After weeks of looking at all the information given us on all these college prospects many of us still cant come to a conclusion as to whom the Texans should target come pick 13 and have argued the many players to no end . Im going to try and shed a little light on the situation .
The talent seems to drop steeply from the first to 10th pick , after that it seems that almost all the prospects are fairly even down to the middle / end of round 3 .
The Texans have several holes to fill , I'll list them in the order I think are most important but not neccissarily the order in which i would chose to fill them .
The Linebackers are in a state of overhaul , with J.Sharper and J.Foreman being released there is a gaping hole in the center of the defense . The signing of Morlon Greenwood fills one of those spots but what about the other ? Some have said that Wong will move inside but this is a temporary fix at best . With the majority of the plays being made by the linebackers in the 3-4 D this must be a strength area not a major weakness that it looks to be for the moment .
There are several players the Texans could target in the first three rounds that could fill the viod left by Sharpers departure ranging from Derrick Johnson of Texas early in round one to Robert McCune of Louisville in possibly the mid third round .
The next glaring weakness the Texans show is lack of a complete tight end , this compounds problems in other area's of the offense because as soon as teams see Billy Miller step on the field the immediately know to tee off in a full pass rush , when Mark Bruener is on the field they pretty much know its a running play and hold thier space . This makes the O-line look much worse than it is as well as makes it more difficult for the recievers to get open because teams drop into a 2 deep zone or double cover AJ . As well as making life miserabvle for who ever the RB is because the defense always seems to have 7 in the box on running plays .
So how to fix the problem ? Sure you say the Texans have Bennie Joppru . I say its been two seasons since he was drafted and he has yet to play a single meaningful down as a Texan . Its time to bite the bullet and own up to the fact he's been a complete bust , release him and find another body to take his roster spot that can at least add something to the team other than dead weight . There are many choices from Heath Miller of Virginia in the first round to Adam Bergen of Lehigh late in round 3 .
We have ripped the Texans O-line on this board so many times i cant count them all . Fact is they took a substantial step in the wrong direction last season as far as pass blocking is concerned . The running game showed some progress in the later part of the season but pass protection was and still is a problem . Although some of that will be taken care of by filling the hole at the TE position there is still at least one gapping hole on the line and it starts at the center position . Its easy to blame all the Texans O-line woes on Seth Wand and his youthful mistakes but to be truthful he didnt do such a bad job last season and should take a step forward this season . Center is where the Texans problems lie on the O-line as McKenny is constantly being pushed back into what should be the pocket where DC can step up and away from outside pressure .
Although I doubt no player drafted this season would start right away it would put some heat on Mckenny to perform or be replaced come mid season . There are a few solid center prospects to be had starting late first to early second round with David Baas of Michigan who could also play the guard position to Richie Incognito of Nebraska whom some have lasting as long as round five although I believe he will be long gone come that time .
The D-line of the Texans lacks depth and is old and two thirds of the starters have spent substantial time injured the past two seasons . This is another position the Texans can ill afford to be weak at as if hte D-line doesnt perform neither can the LB's which directly affects the secondary meaning they have to cover their man or a part of the field longer . The Texans play a vast majority of man to man in the secondary . They need some insurance here . There may not be any stud quality NT's in this years draft but there are a few capable of plugging two gaps in the 3-4 . (Note : two of the top five prospects at the NT positoin have tested positive for banned substances)
Starting in round one Travis Johnson of Florida St.and Mike Patterson of USC are probably the creeme of the crop . Sione Pouha of Utah and Lynn McGruder of Oklahoma could be picked up in as late as round 4 .
Wide Reciever ..... Upgrade the talent or upgrade the depth ? The WR's curently on the Texans roster with the Exception being AJ arent getting the job done. The complete lack of interest in C.Bradford from the rest of the NFL should be all we need to know about this position . AJ needs some help and DC needs another target . The possibilities here are almost endless as the WR's are probably the strongest position in this draft . Starting off the first round with possibly the best overall talent in the draft Braylon Edwards of Michigan to the enigma that is Matt Jones of Arkansas this draft is deep at the WR position .
That wraps up all the glaring weaknesses I see in the Texans roster although there could stand to be quality depth added at other positions so here are my picks for this years draft .....
Rd 1. Mark Clayton , WR , Oklahoma
Rd 2. Mike Patterson , DT , USC
Rd 3. Robert McCune , ILB , Louisville
Rd 3. Adam Bergen , TE , Lehigh
Rd 4. Vince Carter , C , Oklahoma
RD 5. Stanford Routt , CB , Houston
RD 6. Maurice Clarett , RB , Ohio St.
Rd 7. Ryan Fitzpatrick , QB , Harvard
The talent seems to drop steeply from the first to 10th pick , after that it seems that almost all the prospects are fairly even down to the middle / end of round 3 .
The Texans have several holes to fill , I'll list them in the order I think are most important but not neccissarily the order in which i would chose to fill them .
The Linebackers are in a state of overhaul , with J.Sharper and J.Foreman being released there is a gaping hole in the center of the defense . The signing of Morlon Greenwood fills one of those spots but what about the other ? Some have said that Wong will move inside but this is a temporary fix at best . With the majority of the plays being made by the linebackers in the 3-4 D this must be a strength area not a major weakness that it looks to be for the moment .
There are several players the Texans could target in the first three rounds that could fill the viod left by Sharpers departure ranging from Derrick Johnson of Texas early in round one to Robert McCune of Louisville in possibly the mid third round .
The next glaring weakness the Texans show is lack of a complete tight end , this compounds problems in other area's of the offense because as soon as teams see Billy Miller step on the field the immediately know to tee off in a full pass rush , when Mark Bruener is on the field they pretty much know its a running play and hold thier space . This makes the O-line look much worse than it is as well as makes it more difficult for the recievers to get open because teams drop into a 2 deep zone or double cover AJ . As well as making life miserabvle for who ever the RB is because the defense always seems to have 7 in the box on running plays .
So how to fix the problem ? Sure you say the Texans have Bennie Joppru . I say its been two seasons since he was drafted and he has yet to play a single meaningful down as a Texan . Its time to bite the bullet and own up to the fact he's been a complete bust , release him and find another body to take his roster spot that can at least add something to the team other than dead weight . There are many choices from Heath Miller of Virginia in the first round to Adam Bergen of Lehigh late in round 3 .
We have ripped the Texans O-line on this board so many times i cant count them all . Fact is they took a substantial step in the wrong direction last season as far as pass blocking is concerned . The running game showed some progress in the later part of the season but pass protection was and still is a problem . Although some of that will be taken care of by filling the hole at the TE position there is still at least one gapping hole on the line and it starts at the center position . Its easy to blame all the Texans O-line woes on Seth Wand and his youthful mistakes but to be truthful he didnt do such a bad job last season and should take a step forward this season . Center is where the Texans problems lie on the O-line as McKenny is constantly being pushed back into what should be the pocket where DC can step up and away from outside pressure .
Although I doubt no player drafted this season would start right away it would put some heat on Mckenny to perform or be replaced come mid season . There are a few solid center prospects to be had starting late first to early second round with David Baas of Michigan who could also play the guard position to Richie Incognito of Nebraska whom some have lasting as long as round five although I believe he will be long gone come that time .
The D-line of the Texans lacks depth and is old and two thirds of the starters have spent substantial time injured the past two seasons . This is another position the Texans can ill afford to be weak at as if hte D-line doesnt perform neither can the LB's which directly affects the secondary meaning they have to cover their man or a part of the field longer . The Texans play a vast majority of man to man in the secondary . They need some insurance here . There may not be any stud quality NT's in this years draft but there are a few capable of plugging two gaps in the 3-4 . (Note : two of the top five prospects at the NT positoin have tested positive for banned substances)
Starting in round one Travis Johnson of Florida St.and Mike Patterson of USC are probably the creeme of the crop . Sione Pouha of Utah and Lynn McGruder of Oklahoma could be picked up in as late as round 4 .
Wide Reciever ..... Upgrade the talent or upgrade the depth ? The WR's curently on the Texans roster with the Exception being AJ arent getting the job done. The complete lack of interest in C.Bradford from the rest of the NFL should be all we need to know about this position . AJ needs some help and DC needs another target . The possibilities here are almost endless as the WR's are probably the strongest position in this draft . Starting off the first round with possibly the best overall talent in the draft Braylon Edwards of Michigan to the enigma that is Matt Jones of Arkansas this draft is deep at the WR position .
That wraps up all the glaring weaknesses I see in the Texans roster although there could stand to be quality depth added at other positions so here are my picks for this years draft .....
Rd 1. Mark Clayton , WR , Oklahoma
Rd 2. Mike Patterson , DT , USC
Rd 3. Robert McCune , ILB , Louisville
Rd 3. Adam Bergen , TE , Lehigh
Rd 4. Vince Carter , C , Oklahoma
RD 5. Stanford Routt , CB , Houston
RD 6. Maurice Clarett , RB , Ohio St.
Rd 7. Ryan Fitzpatrick , QB , Harvard
