Wednesday noon, the folks at Sirius got a hold of Charley in Hawaii. He's on the NFL Competition Committee. (nice place to hold the committee meetings 
)
They wanted his comments regarding Orlando Pace. His response was that the Rams have his rights and they've franchised him. "We brought him in, and gave him a physical, and agreed to the terms of the contract" if the Rams trade him to us, but the ball is in the Rams court. It was a long shot, but we tried."
Then they asked him his opinion about all the teams that are converting to a 3-4 this season, in light of the fact that that the Texans have been running it for the past three seasons, and how would that effect Texans' chances of getting the right players for the 3-4 in the draft.
He said that you need to bear in mind that only two college teams run the 3-4. Maryland and Virginia. So when you're drafting players to play linebacker for the 3-4, you have to project. (He practically yelled that word.) He said the teams that are converting to 3-4 this season "will be interesting to watch". He added, "Atlanta began the season last year with the 3-4, but went back to the 4-3 when they figured out they didn't have the personnel for it. You have to have the right players to make the 3-4 work. We've been running it for 3 years now, and we still don't have all the pieces yet!"
He said there are different styles of the 3-4. (I didn't know that) He said that the Texans run a different style of the 3-4 than the rest of the teams. Asked to elaborate . . . he said "in our style, we want the down linemen to tie up the offensive line, and we want the linebackers the find the ball and cover. Not just the ones on the edge, all four of them". He added, "in other styles, you might have the front 3 making a more direct input, but in ours, the linebackers will find the ball and cover".
My translation: They are fat dumb, and happy with the defensive line, but they are NOT happy with the linebacker play. And it fits perfectly with the moves that are being made this offseason.
He was asked what his impressions were about Aaron Rogers and Alex Smith. He said that he hasn't studied them, since "we won't be picking quarterback high in the draft". Then he was asked to rate the running backs 1,2, 3. He laughed and said, "you guys get paid to ask questions, I get paid to NOT answer them". But his further comments indicated that he has done a LOT of studying on these guys. "Ronny Brown weighs 230, and faster. Cadillac is 210, about as fast, but more elusive, while Cedric Benson is not as fast, but more durable, a runner that get stronger in the 4th quarter, like Eddie George in his prime".
Asked about the tight-end situation. He said, This year is a "very bad" draft for tight ends. But added, "we drafted a very good tight end two years ago, Bennie Joppru, who has been hurt the last two years, and hasn't been able to play for us. He got healthy late last season, but at the time we didn't have roster spot open for him. But now, he's healthy and working out, and we expect him to participate and make a contribution in 2005."
And finally, he was asked if the effort to land Orlando Pace was knock against Seth Wand. "Not at all, in fact we're very pleased with the play with both Seth and Chester Pitts. But when you have a chance to try to get an Orlando Pace, you make the effort. "Asked about OL in the draft, he did mention Alex Barron, and only him, indicating to me that Barron is his top O lineman on the board.
But from the entire jist of the interview, I'd say linebacker is the position that he and Capers are looking at in the draft. And again, this fits right in with what they've done so far.
)They wanted his comments regarding Orlando Pace. His response was that the Rams have his rights and they've franchised him. "We brought him in, and gave him a physical, and agreed to the terms of the contract" if the Rams trade him to us, but the ball is in the Rams court. It was a long shot, but we tried."
Then they asked him his opinion about all the teams that are converting to a 3-4 this season, in light of the fact that that the Texans have been running it for the past three seasons, and how would that effect Texans' chances of getting the right players for the 3-4 in the draft.
He said that you need to bear in mind that only two college teams run the 3-4. Maryland and Virginia. So when you're drafting players to play linebacker for the 3-4, you have to project. (He practically yelled that word.) He said the teams that are converting to 3-4 this season "will be interesting to watch". He added, "Atlanta began the season last year with the 3-4, but went back to the 4-3 when they figured out they didn't have the personnel for it. You have to have the right players to make the 3-4 work. We've been running it for 3 years now, and we still don't have all the pieces yet!"
He said there are different styles of the 3-4. (I didn't know that) He said that the Texans run a different style of the 3-4 than the rest of the teams. Asked to elaborate . . . he said "in our style, we want the down linemen to tie up the offensive line, and we want the linebackers the find the ball and cover. Not just the ones on the edge, all four of them". He added, "in other styles, you might have the front 3 making a more direct input, but in ours, the linebackers will find the ball and cover".
My translation: They are fat dumb, and happy with the defensive line, but they are NOT happy with the linebacker play. And it fits perfectly with the moves that are being made this offseason.
He was asked what his impressions were about Aaron Rogers and Alex Smith. He said that he hasn't studied them, since "we won't be picking quarterback high in the draft". Then he was asked to rate the running backs 1,2, 3. He laughed and said, "you guys get paid to ask questions, I get paid to NOT answer them". But his further comments indicated that he has done a LOT of studying on these guys. "Ronny Brown weighs 230, and faster. Cadillac is 210, about as fast, but more elusive, while Cedric Benson is not as fast, but more durable, a runner that get stronger in the 4th quarter, like Eddie George in his prime".
Asked about the tight-end situation. He said, This year is a "very bad" draft for tight ends. But added, "we drafted a very good tight end two years ago, Bennie Joppru, who has been hurt the last two years, and hasn't been able to play for us. He got healthy late last season, but at the time we didn't have roster spot open for him. But now, he's healthy and working out, and we expect him to participate and make a contribution in 2005."
And finally, he was asked if the effort to land Orlando Pace was knock against Seth Wand. "Not at all, in fact we're very pleased with the play with both Seth and Chester Pitts. But when you have a chance to try to get an Orlando Pace, you make the effort. "Asked about OL in the draft, he did mention Alex Barron, and only him, indicating to me that Barron is his top O lineman on the board.
But from the entire jist of the interview, I'd say linebacker is the position that he and Capers are looking at in the draft. And again, this fits right in with what they've done so far.
Perhaps people will start believing me about my Joppru comments now. 
