When you say "but it would be nice to see what their defense is actually supposed to look like", what are you really getting at? I'm not sure I understand what is you want to see? Are you referring to scheme, playing potential, what?
I think it's worth bearing in mind that Mario has played just two seasons, Amobi just one season, Travis has three seasons. All three of them won't even reach thier primes for another five or six years. But I've seen flashes from all three of them so far that has me excited about watching them grow and play together. I'm not as worried about the defense as some people are. Not only do I think they'll be just fine, I think watching the defense play will be more fun than watching the offense.
More philosophy and scheme together.
What we know about the offense is that Kubiak wanted to bring the Denver playbook to Houston. There's been bumps in the road with the running game because 1. who we have had at RB and 2. the blocking was different than Denver.
Even though he hasn't been completely able to do his thing yet because he hadn't had the pieces and parts together, you can see vast improvement on the offensive side of the ball compared to the cobbled together offense of the old coaching regime. Kubiak is able to target guys in free agency and the draft who fit what he values in his offense.
What do we know about the defense? We know that Richard Smith has never been a sole DC before. That in his previous spot, it was Nick Saban's defense, and Saban was in the defensive meetings. That Miami ran a 3-4.
When Richard Smith came to Houston, the newspaper had a brief story on what Smith's defense is supposed to look like: an aggressive 4-3. That doesn't tell you squat about what it is supposed to look like. Different ways a 4-3 can look.
Throughout the league, you know what different defenses value. For example, the Colts value fast guys on the line, and don't care so much on the backend because of the Tampa 2. You know what a Pittsburgh defense is supposed to look like. Or a Patriots defense. Often the best teams in the league have a specific identity and philsophy for a side of the ball, and then they acquire players relentlessly to suit that philosophy.
In the modern salary cap era, targeting your kind of players becomes more and more important because you don't want to invest in guys who don't really do what you are looking to do (Anthony Weaver perhaps?) I do not know what Richard Smith's philosophy on defense is. Is it just whatever his assistants like to run? Does Hoke just do his thing for the secondary and Franklin do his thing on the line?
When I am looking to see what the Texans value on their defense for purposes of the draft, its hard to pinpoint which guys they would think would be good fits for what they are trying to do because a lot of times I can't see what they are trying to do.
For example, I think Okoye plays the same position that TJ plays. I would think that the Texans would like a space eating DT, but apparently from the Franklin interview, that is not something that this defense values.
The Texans defense was ranked by footballoutsiders.com as 32nd in 2005, 31st in 2006, and 30th in 2007. Ew. With that sort of way below league average performance, I think it is valid to wonder whether the defensive coaches actually have a defensive philosophy or if they are just aquiring random guys on defense that they think are good players. (or in free agency, just the best guys who are available who are willing to come here).
I have no idea what type of defensive philosophy that the team is shooting for once that their young guys get developed, they get more pieces and parts, they aren't so injured, and the planets and stars are all properly aligned.
In the few years of Richard Smith DC'ing, I have seen some really counterintuitive defensive play calling. The first three games of 2006 demonstrated a defense that was completely miscoached. That the players couldn't come close to doing what Smith wanted them to do. The defensive play calling at the end of a number of Titans games was peculiar. I'm still traumatized by the defensive play calling of the Texans-Buffalo game.
Hey, I realize how hard it is to grow a team. But I would have more confidence in this process if I could look to the DC and say, "Hey that defensive coordinator had terrific success when he was with Chicago--just be patient."
The Texans have a bad defense, the defensive coordinator has no history of success, and we have still have no idea what his defense is supposed to look like.
Each week in the season, we get the story about how the defense we will see on the field has been dumbed down because they couldn't run it the way Smith wanted to, and the secondary had to play so simple because they didn't have the personnel to do anything else. I would love it if this is the season where they get to unleash the hounds. But even if the Texans go secondary at #18, do you think we get to see something more complex on the backside of this defense?
I also believe that you need in the modern salary cap era a very teachable, easy to learn and implement defense. With the way free agents move around, and the dependance that good teams need to have on young players, you need a defense that works, that they have confidence in, that players want to play in, and can be taught quickly. This should be known as the anti-Vic Fangio rule.
I do not mean to be unnecessarily alarmist, and I do not have a reputation as being someone who is an impatient fan who wants to fire everyone. I am just a fan of great defenses, and I wish I was seeing more evidence that makes me believe that the Texans are going to be on their way to a great defense. The league is littered with teams who have repeatedly drafted defense high and got nothing from it because the defenses as a whole were miscoached.
On the offensive side of the ball, you have at least four guys who are on the same page philosophically: Gary Kubiak, Kyle Shanahan, Alex Gibbs, Brian Pariani. You know exactly what they want to do on that side of the ball, even if they are still developing players and don't have all their players yet. It is not a surprise that the fastest rising teams after a coaching change are the ones that took their staffs with them. The defense, however, is a mishmash.
I dearly hope that the Texans go from one of the worst defenses in the league to one of the best with little change in personnel from 2007 to 2008. I worry that this is unlikely. I would settle for maybe just league average.