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Mark Anderson

L

LZ

Waterboy
It's been awhile since I've been on with 5 kids, two blogs and a radio show pulling at my time but I'm going to try and get back on here to get my Texans fix - you know - until we officially don't have any camps or pre-season games.

I was thinking about Mark Anderson the other day and how he would fit into the 3-4 as an OLB and the more I thought about what I saw from him in Chicago and what I saw from him with the Texans, the more I am liking the possibility of him being a very good rotation player or even a stop-gap starter that would allow the Texans to work a draft pick in at OLB or even allow the Texans to draft another position of need in the first round.

The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps. With that said, I actually think Anderson is going to end up being decent in the 3-4 and should be a lock to make the team.
 
Lance-

Was it last year's draft that you basically got 9 out of 10 picks right? I can't remember.
Anyways, looking forward to your final mock draft.

I would also agree that Mark Anderson would transfer over to OLB in pass rushing, but would he be a liability in coverage?
 
LZ said:
The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about at CB)make
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Very interesting.
Given that they had "mixed" results from the CB they drafted last year with their top pick, I doubt they take another corner with their top pick 2 years in a row if they have reservations about Amukamara ?
But I was wondering how the Texans felt about Smith and it seems now we know since LZ has sources, as I understand it ?
 
LZ said:
It's been awhile since I've been on with 5 kids, two blogs and a radio show pulling at my time but I'm going to try and get back on here to get my Texans fix - you know - until we officially don't have any camps or pre-season games.

I was thinking about Mark Anderson the other day and how he would fit into the 3-4 as an OLB and the more I thought about what I saw from him in Chicago and what I saw from him with the Texans, the more I am liking the possibility of him being a very good rotation player or even a stop-gap starter that would allow the Texans to work a draft pick in at OLB or even allow the Texans to draft another position of need in the first round.

The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps. With that said, I actually think Anderson is going to end up being decent in the 3-4 and should be a lock to make the team.
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I say with Smith's horrible job of drafting if he doesn't like a guy then that is our man.
 
I actually agree with your thoughts on Amukamara, or any 1st round CB for that matter. Personally, I would count on a free agent CB more than anything once a new CBA's in place. If not, our secondary might be just as bad as last year.

I can see Anderson making a smooth transition to OLB. However, we have way too many questions at the position to consider drafting much else. Barwin's coming off a huge injury. Nading? Jamison? Ha, no thanks.

The only possible way I could see us going with any other position in the 1st would be finding a way to snag Brooks Reed in the 2nd. Or Justin Houston. Odds are they'll both be gone somewhere between our 1st and 2nd pick
 
TEXANS84 said:
Lance-

Was it last year's draft that you basically got 9 out of 10 picks right? I can't remember.
Anyways, looking forward to your final mock draft.

I would also agree that Mark Anderson would transfer over to OLB in pass rushing, but would he be a liability in coverage?
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I think I had the first 7 in a row last year and 9 out of 10 the year before. The mock will be much tougher this year as things appear to be much more fluid. You are probably right about Anderson in coverage and maybe we would only see him on 3rd downs, but right now they simply don't have enough guys on the roster to not play him at OLB on 1st and 2nd downs.
 
HOU-TEX said:
I actually agree with your thoughts on Amukamara, or any 1st round CB for that matter. Personally, I would count on a free agent CB more than anything once a new CBA's in place. If not, our secondary might be just as bad as last year.

I can see Anderson making a smooth transition to OLB. However, we have way too many questions at the position to consider drafting much else. Barwin's coming off a huge injury. Nading? Jamison? Ha, no thanks.

The only possible way I could see us going with any other position in the 1st would be finding a way to snag Brooks Reed in the 2nd. Or Justin Houston. Odds are they'll both be gone somewhere between our 1st and 2nd pick
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I would guess that Aldon Smith will be the pick in the 1st round and a CB/FS/NT/DE will be the 2nd and 3rd round pick.
 
LZ said:
I would guess that Aldon Smith will be the pick in the 1st round and a CB/FS/NT/DE will be the 2nd and 3rd round pick.
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So, any odds on the Texans moving up and taking a stab at P. Peterson if he falls out of the top 5?
 
LZ said:
I would guess that Aldon Smith will be the pick in the 1st round and a CB/FS/NT/DE will be the 2nd and 3rd round pick.
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You mention DE here. I'd love to hear your thoughts on the possibility of Cameron Jordan or JJ Watt in the 1st round... and the impact they may have as a rookie if on the Texans.

In regards to an OLB and Mark Anderson, I can see them moving up to the line of scrimmage or close to it on passing downs and rushing the passer. I definitely think Anderson should have a spot on this team next year.
 
LZ said:
I would guess that Aldon Smith will be the pick in the 1st round and a CB/FS/NT/DE will be the 2nd and 3rd round pick.
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And I would be coo with that. I'd probably lean more towards NT, DE and FS in the 2nd. Love me some big nasties in the trenches, and again, I'm truly counting on a mid to top tier CB in FA.
 
I think having Barwin and Anderson as our starters and picking Aldon Smith with the #11 would set us up pretty well going forward. Still a lot of ?s, but we would at least have some nice talent for Wade to groom.
 
I'd like to see them sign Bernard Pollard for 1-2 mill this year and use him a WLB. I think he would do just about as well as Anderson.
 
TexCanada said:
I think having Barwin and Anderson as our starters and picking Aldon Smith with the #11 would set us up pretty well going forward. Still a lot of ?s, but we would at least have some nice talent for Wade to groom.
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Do you realize that the total snaps played as 3-4 OLBs between all 3 of those guys is 0 ?
 
Mr teX said:
noooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!!!!!!!!
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Agreed.

I'm usually pretty open to whatever pick the Texans make, but this year there are a number of picks that I am vehemently against (namely Aldon Smith and Amukamara).

I'd be happy with Watts, Cam Jordan, Julio Jones, and even Quinn. But, guys like Smith and Amukamara are utterly unappetizing to me.

I'm just holding out hope for a move up, a move down, or someone falling to us.
 
nero THE zero said:
Agreed.

I'm usually pretty open to whatever pick the Texans make, but this year there are a number of picks that I am vehemently against (namely Aldon Smith and Amukamara).

I'd be happy with Watts, Cam Jordan, Julio Jones, and even Quinn. But, guys like Smith and Amukamara are utterly unappetizing to me.

I'm just holding out hope for a move up, a move down, or someone falling to us.
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I've seen a little of him in various highlight reels & games. i see the potential i just think he's a little too raw right now. I watched the show "game changers" with he & Dareus on it & it reinforced my opinion...this years pierre paul imo.


I think he's too much of a project to pick at that spot.. We need immediate starters who will make an immediate impact & i don't think he'll be able to do that for us next year. Cam Jordan can...imo of course.
 
LZ said:
It's been awhile since I've been on with 5 kids, two blogs and a radio show pulling at my time but I'm going to try and get back on here to get my Texans fix - you know - until we officially don't have any camps or pre-season games.

I was thinking about Mark Anderson the other day and how he would fit into the 3-4 as an OLB and the more I thought about what I saw from him in Chicago and what I saw from him with the Texans, the more I am liking the possibility of him being a very good rotation player or even a stop-gap starter that would allow the Texans to work a draft pick in at OLB or even allow the Texans to draft another position of need in the first round.
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Welcome back slacker.

I think that Mark Anderson is a real option at OLB. If I recall correctly, he was projected as a tweener back in the 06 draft. Also, he is almost a Connor Barwin clone on his measurables. They are both listed at 6'4 254 similar times on drills etc....

and he knows how to get to the QB.
 
LZ said:
It's been awhile since I've been on with 5 kids, two blogs and a radio show pulling at my time but I'm going to try and get back on here to get my Texans fix - you know - until we officially don't have any camps or pre-season games.

I was thinking about Mark Anderson the other day and how he would fit into the 3-4 as an OLB and the more I thought about what I saw from him in Chicago and what I saw from him with the Texans, the more I am liking the possibility of him being a very good rotation player or even a stop-gap starter that would allow the Texans to work a draft pick in at OLB or even allow the Texans to draft another position of need in the first round.

The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps. With that said, I actually think Anderson is going to end up being decent in the 3-4 and should be a lock to make the team.
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I know you disagree with me, but I'm actually more hopeful that Tim Jamison makes the successful transition and can make an impact at OLB. It would be foolish to argue that Anderson won't make the roster, though, given the lack of depth (to say the least) at the OLB position.
 
dalemurphy said:
I know you disagree with me, but I'm actually more hopeful that Tim Jamison makes the successful transition and can make an impact at OLB. It would be foolish to argue that Anderson won't make the roster, though, given the lack of depth (to say the least) at the OLB position.
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No? Really? :specnatz:
 
I'd been interested to see if some X's and O's guys on here view the Texans gamefilm from the last couple seasons. There's been intances where we've played in 3-4 alignments... just not to the degree that it's our base defense. It's not like these guys have ZERO experience in 3-4 fronts.
 
JimBaker488 said:
Do you realize that the total snaps played as 3-4 OLBs between all 3 of those guys is 0 ?
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That's not true, JBkr.
Anderson, Barwin, and Aldon Smith all had seen time as 3-4 OLB.

Barwin and Anderson certainly can play as well at OLB in the 3-4 as they do at DE in the 4-3.

Aldon Smith, I haven't seen enough of him play standing up so I can't be sure how well he can play as OLB.
But he did play standing up some for Mizzou.
 
76Texan said:
That's not true, JBkr.
Anderson, Barwin, and Aldon Smith all had seen time as 3-4 OLB.

Barwin and Anderson certainly can play as well at OLB in the 3-4 as they do at DE in the 4-3.
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OK, maybe they've got some limited, very limited experience as LBs ?
But to say they can play as well standing up as hand down on the los, no way.
Not unless Anderson had some experience at that position in Chicago, and it's my recollection that he was a DE in the 4-3 his time there ?
I know a lot of Chiefs fans who follow MU and while they liked Smith, they have reservations about him in a 3-4 ? They qustion his lateral movement and lack of fluidity in hip-movement ?
And even without Barwins horrible injury last year, I personally got a lot of questions about him playing as a 3-4 backer ? Maybe he'll be OK (if he recovers), but no one knows yet until we can get him out there and see how he does ?
 
LZ said:
It's been awhile since I've been on with 5 kids, two blogs and a radio show pulling at my time but I'm going to try and get back on here to get my Texans fix - you know - until we officially don't have any camps or pre-season games.

I was thinking about Mark Anderson the other day and how he would fit into the 3-4 as an OLB and the more I thought about what I saw from him in Chicago and what I saw from him with the Texans, the more I am liking the possibility of him being a very good rotation player or even a stop-gap starter that would allow the Texans to work a draft pick in at OLB or even allow the Texans to draft another position of need in the first round.

The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps. With that said, I actually think Anderson is going to end up being decent in the 3-4 and should be a lock to make the team.
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Thank You for confirming the same thing I've been saying for a month regarding Mark Anderson. He's not perfect but he's got the size, speed, and pass rushing experience to play WOLB in a 3-4 system. He might not be perfect but he could hold it down long enough for us to concentrate on filling other gaping holes on defense.

As for Aldon Smith at OLB, HELL NO. I watched a bunch of video on him last night and he's got young inexperienced 4-3 DE wrote all over him. He's a great athlete but honestly he should have stayed in school another year to mature and bulk up and stick with 4-3 DE. He could have been a top 10 pick next year.
 
LZ said:
The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps. With that said, I actually think Anderson is going to end up being decent in the 3-4 and should be a lock to make the team.
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Thanks for stopping by, LZ.

Smith and Quinn seem obvious fits for a Phillips 3-4 OLB. They have the size/speed he's looking for. With Barwin's injury, Cushing moving inside, and the questionable abilities of Anderson, Nading, and Jamison, OLB is almost as much of a certainty in the 1st as CB was in 2009, or LT was in 2008.

I wonder if it Wade or Rick Smith and crew who are down on Prince? If it's Phillips, ok. He knows what he wants as a CB. If it's Smith, then I'n unconvinced. I think Amukamara has gotten a bad rap by some draft experts. He's asked to be very aggressive and that's hurt occasionaly. But, the Huskers have had an outstanding pass defense the past couple of seasons, in a pretty good passing conference. And Amukamara has had something to do with that. I'd trade any 2 CBs on the Texans roster for him, right now.*

* No current players can be traded at this time.
 
There's one huge problem with the Texans going OLB - the franchise is now in such flux with it anybodys guess who we have as our HC next year if Kubiak has another disappointing season, and therefor what kind of defense will we be running ? If we were to move up for a player, make it the very talented CB out of LSU, because Peterson can probably be an outstanding defensive back in a 3-4 or 4-3, and that's just not the case with a Von Miller who's top 10 value is only as a 3-4 OLB.
 
IDEXAN said:
There's one huge problem with the Texans going OLB - the franchise is now in such flux with it anybodys guess who we have as our HC next year if Kubiak has another disappointing season, and therefor what kind of defense will we be running ? If we were to move up for a player, make it the very talented CB out of LSU, because Peterson can probably be an outstanding defensive back in a 3-4 or 4-3, and that's just not the case with a Von Miller who's top 10 value is only as a 3-4 OLB.
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Independent of what happens with Kubiak this year, short of a colossal collapse on the part of the D, expect Wade in whatever capacity (DC or HC) and his 3-4 to be retained.
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Independent of what happens with Kubiak this year, short of a colossal collapse on the part of the D, expect Wade in whatever capacity (DC or HC) and his 3-4 to be retained.
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But I can think of lots of scenarios where that won't happen. Maybe Kubiak/Texans do have a successful year and Wade leaves for greener pastures ? Or maybe Wades defense does collapse and he quickly becomes out of favor with the fans and the owner ? I don't think there's any guarantee
that this defense is a big success this coming year, or remains a 3-4 defense after 2011 ?
 
JimBaker488 said:
OK, maybe they've got some limited, very limited experience as LBs ?
But to say they can play as well standing up as hand down on the los, no way.
Not unless Anderson had some experience at that position in Chicago, and it's my recollection that he was a DE in the 4-3 his time there ?
I know a lot of Chiefs fans who follow MU and while they liked Smith, they have reservations about him in a 3-4 ? They qustion his lateral movement and lack of fluidity in hip-movement ?
And even without Barwins horrible injury last year, I personally got a lot of questions about him playing as a 3-4 backer ? Maybe he'll be OK (if he recovers), but no one knows yet until we can get him out there and see how he does ?
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It's true that we don't know how Barwin will recover from the injury.
I can only tell you what these guys have as far as experience as a 3-4 OLB.

1. Barwin played some OLB for us in his first game as a Texans, against the Jets.
That means he had 2 OTAs and pre-seasons, and one season plus of practice and a certain number of snaps.

2. Anderson, in his second game playing for us (against the Colts in week 8), registered his first sack as an OLB (Darn it; I just pulled up the game and I can't recall whether it was his first or second snap at OLB.)
It was with about 30 second to go in the first quarter.

3. Remember that in the 4-man front that the Texans used, may times the DE has the same responsibility of a 3-4 OLB; the only difference is hand on the ground or standing up.
On the other hand, Ware (and the other Cowboys OLBs) played with his hand on the ground for from time to time.
 
LZ said:
The Texans need OLB regardless and I've heard that they are high on Aldon Smith from Missouri (while not being too crazy about Amukamara at CB) so they are going to add to their OLB corps.
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Man I really hope that is a smoke screen or some sort of obfuscation of their real intentions.
 
b0ng said:
Man I really hope that is a smoke screen or some sort of obfuscation of their real intentions.
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You and I both, bOng. And as I've stated prior, Quinn, according to the media, both talking heads and in print don't think he's that sure of a transition from a 4-3 DE to OLB. Guess we'll see?
 
Thanks for taking my post LZ. First time, long time.

What are you thoughts on Adibi finding a place in the rotation, outside of being able to stay on the field due to health reasons.
 
b0ng said:
Man I really hope that is a smoke screen or some sort of obfuscation of their real intentions.
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Add me to the list of people that hopes the talk of Aldon Smith is just a smoke screen. I'd rather reach for Justin Houston than take Smith at #11.
 
Kaiser Toro said:
Thanks for taking my post LZ. First time, long time.

What are you thoughts on Adibi finding a place in the rotation, outside of being able to stay on the field due to health reasons.
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I get the feeling that Adibi will be the first backup behind Connor Barwin at SOLB. Health permitting he should rotate in occasionally.
 
IDEXAN said:
There's one huge problem with the Texans going OLB - the franchise is now in such flux with it anybodys guess who we have as our HC next year if Kubiak has another disappointing season, and therefor what kind of defense will we be running ? If we were to move up for a player, make it the very talented CB out of LSU, because Peterson can probably be an outstanding defensive back in a 3-4 or 4-3, and that's just not the case with a Von Miller who's top 10 value is only as a 3-4 OLB.
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And if Gary/Rick/Wade determine that Von Miller is the best pick for this team, and find a trade partner that would move them up high enough to select him, exactly who is going to override that recommendation based on the fact that all three of them might be gone for the 2012 season?
 
Wolf6151 said:
Add me to the list of people that hopes the talk of Aldon Smith is just a smoke screen. I'd rather reach for Justin Houston than take Smith at #11.
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Agreed

Houston has much more natural ability . He reminds me of Terrell Suggs.
 
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