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Ok.. either im getting arrogant.. or..

G

Grid

All Pro
or there is alot of ignorance on this board. Flame me for saying that if you want, but im seeing alot of posts that are more interested in getting a flashy player than getting what we need. Now.. am I more knowledgeable about our needs than you? dunno.. doubt it.. thats like saying im more knowledgeable about rocket science than you.. it could very well be the case, but we are both pretty much in the dark on it. But you are reading this post so im gonna tell you what I think we need to do, and why.

Lets look at the offense first.

Where are we hurting on offense? only one spot to be honest.. the Oline.

I see people talking about TEs, and a #2 receiver. Guys.. think about this.

For one.. the only teams you see with playmaker TEs.. are the teams that dont have much of a WR group. Think about it.. who are the best TEs in the game? Gates, Crumpler, Gonzalez? Look at the teams they are on. Chargers have no threats at WR. The Falcons are barely a threat there. and the Chiefs.. well they have an alright group of receivers.. and thats why they have one of the best offenses in the league.. all that talent on offense hasnt helped their defense too much though has it? Picking up a TE in FA wouldnt be a BAD idea.. and probably wouldnt be too expensive(someone like that TE from GB.. Bubba Franks?). But we dont NEED gods gift to TEs. What we really need out of a TE is blocking ability.. he doesnt have to be a key part of our offense. If he can block and catch a dump off pass when Carr is in trouble.. thats all we need. In other words.. if we dont have any more TEs next year.. it aint gonna kill our chances.. and if all we pick up in the draft is a blocking TE, that wouldnt be a bad move.

wanna know WHY it wont kill our chances? cause we have 4 HUGE threats in the red zone. Andre Johnson, Jabar Gaffney, Derrick Armstrong, and Domanick Davis. All of these guys are more than capable of doing the job of a TE in the red zone. Which is getting open and making that tough catch.

And that leads to our next "need".. a #2 WR. Now.. I dont deny that having someone to burn turf opposite of AJ would be nice.. but it is not a NEED. Many teams function without TWO fast WRs. We have Andre.. he can stretch the field when necessary (heck, he got second in the fastest man competition at the Pro Bowl) but look at the other teams in the league and what they are working with. What about Anquan Boldin? what about Terrel Owens? Keyshawn Johnson.. or teams like the Vikings who have Randy Moss.. who is the speedster opposite of Moss? Speed at #2 is nice.. its useful.. but it is not detrimental to a good offense. On top of that.. Kendrick Starling looked good in preseason and he got some playing time in regular season(cant remember which game now). Why dont we see what we have in Starling, and if he just is NOT ready to play a big role in the offense.. then only put him in on 3rd and longs where his speed will be most useful, and let Gaffney or Armstrong take the #2 spot. it cant be a BAD thing to have a WR like those two on the field for every down.

Anyway.. I understand the arguement for stretching the field.. ive argued it myself a few times here.. but ive come to the conclusion that stretching the field is not as important as just giving Carr time to find the open man. If we were car mechanics, arguing about the speed of our #2 receiver would be akin to arguing about the color we should paint a car before we have assembled the engine.

Which brings us to the real problem. The Oline. Now, on the Oline I saw two spots that we looked weak. Center, and Right Guard. The thing is.. we had a buttload of changes on that line. 2 new guys at the tackle spots.. and pitts moving to a new spot.. AND a completely different blocking scheme. I am disgusted at our oline play.. but im not prepared to "cut our losses" and invest in more linemen. We need to give them another season. If we were to pick up a guard or center off the market, or draft one.. I would definatly not complain. Or if we picked up Jammal Brown at #13, i wouldnt complain. But I think we are jumping the gun when we ask for an overhaul. The run blocking of our line at the end of the season gave me faith that the zone blocking could work. We just need to make sure it happens fast before Carr gets any more bruises.

real quick.. on the RB situation. LaMont Jordan would be a great pickup for us if he was available on FA. hes the kind of RB that would fit our system and be able to take the kind of carries we want Davis to take. Davis will make a great change of pace back. Now, I love davis too.. and want to see him succeed.. i even have two of his jerseys.. but I think Lamont Jordan is just too big of a steal to let go. Hes gonna be a star.


On to Defense.. this is getting long so Ill make it quick.

Dline. Smith is the only guy we absolutely have to keep. If I could id get rid of everyone else and rebuild it.. but we cant afford to do that. Payne needs to be resigned because we need his skill.. but he is getting old and beat up and we need someone to start grooming to take his position. a DT in the draft is a must. Walker is old and im starting to feel like he scammed us. If he doesnt show some skill next season, im gonna be counting the days till we cut him. We need to start grooming someone behind him too.. so if possible a DT AND a DE would be great in the draft.

OLBs. We are set at OLB. That doesnt mean we shouldnt grab one in the draft though. OLBs are money in your pocket for the 3-4. But im not worried about our talent at OLB. Babin and Wong.. or Babin and Peek.. or Peek and Wong or Babin and Cheatwood or WHATEVER it happens to be.. we are good there.

ILB. We need another one. Casserly has talked about us needing playmakers in the front seven.. this could be the place to find one. Sharper and Johnson? good god that would be nasty. I dont think we will be able to get Johnson... but thats the kind of caliber player I would hope for.

Secondary. dont listen to the talking heads.. dont listen to ESPN or whoever else has told you that our secondary needs help. Our secondary is awesome.. one of the best in the league. The ONLY thing we could use in the secondary is a CB to play dime under Faggins.. and compete with Faggins for Glenns spot when he retires. Id love to get Justin Miller.

SO. Lamont Jordan. a playmaker ILB. A DT and a DE. A CB. and maybe a Center/Guard and a TE. That doesnt sound like such a long list of needs.

OK.. these are my opinions. tell me yours.


(btw.. what id like to see happen on day one of the draft(within reason)
1. Justin Miller (CB)
2. Mike Patterson(DE)
3a. Luis Castillo(DT)
3b. Boomer Grigsby(ILB)

(and on day two)
4. Jason Brown or Ben Wilkerson or Sione Pouha
 
OL agreed... Center and guard.. or maybe get a center and slide McKinney to his previous position of guard
TE... don't need a star, just need a complete one.. that can block and catch a pass once in a while..I personally am tired of the dump offs to Davis..for 5 yards.. I want to see a TE burn a LB
WR .. agreed, I like houston profootballs take.. let our guys that we have develop

DL--- agree with you there... yet I'd like to see a "hog" in the middle that commands 2 people to stop him and see if smith and Walker can get free (or at least free the LB's up

LB's we need help at someone to cover dang TE .. too many times the TE seems to burn us on 3rd and long..

CB.. not a weakness but maybe a cb to groom to take Dante's place (face it.. Dante is in reallity taking over Glenns spot at #1)

I don't think DJ will be in a Texan uniform either..

I'd be happy with a Corner in round one.. and maybe if possible trade up for C bass in round 2..(or maybe he falls to us, we don't have to trade)
 
i agree with a good portion of your post grid...

BUT,

-let me interject the color of a car never stretched a defense :)

-a lot of people come across as lost in their post for 2 big reasons :

a. people either have no clue of the cap or our cap situation and...

b. people have predetermined ideas about what this team should be and what dirrection it will go in...what i mean is we do not and will never have an indy type offense with capers/palmer as our coaches. its not gonna happen. but i dont think a few of the posters here realize that...

i agree with wolf about the need for a more versitile te...maybe joppru's that player but at this point its a wildcard for us at least...at any rate i dont see it as a crucial need.

as for wr i expect to see at least 1 addition wether it be a free agent at a reasonable cost or a rookie in the 2nd round or later...(and no he dosent have to be a speed demon ,but it would be nice.)

hollings is a wildcard. we still dont know what we have ,but its safe to say hes not going to be a grind it out bruiser...the kinda back capers wants. and we should have two backs with d.d.'s durability issues.

the offensive line ----( dear god not again )----im ok with wand, wade, and pitts because i expect them to all get a little better. weigert i wonder about though he did have some injury issues durring his bad games...mckiney (puke) should be quality depth at the center and guard postion. we've got to replace him by midseason and the rest of the line needs to start earning their checks. i do like milford brown ,and i thought he performed well when he didnt have to play with injuries...fred weary maybe a carrer backup...this is going to be his 4th season and hes done next to nothing. im about to give up on him. this portion of the team is the key to our season ,and they need to improve one way or another... :slap:

right now i agree with you about the outside linebacker postion ,though i think if we select one in the 1st or 2nd round it has to be a big indicator wong is moving inside. to me foreman is a liability even though hes productive. he dosent "attack" the line of scrimmage...hes bad in coverage...and apparentley hes a poor blitzer because they rarely send him.

a lot of people here seem to think faggins is destined to start ,but i disagree. infact, i'd like to see him taken out of the nickle package ,and used only in dime packages or emergencies. maybe all those times he was beat this season standout more for me then you guys ,but im not that impressed. he is scrappy though...i do like the heart he plays with. i do agree our secondary is the strength of our team right now...and should only be better with the addition of a young talent (maybe its a nickleback drafted in the 3rd or later...or maybe its a 1st round succesor to glenn).

by the time free agency is over i have the feeling our d-line will be completly depleted...sears and ioane are both free agents. add to the problem payne's a free agent with health problems ,and we've got a serious issue on our hands. to make matters worse walker's production has dropped off drastically ,and i can forsee him becomming a cap casualty after this season. we have no depth ,and we have no youth. this has to be one of our top priorities. even if we dont find a starter we have to find some talent to develop. our track record of drafting defensive linemen has me worried.

as a whole im excited about the offseason and hope it can be as fruitfull as last seasons. i liked our aqusitions in both the draft and free agency. i'm glad the texans have made it clear they dont plan to make huge waves in free agency...about the most monumental talent i can see them going after is jordan. if they make a habbit of going after players much more expensive then him we'll find ourselves in the cap pit next to the titans.
 
It is not always about filling the biggest need, grid. If there is a player that has more value than a need at a certain spot, you take him.

Example: Lets say we release Steve McKinney for cap reasons and suddenly our biggest need becomes Center. David Baas at 13 isn't exactly what most people would call a steal. If it came down to say Mike Williams, David Baas, and Heath Miller at 13, how would you rank them, remembering your ideas of "Need over Talent".
 
im aware of that.. but i wasnt just talking about the draft.. I was talking about filling our needs.

Notice that I said I wouldnt be against taking Jammal Brown in the 1st. Not because we need a tackle.. but because he is a good prospect and I think he could help us against Freeney.

I also talked about needing a playmaking ILB but didnt try to say we should trade up for Johnson. instead I would like us to grab Boomer in the 4th.

the draft IS about filling needs.. but not about filling them in order from greatest to least... or trading away a draft to fill your biggest need.

Im a supporter of BPA.. and have said as much in other posts.. but using your example.

If it was between those three players only.. id trade down :).. but if I didnt have a choice.. id take Williams.

But things are not that cut and dry. As a more controversial example.. if it was between Mike Williams and Marcus Spears.. who would you take? Id take spears. Why? because Williams MAY be a more valuable pick.. but he isnt INCREDIBLY more valuable.. and Marcus Spears would be useful to us.

and btw.."your ideas of 'need over talent'" dont put words in my mouth. read my post again... I never said "forget those talented players, lets just take what we need". And look at my first day draft picks.. id hardly say I reached.
 
Grid said:
im aware of that.. but i wasnt just talking about the draft.. I was talking about filling our needs.

Notice that I said I wouldnt be against taking Jammal Brown in the 1st. Not because we need a tackle.. but because he is a good prospect and I think he could help us against Freeney.

I also talked about needing a playmaking ILB but didnt try to say we should trade up for Johnson. instead I would like us to grab Boomer in the 4th.

the draft IS about filling needs.. but not about filling them in order from greatest to least... or trading away a draft to fill your biggest need.

Im a supporter of BPA.. and have said as much in other posts.. but using your example.

If it was between those three players only.. id trade down :).. but if I didnt have a choice.. id take Williams.

But things are not that cut and dry. As a more controversial example.. if it was between Mike Williams and Marcus Spears.. who would you take? Id take spears. Why? because Williams MAY be a more valuable pick.. but he isnt INCREDIBLY more valuable.. and Marcus Spears would be useful to us.

and btw.."your ideas of 'need over talent'" dont put words in my mouth. read my post again... I never said "forget those talented players, lets just take what we need". And look at my first day draft picks.. id hardly say I reached.
Click to expand...

but your post are sooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo long :heh:
 
Grid, I think that most of the posters on this board agree with you when you say that O-Line is our most pressing needs. But in defense of some of the posters like myself, we feel that it would benefit the Texans to also look at other positions in the free agency period. Now, I know sometimes it sounds like people want to use up all of our cap space on a WR or another TE, but I gaurantee you that at least 90% of the people on this board would rather get and Elton Brown or a David Bass in the draft that to has Joey Porter. I dont kow exactly how much cap space we have, but if we have enough money to go after a good FA receiver and still sign all of our top draft picks then go for it. Get the WR and get the o-linmean too that way we improve in both areas. :thumbup
 
I just want Boomer Grigsby...words cannot describe the skill/talent/potential...I have a highlight video of him (thanks Todd Kober Illinois State SID) and the guy is amazing.
 
:thumbup I believe the best teams get to cherry pick . When your building you don't allways get that luxury . I think Safetys and TEs are important but you can get by with an average player ,you can't spend big money everywhere . Right now the Texans have one of the best WRs in football but if Carr does'nt have time The fridge could play corner . They are also thin at the DL . They should pick up two players on the DL in the draft to infuse youth to go along with the LBs and DBs .
 
Davis is an unnecessary pick in my honest opinion. Earl showed he can handle the job.. and Dunta is a playmaker in the secondary.

as for the TE being the key to beating the cover 2.. i dunno. I cant deny it cause I dont know all that much about the cover 2.. except that we stink against it. Why cant Armstrong or Gaffney beat it?

a good Center can be had in the 3rd or 4th round.


and the best 3/4 Dlinemen will probably be in the 2nd round and high third. Im high on Mike Patterson. i think he would make a PERFECT 3/4 DE.. if we had a good 2 gap NT.
 
Kevin Mawae was selected in the 2nd round.

he is the exception, not the rule.

Flannagan of GB was selected in the 3rd.
Saturday of the Colts was a rookie FA
Nalen of Denver was a 7th round pick
Wiegmann of the Chiefs was a rookie FA


honestly.. go check out the centers for other teams.. you dont see many first or even second rounders. in the 3rd round we will have access to most if not all of the top 5 centers available.
 
texansfan88 said:
I just want Boomer Grigsby...words cannot describe the skill/talent/potential...I have a highlight video of him (thanks Todd Kober Illinois State SID) and the guy is amazing.
Click to expand...

Hey 88... you should post the Grigsby video in the Prospect Videos thread at the top of the page. Or is it a video cassette?
 
Grid, the issue with me is that you started assuming I said things that I never did.

I brought up a report Coles would be released, and how it would help to have a burner on the opposite side.

What you "said" I said, is that I wanted to scrap all our developmental players and dry up the cap for a single players. There's a gigantic difference and I never advocated Coles specifically, just he was the topic of the conversation at hand so obviously I would mention him.

I am all for improving the OL but the only significant impact position in the draft might be OCenter.

Then we have the TE position. You want a more versatile one but before that you said we just need a good blocker that catches the occasional dump-off. Which is it? Because Bruener was the latter and he didn't accomplish squat. Hopefully Joppru will be that playmaker TE we're looking for, but who knows.

And if I see "Thomas Davis at #13" I'm going to lose it. I get the feeling the guy is very overrated because of prior "Freak Safeties" like Roy Williams and Sean Taylor. Give Earl a year to actually play at 100%, we don't need a SS that espn drools over or Kiper babbles about incessantly. We need one that is good in pass coverage and run support and we have that in Glenn Earl, I mean hell he's a rookie coming off an ACL injury. What do you expect? Not to mention that pile of garbage known as the DL that can't get anything done upfront for our linebackers.
 
Well I said we need a blocking TE with the ability to catch a pass. Never said he had to be an antonio gates. The blocking is the important thing.

And when I mentioned the coles thing.. I didnt mean coles specifically.. I meant ANY wr. Cause honestly unless we pay top dollar.. we arent gonna get a WR any better than bradford was. We dont need another WR.

And this post wasnt directed at you.. or at least not directly at you :).. its for all the people talking about making huge FA acquisitions.. especially at WR.
 
Grid said:
Well I said we need a blocking TE with the ability to catch a pass. Never said he had to be an antonio gates. The blocking is the important thing.

And when I mentioned the coles thing.. I didnt mean coles specifically.. I meant ANY wr. Cause honestly unless we pay top dollar.. we arent gonna get a WR any better than bradford was. We dont need another WR.

And this post wasnt directed at you.. or at least not directly at you :).. its for all the people talking about making huge FA acquisitions.. especially at WR.
Click to expand...

Well, I would like Coles but I can agree he would probably ask for more than I'd want to pay. I do think we could use another burner, but I definitely don't advocate overpaying or letting that focus overshadow our more important needs. I do believe our OL will stay mostly the same unless a drafted C can unseat McKinney (unlikely early on, maybe after some time).

While I would love to be proven wrong on this, I think it's kind of wishful thinking to believe Sloan or Starling could make a significant impact next season.
 
i do believe that we need a speed WR on the outside opposite of dre. i dont think AJ can have the production of a veteran reciever that gets doubled all the time. he is still learning how to beat the double coverage and if we bring in someone proven to demand fair coverage that would help out the offense. im in no way saying we HAVE to have someone like coles or mason - its just something i wouldnt mind having to help. thats all ill say about that.

for TE, i didnt think bruener did bad. he sealed off the edge on sweeps and runs to the outside....i think joppru will help us out tremendously if he is able to GET ON THE FIELD!! :hairpull: patience is wearing thin but i am for some reason hopeful.

im all for giving wand and pitts another season. wade should be good for us also. my MAIN concern is stevie, somewhere in the draft should be a good find to seriously challenge him or just take the job away.

i also like our secondary and where it is going. thomas davis who? yesssir - im sticking with earl, he looks like he will be great. :thumbup

we have to get more production out of walker in order to help babin. babin did great behind him, but image if walker was back in action.

if we can sure up the DLine and maybe get that LB playmaker on defense (DJ anyone?) we will have a tough D to face. as for our OL, maybe a new center and hard work for the rest of the guys and we should be set to make a run at the playoffs. a solid #2 wouldnt hurt either, gaffney and armstrong are mostly slot guys - look what happen with price when he went from the bills to the falcons. but enough of the WR talk.
 
I'm like this...

If we can get another WR...great,no problem with that,a #2 would be nice. But if we kept the same guys (except for Bradford,get him out of here),I could live with that. But yall have to realize....ITS TONS OF WRS OUT THERE,people can't help but say "i want this guy here" and i want that guy here".

D-Line: I'm with Grid...If everyone besides Smith was cut,I'd be happy with that. This team is in dire need of a pass rusher OUTSIDE of the OLBs.

OLBs: I don't have talk about this particular position,we're loaded right here,some what....BUT as I am about to talk about,we might need another due to the fact that Wong may be moved to ILB and Peek won't switch to decaf.

I happen to like Wong @ the other ILB position with Sharper..hes more of a run stopper than a pass rusher,but all in all,I'd take him in the middle with J-Sharp.

DBs: I like what we have now @ all 4 positions...my only issue is that (as is everyone's issue),Aaron is 33 before the start of next season. If we got a Jones or a Rolle or a Rogers or some player that had a great combine,that would be perfectly ok.

O-Line: No comment :whistle:(ok I lied) If they came back the same,would anyone here be surprised? I know for damn sure I wouldn't. But we need help at the interior spots in the O-Line and Carr's blindside. (LT)

TE: Need one,but don't need one. Need one,but don't need one. Get it? Need one because Joppru hasn't played a down and dont need it cuz of well...what I just said. I think even if we have a healthy Joppru,a FA Tight End would be helpful.

That's all I got for now...I still think the Texans are going to shock the hell out of me with something...what that is remains to be seen.

I don't have a wish list,cuz I never get what I want...so the hell with it. :D
 
Grid said:
Many teams function without TWO fast WRs. We have Andre.. he can stretch the field when necessary (heck, he got second in the fastest man competition at the Pro Bowl) but look at the other teams in the league and what they are working with. What about Anquan Boldin? what about Terrel Owens? Keyshawn Johnson.. or teams like the Vikings who have Randy Moss.. who is the speedster opposite of Moss?
Click to expand...

I can agree with your picks as much as I could many others. (There are a few holes and adding in any direction is acceptable) Here is where I disagree. I can name the player opposite of Moss and I had him on my fantasy league. Not to mention he proved exactly why a good #2 WR helps a team win when he burned our defense in OT. Robinson was having a great season until Moss went down. This is just what I think.
 
:thumbup I think the thought here is given a chance some of the WRs we have will prosper . Given the chance Carr will have 3750 yds. , 25 TDs .
 
Would anybody be opposed to drafting a WR in the first round like a Troy Williamson or Mark Clayton idonno:

I still think Andre needs another home run WR to compliment him if we are not gonna use the TE position in the passingg game. Like when Eric Moulds had Peerless Price (and now he has Lee Evans), Hines Ward got Plaxico Burress, Rod Smith got Ashley Lelie, Issac Bruce got Torry Holt. The TE's on these teams are barely used in the passing game, but the WRs clearly makes up for the lack of production they get at the TE position. And you can't double team one of the WR's either, because once you do that the other WR will torch you for yardage.

If feel if we get another home run WR to go along side Andre, teams will no longer double team Andre because they are gonna have to respect the WR lined up on the other side. Right now, the only WR on this team opposing defensive coaches respect is Andre. If the other WR's were that good and were facing single coverage when teams were doubling Andre, then those WRs should have been putting up Buffalo Bills Peerless Price and Josh Reed #'s then. But that's just my opinion though :cool:
 
Grid said:
or there is alot of ignorance on this board. Flame me for saying that if you want, but im seeing alot of posts that are more interested in getting a flashy player than getting what we need. Now.. am I more knowledgeable about our needs than you? dunno.. doubt it.. thats like saying im more knowledgeable about rocket science than you.. it could very well be the case, but we are both pretty much in the dark on it. But you are reading this post so im gonna tell you what I think we need to do, and why.

Lets look at the offense first.

Where are we hurting on offense? only one spot to be honest.. the Oline.

I see people talking about TEs, and a #2 receiver. Guys.. think about this.

For one.. the only teams you see with playmaker TEs.. are the teams that dont have much of a WR group. Think about it.. who are the best TEs in the game? Gates, Crumpler, Gonzalez? Look at the teams they are on. Chargers have no threats at WR. The Falcons are barely a threat there. and the Chiefs.. well they have an alright group of receivers.. and thats why they have one of the best offenses in the league.. all that talent on offense hasnt helped their defense too much though has it? Picking up a TE in FA wouldnt be a BAD idea.. and probably wouldnt be too expensive(someone like that TE from GB.. Bubba Franks?). But we dont NEED gods gift to TEs. What we really need out of a TE is blocking ability.. he doesnt have to be a key part of our offense. If he can block and catch a dump off pass when Carr is in trouble.. thats all we need. In other words.. if we dont have any more TEs next year.. it aint gonna kill our chances.. and if all we pick up in the draft is a blocking TE, that wouldnt be a bad move.

wanna know WHY it wont kill our chances? cause we have 4 HUGE threats in the red zone. Andre Johnson, Jabar Gaffney, Derrick Armstrong, and Domanick Davis. All of these guys are more than capable of doing the job of a TE in the red zone. Which is getting open and making that tough catch.

And that leads to our next "need".. a #2 WR. Now.. I dont deny that having someone to burn turf opposite of AJ would be nice.. but it is not a NEED. Many teams function without TWO fast WRs. We have Andre.. he can stretch the field when necessary (heck, he got second in the fastest man competition at the Pro Bowl) but look at the other teams in the league and what they are working with. What about Anquan Boldin? what about Terrel Owens? Keyshawn Johnson.. or teams like the Vikings who have Randy Moss.. who is the speedster opposite of Moss? Speed at #2 is nice.. its useful.. but it is not detrimental to a good offense. On top of that.. Kendrick Starling looked good in preseason and he got some playing time in regular season(cant remember which game now). Why dont we see what we have in Starling, and if he just is NOT ready to play a big role in the offense.. then only put him in on 3rd and longs where his speed will be most useful, and let Gaffney or Armstrong take the #2 spot. it cant be a BAD thing to have a WR like those two on the field for every down.

Anyway.. I understand the arguement for stretching the field.. ive argued it myself a few times here.. but ive come to the conclusion that stretching the field is not as important as just giving Carr time to find the open man. If we were car mechanics, arguing about the speed of our #2 receiver would be akin to arguing about the color we should paint a car before we have assembled the engine.

Which brings us to the real problem. The Oline. Now, on the Oline I saw two spots that we looked weak. Center, and Right Guard. The thing is.. we had a buttload of changes on that line. 2 new guys at the tackle spots.. and pitts moving to a new spot.. AND a completely different blocking scheme. I am disgusted at our oline play.. but im not prepared to "cut our losses" and invest in more linemen. We need to give them another season. If we were to pick up a guard or center off the market, or draft one.. I would definatly not complain. Or if we picked up Jammal Brown at #13, i wouldnt complain. But I think we are jumping the gun when we ask for an overhaul. The run blocking of our line at the end of the season gave me faith that the zone blocking could work. We just need to make sure it happens fast before Carr gets any more bruises.

real quick.. on the RB situation. LaMont Jordan would be a great pickup for us if he was available on FA. hes the kind of RB that would fit our system and be able to take the kind of carries we want Davis to take. Davis will make a great change of pace back. Now, I love davis too.. and want to see him succeed.. i even have two of his jerseys.. but I think Lamont Jordan is just too big of a steal to let go. Hes gonna be a star.


On to Defense.. this is getting long so Ill make it quick.

Dline. Smith is the only guy we absolutely have to keep. If I could id get rid of everyone else and rebuild it.. but we cant afford to do that. Payne needs to be resigned because we need his skill.. but he is getting old and beat up and we need someone to start grooming to take his position. a DT in the draft is a must. Walker is old and im starting to feel like he scammed us. If he doesnt show some skill next season, im gonna be counting the days till we cut him. We need to start grooming someone behind him too.. so if possible a DT AND a DE would be great in the draft.

OLBs. We are set at OLB. That doesnt mean we shouldnt grab one in the draft though. OLBs are money in your pocket for the 3-4. But im not worried about our talent at OLB. Babin and Wong.. or Babin and Peek.. or Peek and Wong or Babin and Cheatwood or WHATEVER it happens to be.. we are good there.

ILB. We need another one. Casserly has talked about us needing playmakers in the front seven.. this could be the place to find one. Sharper and Johnson? good god that would be nasty. I dont think we will be able to get Johnson... but thats the kind of caliber player I would hope for.

Secondary. dont listen to the talking heads.. dont listen to ESPN or whoever else has told you that our secondary needs help. Our secondary is awesome.. one of the best in the league. The ONLY thing we could use in the secondary is a CB to play dime under Faggins.. and compete with Faggins for Glenns spot when he retires. Id love to get Justin Miller.

SO. Lamont Jordan. a playmaker ILB. A DT and a DE. A CB. and maybe a Center/Guard and a TE. That doesnt sound like such a long list of needs.

OK.. these are my opinions. tell me yours.


(btw.. what id like to see happen on day one of the draft(within reason)
1. Justin Miller (CB)
2. Mike Patterson(DE)
3a. Luis Castillo(DT)
3b. Boomer Grigsby(ILB)

(and on day two)
4. Jason Brown or Ben Wilkerson or Sione Pouha
Click to expand...

Grid, great post!! About the most intelligent one I've seen.

1. A new blocking scheme was implemented last season. Results, a lot of miscues meaning losses. Our line will improve in it's second year of zone blocking. You are right though, center and right tackle are weak and need to be upgraded. However, as you see with the Broncos and now the Falcons, you don't need big name players to fill those positions. What you need is athletic linemen who can move. McKinney played with an injury a lot last year which limited his production on pulling. Our right tackle just consistantly got blown away.

2. Bruener is still one of the best blocking tight ends in football. Again, new team, new scheme. He'll improve this coming up season and hopefully we'll finally be able to get Jopperu on the field. I think we're (adequate) at the TE position for this season. Bubba Franks has been franchised by Green Bay. Maybe we could get Maurice Taylor to play tight end. Seems basketball P. Forwards to well at that position.....

3. Dominic is one of the best backs in the league. I know that goes against the grain. The question is, and we'll find out this year, is if he can stay healthy for 16 games. If so, I agree that he'll get 1500-1600 yards. Not bad

4. Our linebacking core is solid. Babin will only get better. Wong is solid. We don't need anything there.

5. Our secondary is solid. Glenn still has two good years before he'll need to be moved to a nickle back.

6. Our wide receiving core is decent, not great. I would be really interested to see what Gaffney could do as the #2 wideout. People seem to forget just how good he was at Florida. Maybe we need another #2, but it's unknown to me as of yet. Also, I think that Armstrong would be an excellent #3, possesion receiver. He has great hands and catches the ball well in traffic.

7. Our d-line is below average. R. Smith is the only above average lineman we have. I think that the Texans will put heavy emphasis on addressing that through FA and the draft. DJ is not going to be available at 13. I think we'll take Spears.

The thing to remember is that the offense is still growing. There has been progression every year in production. Our offensive line degressed this past season but that's because of the new blocking scheme.

Overall, we're on track. Why did I spend 10 minutes agreeing with just about everything you just wrote I'll never know. I guess that I'm just tired of seeing all of the "GM's" on the message boards who think they have the answers and don't understand progression. We're not going to draft an instant starter for this team and that's a good thing.

'And with the 13th pick in the draft, the Texans select - Marcus Spears'
 
Bottle-O-Bud said:
Okay here is my take on this whole shebang!!!

1) TE is our number 1 need! Why? Because we can't beat the cover 2. The only way is for our TE too beat his 1v1 LB coverage. As of now Miller and Breuner CAN'T DO IT! :thumbup Palmer's offense needs a functional TE! Not Miller who shows up in only one game and not Bruener who is suppose to be dominant in blocking, but still ends up on his bum most of the time.

2) Safety > ILB > NT. We are one playmaker short in the secondary to shore it up. Thomas Davis is it and he will fall on our laps come draft day. IF the Lions do select a defensive player, you can't tell me they would select a S over a CB. There will be alot of shuffling on our LB corp. Peek is a starter...Wong needs to move ILB. Anybody here can say with a straight face that a rookie ILB can displace Wong? DJ is prolly be the only one who can, but #13 is a reach for a guy who is coveted by atleast 3 teams below us.

Here is my draft:

1) Best Secondary (Jones and Rolle are gone) aka Thomas Davis!!
2) Best Center
3a) Best TE/WR (Everything Hinges on Joppru!!!)
3b) Best 3-4 D lineman available

IF we play our cards right, #13 is the only rookie starter next year!!! :heh:
Click to expand...


Strong safty is the third position i would upgrade in the secondary this offseason. glen earl will be fine, and thomas davis is the exact same kind of prospect, just ranked higher...earl was ranked as 2nd round. i would take a cb in the first round this year possibly, not a ss. also IMO FS is a more pressing issue than SS. i saw colemen get burned way more than earl. colemen should be average this year so its not worth a pick.

If you want a Center and dont want to use the second round pick on one...although Bass is the best center prospect in the draft, consider someone like jason brown from NCS. He is the strongest C in the draft. He can be found in the 3rd to fourth round.

For a TE look maybe to Kevin Everett from Miami. not greatest prospect, but will stop yall's complaining. TE is not the greastest need by far on our team. I ask you, would you honestly rather have a big TE catching the ball and running or DD catching and running? it may not look pretty but results will be beter w/dd.

DE should be addressed early first round. Marcus spears plain and simple should be our number one pick.
one version of a mock for yall would be this:

1.Marcus Spears. Enough said, we need him, he is worth this pick, may not be BPA but should be close and therefore be the pick out of biggest impact next year.

2.Justin Miller. Other CB's are rated higher than him as of right now. at least 3-4 other cb's will go first round. There is a chance he falls to second round. i think he has the greatest potential w/size vs. speed ratio.

3a.Antonio Perkins. Becomes the nickle cb and return man.

3b.Jason Brown. Able to hold his own and start to push mckiny. brings great size to the line with fairly quick feet for his size.

4.Kevin Everett. Simply to shut everyone up on this board who think TE is our biggest need. not the most solid of hands, decent prospect.
 
Grid said:
hehehe well anything worth saying is worth saying in a long and drawn out fashion.
Click to expand...


Why can't you be short and concise like me :fib

Seriously though really good post and I think you're much closer to the target than many of us. Needs aren't what they used to be. A few years ago our needs amounted to "yes", now we're down to just a few positions (which you summarized very well) and several guys who just need time. The fans sometimes ID those guys who need to play to get better as places where we have a "need". They aren't though, they just need the experience.

Hopefully we get Joppru (finally) and the line can run block at a respectable and consistent level from the start of the season. That will go a long way towards keeping Carr from being beaten to death.

They need a new center. They need another good inside linebacker. They need some help on the DL. Those are "Damn we need to get somebody in here!" spots in my mind. Another corner, wide reciever, and another running back to push Davis would be good, even great but they aren't on the same level as our real "needs".
 
Wow first off I want to thank everyone in this thread. This is some great reading and is going a long way to satisfy my need to talk Texan Football. So thank you.

I have no clue what direction the staff is going to go in this year's draft but I see two glowing weaknesses. I’ll keep them very general.

1. Our Defense needs to get more pressure on the opposing QB
2. Our Offense needs to give Carr more protection and open up more holes for the running game.

Some of this will be done by players maturing, improved chemistry, and players getting comfortable w/ new schemes and new positions. In some cases pieces of the puzzle need to be replace with new pieces. The draft will build towards the future but I don't expect to see instant success because of it.(hopefully i am wrong.)

As for getting flashy offensive players, as one person in this topic all ready said....Not going to happen with our current staff running the team. And that is fine by me. I would much rather have a team with a Defensive, "Pound it down your throat" reputation and playing style, similar to that of the Steelers (Past and Present) than a team with the glitz and glamour offense like that of the Colts or the Run-N-Shoot Oilers of the early 90's. (PS i loved those Oiler teams and shed tears when they lost to Denver and Buffalo. But we didn't win the championship.)

Based on past draft picks I have absolute confidence in the coaching staff to get us the quality talent that is going to make a difference.

Go Texans. Playoffs or bust!
 
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