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how did wand hold up?

F-minus67

F-minus67

Veteran
I didn't see the "game" but how did he do against jason taylor, also did anyone of our players really step up today?
 
That's probably the matchup I watched most intently. I had a good view since the left side of the line was on my side of the field.

Taylor made him look REAL bad at the start of the 11 on 11. On probably the first three rushes, Wand got beat badly outside or was having trouble with his feet - backpedaling and getting off balance as Taylor drove him into the pocket. Taylor is so freaking fast, I think it took Wand a few reps to catch up to him - and he did. By the end of the 11 on 11, Seth was holding his own. He picked up the speed rush outside and drove Taylor past (behind) the QB several times. Taylor only showed two moves - the balls to the wall outside rush, and one where he would start strong outside to try to get Wand off balance and then he would try to push through Wand and push him back into Carr. All in all, I'd say that Wand won more than he lost - but just barely. These observations were made when there was no TE on the left side. Every once in a while they would put a TE over there to help and I would watch something else.
 
Sound like he just needed to get used to the pro level speed rusher. Hope he keeps adjusting and learning.
 
then again it could just be a case of Taylor getting tired.
 
Didn't appear that way to me. Taylor seemed to be coming at the same speed throughout. Wand started off slow but caught up to him as the scrimmage progressed. It was good for Wand to get this experience. It was his first time ever against a legit NFL speed rusher.
 
It was his first meeting with a speed guy and I suspect that for the first few times he layed back waiting to see what was what. I know I would. I wouldn't want to over commit right off the bat and be made a fool of, but rather see and react, then get the gauge of what I needed to do. The good thing seems to be that he was able to make the adjustment and then was able to hold his own.
 
I think this was good for Wand, getting to go up against a guy with that size/speed combo, one of the best DE's in the league, he don't go up against that in Texans practice, so Im anxious for him to get some work in pre-season with the first team against some good pash rushers to get a feel for them and get adjusted.
 
Thanks for the insight aj.

Wand is going to be crucial to the Texans success this year and since he is protecting Carr's backside he will be even more crucial to Carr. Wand will also be instrumental in the running game.

How did Wand look during a running play?

How did Pitts look at guard?

And aj, you mentioned the tight end, how did Bruener look?

Thanks to all of you sharing you thoughts for those of us unable to attend!
 
Can't really comment on the line play on the running plays. I was watching the RB. I didn't get a good look at Bruener either but I did notice that Matt Murphy got a lot of work on the left side. I'm sure that's due to the injuries to Miller and Holloway.
 
the rest of the o-line did pretty good considering mckinney and weigert were out...weary looks a lot better...wand did make the adjustment to taylor's speed...and a few times went against miami's second string guy and just ate him up...pitts looked a lot better as a gaurd than tackle...lekkekker got beat a couple of times...brandon evans looked better than i expected as did butkis...as for tight ends...bruener is the only one i see being on the team after training camp so he was the only one i actually watched...he looked like a seasoned vet...made very few mistakes...basically o-line looked pretty good even without two starters
 
WOW, isn't that good to hear. The "O" line is becoming solid, rather than a liability. If they can stay healthy it will mean a lot this year, but even more next year.
 
aj. said:
Taylor made him look REAL bad at the start of the 11 on 11. On probably the first three rushes, Wand got beat badly outside or was having trouble with his feet - backpedaling and getting off balance as Taylor drove him into the pocket. Taylor is so freaking fast, I think it took Wand a few reps to catch up to him - and he did...
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Did anyone else think that Taylor jumped offsides on that 1st sack? After the play, my friends & I were looking on the field for the flag...we thought it was that obvious. If Taylor wasn't offsides, that has to be the greatest jump I've ever seen off the snap. Maybe Taylor had the count down cold from the earlier practices, I don't know. Wand couldn't have seen anything like that before and it was a great educational experience for him.

I still think Taylor was offsides.
 
Carr said he was offsides -- all I saw was a blur.

The rent-a-officials were a little shaky needless to say. That call against Jason Bell was very bogus. He had perfect position on the ball and on the receiver.

I did notice that Fred Weary is wearing 70 this year.
 
Well the best you can hope for is that he got better from the experience and learned. It has to be tuff faceing J. Taylor in your first NFL scrimage, some NFL vets cant stop that guy, so Im just glad to hear that as he got adjusted to the real NFL speed, he did better and progressed, maybe next week against the Cowboys his timing will be down and we will see some improvement.
 
BuffSoldier said:
. . .maybe next week against the Cowboys his timing will be down and we will see some improvement.
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Maybe? He better or Carr might be out before the regular season every starts. Wand has to take on Greg Ellis, who had 8 sacks last year. If Wand doesnt shape up, I am moving Pitts right back to LT or putting someone else with experience, like Spears at LT, but I would rather have Pitts at LT....
 
aj. said:
That's probably the matchup I watched most intently. I had a good view since the left side of the line was on my side of the field.

Taylor made him look REAL bad at the start of the 11 on 11. On probably the first three rushes, Wand got beat badly outside or was having trouble with his feet - backpedaling and getting off balance as Taylor drove him into the pocket. Taylor is so freaking fast, I think it took Wand a few reps to catch up to him - and he did. By the end of the 11 on 11, Seth was holding his own. He picked up the speed rush outside and drove Taylor past (behind) the QB several times. Taylor only showed two moves - the balls to the wall outside rush, and one where he would start strong outside to try to get Wand off balance and then he would try to push through Wand and push him back into Carr. All in all, I'd say that Wand won more than he lost - but just barely. These observations were made when there was no TE on the left side. Every once in a while they would put a TE over there to help and I would watch something else.
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Very well said I was there and tried to watch the same thing but could never have given as good an evaluation.
 
Fiddy said:
Maybe? He better or Carr might be out before the regular season every starts. Wand has to take on Greg Ellis, who had 8 sacks last year. If Wand doesnt shape up, I am moving Pitts right back to LT or putting someone else with experience, like Spears at LT, but I would rather have Pitts at LT....
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This is pretty much where I'm at with wand as well. I kept a close eye on him throughout the scrimmage and was pretty disappointed with his initial showing. Like AJ said, he got torched by taylor several times particularly early on in the matchup. When Jason Taylor comes looping around you, forget about 'drop step, pivot, shoulder turn,' get your butt out there, and hit that guy.

My analysis is that he was focused on all the techniques, steps, and positioning he's been taught, but that he hasn't learned how to translate that into actually laying a block on a guy. His pass-blocking was very defensive, he seemed to be waiting for his man to come to him before delivering a blow. He'll have to learn that unless you get your hands on your man and deliver a shot, that guy is going to fly right around you, not go through you.

The only good news is that he wasn't beaten on a physical level. It's not that he wasn't quick enough or strong enough, he just wasn't playing aggressive or confident enough. On one particular play, the line shifted left as a unit in a zone pass-blocking scheme. Taylor initially started moving with the line, but quickly shot back in the opposite direction taking wand by surprise. He ripped through the gap between wand and pitts untouched and let's just say--it's a good thing they weren't hitting quarterbacks that day. I thought it was telling that wand had his arms out to maintain his spacing, rather then have them cocked and ready to deliver a blow.

So now its a race between wand translating his techniques with experience, and the start of the season. Frankly after his performance at the scrimmage I would probably let him play the dallas game defending Banks and Ragone's blind sides, before putting him out there with Carr on the field. I'm hoping they leave him out there as much as possible. He did show marked improvement throughout the scrimmage as AJ mentioned, so I'm still optimistic on him, but he'd better get out in front of that steep learning curve soon.

(On a brighter note, the few times I watched Wade he looked fantastic. He looked very comfortable with the system and showed great quickness, strength, and technique throughout. He's a far cry from Randall.)
 
clandestin said:
So now its a race between wand translating his techniques with experience, and the start of the season. Frankly after his performance at the scrimmage I would probably let him play the dallas game defending Banks and Ragone's blind sides, before putting him out there with Carr on the field. I'm hoping they leave him out there as much as possible.
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Real good analysis Clandestin! Yup, I wasn't there, but saw the film on TV and Taylor really beat him bad early in their match. Frankly, I wondered if maybe Taylor got bored with the competition and/or took pity on Wand and backed off after really dominating him so easily at the beginning of the scrimmage. I will definitely feel more comfortable if they have a more experienced tackle on the left side this weekend for the Cowboys game when Carr is playing - we don't need Carr doing the deja vu thing all over again (re. the record setting '02 sack season) in a meaningless preseason game.
 
I know what you meant, but I think it would be hard to protect Ragone's blind side unless him and wade switched sides :D
 
Bottle-O-Bud said:
Lets not panic yet. Wand will be fine at LT. JasonTaylor is not chump meat and he probably jumped offsides to shake the rook.

Let the guy get his bearings. He will be fine :popcorn:
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Whew!! I feel so much better now. I was affraid that he was going to get Carr killed because he is consistantly going to see the best pass rusher a team has, just like Jason Taylor. Now that you have assured us that he is going to be fine, twice, I feel so much better now. thanks coach. :rolleyes:
 
Let's have a little reality check here. One, it's likely that the Texans will give Wand help on a premier pass rusher in an actual game. Two, a Texan game plan against a premier pass rusher would likely include some early off tackle runs right at said pass rusher. Nothing slows down a pass rush more than a running game and if you look back at the Texans win over the Dolphins last year (when Jason Taylor went sackless and tackle free) that's exactly what they did.

I'd love to see the Raiders super stud rookie Robert Gallery face Jason Taylor 1 on 1, because I'm certain that Taylor would eat him alive at this point in their careers. And if that did happen, I don't think the Raiders would dump Gallery on the bench and bemoan drafting him. A football fan should have realized going in that there would be a learning curve. Everyone may have different expectations, but no one should think that Wand will become a complete LT overnight. I'm thinking that by the last 3rd of the season, Wand will be handing out more whippings than he takes.
 
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