I was thinking about this today and thought that if there's anything to get Obrien on the hot seat, it'll be his inability to provide a franchise quarterback any protection. That and the fact that, as GM, everything he does is under a microscope. I think he's going to feel the burn by mid season, to be honest.
They're going to start out slow, as usual. Maybe on the hot seat but then they'll go on a min-run and squeeze out the division title with the Colts dealing with Andrew Luck injuries. He'll be getting an extension.
Maybe. I don't buy the resurgent Jags or that Mariotta will figure it out, but the Texans absolutely, positively needed to improve the O line from last year and they really didn't. Their project drafted LT spends most of his practice reps at guard. Which is good because their project guard from last year (Rankin) sounds like he's playing his way off the team. Their FA pickup at LT is washed---which makes sense then why Kalil was available---even if he has shaken off the effects of his latest injury. So how has the line improved from the unit that helped Watson get sacked 62 times? Because I'm not really seeing how it has. Seantrel Henderson will take up one of the T slots maybe? Watson cannot take another year of that kind of punishment. No QB could. And with no Watson, there will be no division title, and I don't care how bad the rest of the division is. Find out what Washington wants, find a third team that can give it to them---since it doesn't look like the Texans have it---and preferably that third team wants Clowney, and go kill two birds with one three-team trade. Or continue with this threadbare quilt of an O-Line and your second best defensive player not sure if he wants to play here or not. The pisser is, if Watson does get graunched this year, because of the incompetence of the coaching staff and front office, and the Texans go something like 3-13 as a result, you know ownership will use the injury as an excuse for why BoB shouldn't get fired.
If that's the case, that's yet another indictment on this front office. Picking a G with your first round pick would be a laughable waste of resources.
ARE YOU DENSE? They are playing Howard at guard to get him comfortable. He will play tackle eventually. The question is...how soon.
Dude if we can get starting level contribution along the OL at #23, I’ll happily take that. The Colts took a G with the 6th overall pick and he was a HUGE part of the OL that absolutely stonewalled Watt and company.
Forgive me for not having that kind of faith in BOB's offensive line scouting. Nope, not dense whatsoever. Just not picking up what BOB is trying to put down. I know you've bought in hook, line, and sinker, but I'm more skeptical. It is what it is.
The Texans were a very good running team last year. How is a team with a terrible line and a RB who isn’t that great running between the tackles able to be successful running the ball? Where does Watson rank among QBs in terms of ability to avoid sacks? Serious question.
Define "very good running team". They were 4th in attempts and 8th in yards - leaving them 19th in yards/carry. Basically, they just ran a lot but really inefficiently. And that's with the QB providing an extra running threat and generating 25% of their rushing yards, largely through scrambles.
Lots of attempts and lots of yards, and lots of wins. I would consider the Saints a good running team and they had basically the same attempts/ypc as the Texans. I wouldn’t assume “efficiency” means you’re a good running team. Green Bay was at the top in “efficiency” but had the least attempts. Doesn’t mean they’re a good running team. If we’re solely judging the line on number of sacks, I’d just like to know how good the QB is at avoiding them.
Texans had lots of attempts. Decent number of yards, but actually pretty crappy if you take out the QB and his running efficiency (something the Saints didn't have and something that doesn't reflect on the o-line's quality or lack thereof). Saints really got the reputation as a running team in 2017 - when they were 2nd in efficiency. Last year, they were a volume running team, but their offense was Brees-centric, with the 2nd highest QB efficiency in the league. Saints also were 1st in rushing TDs while the Texans were 20th, so they were able to pound the ball when needed. Last year's most efficient high-volume running teams were Carolina and LA Rams, which makes sense with Gurley and McCaffery. Not sure why you'd use wins as a measure of being a good running team, given that it's affected by passing and defense too. I don't think anyone looked at the Texans last year and said "we've got to stop their run game!"
