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2019 1.23 TYTUS HOWARD OT Alabama State

Are you happy with our first round pick?


  • Total voters
    75
  • Poll closed .
Based off his play vs SWAC pass rushers? Put him in the SEC and it's likely a different story. At least initially. Taylor is a 3 year starter in the SEC, and he has a ton of upside if he can keep his weight down.

SEC is certainly not the gold standard for offensive tackles, a whole lot of busts out of that conference and very few that stick. On the contrary I can only think of one from the SWAC and he is pretty damn good. I would put my message board coins that Howard will be a much better tackle than Taylor. Taylor couldn't even get 2nd team honors at RT in a conference that struggles to produce lineman in the NFL, and he's been playing the position his whole life. To me that screams NO upside!
 
SEC is certainly not the gold standard for offensive tackles, a whole lot of busts out of that conference and very few that stick. On the contrary I can only think of one from the SWAC and he is pretty damn good. I would put my message board coins that Howard will be a much better tackle than Taylor. Taylor couldn't even get 2nd team honors at RT in a conference that struggles to produce lineman in the NFL, and he's been playing the position his whole life. To me that screams NO upside!
CnD posted an article this morning that attributed his slide to his dickey knee.
Makes me glad we didn't take him now as I am done with damaged goods.
 
SEC is certainly not the gold standard for offensive tackles, a whole lot of busts out of that conference and very few that stick. On the contrary I can only think of one from the SWAC and he is pretty damn good. I would put my message board coins that Howard will be a much better tackle than Taylor. Taylor couldn't even get 2nd team honors at RT in a conference that struggles to produce lineman in the NFL, and he's been playing the position his whole life. To me that screams NO upside!
And there's a reason he played his career @ FLA as their RT, not LT.
 
Based off his play vs SWAC pass rushers? Put him in the SEC and it's likely a different story. At least initially. Taylor is a 3 year starter in the SEC, and he has a ton of upside if he can keep his weight down.

Somewhat based on that, yes. But also based on his game against Auburn. And based on his reps against future pros at the Senior Bowl. I'm not going to claim I've seen every rep he's ever had or that he's more battle tested than Taylor, but based on what I have seen, he is the superior pass protector.
 
SEC is certainly not the gold standard for offensive tackles, a whole lot of busts out of that conference and very few that stick. On the contrary I can only think of one from the SWAC and he is pretty damn good.
I don't even know what to say about this? In 2018, 18 of the 64 NFL starting OTs came out of the SEC. 28%. Versus the one SWAC OT you alluded to (Armstead). 18 to 1. And 26% of the OTs taken in last week's draft (6 of 23) played in the SEC.

You want to defend Gaine & O'Brien. OK. I'm not asking for their resignation because of 1 draft that we don't now how it pans out. I can understand the concern over Taylor's knee. I respect the hell out of @CloakNNNdagger's opinions. But I will note that of all the positions in the NFL, knee injuries have less effect on O-lineman's performance. Joe Thomas had knee injuries in college and in the NFL, and was the gold standard for OT play for years.

But when you say the SEC struggles to produce NFL linemen, that's just asinine. The SEC has more starting OTs than the Big 10 (8) and Pac 12 (7) combined. Are they all good OTs? No, all of them are not that good. There are not 64 good OTs in the NFL. Some teams don't even have 1 good OT. I think you know whom I'm alluding to. But the 2 highest paid FA OTs this offseason played in the SEC. Both LTs in the last Super Bowl played in the SEC. Nothing is a given. But you're a hellva lot more likely to get a starting OT out of the SEC than the SWAC.
 
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Somewhat based on that, yes. But also based on his game against Auburn. And based on his reps against future pros at the Senior Bowl. I'm not going to claim I've seen every rep he's ever had or that he's more battle tested than Taylor, but based on what I have seen, he is the superior pass protector.
That's fine. While I'm not one to take PFF as gospel, they did attribute only one sack allowed to Taylor in 2018. And when I saw both move in drills at the combine, Taylor was the most athletic. With the bad knee. I think Taylor will have the better NFL career, but hope to be proven wrong.

Having said that, Dillard would have been my guy.
 
Interesting to note that after spending so much to get Trent Brown, the Raiders are going to play him at RT and their 2018 1st rnd pick at LT.
There are good pass rushers coming from each side in the AFC West. And Miller should improve after struggling with a knee in his rookie season. Unless he doesn't. OTs get injured, whether it's in college or the pros. Part of the job.
 
Unhappy is the right word. At first I was kind of in shock they drafted Howard. Now that I’ve had time to think about it, I’m just unhappy. Yes, they drafted a couple guys that some year might be able to protect Watson. It probably won’t be this year. In the meantime, Gaine’s competition in Indy keeps knocking it out of the park. The Texans lost in convincing fashion to the Colts in the playoffs last year and on paper anyway, the Texans look poised to be the Colts’ little ***** once again.

I wasn't too happy with the CBs in this draft. Didn't like the idea of taking one in the first round.

Someone mocked us talking Johnson in the first, Howard at 54 & McGary at 55. That's what I would have liked to have seen.

Jwlcasper (or something like that, sorry I don't know your name) posted an insightful post about the lack of success of air raid linemen in the NFL. He mentioned the reasons for this & it made sense to me. Fit is a real thing. & if we don't do things the way Dillard understands, maybe it is better for him to go to a team that does things like he is used to.

Anyway, remember before Kubiak had a competent OL coach & he drafted Charles Spencer in the third & Eric Winston right after him? & they started right away.

Now I'm not saying these guys are those guys, or that they'll start right away. But those guys did with crappy coaches & we were all happy about it. Well, maybe not steelbtexan.

But the point is, makes no sense to be griping about when these two will be able to do their job. We don't know. What we do know is these yahoos drafted them in the first & 2nd round. When has BO'b not started a 1st or 2nd round pick?

All we can do is wait & see.
 
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I was close to thinking you had your sht squared away & then you say this. How could you rather take Juwan Taylor at 23 knowing he was there 12 picks later, but not be happy taking Howard there when we have no idea he'd make it past 31?

Taylor allegedly had a knee issue. If the Texans saw that of course don't draft him but otherwise he is ready to start at RT
Still 12 picks is not much for a guy who was graded a first rounder if healthy
. Howard was not even a 2nd round pick by many reports

Ok. Let's try this again.

You are unhappy that the Texans didn't trade down then pick Howard.

You'd rather they had taken Taylor with the 23rd overall, knowing without a doubt he would be there 12 spots later.

If the issue is that the Texans appear to not know how to "work the draft" how could you prefer they do the exact same thing, just a different player?

Heck, if I were going to rewrite history I would rather they trade 23 to the Jags & take Howard or McGary, who ever is left.

Taking Taylor at 23 is just as dumb as taking Howard knowing Taylor was not the next Tackle taken.
 
Know people here insist he must start LT to be considered not a bust, but Texans desperately need a RT more and doesn’t mean he’ locked into position his whole career. He has experience both sides and Davenport is improving, giving him another year is a prudent course of action. So we’ll see if Devlin is a good OL Coach, he’s been working with low to mid floor talent now he has some higher ceiling talent to play with, just hope he doesn’t have a heart attack.

Let's be honest. We need help at LT, LG, C, RG, & RT. If you can see Dillard starting at LG, then moving to LT, couldn't you see the same for Howard?

I'm thinking our best 5 are (in no particular order) Howard, Sharping, Davenport, Fulton, Rankin. By TC we should have figured out who the five will be & where they're going to start.

jmo
 
Ok. Let's try this again.

You are unhappy that the Texans didn't trade down then pick Howard.

You'd rather they had taken Taylor with the 23rd overall, knowing without a doubt he would be there 12 spots later.

If the issue is that the Texans appear to not know how to "work the draft" how could you prefer they do the exact same thing, just a different player?

Heck, if I were going to rewrite history I would rather they trade 23 to the Jags & take Howard or McGary, who ever is left.

Taking Taylor at 23 is just as dumb as taking Howard knowing Taylor was not the next Tackle taken.

Er, no. Taylor was projected to go much higher than Howard. And 12 spots later is not enough of a difference to trade down. The issue with Howard is that he could have been there at 54
 
Let's be honest. We need help at LT, LG, C, RG, & RT. If you can see Dillard starting at LG, then moving to LT, couldn't you see the same for Howard?

I'm thinking our best 5 are (in no particular order) Howard, Sharping, Davenport, Fulton, Rankin. By TC we should have figured out who the five will be & where they're going to start.

jmo

I’d like to let Howard gain his confidence and play him at his most comfortable and strongest position which right now is RT. As he develops along with Davenport we either see some separation or we don’t. As for LG I would love to see Sharping there if he can beat out the veteran, Kelemete. See him as upgrade if not immediately sooner than later. Davenport improves, Martin can stay healthy, Rankin can compete with Fulton for RG next to Howard you got makings of a quality OL to protect Watson and run the ball.
 
Er, no. Taylor was projected to go much higher than Howard. And 12 spots later is not enough of a difference to trade down. The issue with Howard is that he could have been there at 54

You know Taylor was there 12 spots later.

You know he wasn't the next Tackle taken.

.... I'm just going to assume your problem was not that we didn't trade down. You think Howard is an inferior player.

& that's ok.

I was wrong.
 
You know Taylor was there 12 spots later.

You know he wasn't the next Tackle taken.

.... I'm just going to assume your problem was not that we didn't trade down. You think Howard is an inferior player.

& that's ok.

I was wrong.

You can't trade down if the guy is only going to fall a few spots. Especially with Taylor who was a first round talent who fell because some teams were scared of his knee.

Taylor was projected to possibly fall to us in the second. In that case it does make sense to trade down.

But yes Taylor is the better prospect if healthy
 
Cough**Duane Brown**cough.

We moved back from 23 to 26.

Fair enough. Then in that case they should have definitely traded down though if they wanted Taylor, it was hard to predict because he's a first round talent.

Really trading down only made sense with Howard because they couldn't count on Dillard and Taylor falling past 23 with their talent and projections
 
Fair enough. Then in that case they should have definitely traded down though if they wanted Taylor, it was hard to predict because he's a first round talent.

Really trading down only made sense with Howard because they couldn't count on Dillard and Taylor falling past 23 with their talent and projections

Well once they got the call the Eagles or someone was moving up they should have been exploring moving down.

To be clear for the peanut gallery, not against Howard...

So if you move down you need to be happy with Howard, McGary, Taylor...some combo who may get to the new position.

Or you take the best player...

Or you reach for your need...which is what they did.

Frankly whatever and always hope it works out. But own up to it. They reached for a need after not prioritising it. That was one way of kind of prioritizing. Steelb & others would have been trading away to 12 to get Dillard to prove their prioritizing.

My objection is somewhere lost in this is a team has 22 starters. We acted (and this discussion has largely acted) like only one existed in the 1st.

For this season we could have prioritized more without a pick or cap dollar one.
 
I’d like to let Howard gain his confidence and play him at his most comfortable and strongest position which right now is RT. As he develops along with Davenport we either see some separation or we don’t. As for LG I would love to see Sharping there if he can beat out the veteran, Kelemete. See him as upgrade if not immediately sooner than later. Davenport improves, Martin can stay healthy, Rankin can compete with Fulton for RG next to Howard you got makings of a quality OL to protect Watson and run the ball.

If this is where the pieces may fit, then I'm putting Rankin at RG and moving Felton to Center. I don't think Martin has any upside left. I'd sooner start Mancz or Felton over Martin at this stage of the game.
 
If this is where the pieces may fit, then I'm putting Rankin at RG and moving Felton to Center. I don't think Martin has any upside left. I'd sooner start Mancz or Felton over Martin at this stage of the game.

Regardless he’ll get his shot (UFA 2020). Low cost, high ceiling guy who knows system, is healthy now and working hard to improve. Believe Mancz is signed through 2020 so he understands situation time to put up or shut up and play for next contract.

Really believe Martin has struggled because of injuries. If healthy he has everything you look for in position and reason Texans drafted him in the second round.
 
I'd like to see Mancz at center since he's had some success there in the past. I don't know what Devlin thinks his weaknesses are. There must be something Devlin doesn't like or else Mancz would be more than an afterthought. Injuries, maybe? I imagine this has already been discussed, but I must have missed it. I liked Mancz's apparent scrappy mentality. He reminds me of Carl Mauck...not the most talented guy, but a real scrapper.
 
I'd like to see Mancz at center since he's had some success there in the past. I don't know what Devlin thinks his weaknesses are. There must be something Devlin doesn't like or else Mancz would be more than an afterthought. Injuries, maybe? I imagine this has already been discussed, but I must have missed it. I liked Mancz's apparent scrappy mentality. He reminds me of Carl Mauck...not the most talented guy, but a real scrapper.

If you search this site for posts on "Mancz" by "CloakNNNdagger," you will have your answer. But as a condensed but detailed version.:

He was signed as an UDFA in 2015 after not being able to participate in the Combine because he was still rehabbing from shoulder surgery (he actually had undergone a total of 3 such surgeries for repeated subluxation of his shoulder......for torn labrum, i.e., he has torn the labrum of his right shoulder 3 times already). He played 3 games that year and was IR'ed with a knee injury that required surgery. He came back in 2016 to replace IR'ed Nick Martin...........and had a very good year. It was all down hill after that in that he returned with continuous and progressive problems with both his knee and his shoulder through 2017 and 2018, injuries that have limited his play and effectiveness.
 
Interesting to note that after spending so much to get Trent Brown, the Raiders are going to play him at RT and their 2018 1st rnd pick at LT.
In his debut season, things couldn’t have gone much worse forOakland Raidersfirst-round offensive tackleKolton Miller, who was considered a reachby PFFand others following the 2018 NFL Draft.

Injury struck early and often for Miller in his rookie campaign, which, combined with an already steep learning curve ahead of him coming out of UCLA, dragged his overall grade down to 48.2 for the year, ranking 67th among the 70 offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps. Of the 85 rookie offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps in their first NFL seasons in the PFF era (2006-Present), Miller’s 48.2 overall grade ranks 81st and his 44.1 run-blocking grade ranks last.
&&&
https://www.profootballfocus.com/ne...d-to-kolton-millers-underwhelming-rookie-year
&&&
Whoa that's interesting, and surprising given the kind of rookie year Miller had.
48.2 - I dunno but isn't that Julian Davenport type ratings ?
 
In his debut season, things couldn’t have gone much worse forOakland Raidersfirst-round offensive tackleKolton Miller, who was considered a reachby PFFand others following the 2018 NFL Draft.

Injury struck early and often for Miller in his rookie campaign, which, combined with an already steep learning curve ahead of him coming out of UCLA, dragged his overall grade down to 48.2 for the year, ranking 67th among the 70 offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps. Of the 85 rookie offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps in their first NFL seasons in the PFF era (2006-Present), Miller’s 48.2 overall grade ranks 81st and his 44.1 run-blocking grade ranks last.
&&&
https://www.profootballfocus.com/ne...d-to-kolton-millers-underwhelming-rookie-year
&&&
Whoa that's interesting, and surprising given the kind of rookie year Miller had.
48.2 - I dunno but isn't that Julian Davenport type ratings ?
[Response above to Lucky about Miller, in case you missed it]
Answered your post in the Injury Thread.
 
Interesting to note that after spending so much to get Trent Brown, the Raiders are going to play him at RT and their 2018 1st rnd pick at LT.
In his debut season, things couldn’t have gone much worse forOakland Raidersfirst-round offensive tackleKolton Miller, who was considered a reachby PFFand others following the 2018 NFL Draft.

Injury struck early and often for Miller in his rookie campaign, which, combined with an already steep learning curve ahead of him coming out of UCLA, dragged his overall grade down to 48.2 for the year, ranking 67th among the 70 offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps. Of the 85 rookie offensive tackles with 400-plus offensive snaps in their first NFL seasons in the PFF era (2006-Present), Miller’s 48.2 overall grade ranks 81st and his 44.1 run-blocking grade ranks last.
&&&
https://www.profootballfocus.com/ne...d-to-kolton-millers-underwhelming-rookie-year
&&&
Whoa that's interesting, and surprising given the kind of rookie year Miller had.
48.2 - I dunno but isn't that Julian Davenport type ratings ?
[Response above to Lucky about Miller, in case you missed it]
Ok got it, no did not realize you'd already posted it in your Injury thread.
 
If you search this site for posts on "Mancz" by "CloakNNNdagger," you will have your answer. But as a condensed but detailed version.:

He was signed as an UDFA in 2015 after not being able to participate in the Combine because he was still rehabbing from shoulder surgery (he actually had undergone a total of 3 such surgeries for repeated subluxation of his shoulder......for torn labrum, i.e., he has torn the labrum of his right shoulder 3 times already). He played 3 games that year and was IR'ed with a knee injury that required surgery. He came back in 2016 to replace IR'ed Nick Martin...........and had a very good year. It was all down hill after that in that he returned with continuous and progressive problems with both his knee and his shoulder through 2017 and 2018, injuries that have limited his play and effectiveness.
Thanks for filling me in. I guess that means Mancz is realistically healthy enough for part time or rotational duty only. He must be tough minded to keep going after all of that. Gotta like him.
 
Thanks for filling me in. I guess that means Mancz is realistically healthy enough for part time or rotational duty only. He must be tough minded to keep going after all of that. Gotta like him.

I watched Mancz play softball . Dudes an athlete , moves like a smaller man . Martin played too and is much stiffer .
 
I know this much: Howard and Scharping will be watched closely.

Every misstep, slow step, or clumsy step will be seen by the "I told you so's" here as having Bust written all over it.

For the hopeful among us, every well executed move will be seen as a foreshadowing of success.

I plan on enjoying the journey.
 
If you search this site for posts on "Mancz" by "CloakNNNdagger," you will have your answer. But as a condensed but detailed version.:

He was signed as an UDFA in 2015 after not being able to participate in the Combine because he was still rehabbing from shoulder surgery (he actually had undergone a total of 3 such surgeries for repeated subluxation of his shoulder......for torn labrum, i.e., he has torn the labrum of his right shoulder 3 times already). He played 3 games that year and was IR'ed with a knee injury that required surgery. He came back in 2016 to replace IR'ed Nick Martin...........and had a very good year. It was all down hill after that in that he returned with continuous and progressive problems with both his knee and his shoulder through 2017 and 2018, injuries that have limited his play and effectiveness.
Damn shame really.
As good as he was his rookie year he would have been our answer at C for many year and a perpetual pro bowler.
 
If you search this site for posts on "Mancz" by "CloakNNNdagger," you will have your answer. But as a condensed but detailed version.:

He was signed as an UDFA in 2015 after not being able to participate in the Combine because he was still rehabbing from shoulder surgery (he actually had undergone a total of 3 such surgeries for repeated subluxation of his shoulder......for torn labrum, i.e., he has torn the labrum of his right shoulder 3 times already). He played 3 games that year and was IR'ed with a knee injury that required surgery. He came back in 2016 to replace IR'ed Nick Martin...........and had a very good year. It was all down hill after that in that he returned with continuous and progressive problems with both his knee and his shoulder through 2017 and 2018, injuries that have limited his play and effectiveness.
Damn shame really.
As good as he was his rookie year he would have been our answer at C for many years and a perpetual pro bowler.
 
OB and Devlin made the mistake of not inserting Mancz as the starting center in 2017 and moving Martin to RG.

2017:
Mancz won the right guard job by week 3 and promptly suffered a knee injury. Has been nagged by injury and just another guyness since...after 2017 he low tendered by the Texans. Essentially, any team could have offered Mancz even a decent back-up player contract and only had to worry about the Texans matching. No team treated Mancz as pro-bowler (the premise of the post I responded) who happened to be injured and in fact, to our knowledge Mancz was offered nothing but the low-back up level extension that he signed with the Texans.
 
Mancz was a walking injury. He barely hobbled through the season. As he technically played back up center in the 10 games that he was able to partially play through in 2017, he earned a PFF rating of 39, ranking 37 of 39 centers.
That's right - Martin was insurance.
 
2017:
Mancz won the right guard job by week 3 and promptly suffered a knee injury. Has been nagged by injury and just another guyness since...after 2017 he low tendered by the Texans. Essentially, any team could have offered Mancz even a decent back-up player contract and only had to worry about the Texans matching. No team treated Mancz as pro-bowler (the premise of the post I responded) who happened to be injured and in fact, to our knowledge Mancz was offered nothing but the low-back up level extension that he signed with the Texans.
FWIW,


AUG. 30, 2018 / 8:02 PM
Houston Texans sign OL Greg Mancz to two-year extension
By
The Sports Xchange

The Houston Texans signed offensive lineman Greg Mancz (pictured) to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. Photo courtesy of Houston Texans/TwitterThe Houston Texans signed offensive lineman Greg Mancz to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal, which will keep Mancz with Houston through the 2020 season.

An undrafted free agent out of Toledo in 2015, Mancz is entering his fourth season with the Texans.

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Mancz appeared in 10 games, making seven starts, during the 2017 season. He started five games at center and made two starts at right guard.

The 26-year-old Mancz started all 16 regular-season games and two postseason contests at center in 2016. He was the only lineman on the club to start every game.

***********************************************************

Either way, his performance was, to say it kindly, poor.
 
FWIW,


AUG. 30, 2018 / 8:02 PM
Houston Texans sign OL Greg Mancz to two-year extension
By
The Sports Xchange

The Houston Texans signed offensive lineman Greg Mancz (pictured) to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday. Photo courtesy of Houston Texans/TwitterThe Houston Texans signed offensive lineman Greg Mancz to a two-year contract extension, the team announced Thursday.

Financial terms were not disclosed for the deal, which will keep Mancz with Houston through the 2020 season.

An undrafted free agent out of Toledo in 2015, Mancz is entering his fourth season with the Texans.

The 6-foot-4, 310-pound Mancz appeared in 10 games, making seven starts, during the 2017 season. He started five games at center and made two starts at right guard.

The 26-year-old Mancz started all 16 regular-season games and two postseason contests at center in 2016. He was the only lineman on the club to start every game.

***********************************************************

Either way, his performance was, to say it kindly, poor.

Where I Mancz "won" right guard from

With Martin returning from injury in 2017, Mancz began the season as the team's primary backup along the interior of the offensive line.[55] During the Week 1 game against the Jacksonville Jaguars on September 10, Mancz replaced starting left guard Xavier Su'a-Filo to begin the second half but was shifted to right guard after an injury to Jeff Allen.[56][55][57] Mancz then started the Week 2 game against the Cincinnati Bengals on September 14 at right guard. On September 18, Texans head coach Bill O'Brien stated that Mancz would remain the starting right guard even if Allen is healthy.[58] Mancz then started the Week 3 game against the New England Patriots on September 24.[57] Mancz missed the Week 4 game against the Tennessee Titans on October 1 due to a knee injury.[59][57]

through Wikipedia to texanswire

https://web.archive.org/web/2017100...reg-mancz-will-stick-as-starting-right-guard/

but yes, Mancz was non-good 2017
 
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