Keep Texans Talk Google Ad Free!
Venmo Tip Jar | Paypal Tip Jar
Thanks for your support! 🍺😎👍

Adding a Safety in the draft

JB

JB

Old Curmudgeon
Contributor's Club
If there is an existing thread for this please merge...

I don't think there has been a whole lot of discussion on adding a safety. I'm fairly confidant the Texans are going to add one from the draft, and they need to. Question is how high a pick are you willing to expend on the position and who would you target there?
 
Has any team signed Reggie Nelson yet? He's been one of the better safeties in the league for a long time. I'm shocked he's still listed as a free agent. He had another solid 2015 season with the Bengals. Is his age scaring teams away from giving him a good pay day? He's only 32 but 9 years in the league.

He hasn't missed many games in his career. Very dependable and durable. I see some people saying he'll be washed up soon. Another Ed Reed (falls off the cliff after one last contract). But his recent play hasn't hinted that he's losing a step or two.

I'm all for drafting a young safety I guess, but given the type of defense we already have. Wouldn't it make more sense to bring in a good veteran safety?

I feel like we have a Super Bowl caliber defense already.
 
JB said:
He sounds somewhat bitter about the release... he have anything left?
Click to expand...

Yeah - he played well last year. Pro bowl the 3 years before that. 30 yrs old which is not the cliff for DBs it is for RBs. Should have 3-4 solid years left.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JB
Didn't Whitner change or want to change his name to Hitner? Got a bunch of PF penalties and changed his mind. Doesn't scream coverage safety which is what I think we really need.
 
PapaL said:
Didn't Whitner change or want to change his name to Hitner? Got a bunch of PF penalties and changed his mind. Doesn't scream coverage safety which is what I think we really need.
Click to expand...
I want to sign Reggie Nelson. Awesome veteran safety. Had a career high 8 interceptions in 2015 with the Bengals which was near the top of the league lead. Big-time hitter as well. He laid out Owen Daniels late in the season.

His age (32) is the only reason he hasn't signed his big contract yet. I wish he would just realize how valuable he can be on the right team. In the right defense.

But given our bad Ed Reed experience, I think Rick Smith is out of the "signing older safeties" business. It's a shame though because Reggie Nelson is a ballhawking playmaker back there.

Reggie Nelson likely has three more highly productive years left. He would be worth the gamble to me just for the immediate future. Especially 2016 and 2017, our prime years to win a Super Bowl. It will be the next two seasons.

Funny enough, I remember scouting Reggie Nelson out of Florida as the 2007 draft was approaching. For three months I was high on him and wanted the Texans to draft him. Back then I used to post on that other Texans message board. I used to be big into college football and draft prospects back then, unlike now, and unfortunately we drafted Amobi Okoye with the 10th overall pick. Reggie Nelson went 21 to the Jaguars. Heck, Patrick Willis went 11, Marshawn Lynch went 12, Darrelle Revis went 14. All of which went on to have great careers. Okoye, not so much.
 
Last edited:
PapaL said:
Didn't Whitner change or want to change his name to Hitner? Got a bunch of PF penalties and changed his mind. Doesn't scream coverage safety which is what I think we really need.
Click to expand...

And some say we need a physical safety that can hit... one reason I started this thread to see if there is a consensus on what we need
 
We need a guy who can tackle in the box and cover intermediately below Hal. Whitner used to do these things well, and maybe he still can, but I haven't watched a ton of Browns football the last two years to know myself.
 
  • Like
Reactions: JB
Kind of based on the conversation in the Covington thread about Mercilus and clowney starting and also having Cushing and McKinney in the middle, I would not mind having two starting safety's that are more geared toward coverage. Kareem played some safety last year and I would like to see more of that this year. I think having four DB's on the field who can cover above average helps with the coverage deficiencies of our LBs.

We'd be smallish at safety, but I think our base defense would be able to defend the pass better and our front 7 would be good against the run. And I think Kareem is physical enough to play there some.
 
Agreed,

I thought Pleasant did well last yr in the nickel/dime hybrid LB/S role. Could he be upgraded sure, but he was better than I thought he would be.
 
PapaL said:
I thought our run d was fine however we havent been to cover a TE in...well ever. I tire of seeing them run wild in our secondary.
Click to expand...
Like Travis Kelce back in Week 1 of last season? I re-watched those TDs he had. Both of our safeties looked like they quit on both plays. They weren't even within 15 yard on one of them. You and I could have scored a Touchdown if we were that uncovered.

And then in the second half, our defense must have felt they had something to prove, because they shut the Chiefs offense down (0 points scored in the 2nd half). Kelce got jacked up (mild concussion) by the rookie corner Kevin Johnson, and he had to come out of the game for several plays.

It's so funny because we started our franchise that way. In the 2002 Hall of Fame game (our first pre-season game ever), Jeremy Shockey just ran over our entire defense. He pancaked our safeties as well. LOL

It's like we never had a good safety before (FS or SS). We've had a couple decent ones but nothing All Pro caliber. Other than an aging Ed Reed but he was already washed up when he came here.
 
Bulls on Parade said:
It's like we never had a good safety before (FS or SS). We've had a couple decent ones but nothing All Pro caliber. Other than an aging Ed Reed but he was already washed up when he came here.
Click to expand...

The Texans have had three safeties perform at an above average level - Coleman, McCree, and Quin. They should have kept Quin. He's the best of the bunch so far. It's pretty sad, really.
 
eriadoc said:
The Texans have had three safeties perform at an above average level - Coleman, McCree, and Quin. They should have kept Quin. He's the best of the bunch so far. It's pretty sad, really.
Click to expand...

You forgot Danieal Manning did well for a couple years too.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top