring him in and take a look at him and he can help Matt (Turk) get better.
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No why would a rookie Punter make a very experienced player better, shouldn't it be the other way around?
Unless it is making him better in the "get better or get gone" method of motivation.
Anyone think Turk is done?
(on if there will be a competition at punter with rookie Justin Brantly coming in) I think its a few things. Its too hard to go through training camp with two punters and two kickers because of numbers. So we said if we are going to take a look at another young man, lets do it during OTAs. Naturally, hes a local kids and hes an Aggie, which is like five pluses. Hes a very good punter, so we thought we would bring him in and take a look at him and he can help Matt (Turk) get better.
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No why would a rookie Punter make a very experienced player better, shouldn't it be the other way around?
Unless it is making him better in the "get better or get gone" method of motivation.
Anyone think Turk is done?
Carr Bombed
Hall of Fame
Why would they have to bring two kickers in? (unless just to give K. Brown a rest) Everybody knows he isn't losing that job. I like this Brantly kid and at some point this team is going to have to find a long term punter.....might as well push the Turk this offseason.
mexican_texan
Furry Tractors
They usually bring in a few camp legs.
CloakNNNdagger
Hall of Fame
If Turk plays at his 2008 form in TC, and Brantly excells, I would be little surprised if Turk finds himself on the outside. The punter is too important a single piece of the puzzle in the ST game to allow for the luxury of "patience" or accepting mediocrity. Punters, by necessity, are truly a "now" phenomenon.
HOU-TEX
Ah, Football!
Carr Bombed
Hall of Fame
Wow, he didn't even make it to camp.
DiehardChris
You betcha!
Kubes said he probably wouldn't take two punters to camp. This give him plenty of time to hook on with another team.
I'm glad they brought him in though. Last year at this time I was openly calling for some competition for Turk, and it didn't happen - but he ended up being pretty solid.
Too bad for Brantly, but I bet he has a solid career.
I'm glad they brought him in though. Last year at this time I was openly calling for some competition for Turk, and it didn't happen - but he ended up being pretty solid.
Too bad for Brantly, but I bet he has a solid career.
barrett
All Pro
Brantly got waived. http://twitter.com/HoustonDiehards/statuses/2229310395