Simon is going to to be a FA but you'll still have Mercilus, Clowney, and Scarlett if he ends up leaving. I think even S will be more of a need than OLB with Demps being a FA, Drummond and Dillon coming off of major injuries, and Ballentine likely done. That leaves you with Hal, Moore, and Pleasant. They value safety highly enough that they would have taken Karl Joseph in the first if he had fallen to them last year. What about the DL without Wilfork? Reader, Heath, Covington, JJ, and Kamalu could actually be solid but you'll need to add a couple guys to the mix.
Haven't seen enough of him but probably more of a 2nd-3rd round talent but I'm sure the name may cause him to rise into a late 1st rounder. Would love to get him in the 2nd. Really hope we can re-sign Demps & Bouye. Simon too to limit the holes we need to fill in the draft. Wouldn't mind giving Wilfork a 1 yr deal if he wants to go one more. Cushing is my favorite Texan of all time but it's probably time to let him go. Just an obvious decision to make.
NFL draft positioning always confuses me. It's another one of those weird things that having such unbalanced schedules throughout the league makes difficult. So is Texans draft position set?
With Nick Martin back that'll mean there's really only 2 weak spots in whatever guard spot is opposite Greg Mancz (assuming XSF doesn't step his game up) and right tackle. A lot of people are super down on this year's OT crop mostly because there are a ton of RT prospects and very few good LT prospects......well it's just good that happens to be what we need. I think we manage to grab a day one starter RT in the first round and are set from there.
You think Mancz can replicate his good play as a guard? That's a big question mark to me. Either way we definitely need a RT.
Well he's played plenty of guard in the past, and that's what he was going to be playing this season if not for Nick Martin's injury. Either way, I feel a lot more confident in his ability to play guard than I do anything we have at RT this season.
OL should be first and foremost. In hearing weak class.... what's our limit grade-wise for drafting one in the 1st? Must it be 1st or is high-2nd or mid-2nd worth it? We know the OL makes the entire team better, by far. Real ball control. No desperate QB sneaks because we couldn't get 1 yard the previous down. Brock/Savage have more time. 7-step drops to utilize Fuller/Miller/Miller's speed. Less turnovers. Defense gets more rest.
I think he's boosted his stock quite a bit lately. Depending on how his combine/pro-day go, I think he could end up boosting his stock even more. I think he's a late 1st rounder/early 2nd rounder right now.
Given that it's a "weak O line class" and the Texans will need for a RT rookie to be an immediate starter, I think they have to do it in the first round.
Right. I'm saying do we draft one 1st-round if he only has a 2nd-round grade? I think we're better off drafting a high or mid-2nd graded OL in the first, than any other 1st-round graded position.
I think it depends on the player, there are some OT's that have a lower grade because they are RT prospects instead of LT prospects. I think in a case like that, you take them anyway if you don't know for sure they'd be there in the 2nd round. RT is just that big of a need. Hell give the Texans Derek Newton back and things look drastically different on the O line. The O line injuries were THAT crippling.
I say no only because every 5 minutes in games, the Watt brothers would be eating some kind of HEB food.
I'm thinking it'd be hilarious to draft this brother but not that other one, on decisions based on perceptions and not on actual talent I actually don't think following bloodlines is that bad a thing. Drafting is still so inexact, that sibling connection might as well be included as predictive element. I remember a while back Patriots bringing in a Gronkowski bro, why not if you can even get half of Rob? But I'd rather Texans draft O-Line help and a high round QB for once if they have the stones.