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bah007 Early Season Mock

bah007

bah007

Hall of Fame
Yes, I'm doing one of these.....in week 3. I typically start getting all my draft stuff together toward the end of the season after watching college football all year. But the Texans haven't been giving me much to watch so far so I have a head start right now. This early, a mock is even more meaningless than it is the day before the draft. But here is a look at some guys that I like with what I feel are appropriate values at this point.


#1 Jared Goff – QB, California 6-4 210
  • Enough with the musical chairs at this position. It’s time to find a guy and stick with him. My personal opinion has always been that Mallett is not the guy. That’s not so much based on what he’s done here but more based on my scouting of him ever since he was in college. I still think he should be allowed to finish out the year as the starter so we can be sure of what he is. If he is serviceable he can start while Goff gets up to speed. If not, that means he’s gone and Hoyer starts next year until Goff earns it. I’m typically extremely picky about QBs, but I’m pretty much sold on Goff. He’ll need a little bit of time to adjust to the speed and complexity, but I think he’s the guy.

#2 Jordan Jenkins – LB, Georgia 6-2 253
  • Versatile playmaker who allows you to be multiple on defense. He can play SOLB or WILB in base defense and also play MIKE when we go nickel. He can set the edge and play in space, and will occasionally flash as a pass rusher. Very solid piece to put opposite Clowney.

#3 Devontae Booker – RB, Utah 5-11 212
  • Time to end this one too. Foster is great and it’s expected he will be here long term. If he’s not, we need his replacement. Even if he is, he gets hurt so often that you need a solid guy behind him. Booker is also multiple (a theme of mine). He’s great between the tackles, not fantastic around the edge but enough so to do damage. He can block in the backfield and is also very reliable as a receiver.

#4 Le’Raven Clark – OT, Texas Tech 6-5 316
  • IMO, Newton should be moved to LG. So we take a RT here to replace him. Clark is solid in pass protection and could work on his run blocking but we’ll take that for now. We need to be able to protect our QB. I think he upgrades RT while Newton’s switch at least bumps us up to decent at LG. Newton and Su’a-Filo can battle it out. Loser leaves when contracts are up.

#5 Evan Boehm – C, Missouri 6-3 320
  • We need to add some talented depth at the interior positions. Back up and eventual replacement for Jones in the middle. He can also help out at either OG spot if needed.

#6 Kevin Peterson – CB, Oklahoma St 5-11 190
  • In this new era, we pretty much need to keep competition high at this position every year. With Johnson ready to step into a starting spot, it might be decision-making time on Joseph. Peterson is a good athlete with length who plays physical defense. Could probably help on special teams as well as fighting for nickel and dime snaps.

#7 Matt Hegarty – OG, Oregon 6-5 300
  • Versatile (that word again) player who can give spot snaps at LG or RT. Bottom of the roster kind of guy but will earn his spot.
 
Booker will be severely underrated come draft time because his numbers won't be as great this year. But I think he's a stud. Definitely a three down back in the NFL regardless of what you want to do on offense.
 
Love the first 3 picks although I don't think Jenkins will fall into the 2nd round. Like all the players but feel we need to address O-Line much earlier than 4th round. In all honesty I think our first 3-4 picks should all be offense. We need some depth on defense but the talent level on that side of the ball is so much higher than the offensive side.
 
I don't know a lot about most of the college guys yet, but if we are just going by position I wouldn't look at LB in round two...unless the guy is just that much better than everyone else available.

In round two I'd rather have a Rb, Guard, NT, or maybe even WR depending on how the year plays out.

Right now we have 3 first round picks playing at LB including a number one overall pick. Mercilus just re signed and we also took McKinney in the second round.
 
WolverineFan said:
Love the first 3 picks although I don't think Jenkins will fall into the 2nd round. Like all the players but feel we need to address O-Line much earlier than 4th round. In all honesty I think our first 3-4 picks should all be offense. We need some depth on defense but the talent level on that side of the ball is so much higher than the offensive side.
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I don't totally disagree and four of my first five picks do address QB, RB, OT, OG (Newton), and C. I think our LB situation is kinda jacked up so I sprinkle Jenkins in there to solve it.
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
I don't know a lot about most of the college guys yet, but if we are just going by position I wouldn't look at LB in round two...unless the guy is just that much better than everyone else available.

In round two I'd rather have a Rb, Guard, NT, or maybe even WR depending on how the year plays out.

Right now we have 3 first round picks playing at LB including a number one overall pick. Mercilus just re signed and we also took McKinney in the second round.
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I think Jenkins is that good. It's time to move on from Cushing and I think McKinney does that.

Adding Jenkins solves a lot of our LB problems. In nickel we can go with Jenkins and Mohamed. In 3 LB sets we can go Jenkins, McKinney, Mohamed. And in base we can go Clowney, Jenkins, McKinney, Mercilus.

I think Booker is just as good as anyone you're going to get a round earlier. I'm not sure I look at WR early this year. I'm not sold on many of the OGs or NTs in this class and I'm not doing to draft a guy I don't like just because of the position he plays. That's how you end up with wasted roster spots down the road.
 
bah007 said:
I don't totally disagree and four of my first five picks do address QB, RB, OT, OG (Newton), and C. I think our LB situation is kinda jacked up so I sprinkle Jenkins in there to solve it.
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The more I think about it the more that makes sense. The offense is a mess but you can't ignore the defense to address it because that's how the offense got so screwed up in the first place. Of our last 14 1st and 2nd round picks, 11 have been on defense and 3 on offense. 6-7 years ago we started focusing so hard on improving a horrible defense that we completely neglected the offense and now the talent level is below sub-par.
 
I like your mock and don't disagree with the players, but like WolverineFan and xtruroyaltyx stated we need help of the O-line more than anywhere else on the team, especially if your going to take a 1st round QB. O-line is way overdue as a priority for this team, it never has been for 13 yrs., and if we're fortunate enough to get Goff (I'd be shocked) then I don't want him turning into David Carr. IMO, those 2nd and 3rd round picks should be an OT and OT/OG tweener. I really like the Boehm pick, size to play OG while adding some quality O-line depth. The O-line is the foundation for the offense both passing and running, and our foundation is crumbling.
 
interesting moving Newton to LG. I thought about it as well, but didn't think it would happen. But he was there last game & you thin he belongs there... I'm really curious to see how it works out
 
Wolf6151 said:
I like your mock and don't disagree with the players, but like WolverineFan and xtruroyaltyx stated we need help of the O-line more than anywhere else on the team, especially if your going to take a 1st round QB. O-line is way overdue as a priority for this team, it never has been for 13 yrs., and if we're fortunate enough to get Goff (I'd be shocked) then I don't want him turning into David Carr. IMO, those 2nd and 3rd round picks should be an OT and OT/OG tweener. I really like the Boehm pick, size to play OG while adding some quality O-line depth. The O-line is the foundation for the offense both passing and running, and our foundation is crumbling.
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I appreciate your comments. I understand the concern about the OL. I feel the same. That's why I took three of them. I'm still significantly addressing the position. I could be persuaded to pass on Jenkins for an OL but the Booker pick is pretty much non-negotiable. This OL looks a lot better with Foster/Booker back there instead of Blue/Polk. That's a big part of the offensive problem as well.

Our defense is ahead of our offense right now but there are a lot of holes once you get past Watt. In this scenario I'm only using two picks on defense and hitting the offense big time, especially OL.

thunderkyss said:
interesting moving Newton to LG. I thought about it as well, but didn't think it would happen. But he was there last game & you thin he belongs there... I'm really curious to see how it works out
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I've always thought that Newton was a little overmatched at RT, but he's been our best option out there. I think his weaknesses are better protected inside. That would give us the following group going into next year, assuming that everyone who is already here would at least return for camp:

LT - Duane Brown, Chris Clark, Kendall Lamm
LG - Derek Newton, Xavier Su'a-Filo, Matt Hegarty
C - Ben Jones, Evan Boehm, Greg Mancz
RG - Brandon Brooks, Oday Aboushi, Chad Slade, Karim Barton
RT - Le'Raven Clark, Jeff Adams, Joseph Treadwell

To me, that's significantly upgraded.
 
I like it alot.

I'm hoping they can find a suitable backup to Foster in the 2017 class. But I'm really liking the 2017 RB class alot more. Chubb/Fournette/Cook.

As of now I would draft Decker or Drango in Rd.2 and the Notre Dame C Nick Martin in the 3rd plus sign an impact OL in FA. Then draft a RB like a Keith Marshall later in the draft. Marshall is a stud but is coming off of an ACL this yr and cant beat out Chubb (A stud) but he's regained his speed.

Bottom line for me is this reminds me of the Capers OL yrs and investing a couple of high draft picks and a FA pickup would solve alot of the current problems and create depth/competition which is currently lacking on the Texans roster.

Of course I'm a build the trenches 1st guy and that's why I overkill in the trenches 1st. BTW, I dont think that Booker will be there in the 3rd.

I really haven't gotten into evals yet though.
 
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steelbtexan said:
I like it alot.

I'm hoping they can find a suitable backup to Foster in the 2017 class. But I'm really liking the 2017 RB class alot more. Chubb/Fournette/Cook.

As of now I would draft Decker or Drango in Rd.2 and the Notre Dame C Nick Martin in the 3rd plus sign an impact OL in FA. Then draft a RB like a Keith Marshall later in the draft. Marshall is a stud but is coming off of an ACL this yr and cant beat out Chubb (A stud) but he's regained his speed.

Bottom line for me is this reminds me of the Capers OL yrs and investing a couple of high draft picks and a FA pickup would solve alot of the current problems and create depth/competition which is currently lacking on the Texans roster.

Of course I'm a build the trenches 1st guy and that's why I overkill in the trenches 1st. BTW, I dont think that Booker will be there in the 3rd.

I really haven't gotten into evals yet though.
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Booker is my #2 RB behind Elliott but a lot of rankings have him at #4 or #5, which would go about beginning/middle of 3rd round in most years. It depends on which underclassmen declare but at the RB position most of the top guys go early, so some early entrants could push him down some boards.

I would take him in the 2nd if I thought I had to. You could then target OL in the 3rd. Or if you wanted to hit OL in the 2nd and couldn't get Booker in the 3rd I would look at Kareem Hunt from Toledo. He's another favorite of mine.
 
steelbtexan said:
I haven't seen Hunt play, can you tell me more about him?
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Very similar build to Booker. They may actually be exactly the same size. He's a quicker athlete though. Not as good between the tackles but still good. Much better off tackle and in space. He does well as a receiver but Toledo doesn't give him very many opportunities. Shows well as a blocker too but they don't use him much for that either. He had 16 TDs and over 1600 yards in only ten games last year as a sophomore. The question with him is going to be how much he can help an NFL passing game. Can he play all three downs? And also, level of competition. He racks up big numbers against bad teams. Although, Toledo did play Missouri last year and he took 15 carries for 148 yards and 3 TDs.
 
Will be interesting to see how Goff plays against Washington this weekend. He's thrown a TD pass in 15 of his last 16 games with the one exception being last year against Washington. UW has the #13 ranked total defense and #7 ranked scoring defense going into this game. UW hasn't allowed a TD pass yet this season and has 4 INT's.
 
If only Kevin Peterson were 6'1 or 6'2. I just don't like small cover corners.
Not that we need one anyways. We filled our need last year with Kevin Johnson.
 
WolverineFan said:
Will be interesting to see how Goff plays against Washington this weekend. He's thrown a TD pass in 15 of his last 16 games with the one exception being last year against Washington. UW has the #13 ranked total defense and #7 ranked scoring defense going into this game. UW hasn't allowed a TD pass yet this season and has 4 INT's.
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I'm eager to see what he does also. His first three games this season were against weak competition. As far as last year that doesn't mean much to me. It's all about what he does right now against top competition. If he puts on a show against Washington I may just become a believer in him. I didn't follow him much last year. I don't see a lot of UCLA games but people are hyping him up as the best UCLA quarterback since Troy Aikman, who went on to become an NFL Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion. That's a lot of high praise.
 
Bulls on Parade said:
I'm eager to see what he does also. His first three games this season were against weak competition. As far as last year that doesn't mean much to me. It's all about what he does right now against top competition. If he puts on a show against Washington I may just become a believer in him. I didn't follow him much last year. I don't see a lot of UCLA games but people are hyping him up as the best UCLA quarterback since Troy Aikman, who went on to become an NFL Hall of Famer and three-time Super Bowl champion. That's a lot of high praise.
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You sure flip flop a lot depending on who you are talking about. In this thread you say that what Goff did last year isn't important. All that matters is what he does this year against top competition. But in the Hackenberg thread you advise drafting him based on what he did two years ago, and you totally ignore how bad he's been against less than top competition.

Also interesting that Goff has only played on UCLA's field one time (as a true freshman) and they already think he's the best QB that's ever stepped on their campus. That's pretty impressive considering he plays for Cal. High praise indeed.
 
bah007 said:
You sure flip flop a lot depending on who you are talking about. In this thread you say that what Goff did last year isn't important. All that matters is what he does this year against top competition. But in the Hackenberg thread you advise drafting him based on what he did two years ago, and you totally ignore how bad he's been against less than top competition.

Also interesting that Goff has only played on UCLA's field one time (as a true freshman) and they already think he's the best QB that's ever stepped on their campus. That's pretty impressive considering he plays for Cal. High praise indeed.
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I was watching a segment on Josh Rosen at the time I posted. Bad slip up is all. And I just don't want to tank is all I care about. Let's try to win and let the chips fall where they may. I'm tired of trying to project potential in future drafts. A lot of times we don't even draft these guys. For all we know they may both become busts in the pros. While a guy we're not even talking about as much is a future all pro.

Given the Houston Texans draft history I'm tired of seeing so many wasted picks. I just want to win games. I'm sort of sick of the college game and all the prospects. Nothing really matters to me until they perform at a high level in the NFL.

Just like Bill O'Brien said in that one episode of Hard Knocks, "I don't give a f-ck! about Georgia, LSU, Arkansas, Northeast Oklahoma. I care about people." Once these guys are Houston Texans then it matters what they do. What relationships they can form. How successful they can become. What college they went to and how good they were as a collegiate player doesn't matter at that point.
 
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Where do you keep getting all this tanking talk from? No one here is tanking.

And you talk about being tired of projecting draft picks, but first in a Hackenberg thread and now in a mock draft thread? Wtf?
 
Mollywhopper said:
Where do you keep getting all this tanking talk from? No one here is tanking.

And you talk about being tired of projecting draft picks, but first in a Hackenberg thread and now in a mock draft thread? Wtf?
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I'm not having fun watching the Houston Texans lose games. In the past I had fun with it and actually enjoyed the losing for the sake of having a better draft pick. I explained why I changed my mentality in the other thread. I know a lot of people like Jared Goff and even read a few people who say they hope the Texans draft him. I don't want to be picking that high to select him (top 3 if not 1).
 
thunderkyss said:
We're going into week 3.
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We were 2-0 going into Week 3 back in 2013 and lost 14 straight games to finish 2-14. And that team was better (talent wise) than this year's team, especially on offense. I'm actually certain we're going to end up with a high first-round pick in the 2016 draft but I didn't want that. This team is just not as good as I was hoping for. We were much better last year. A healthy Arian Foster, Duane Brown, even Andre Johnson's leadership, are sorely missed.

I would argue we had better safeties last season as well. D.J. Swearinger was a heck of a hitter (74 total tackles, 2 INTs, 1 sack last season) regardless if he was dirty. Watch him make a few big plays to beat us on Sunday as a Tampa Bay Buccaneer. And Danieal Manning, hats off to him, had a heck of a career and gave us all he had left last season. A well deserved retirement.

Yeah, we added big Vince Wilfork and Jadeveon Clowney is playing but for some reason, as a team, we're worse than last season's 9-7 team and I strongly feel we are as bad, and worse offensively, than the 2-14 team in 2013. I'd rather have the talent we had back then than we do now.
 
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Bulls on Parade said:
We were 2-0 going into Week 3 back in 2013 and lost 14 straight games to finish 2-14. And that team was better (talent wise) than this year's team, especially on offense.
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We don't know what this team is yet. Just like you said, in 2013 we were 2-0, then the bottom fell out. Last year we were 2-0 & still missed the play offs.

We were 2-0 the last five years & now have bump... 0-2 may not be as bad as you think it is. It certainly doesn't mean the season is over.
 
thunderkyss said:
We don't know what this team is yet. Just like you said, in 2013 we were 2-0, then the bottom fell out. Last year we were 2-0 & still missed the play offs.

We were 2-0 the last five years & now have bump... 0-2 may not be as bad as you think it is. It certainly doesn't mean the season is over.
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Do you really believe the sh!t you type?

BTW, I expect the Texans to win this week.
 
steelbtexan said:
Do you really believe the sh!t you type?

BTW, I expect the Texans to win this week.
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Of course I do. Every season is new, every team is new. Built upon the team from previous years, sure. But everything is different. The way OB approaches his job will be different from the way he approached his first season. The way he addresses the team, the way he prepares for other teams.

Our QB is still getting up to speed, Wilfork & Jj are still learning how to play together... we still haven't figured out our starting offensive line.

Most NFL teams aren't defined until about week 5 or 6. Then they are refined through September. Teams that make it to January are the teams that successfully crafted competitive football teams. The NFL season is a journey, a quest.

It's likely, I think extremely likely, that our team will win six of the next seven games.
 
thunderkyss said:
Of course I do. Every season is new, every team is new. Built upon the team from previous years, sure. But everything is different. The way OB approaches his job will be different from the way he approached his first season. The way he addresses the team, the way he prepares for other teams.

Our QB is still getting up to speed, Wilfork & Jj are still learning how to play together... we still haven't figured out our starting offensive line.

Most NFL teams aren't defined until about week 5 or 6. Then they are refined through September. Teams that make it to January are the teams that successfully crafted competitive football teams. The NFL season is a journey, a quest.

It's likely, I think extremely likely, that our team will win six of the next seven games.
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Yep,

If the Pats/Packers/Cards aren't together yet they should be really good later in the yr. The Texans?
 
Lot of things piss me off too when it comes to Texan drafts, last year & year before suck in terms of production, leveraging having first pick in each round, trading up last year giving away picks when it wasn't even necessary. You wonder why the Texan QB's play the way they do? Just look at their GM dancing around like a fool while other teams just sneaker & say thank you.

Don't really like the looks of Goff, but why in the hell does that matter? He displays excellent footwork, is fluid in the pocket, goes through progressions & has a quick release with good velocity.

Georgia is LB U in my book, can't really go wrong with they're pedigree. Jenkins has pro-body & looks the part.

Booker is a 2nd round talent but I see him often in the 3rd, that's a steal. He is relentless & runs with low center of gravity.

I think we should leave Newton where he's at, his development is commendable. Clark would be a nice swing tackle addition & shore up depth.

Like that you went back to back w/O' linemen that too is commendable.

Like Georgia produces Linebackers, OSU produces very good corners. Like the pick but not sure if Texans still have their 6th or not? think they may have traded it in KMart deal, upgrading to New England 5th (which is almost like a 6th) so keep him here.

Not sure if Texans still have a 7th either? What with the trade to New England for Mallet & to Denver for Clark.

As always a class draft :wesmantexanfan:
 
It's been about 3 weeks since you made this mock and the more I come back to it, the more I like it. I would like to see O-line addressed a little earlier, but if you think Clark can handle RT as a rookie then I'll trust you.
 
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