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British Brooks

Porky said:
If you want to be a decent red zone team, you need a credible running game. Mixon can definitely give us that, and I am increasingly confident that Akers can as well, should Mixon suffer a setback.
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Hehe, it's Sweech you should direct that to. I'm just waiting for the "mountain of statistical data evidence and video evidence" that shows that running doesn't help with PA. :winky:
 
sprtsfanatic said:
not so sure...I think some people will trying to get the inside scoop on our offense and would be more than willing to take a chance on 2 runners that have shown the vision, speed, and ability to run the ball
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Nah, we're not a team over flowing with RB depth and about 99% of the league has a stable of RBs that include their own versions of Jawhar and Brooks. There will also be higher rated players than Jordan and Brooks being cut.

When teams claim players it's often when they have draftable grades on guys. So maybe Jawhar is a risk but honestly given his size and testing scores he's not going to be a priority guy teams are going to look to pick up. To be blunt plenty of teams probably didn't even have him on their draft board whatsoever. As for Brooks he has none of those things going for him and hasn't shown he can do anything in the passing game yet. In the modern NFL if you're just a run only player you basically have to be top 10 in your position. No one is picking up Brooks because he flashes against other teams 4th stringers. Put on any other pre season game and you'll find other guys doing the exact same. No one is picking up British Brooks and I can absolutely guarantee you that.

Overall I doubt you see many RBs get picked up at all and the ones that do are going to have more pedigree than Brooks or Jordan.

Edit: Furthermore Jordan and Brooks are 24 and 25. We can still consider them developmental guys, but teams won't look at them as having the same upside as dudes who are 22 or 23 that they had draftable grades on.
 
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cland said:
Hehe, it's Sweech you should direct that to. I'm just waiting for the "mountain of statistical data evidence and video evidence" that shows that running doesn't help with PA. :winky:
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Haha I love the run game. My favourite position to play was RB. I believe in having a good run game.

I just disagree when people say you "have to establish the run" to have good play action plays. You don't. As I said your run game can aabsolutely suck and you can still have great play action plays that make LBs and safeties bite.
 
Porky said:
If you want to be a decent red zone team, you need a credible running game. Mixon can definitely give us that, and I am increasingly confident that Akers can as well, should Mixon suffer a setback.
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Adjectives like decent and credible and successful and good are very ambiguous. I think we're all saying about the same thing but some such as myself wants to see a much higher ratio of passing to rushing. That does not mean that we are going to eliminate running backs.
 
badboy said:
Adjectives like decent and credible and successful and good are very ambiguous. I think we're all saying about the same thing but some such as myself wants to see a much higher ratio of passing to rushing. That does not mean that we are going to eliminate running backs.
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I'd also like to see a better changeup in sequencing from Slowik. I'm 99% sure we led the entire league in run, run, pass playcall sequencing.

I'd also like to see less 12 and 21 personnel on the field.
 
Isn't it wonderful we have an undrafted rookie we can discuss for RB3 on this team?
Mills, Keenum, starter @LG and RT; almost nothing notable about middle of defensive line and we have 3 pages on British Brooks.
Sir, you may never be anything more than an asterix in the memory banks of Houston Texans football but you have given us something to talk about, if only for a short period of time and I thank you for that.
 
thunderkyss said:
Have we seen him catch or block?
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That’s what I’ve been saying. We need to see more of him to better inform any decision made on him. But I disagree that nobody could pick him up from a PS. It only takes one of thirty one teams to see something they like. Real question is do the Texans see something that caused them to give him a three year contract?
 
Dejaview said:
That’s what I’ve been saying. We need to see more of him to better inform any decision made on him. But I disagree that nobody could pick him up from a PS. It only takes one of thirty one teams to see something they like. Real question is do the Texans see something that caused them to give him a three year contract?
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This is the NotForLong league. I'd dump Pierce & Dare, roll with Jordan & Brooks, then pick up two PS eligible players.

Not because I don't think Pierce or Dare can be productive but because they haven't
 
Dejaview said:
So, back to the BB thread. I love these statements. But before I start marking words and being sound what makes ya’ll say this? We weren’t even talking about BB until Saturday evening. I really like his height-weight ratio…a little smaller than FB Tim Newsome was with the Cowboys but similar proportions. Could he be that guy for us? Love it that NC gave him a three year contract. He doesn’t do this usually for UDFA’s. Can he get those tough yards inside? I’d love to see him a lot next game. I seriously doubt this guy would ever be attempted to hide on our PS so let’s take the car out for a test drive next game. I need another look so I can enjoy marking and sounding, lol but I love the confidence.
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Truthfully I didn't follow this kid in college and other than our small sample, I have nothing to go on other than a gut feeling. I'm no well renowned psychic so make of it what you will. I love underdog stories so I would love to be right.
 
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thunderkyss said:
Have we seen him catch or block?
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This ^. You can't just randomly choose a guy because he looks big and strong. If anything, because fullback isn't used by most teams the selection should be a top 10 FB in the US. Fullbacks have unique skills that require training, experience, and talent.

Think of Vonta Leach. Someone who can lead block on target and then stay on target with huge power and leverage. They need to pick up pass-rushers/blitzers and put them on their ass. And as a secondary, they have be reliable targets in the flats and short dump-off routes.
 
And then there is this new guy..
sports.yahoo.com

Texans sign former Jets fullback Nick Bawden

The Houston Texans are adding another player entering the last week of training camp. According to KPRC 2 Sports' Aaron Wilson, the Texans are signing veteran fullback Nick Bawden following a successful workout. The details of the contract have not b
sports.yahoo.com sports.yahoo.com

The Houston Texans are adding another player entering the last week of training camp. According to KPRC 2 Sports' Aaron Wilson, the Texans are signing veteran ...


Edit

Nick Bawden - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org en.wikipedia.org
 
TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
Truthfully I didn't follow this kid in college and other than our small sample, I have nothing to go on other than a gut feeling. I no well renowned psychic to make of it what you will. I love underdog stories so I would love to be right.
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Yeah I’m like you. But so far it seems we are watching RB’s playing off the roster rather than making it. That’s why I want to see an encore of BB. If he’s for real he and Mixon could wear out a D and then there would be the change of pace with Akers and Jordan. As of tonight those are my favorites because with Mixon out those three have shown the most promise IMO. Wish I knew what the coaches are seeing in TC, however. Cant wait for this next game to start getting some clarity here.
 
Dejaview said:
Any thoughts on why Brooks was given a three year contract? Was he in an UDFA bidding war? If so why would NC expose him on the PS?
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Here's some 2023 stats on BB.

197 passing snaps
90 running snaps
He was targeted 16 snaps with 14 completions. So he has pretty good hands.
Of the 197, he had 112 receiving routes and 79 pass blocking snaps.
His pass blocking grade for the year was 50.7.
His receiving grade was 62.4.

This is PFF.
 
Dejaview said:
Any thoughts on why Brooks was given a three year contract? Was he in an UDFA bidding war? If so why would NC expose him on the PS?
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Tooley, Barnes, and Fisher also received 3 year deals. They don't mean much if not guaranteed. What's different for Brooks is that he received a $225K guarantee on his 1st year. I think it means that they really liked Brooks as a special teamer and had hopes he could earn that RB4 spot.
 
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sprtsfanatic said:
god i hope thats true and we cut beck. I think becks a waste of a roster spot and it would free up a spot and would assure we keep all our young backs in our stable.
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Agreed, but they cross train a lot of players there and I expect if his health permits Beck is going to be kept.

If anyone steals Becks job I'd expect it to be Brevin Jordan who put in some work at FB last year.

FB has a lot to it in this system and it can be a lot to learn. Hairston had a whole season off last year and has been struggling with it in the preseason games so far, it's not as easy a position to play as people think.
 
cland said:
From what I've seen so far, I think he'd be a great backup for Mixon, in terms of his ability to pick up short yardage. Part of me wants him not to play in the last preseason game so that we can stash him on the PS.
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Piss on the practice squad. In my opinion he has shown that he belongs on the final roster. I may be wrong and his talent was merely a mirage due to him playing with mostly deep bench players and a lot of guys who will not make the final roster. I just have a feeling we will regret it if we expose BB to other teams. I am admittedly partial to BB being that he went undrafted. I am a big fan of the underdog. I am okay with BB being a FB who gets some carries but I think he belongs on our team as an immediate contributor. Simply based on a gut feeling I think BB will be a star on our Texans.
 
Sweech said:
Haha I love the run game. My favorite position to play was RB. I believe in having a good run game.

I just disagree when people say you "have to establish the run" to have good play action plays. You don't. As I said your run game can aabsolutely suck and you can still have great play action plays that make LBs and safeties bite.
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I agree with you on PA but I think you are wrong about BB. The same holes BB ran through and the outside runs will exist for the first team as they did for the deep bench guys. The natural instincts to take advantage of openings and space show no matter who a player plays against. The talent level evens out when it is the other teams back ups vs our back ups. Just the same there is no reason guys like Jordan, Akers and BB can't excel with the players who get the most minutes. I am probably wrong but I am partial to underdogs.
 
TxnsJuggernaut1 said:
I agree with you on PA but I think you are wrong about BB. The same holes BB ran through and the outside runs will exist for the first team as they did for the deep bench guys. The natural instincts to take advantage of openings and space show no matter who a player plays against. The talent level evens out when it is the other teams back ups vs our back ups. Just the same there is no reason guys like Jordan, Akers and BB can't excel with the players who get the most minutes. I am probably wrong but I am partial to underdogs.
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I keep going back and forth on this, I didn’t keep track of who was in the game yesterday, but I’m assuming our OL was made up of players a half step above the average backups.

We have Fisher and Erving playing T, Fisher looks like if we were short of an OT you’d be pretty happy letting him learn as a starter. Erving, former 1st round pick, lots of experience, not sure where his career has gone wrong. We have Patterson, Kendrick Green & Broeker in the middle, 2 of those have started in the league and looked good.

Maybe the backup OL the Texans are running, as a result of the injury crisis last year, is a step above the other teams’ backup front 7?

That said, what I saw, particularly on O, is that we seem to be picking up talent that fits the scheme we run perfectly, the guys who are fighting for the last few spots on the roster all seem to look good on this team, and that bodes really well for the future with Caserio and Slowick (or the Shannahan tree replacement they get if Slowick leaves).
 
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing since BB has been playing football he hasn't been asked to do a lot of the things he was out there doing in this past game. And he looked pretty good doing those things. He wasn't a guy that was really on my radar, but I think he should make the roster. He looks a lot more explosive than I thought he was as well.
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
I don't know for sure, but I'm guessing since BB has been playing football he hasn't been asked to do a lot of the things he was out there doing in this past game. And he looked pretty good doing those things. He wasn't a guy that was really on my radar, but I think he should make the roster. He looks a lot more explosive than I thought he was as well.
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Kudos to the scouting staff for seeing the potential in Brooks. A true diamond in the rough. I want him on this team.
 
Jon Harris really gushed over Brooks last night in his aftergame hits. He said all preseason long no player progressed more, was more consistent and as versatile as BB. Said he’s played tailback, H-back and fullback and can block. Said the team went wild when he came off the field after a huge block yesterday. I saw it and it was on the big Akers run. Kalu gave him kudos for it too.
 
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Dejaview said:
Jon Harris really gushed over Brooks last night in his aftergame hits. He said all preseason long no player progressed more, was more consistent and as versatile as BB. Said he’s played tailback, H-back and fullback and can block. Said the team went wild when he came off the field after a huge block yesterday. I saw it and it was on the big Akers run. Kalu gave him kudos for it too.
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To be fair though Jon Harris has never not gushed about a player.

That said, I’d be surprised if he doesn’t make the cut, and more so if he’s not the prime FB.
 
The FB in This system has a ton on his plate. Maybe I’m wrong, but while I personally might be willing to take a chance…I don’t think this staff will. One mental error could get CJ killed. Hopefully he clears waivers,,,can find a home on the PS and can continue to train and get all of the details of FB down pat either later this year or by next year. He’s got real talent, but it’s the mental side that needs to be honed imo.

Bottom line, he will be cut. Then it’s does he clear waivers. I’d guess yes…and he can spend time on the PS.
 
Porky said:
The FB in This system has a ton on his plate. Maybe I’m wrong, but while I personally might be willing to take a chance…I don’t think this staff will. One mental error could get CJ killed. Hopefully he clears waivers,,,can find a home on the PS and can continue to train and get all of the details of FB down pat either later this year or by next year. He’s got real talent, but it’s the mental side that needs to be honed imo.

Bottom line, he will be cut. Then it’s does he clear waivers. I’d guess yes…and he can spend time on the PS.
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dont like the risk of that...
 
welsh texan said:
I keep going back and forth on this, I didn’t keep track of who was in the game yesterday, but I’m assuming our OL was made up of players a half step above the average backups.

We have Fisher and Erving playing T, Fisher looks like if we were short of an OT you’d be pretty happy letting him learn as a starter. Erving, former 1st round pick, lots of experience, not sure where his career has gone wrong. We have Patterson, Kendrick Green & Broeker in the middle, 2 of those have started in the league and looked good.

Maybe the backup OL the Texans are running, as a result of the injury crisis last year, is a step above the other teams’ backup front 7?

That said, what I saw, particularly on O, is that we seem to be picking up talent that fits the scheme we run perfectly, the guys who are fighting for the last few spots on the roster all seem to look good on this team, and that bodes really well for the future with Caserio and Slowick (or the Shannahan tree replacement they get if Slowick leaves).
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Scruggs ?
 
Lucky said:
Lucky said:
You would prefer the risk of Brooks missing a blitzer and getting Stroud hit?
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Dude can play three positions. He will get his experience as Slowick sees fit. Do you want to lose that versatility? He’s not just versatile but he’s shown an aptitude to adjust fron RB to FB. He’s also got receiving skills. If he can do that it may allow us to keep a player or two that we might otherwise have to cut. That’s what I like most initially along with his aptitude to learn. Our OL can get an aptitude lesson on learning to play a different position on the OL without getting CJ killed from what I’ve seen.
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He needs more seasoning guys. He’s got talent, but they are trying a position shift for a rookie into a spot with heavy mental demands. I don’t want to say it’s zero…but I think it’s under 10% chance Brooks makes the opening 53. High chance he will land on the PS and we may see him later this year or next year.
 
sprtsfanatic said:
Couldnt be any worse than the Oline did last year...besides he's actually blown people up blocking and lead blocking....grant it there's only been a small sample size to see...but so far so good...
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Let me state what everyone should know. Brooks has only played vs players that will not be on the field once the real season starts. He was not a FB until a week ago. He doesn't know yet what he doesn't know about playing FB in this offense. Brooks has never played with the first team. Those are facts, not opinions.

All 32 teams have a British Brooks. A 3rd or 4th string guy that surprised and shined vs other 3rd or 4th string guys. And most of the British Brooks in the NFL will be on the waiver wire next Tuesday. Another fact.
 
Porky said:
He needs more seasoning guys. He’s got talent, but they are trying a position shift for a rookie into a spot with heavy mental demands. I don’t want to say it’s zero…but I think it’s under 10% chance Brooks makes the opening 53. High chance he will land on the PS and we may see him later this year or next year.
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Yeah I think it's incredibly likely Brooks is a practice squad guy this year as he learns some FB.

I don't see any threat of him being claimed by another team.
 
Porky said:
He needs more seasoning guys. He’s got talent, but they are trying a position shift for a rookie into a spot with heavy mental demands. I don’t want to say it’s zero…but I think it’s under 10% chance Brooks makes the opening 53. High chance he will land on the PS and we may see him later this year or next year.
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DP and Beck were seasoned last year. How did that work out for our running game? CJ took a lot of shots also. If Akers is RB2 then BB can make DP and/or Beck expendable. I don’t know how all this will work out but I’m guessing NC will have the last word on BB as he finalizes his roster and sees a player he wants to keep on the DL or WR or wherever. Or maybe he will keep an extra RB. But BB has shown way too much to be tossed aside. He’s the epitome of what the coaching staff and NC say they want on this team and I doubt they expect him to be polished after one TC. If so then if Tunsil goes out they better not put Fisher in his spot. He’s not polished. He can get CJ killed. But anyone that wants to keep DP to grind out those one yard runs when we need five will never cease to surprise me.
 
Lucky said:
Let me state what everyone should know. Brooks has only played vs players that will not be on the field once the real season starts. He was not a FB until a week ago. He doesn't know yet what he doesn't know about playing FB in this offense. Brooks has never played with the first team. Those are facts, not opinions.

All 32 teams have a British Brooks. A 3rd or 4th string guy that surprised and shined vs other 3rd or 4th string guys. And most of the British Brooks in the NFL will be on the waiver wire next Tuesday. Another fact.
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Bingo.

I think people are only watching Texans games as Texans fans and aren't watching the rest of the league to notice all 31 other teams have British Brooks' on their teams.

It's the same with people claiming Jonnie Johnson is somehow good and would be a great receiver on another team because he came in late and caught passes against non-NFLers. This happens for every team in every preseason game. Collin Johnson caught a bunch of passes against our 3s and 4s in our game against the bears, is he suddenly a good player now? Remember that TE on the Saints from last seasons preseason game that people wanted us to sign because he caught passes against the guys we cut and then the Saints cut him?

People really need to guard themselves from overhyping production from people playing against players who are either getting cut or getting kept to only play special teams.
 
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