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grade our 2003 rookies

Most people seem to agree that it takes 3 years of NFL expierence for players to be acuratley evaluated. I decided to take a look at our 2003 draft class and give my two cents on it.

Pick 1 - Andre Johnson - This pick was a nobrainer. Even though he's been injured a lot this season I'm sure everyone agrees that he's one of, if not the best player on this team. Grade - A+

Pick 2 - Bennie Joppru - No comment. Grade - N/A

Pick 3 - Antwan Peek - Made big plays when he saw the field his first two season. This year he is starting but hasnt shown the same fire he played with during year 1 and 2. Grade - B-

Pick 4 - Seth Wand - Started last year at left tackle. Rides the bench this year. A third round offensive lineman should be starting in the NFL by year three. Grade - F

Pick 5 - Dave Ragone - I was not impressed when I saw him take the field for the few snaps he's seen. He did win NFL Europe MVP but that means squat here in the real NFL. He's the backup to our backup. Grade - D

Pick 6 - Domanick Davis - One of the best picks made in franchise history. He was drafted to be a third down back and quickly turned himself into an everydown back. He doesnt have break away speed but he is one of the most consistant players on the team. Should be a probowler IMO. Grade - A+

Pick 7 - Drew Henson - This was a very smart pick. He was drafted as trade bait. Many NFL experts and Texans fans were goin nutts when the Texans took 2 QB's in this years draft but it ended up working out. We ended up trading Henson to Dallas for their 3rd round pick in the 2005 draft. With that pick the Texans selected Vernand Morancy. Grade - A

Pick 8 - Keith Wright - He was selected to add depth to our defensive line. He's no longer in the NFL. Sixth and Seventh round picks are always iffy. Grade - D-

Pick 9 - Corry Burns - Selected to add depth to our secondary. Played strong saftey and is no longer in the NFL. Grade - D-

Pick 10 - Chance Pearce - Deep Snapper. On the Steelers roster. I guess since he is the only late round pick of ours that is still in the NFL he's doing something right. Grade - C

Overall - C C is average and I guess in college must of us were alright with a C. However when playing football average was and never will be alright. We made some nice selections but some horrible later round picks. I'm sure most of the people on this board wont agree with every grade so lets see some other thoughts.
 
Andre Johnson- A for right now...could be down more if he can't stay healthy...hopefully this season's injury is not a sign of things to come

Bennie Joppru- F...a freakin F...make it through a camp you piece of glass

Antwan Peek- B...starting to come into his own as a starter still needs some work

Seth Wand- D...started one season...did ok...not good but ok...now isn't even dressing out half the games

Dave Ragone- C...pretty good young back-up and did win NFLE MVP honors

Domanick Davis- A...haha...he's a 3rd down back...yeah right

overall the 2003 draft has to be graded as a C-
Drew Henson- B...was turned into a 3rd round pick for us

Keith Wright- F...who is this guy

Corry Burns- F...who that

Chance Pearce- F...he might be in the league but not with our team so blah
 
since its a slow day on the board i thought i'd bump this thread to see if i can get a few more responses. I'm curious as to how everyone precieves our drafting capabilities.
 
While I think we're really about half a season early for this I guess we know enough about 2005 to include it. Here's my response to your post.

Pick 1 - Andre Johnson - Absolutely right, this pick was a no-brainer. AJ only has one thing standing in his way and that is he needs the rest of the offense to step up and become a factor. Otherwise he's going to have ordinary numbers for the rest of his career as opponents smother him and dare the rest of the team to beat them. AJ was easily an A+.

Pick 2 - Bennie Joppru - Like some sort of mysterious creature rumored to exist (Think Bigfoot or the Loch Ness Monster) we supposedly drafted a TE in the second round back in 2003. Nobody has ever seen him play a down in the NFL though so until there's proof I'm not even sure Bennie Joppru really exists. You can't give him anything but an "Incomplete" at this point. Next season this is my most watched player. I just don't believe it's possible for someone to be injured every single year of their NFL career and I don't mean anything derrogatory towards Bennie by that. I know it's not his fault and I don't blame Casserly for picking him (and anyone who does loses all credibility in my opinion). I just want to see if he can come back (which would be great) or if he gets injured again. I want the Texans to pick or sign a real TE this coming offseason regardless of whether Joppru comes back.

Pick 3 - Antwan Peek - So far this year I don't think Peek has even been the second coming of Jeff Posey much less the kind of difference maker many of us expected him to be. I think Peek is a C right now. He can pick that grade up with a few good games but right now, since this is his first season to start and there's so much transition going on around him on the defense I can't see him doing it. This pick is a case where one more year (assuming he starts next season) tells us more about him.

Pick 4 - Seth Wand - Here's another guy I have trouble giving a fair grade to because he's at the heart of one of (IMO) the Texans big 2005 mysteries, "The case of the vanishing Left Tackle". We draft him and hear that he's two years away probably from being able to play because he's weak and he's raw. Then one season goes by and he's our starter and we hear that he's way ahead of schedule and he's won the job. Then he plays a season, doesn't dominate but handles it reasonably well all things being equal and we hear that he was thrown out there too soon and the Texans should have given him another year. Finally we start the 2005 season and he loses his job to a guy who is the personification of the term "journeyman". Now he barely dresses for games half the time. I give Seth Wand a C right now because I think he should have been starting at LT from the start of camp this year and that his coaches have royally bungled his development.

Pick 5 - Dave Ragone - I don't hold his rookie season and those two lousy outings he had against Tampa Bay and Jacksonville against Dave Ragone. That was entirely too soon for him to on the field and if Tony Banks (and Domanick Davis) hadn't been injured he would have never been in that situation. All I really have to go on here is two seasons of holding a clipboard and NFLe so I'm saying he's another C. right now. I look for him to be our #2 next season and if he isn't that player by then I'll be very surprised. I think if the Texans weren't simply so conservative that they can't imagine David Carr's backup being anything but a veteran then Ragone would already be #2. I think the team very much overrates Tony Banks.

Pick 6 - Domanick Davis - I'd also give Domanick Davis a good grade. He's a good player and a great pick (in hindsight). He is probably one of the top two or three picks in our short history. I don't think he's as good as you do because, well honestly how good do you have to be to push Stacey Mack, Tony Hollings, and Jonathan Wells to the bench? In Macks case not only to the bench but right off the team! He looks great compared to Mack and Hollings and better than Wells. He's a great second tier starting caliber back. Not "franchise" but you can win with him provided he's not all you got. I'd call him a solid A

Pick 7 - Drew Henson - By the time you get to this round (6th) pick I'm rarely thinking impact player and in fact I'm not even going to review the rest of the guys from this draft. This far down anyone who makes the team was a good pick. Kind of a "Thumbs up or thumbs down" after this point. The Drew Henson pick was a really good move on Casserly's part. I love the way he aquires picks like this but I wish he would do more with those picks when the time comes. I am one of those people who doesn't think Dallas got entirely fleeced here. I don't think Henson is that bad a QB but that doesn't really matter here. All we're talking about is how the Texans did in this deal and I'd say getting a 3 for a 6 is a good deal. A+ move on Casserly's part.

So I got it like this

AJ A+
BJ Incomplete
AP C
SW C
DR C
DD A
DH A+

Three C's and three A's. Sounds like a B to me. If Joppru had worked out as planned this would be a very good draft I think.
 
Andre Johnson- B+ He has dropped some catchable balls this year. I believe he will be an A when we get an offense around him but right now he isn't in the same category as Harrison, Moss, Owens.

Bennie Joppru-F No words need to be said here

Antwan Peek-C+ This is his first season to start so he can definately improve over time and probably will

Seth Wand-D- I'm not sure this guy was handled right. He was thrown out there a year early and then had his confidence shot. I blame the coaching staff his current status.

Dave Ragone-C Hard to grade Ragone since he never gets to play.

Domanick Davis-A+ The guy has done everything and then some. I just wish he had breakaway speed.

Drew Henson-A Even though Casserly likes to give away our 3rd round picks at least he got a freebie here.

Keith Wright-F

Corry Burns-F

Chance Pearce-F
 
Pick 1 - Andre Johnson - A+

Pick 2 - Bennie Joppru - D. Even though his injuries have been flukish, Witten would have been the better pick.

Pick 3 - Antwan Peek - C+

Pick 4 - Seth Wand - C-

Pick 5 - Dave Ragone - C

Pick 6 - Domanick Davis - A+

Pick 7 - Drew Henson - A+

Pick 8 - Keith Wright - D

Pick 9 - Corry Burns - D

Pick 10 - Chance Pearce - D+
 
Pick 1 - Andre Johnson - A+

Pick 2 - Bennie Joppru - F-. I pull no punches on this one. He needs to be released. Like a bad relationship in college where it "just didn't work out, but we can still be friends," this one needs to end if he's hurt again.

Pick 3 - Antwan Peek - B still has potential

Pick 4 - Seth Wand - C uh...the guy is weak

Pick 5 - Dave Ragone - B still has potential

Pick 6 - Domanick Davis - A++ I'm a homer for DD. Plus, he is 49% of our offense according to the stats. HALF OUR OFFENSE.

Pick 7 - Drew Henson - A+ I love sticking it to the Cowboys!

Pick 8 - Keith Wright - D

Pick 9 - Corry Burns - D

Pick 10 - Chance Pearce - D
 
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