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Alfred Blue- Resigned

I've got to jump in on this one. Jacksonville was pretty much floundering after their initial short-term success but they finally got smart and landed a winner in Coughlin. He has done a remarkable job in getting this team on track and another solid off-season and draft has made them that much tougher. This teams success simply comes down to Bortles for 2018. Coughlin's biggest job is coming up next season when contract money becomes a real issue.

Vikings screwed the pooch. They had a great OC who might've been lost regardless of the effort put forth to retain him. They had their "Franchise QB" in Case Keenum, who helped them have a tremendous season while winning over the Vikings locker room and fans. They could of re-signed CK for a song compared to the guaranteed money they gave Kirk Cousins....a QB who suffers badly on the big stage and moments. I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings have a step-back kind of season and if Cousins doesn't light-it-up, the fans are going to turn on him fast.

It will be fun to see how Keenum performs in Denver. Nice to see the team go out and get him some weapons to optimize his chances at success in 2018.


Oh no doubt about it. But Steels 2nd best rule applies. My thing is with health on our side, we will be a force to reckon with as well. Dude continues to play down the free agents signings as second fiddles. We've addressed the two most glaring needs. Shoots we've actually upgraded those areas of needs.

I'm very curious to see how Case performs in Denver. Man the Vikings should have kept him.
 
I don't understand resigning. That seems like something Arian Foster might pull instead of retiring...
 
I've got to jump in on this one. Jacksonville was pretty much floundering after their initial short-term success but they finally got smart and landed a winner in Coughlin. He has done a remarkable job in getting this team on track and another solid off-season and draft has made them that much tougher. This teams success simply comes down to Bortles for 2018. Coughlin's biggest job is coming up next season when contract money becomes a real issue.

Vikings screwed the pooch. They had a great OC who might've been lost regardless of the effort put forth to retain him. They had their "Franchise QB" in Case Keenum, who helped them have a tremendous season while winning over the Vikings locker room and fans. They could of re-signed CK for a song compared to the guaranteed money they gave Kirk Cousins....a QB who suffers badly on the big stage and moments. I wouldn't be surprised if the Vikings have a step-back kind of season and if Cousins doesn't light-it-up, the fans are going to turn on him fast.

It will be fun to see how Keenum performs in Denver. Nice to see the team go out and get him some weapons to optimize his chances at success in 2018.
Signing CK to a big deal would be like making Flacco the highest paid QB in the league. The guy had just played the best 6 games of his life and you were paying him for those.
 
Oh no doubt about it. But Steels 2nd best rule applies. My thing is with health on our side, we will be a force to reckon with as well. Dude continues to play down the free agents signings as second fiddles. We've addressed the two most glaring needs. Shoots we've actually upgraded those areas of needs.

I'm very curious to see how Case performs in Denver. Man the Vikings should have kept him.

With backups.

I think Case is going to do really well and Elway apparently thinks so too. Or he would've drafted a QB @ 5.
 
Signing CK to a big deal would be like making Flacco the highest paid QB in the league. The guy had just played the best 6 games of his life and you were paying him for those.

Damn, some teams pay a lot more for much less......eerrr Texans. Keenum might've been the route to go versus Cousins from a financial standpoint.
 
They kept Watson healthy last year. HE HURT HIMSELF IN A NON CONTACT DRILL IN PRACTICE.
you might want to do some research...

It's debatable. Jean is guessing. Usually a good guess. Fact is both the Texans and Watson felt good enough to run him out on the practice field where he suffered a season ending injury. That's fact.

Maybe injured knee in the game before.

Maybe partially. Maybe the coaches and docs were stupid. Or he injured his knee in practice.

No offense to Doc, I've pulled up a thousand times with a nick to the knees. Damn near a weekly basis mountain biking. Hell my damn dogs have hit me enough times to more than limp. Jackass boxers will hit.
 
It's debatable. Jean is guessing. Usually a good guess. Fact is both the Texans and Watson felt good enough to run him out on the practice field where he suffered a season ending injury. That's fact.

Maybe injured knee in the game before.

Maybe partially. Maybe the coaches and docs were stupid. Or he injured his knee in practice.

No offense to Doc, I've pulled up a thousand times with a nick to the knees. Damn near a weekly basis mountain biking. Hell my damn dogs have hit me enough times to more than limp. Jackass boxers will hit.
I'm interested in your boxers at linebacker..what you think?
 
you might want to do some research...
I understand the belief is he already partially tore the knee in the Seattle game, which is impossible to prove. But was such a freak play that a good OL wouldn’t have made a difference. Wentz had the best OL in the league and he still got his ACL torn.
 
I understand the belief is he already partially tore the knee in the Seattle game, which is impossible to prove. But was such a freak play that a good OL wouldn’t have made a difference. Wentz had the best OL in the league and he still got his ACL torn.
It depends on whether you think having a better O-Line keeps him in the pocket more (and thus protected better). That he was simply electric when scrambling makes you wonder if he's better off having to improvise now and then.
 
It depends on whether you think having a better O-Line keeps him in the pocket more (and thus protected better). That he was simply electric when scrambling makes you wonder if he's better off having to improvise now and then.

I would like him to have the option of staying in the pocket instead of running for his life.
 
Man some of you overstates this pocket protection too darn much. I mean on that fluke injury to Watson, he was in the freaking pocket. A defender landed at his feet as he was stepping into his throw. He wasn't running for his life on that particular play. And besides, that's all speculation. Nobody in the organization came out and said he injured himself in that game. The report was, he got injured in practice in which he was even touched.

Tom Brady got injured standing in the freaking pocket. And now we have the Tom Brady rule.

These QBS are at high risk no matter if they're in the pocket or scrambling out the pocket. Reason being, they will get hit a lot.
 
Man some of you overstates this pocket protection too darn much. I mean on that fluke injury to Watson, he was in the freaking pocket. A defender landed at his feet as he was stepping into his throw. He wasn't running for his life on that particular play. And besides, that's all speculation. Nobody in the organization came out and said he injured himself in that game. The report was, he got injured in practice in which he was even touched.

Tom Brady got injured standing in the freaking pocket. And now we have the Tom Brady rule.

These QBS are at high risk no matter if they're in the pocket or scrambling out the pocket. Reason being, they will get hit a lot.
Regardless of how Watson got injured, less hits is always better and a good oline should equal less hits both in and out of the pocket. It also means more time for plays to develop, more time for the QB to find the open man, and a better run game - all good things.
 
Regardless of how Watson got injured, less hits is always better and a good oline should equal less hits both in and out of the pocket. It also means more time for plays to develop, more time for the QB to find the open man, and a better run game - all good things.


Again he's still going to sustain a lot of hits. Every darn QB does. Even Dak behind that massive line took a hefty beating. Romo got injured twice behind that great offensive line.

Oh as far as Watson running dude didn't take a beating that way. He was smart enough to slide/get out of bounds.
 
Man some of you overstates this pocket protection too darn much. I mean on that fluke injury to Watson, he was in the freaking pocket. A defender landed at his feet as he was stepping into his throw. He wasn't running for his life on that particular play. And besides, that's all speculation. Nobody in the organization came out and said he injured himself in that game. The report was, he got injured in practice in which he was even touched.

Tom Brady got injured standing in the freaking pocket. And now we have the Tom Brady rule.

These QBS are at high risk no matter if they're in the pocket or scrambling out the pocket. Reason being, they will get hit a lot.

I just pointed out that it would be a great thing if Watson had the option of not having to run for his life and this is the response I get.

SMH, what a waste of time responding to you.
 
Dude get over your freaking self and go look at the games again. He was not running for his life like that. There were plenty of times he stood tall in the pocket and delivered a great pass down the field. There were times he had plenty of time in the pocket but unfortunately nobody was open. He then had to buy extra time with his feet.

A lot of times teams were leery about his great scramble abilities, so they didn't even blitz. They held down their gap integrity and put a spy on him.

Every time someone doesn't agree with your consent bashing. You result in this rant about wasting your time. Well get some darn where.
 
Like I'm going to lose some freaking sleep because a joker on social media I never met in life, decided not to respond.

Good grief man.
 
Dude get over your freaking self and go look at the games again. He was not running for his life like that. There were plenty of times he stood tall in the pocket and delivered a great pass down the field. There were times he had plenty of time in the pocket but unfortunately nobody was open. He then had to buy extra time with his feet.

A lot of times teams were leery about his great scramble abilities, so they didn't even blitz. They held down their gap integrity and put a spy on him.

Every time someone doesn't agree with your consent bashing. You result in this rant about wasting your time. Well get some darn where.


The rest of the sporting world says he was behind one of the three worst lines in the league and you say the rest of us are imagining it? C'mon man.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-offensive-lines-from-the-2017-nfl-season

32. Houston Texans
Total pressures surrendered: 253
Best player: Nick Martin
Combinations used: 14

The Houston offensive line struggled all season long as Deshaun Watson and Tom Savage were the two most frequently pressured quarterbacks in the league, under pressure on 47.7 percent and 46.7 percent of their respective dropbacks. Furthermore, not only did the unit allow the most total pressures (253) by a wide margin, they also gave up the most sacks on the season with 35. The Texans signed right tackle Breno Giacomini prior to the season, however, he struggled in pass protection and allowed 81 total pressures on the season or 5.1 per game. Even the fact that Houston’s running backs averaged 1.59 yards before contact – more than the league average – did not compensate for the unit’s deficiencies in pass protection.


https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol

PASS PROTECTION
Team Rank
Sacks Adjusted Sack Rate
HOU 30 54 9.2%




It's not as if we didn't see this coming though...

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...texans-bengals-2017/rkbxup37dvor1ie5ix733ylym

3. Houston Texans
LT: Kendall Lamm/Chris Clark
LG: Jeff Allen/Greg Mancz
C: Nick Martin
RG: Xavier Su’a-Filo
RT: Breno Giacomini

What has gone wrong? For starters, the Texans should realize how much they miss blindside pass protector Duane Brown and work harder to end their long-time stud left tackle’s holdout. Right tackle Derek Newton, not fully recovered from his torn patellar tendon suffered in 2016, is out for all of 2017. Allen (through free agency) and Su’a-Filo (through the draft) have been major disappointments in trying to restore what they once had at guard with Brandon Brooks.

Worst Pro Football Focus grade: Giacomini (29.8). The former Jet and Seahawk hasn't been a reliable stopgap on the right side. Rookie fourth-rounder Julien Davenport, a terrific athlete, may be a bit raw out of Bucknell, but he can't be much worse.

Reason for hope: Martin, back healthy, has been solid in the middle in compensating for the free-agent departure of Ben Jones last season. Overall, the group is much better in run blocking, which is in line, anyway, with the run-heavy approach Houston needs to take with Lamar Miller, D’Onta Foreman and Deshaun Watson. Settling on a consistent five beyond the early shuffling also would help.
 
Like I'm going to lose some freaking sleep because a joker on social media I never met in life, decided not to respond.

Good grief man.
The rest of the sporting world says he was behind one of the three worst lines in the league and you say the rest of us are imagining it? C'mon man.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-offensive-lines-from-the-2017-nfl-season




https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol






It's not as if we didn't see this coming though...

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...texans-bengals-2017/rkbxup37dvor1ie5ix733ylym


That was mainly on the STATUE of a QB named Tom Savage. When Watson was back there, it was a total different ball game. Thus the reason why we were leading the NFL with 30+ a game in his 6 starts.
 
The rest of the sporting world says he was behind one of the three worst lines in the league and you say the rest of us are imagining it? C'mon man.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-offensive-lines-from-the-2017-nfl-season




https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol






It's not as if we didn't see this coming though...

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...texans-bengals-2017/rkbxup37dvor1ie5ix733ylym

Texans Oline was bad.

I don't think they’d have ranked that low if Watson played all year though.

Not just because of Savage, but the play calls were different too which put less pressure on a bad unit.

But no doubt they did suck.
 
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Texans Oline was bad.

I don't think they’d have ranked that low if Watson played all year though.

Not just because of Savage, but the play calls were different too which put less pressure on a bad unit.

But no doubt they did suck.


Yes the line was bad but like I said it was masked when Watson was back there. That youngster's quick and decisive decision making was the reason for that. Not only that they did protected him better. I seen several games in which Watson was able to go through his reads/progressions with no problems.
 
Dude get over your freaking self and go look at the games again. He was not running for his life like that. There were plenty of times he stood tall in the pocket and delivered a great pass down the field. There were times he had plenty of time in the pocket but unfortunately nobody was open. He then had to buy extra time with his feet.

A lot of times teams were leery about his great scramble abilities, so they didn't even blitz. They held down their gap integrity and put a spy on him.

Every time someone doesn't agree with your consent bashing. You result in this rant about wasting your time. Well get some darn where.

Their Oline was awful. Not sure why you're even acting like Watson wasn't always in a major danger playing behind those guys. When Watson wasn't in there, Savage was getting his head bashed in. It took a highly mobile QB to even be able to buy time to move the ball. It won't be fixed this year either. The Texans didn't have the draft picks or the assets to fix everything this off season. Watson's going to be dealing with a volatile Oline again this year.
 
Their Oline was awful. Not sure why you're even acting like Watson wasn't always in a major danger playing behind those guys. When Watson wasn't in there, Savage was getting his head bashed in. It took a highly mobile QB to even be able to buy time to move the ball. It won't be fixed this year either. The Texans didn't have the draft picks or the assets to fix everything this off season. Watson's going to be dealing with a volatile Oline again this year.


Ok whatever you say boss.
 
The rest of the sporting world says he was behind one of the three worst lines in the league and you say the rest of us are imagining it? C'mon man.

https://www.profootballfocus.com/news/pro-ranking-all-32-offensive-lines-from-the-2017-nfl-season




https://www.footballoutsiders.com/stats/ol






It's not as if we didn't see this coming though...

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/new...texans-bengals-2017/rkbxup37dvor1ie5ix733ylym


Shocking I tell you.

Dont let these little facts get in the way of a certain posters narrative. Yes they were better with Watson, but were still for the most part terrible.

What did they do this offseason to fix the problem? Sign a bunch of backups and scrap heap reclamation projects. Yes they will be better but not enough to probably keep Watson healthy all yr. If that happens again I just cant wait to see the whining/excuse making on this MB. It will actually be quite entertaining and like DB said this is just entertainment. What they really need and who knows if he's up to the task, Rankins to step in day 1 and be a serviceable LT. I've got very little hope for Davenport being that guy. Even though he will probably be forced out there at LT game 1.
 
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Shocking I tell you.

Dont let these little facts get in the way of a certain posters narrative. Yes they were better with Watson, but were still for the most part terrible.

What did they do this offseason to fix the problem? Sign a bunch of backups and scrap heap reclamation projects. Yes they will be better but not enough to probably keep Watson healthy all yr. If that happens again I just cant wait to see the whining/excuse making on this MB. It will actually be quite entertaining and like DB said this is just entertainment. What they really need and who knows if he's up to the task, Rankins to step in day 1 and be a serviceable LT. I've got very little hope for Davenport being that guy. Even though he will probably be forced out there at LT game 1.
What they really need is for Davenport to take his game to the next level and be a serviceable LT and for Rankin to step in day 1 and command the RT position.
 
What they really need is for Davenport to take his game to the next level and be a serviceable LT and for Rankin to step in day 1 and command the RT position.

Yep,

I've got little hope of that happening.

But if it does and with the upgrades on defense this team is a contender.

They need another RB or 2, but being #4 on the WW pickup list, Gaine should be able to fill that void with a couple of vets that are cut in the final cut down.
 
Their Oline was awful. Not sure why you're even acting like Watson wasn't always in a major danger playing behind those guys. When Watson wasn't in there, Savage was getting his head bashed in. It took a highly mobile QB to even be able to buy time to move the ball. It won't be fixed this year either. The Texans didn't have the draft picks or the assets to fix everything this off season. Watson's going to be dealing with a volatile Oline again this year.

True and look at the post from the dumba** below your post.
 
Their Oline was awful. Not sure why you're even acting like Watson wasn't always in a major danger playing behind those guys. When Watson wasn't in there, Savage was getting his head bashed in. It took a highly mobile QB to even be able to buy time to move the ball. It won't be fixed this year either. The Texans didn't have the draft picks or the assets to fix everything this off season. Watson's going to be dealing with a volatile Oline again this year.

You don't put up numbers like this with an atrocious offensive line. And you most definitely won't be able to consistently throw the ball deep like that with the play of the offensive line being that bad.

In the four games Watson played with Hopkins and Fuller, the Texans averaged 40.5 points. He threw 14 touchdown passes, seven apiece, to Hopkins and Fuller.


Coach Bill O'Brien calls the plays. The plan to have Watson throw down the field and not rely on short passes around the line of scrimmage was impressive. Even though his body of work was less than half a season, Watson's 9.3-yard average per attempt was the best in the league.

Watson completed 61.8 percent of his passes and had a rating of 103.0. In his four starts with Hopkins and Fuller, Watson's ratings were 125.0 (Tennessee), 119.8 (Kansas City), 103.4 (Cleveland) and 106.9 (Seattle).

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...of-Texans-offense-with-a-healthy-12916159.php

But hey I don't know what heck I'm talking about. Hahahaha
 
Since the Texans were so great with Watson

They should bring back Allen/Lamm/Clark.

Perfect logic.
 
Their Oline was awful. Not sure why you're even acting like Watson wasn't always in a major danger playing behind those guys. When Watson wasn't in there, Savage was getting his head bashed in. It took a highly mobile QB to even be able to buy time to move the ball. It won't be fixed this year either. The Texans didn't have the draft picks or the assets to fix everything this off season. Watson's going to be dealing with a volatile Oline again this year.


Just one game but look at the great protection. Look at how fluent the entire offense flowed.

 
Here's another game in which we had solid pass protection from the offensive line. Yes he was sack twice and pressured two more times, one resulting in a INT. But overall, great job by the offensive line.

 
I'm not going to really know what these OL pieces bring to the Texans until the pads go on. I'd like to think that a couple of these guys are going to appreciate finally having a legitimate chance to start versus being assigned to backup duty b/c the guys in front of them carry bigger contracts....if their level of play was close.

Personally, I think the thing that will help Watson enjoy a continuation of what he was doing last year would be the running game. If the running game can command any reasonable amount of respect, Watson's going to do some damage. If this teams best chances on offense have to rely solely on Watson and the OL to protect him....this season could get long.
 
Not sure how Alfred Blue turned into Watson and the offensive line (looking at you Steelb lol). I've said it before that what made the offensive line look a whole lot better than it was is that teams when faced with an unknown at quarterback, especially a mobile quarterback, tend to dial back their pass rush significantly and play a containment rush. This is the biggest area where teams wait to 'figure him out', while nullifying the run game. Brady, Rodgers, Brees - haven't been figured out. If Watson is going to fit into that category where teams have to play a complete defense instead of attacking his tendencies, he's going to need more than scrubs up front.

It took less than a minute between TB74's videos for Watson to get hit/hurried in max protect, play action, and 5 yard routes. The results are great obviously, but when the first play is a max protect play-action vs a 3 man rush, and your quarterback is .4 seconds from getting stripped on a standard drop - there's a problem.
 
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Blue was a safe addition, I'm fine with it. He's been solid and will block/fight for yards. (Can also lay a mean decleater every once in a while.

In a dream scenario of mine, Arian comes out of retirement in top shape and gets a ring with Watson. (AJ can come too)
 
Blue is competent. To me that means more for a #3 runningback than experimental. He seems to get a little better with the rock each year, but most importantly he can do what is needed in all facets of the position. He can safely carry the ball in all situations, he can pass protect, he's solid on special teams and he'll catch what is thrown to him. Nothing special or glorious, but it's hard to knock what Blue brings while going gaga for our other specialist acquisitions who may not even make the squad. If we're going to praise Gaine for his focus on special teams and versatility, re-signing Blue for pennies is obvious.

Yeah I'm quoting myself, but I think this is something that I should've expounded on. My support of Blue at #3 over potentially better players doesn't eliminate everyone behind him. If #1 or #2 goes down, I'm not advocating moving Blue up the depth chart. Quite the opposite, bump someone from the practice squad or sitting at #4 and give them a shot to prove themselves one way or another. Keep Blue at #3 for the reasons in my previous post. When things inevitably hit the fan, I like Blue being an option all over the field - we can figure out how to adjust during the next week.
 
Not sure how Alfred Blue turned into Watson and the offensive line (looking at you Steelb lol). I've said it before that what made the offensive line look a whole lot better than it was is that teams when faced with an unknown at quarterback, especially a mobile quarterback, tend to dial back their pass rush significantly and play a containment rush. This is the biggest area where teams wait to 'figure him out', while nullifying the run game. Brady, Rodgers, Brees - haven't been figured out. If Watson is going to fit into that category where teams have to play a complete defense instead of attacking his tendencies, he's going to need more than scrubs up front.

It took less than a minute between TB74's videos for Watson to get hit/hurried in max protect, play action, and 5 yard routes. The results are great obviously, but when the first play is a max protect play-action vs a 3 man rush, and your quarterback is .4 seconds from getting stripped on a standard drop - there's a problem.

I let myself get sucked in by TK/TB, they're the same person.

Wont happen again

Your post is totally spot on and only an idiot or somebody that doesn't have a clue what they're looking at would say otherwise.
 
You don't put up numbers like this with an atrocious offensive line. And you most definitely won't be able to consistently throw the ball deep like that with the play of the offensive line being that bad.

In the four games Watson played with Hopkins and Fuller, the Texans averaged 40.5 points. He threw 14 touchdown passes, seven apiece, to Hopkins and Fuller.


Coach Bill O'Brien calls the plays. The plan to have Watson throw down the field and not rely on short passes around the line of scrimmage was impressive. Even though his body of work was less than half a season, Watson's 9.3-yard average per attempt was the best in the league.

Watson completed 61.8 percent of his passes and had a rating of 103.0. In his four starts with Hopkins and Fuller, Watson's ratings were 125.0 (Tennessee), 119.8 (Kansas City), 103.4 (Cleveland) and 106.9 (Seattle).

https://www.houstonchronicle.com/sp...of-Texans-offense-with-a-healthy-12916159.php

But hey I don't know what heck I'm talking about. Hahahaha

Honestly you're just making a fool of yourself by trying to this hard to defend such a bogus claim. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see how awful the Texans Oline was. You can put up whatever statistics you want about scores (Which has nothing to do with whether or not if the Line handled their assignments), but it doesn't change the fact that Savage lost years of his life in game one getting blasted into a concussion by the first half. Watson was just a super fast scat back QB that could get away from Dlineman like Russell Wilson does. Russell had a terrible Oline last year too and had nice stats and Rogers has as well with poor Olines. Did their offensive stats somehow erase the sack totals and the QB hurries on so many plays? Only in your world it somehow did. The Texans didn't even have their best LT all year for crying out loud. Everyone knows that the Texans Oline has been in a "rebuild situation", but you. But go ahead and believe what your eyes don't tell you.
 
Here's another game in which we had solid pass protection from the offensive line. Yes he was sack twice and pressured two more times, one resulting in a INT. But overall, great job by the offensive line.

Honestly you're just making a fool of yourself by trying to this hard to defend such a bogus claim. Anyone with a pair of eyes could see how awful the Texans Oline was. You can put up whatever statistics you want about scores (Which has nothing to do with whether or not if the Line handled their assignments), but it doesn't change the fact that Savage lost years of his life in game one getting blasted into a concussion by the first half. Watson was just a super fast scat back QB that could get away from Dlineman like Russell Wilson does. Russell had a terrible Oline last year too and had nice stats and Rogers has as well with poor Olines. Did their offensive stats somehow erase the sack totals and the QB hurries on so many plays? Only in your world it somehow did. The Texans didn't even have their best LT all year for crying out loud. Everyone knows that the Texans Oline has been in a "rebuild situation", but you. But go ahead and believe what your eyes don't tell you.


Did you even look at those two highlights I posted. If you did you would've seen what I am talking about. I'm not going off freaking stats alone.

And please don't paint that foolish picture like that. I'm giving my opinion just everyone else.
 
Despite the quibbling, my hope (as I think Texans coaching and many fans is) that our defense turn around last seasons stats giving up 30 passing TDs..bringing in Colvin and Mathieu hopefully will do that. Johnson and Jackson need to have better seasons; Jackson had reasonable stats but didn't play that well. We know what hope there is for defensive side of ball. Stats using Jackson for example doesn't tell all the story (all of us know that) but some are revealing and that is where my optimism comes in. Also although nothing guarantees, most think a healthy Watson, healthy Will Fuller, healthy Foreman(mentioning him only as more time needed to see if he will play) and a better if not "really good" O'line individually and as a group improves that side of ball. O'Brien is now armed with knowledge of what #4 can do and there will be no Savage to compete for snaps. It will be 100 percent 4.

Watson avg 8.3 per completion & he is a passing QB. 7 games 1700 yards and if above happens (health) 3400 yards is reasonable and maintaining approx 8 yards per pass is moving the ball. 19 TDs in less than seven games could be 40+ with healthy Fuller. Stats do not tell everything but some are significant. Yes, we can drone on an on about injuries and yes they can happen again. Yes the new guys are not superstars but they may not have to be..just better and there is solid evidence that LT, LG and right tackle will be much better. To me RG is an unknown and where I will focus.

More concerning to me is the running game. Lamar Miller's avg per carry has dropped significantly each of his 4 season in NFL and that isn't all on coaching. First two seasons on Dolphins he only had 8 TDs each year but only had 8 TDs for Houston 2016 and 2017 combined. It is a fair question "has O'Brien figured how to use Miller?" We thought Foreman and perhaps Blue would allow fewer snaps for Miller keeping him fresher as game progressed. His rushing attempts dropped from 268 to 230 (15 avg per game) but his rushing avg dropped as did his TDs 5 to 3; so theory of less being more didn't happen. Note* his receiving was where he "shined" going from 31 receptions to 36 his yardage went from 188 to 327 (6.1 to 9.1) and 1 TD to 3. So how will Texans use this important spot and player 2018? I want Miller to keep his avg per catch but getting more targets this is a must IMO as I don't see his rushing improving. His cap of $6.75 m is just way too high for what he brings. A healthy Foreman moves Miller down in pecking order if not off team. Swanson is intriguing & while second level Toledo doesn't bring confidence in stats a RB is often the position most easily transferred. If he gets fair chance in TC he could not only earn a roster spot but move up the ladder.
 
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