The Official List of Unprotected Players for the Expansion Draft

if im the texans i take

sharper,anderson,roaf/boselli,another o lineman,freddie jones,alexander,walters,knight,teague,irwin,marcus jones,maybe dotson-alexander maybe not if its bad capwise

 

Something to consider ... ESPN or CBS Sportsline (can't remember) said that the Jaguars are tired of Fred Taylor's injuries and might be looking to trade him for a 3rd round pick. If that's the case, I think the Texans should do it. Taylor's only about $2MM, so the salary cap impact is negligible. Yeah, there's a big health risk there, but if he does stay healthy and we have a good O-Line as we're trying to do, we've got ourselves one of the best running games in the league.

 

Okay. Here's my group. This group's salary cap comes in at about $58 Million. Yeah, I know... too high. I'll revise.

What target cap amount is ideal? This pretty much reflects taking one player from each team.

OFFENSE -------------------------------------

QB: Charlie Batch

RB: Tim Biakababatuka and JJ Johnson

WR: Troy Walters and Rob Moore

TE: Greg Clark

LS: Ethan Albright

OL: Tony Boselli, Willie Roaf, John Fina, Jamain Stephens, Randall McDaniel, Than Menail


DEFENSE --------------------------------------

DL: Kavika Pittman, Kenny Holmes, Juqua Thomas, Mike Wells, Nate Hobgood-Chillis, Shane Burton

LB: Jamie Sharper, Elijah Alexander, Bernardo Harris, Brant Boyer

DB: George Teague, Ronnie Bradford, Lloyd Harrison, Paul Miranda

 

Pretend I'm a dummy, but are 3-4 DE's supposed to be bigger? Honestly, I think Peppers is the most talented player in the draft, and Henderson is the most talented DT. But, apparently, they don't fit Capers' system. I guess you need big DE's and squatty nts?


BTW, Batch, 3 years ago, executed one of the most impressive workouts this side of John Elway.

 

Not knowing the status of injuries, I'd go with:

1) Tony Boselli OT $8,949,332
2) Willie Roaf OT $5,004,123
3) Rodney Thomas RB $610,000
4) Jamie Sharper LB $2,875,000
5) Jeremy McKinney G $405,760
6) Bernardo Harris LB $2,656,250
7) Kenny Holmes DE $2,900,000
8) Marquez Pope S $700,000
9) Ben Lynch C $563,000
10) Jerry DeLoach DT $298,000
11) Jerry Johnson DT $457,000

In the second round, I'd take:

12) Gary Walker DT $5,250,000
13) Ryan Young OT $563,000

Total: $31,231,465

Of course, this could be changed, if another team contacted me about acquiring a particular player on the expansion list. Even though I would want to build a solid offensive line first, if someone called me & made me an offer I couldn't refuse for Boselli, I'd have to do it.

 

THe Texans are in an interesting situation. I am totally shocked the talent avaialble from othe rteams. Granted the Roafs/Bosellis?J. Andersons have injury questions but these are 3 guys who were all regarded as among the top 30-40 players a couple years ago.
Problem is most expansion teams pass on big salaries for underpaid, young players who probably won't be witht hte team in 3-4 years. But again there is soo much talent avaialble the Texans may have to try soemthing different.
If Roaf and Boselli are both healthy I think you have the best bookeend combination in the NFL. It's much easier to find serviceable guards and centers than tackles so I think the Texans should pursue both of them.
There biggest problem (just like the Browns) is finding a serviceable RB. A good OL definetely will help anfd from most scouting reports there will be some NFL quality backs avaialble in the 2nd-4th rounds, so I think they pass on Jamaal Anderson, too expensive and too injury prone.
As for a QB, I like Jeff Blake. He has an NFL arm and is mobile enough to keep defenses honest.
Receivers will also be tought to find, but a good O-line can make their QB and their receivers look better than they actually are.

Offensively another possibility is taking Roaf and Boselli and taking Big Mc from Miami with the first pick, then trading one of them for picks. All three of these guys have great value, so I think it would be very possible to get two #1 picks (Maybe not both in this years draft)

Defenses are easier toi build, IMO. If you can get one franchise type player who makes plays in the front 7 and one shut down CB you can have a good NFL defense. THat is why I suspect Peppers will go #1 in the draft. It will probably take him until year 2-3 to be the impact player he will be, but he can play. I don';t see a shut-down CB available. But as you look around the NFL there aren't many there. Defense is a lot of effort in the NFL. Look at the Cowboys this year. They didn't have a lot of talent (D. Woodsen is a stud) but they played hard and were a very formidable defense. That is why I suspect you will see a majority of the draft picks being hi-energy defensive players.

So as for the expansion draft I suspect Boselli, Roaf and Blake will be taken, along with a bunch of unproven/underpaid players. Peppers will go 1st in the draft, followed by a lot of defensive players, although look for a RB with one of the 3rd round picks (someone like a Jonathon Wells from Ohio State) and a couple WRs sprinkled in.

Look for most of the pieces of the Texans to be guys you have never heard of but I think it would b ehard to pass on Boselli & Roaf, both of who have had injuris but both are young enough to be around for a very long time.

 

I totally agree. With all the randomness in the NFL, I'd take a chance on someone like Taylor. I mean, who knows? Maybe he's just had bad luck. Get him healthy, and he might be the best pure runner in the league.

 

Texans now say they will take only 12-18 players. No expansion franchise has ever taken fewer than 50 but with the load of good talent available, the Texans are taking fewer with bigger salaries. Woo hoo!

<i>Texans like quality over quantity

Team to deviate from expansion draft norm
By CARLTON THOMPSON
Copyright 2002 Houston Chronicle

The last place Texans general manager Charley Casserly and coach Dom Capers expected to be Tuesday was at Rice's Autry Court working out more street free agents.  

That process was supposed to end last month, and then the Texans saw how many quality players would be available in the expansion draft and it became more and more clear they would take fewer than the minimum 30 players in the Feb. 18 event. That meant the Texans would have to sign more street free agents -- they have 22 on the roster -- to make up the numbers.

The mystery ended Tuesday when Casserly announced the Texans will draft just 12 to 18 players whose salary-cap figures total $27,284,000 million or 38 percent of the $71.8 million salary cap, the alternative to drafting at least 30 players.

"Could that change over the next 10 days?" Casserly said. "Yeah, it could. But I don't think it's going to change by much. It all depends on pullbacks. When I say 12 to 18, it could be closer to 12, depending on the pullbacks."

Each of the existing 31 teams submitted a list of five players to be included in the expansion draft. New England and St. Louis, the two Super Bowl participants, were required to submit their lists to the league Tuesday, but the names were not officially released.

The Super Bowl champion Patriots exposed defensive end Willie McGinest, a former first-round pick, who had back surgery this season, linebacker Ted Johnson, receiver Charles Johnson, cornerback Terrance Shaw and safety Matt Stevens. The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reported the Rams left unprotected cornerback Jacoby Shepherd, running back Justin Watson, linebacker Brian Allen, linebacker Mark Fields and offensive tackle Ryan Tucker.

Once a team loses a player to the Texans, that team can remove one of the remaining players from its list. If a team loses two players, it can withdraw its entire list. But a team is not required to pull back any players after losing one to the Texans. Some teams, particularly those in the worst salary-cap shape, are hoping to lose more than two players.

The Texans will be breaking new ground by selecting fewer than 30 players. No other NFL expansion team has taken this route. Then again, no other expansion team has had as much young quality talent at its disposal.

"Any player that we take who's on our roster after June 1, their minimum salary is guaranteed," Casserly said. "So, we went through the list and said, `Let's do this like the other teams did. Let's take 30 players, and let's see how many of them do we think can make our club.' We ended up with about five. That's if you take the 30 lowest salaries. We had maybe five guys make our club.

"Now, you've got $10 million worth of dead money on your cap. So let's take the other approach where you take fewer players, but you take quality players even though their cap numbers are higher than probably what you anticipated they would be.

"So, you're taking the $10 million of dead money and adding it over on the good players. After we did that, it's a much better way to do it, plus you're coming out with some good players."

For example, the Texans could get 10 of the players in whom they are believed to be most interested -- Ravens linebacker Jamie Sharper, Jaguars tackle Tony Boselli, Jets cornerback Marcus Coleman, Ravens return specialist Jermaine Lewis, Jaguars defensive tackle Seth Payne, Jets tackle Ryan Young, Seahawks return specialist Charlie Rogers, Redskins guard Matthew Campbell, Browns guard Jeremy McKinney and Redskins defensive tackle Jerry DeLoach -- for somewhere in the neighborhood of $27 million.

Sources also have the Texans on the trail of Jets cornerback Aaron Glenn, Jaguars defensive tackle Gary Walker and Chargers tight end Freddie Jones, all of whom could be calculated into the team's plans under certain scenarios.

It seems unlikely -- although not out of the question -- the Texans would take Boselli and Glenn, considering their combined cap number of $16.94 million would make drafting other quality players somewhat prohibitive.

Sharper, Glenn, Coleman, Payne, Young and McKinney will be in Houston for physicals this week.

"It looks like there are enough quality players to go (the 38 percent) route and have guys who can play for us instead of having a lot of cap space wasted on players who are not going to be with us," Texans owner Bob McNair said. "We still have to build a foundation, and hopefully in three years, we'll be in a position where we can say one or two players can make the difference for us to go to the Super Bowl.

"That's what we hope to be able to do. But the main thing is to get players who will be playing for us not only this year, but three years from now so that we don't have to go out and start rebuilding again."

Free agency basically starts for the Texans on Feb. 18. The more starters they can get out of the expansion draft, the fewer they'll have to find when free agency begins March 1. Because this isn't expected to be a strong free-agent class, the head start could be a major advantage for the Texans.</i>

 

Looks like Drew Bledsoe will be the highest paid backup QB in NFL history next season...I was hoping the Texans could pick him up...

 

I wouldn't be too quick to say that Bledsoe will be a backup. The Pats have kept him for a reason. They will either trade him to a team that needs a good QB (Redskins, Bears) or he may beat Brady out. There have been many one hit wonders.

I love this about the Texans though. If nothing else, it makes the season more interesting for the fans. Getting more than one household name in the expansion draft as opposed to a bunch of crappy cheap players is a big plus. Also, as far as I can tell, their all pretty young, so it's good in that aspect as well.

 

That's what gets me. It isn't like they are just over-the-hill vets with bloated salaries. Some of these guys are in their prime or just getting into it. The Texans will literally be able to build around some of these players for years to come. That's pretty amazing.

 

I hope now, and I can't believe I'm saying this, that they take Peppers. If they're running a 3-4, they'll have the front three set with Peppers, McGinnest, and Walker. Take Sharper and Washington, and go after Jerimaiah Trotter in FA, and you've got two above-average LBs as well.

 

It is looking more and more like David Carr as the top choice. Everyone is raving about him and the Texans seem to love him. If they can load up the OL, Carr should be protected as well.,

 

No QB?

I expected the Texans to atleast grab someone (Blake) with experience out of the expansion draft as a backup.

 

I'm surprised they aren't going to take Batch.

 

There are plenty of cheap free agent QBs out there

I STILL want the Texans to pick up Ryan Leaf. Getting pummeled behind a young offensive line for a season should teach him a lesson about attitude...

 

Too bad the Texans will have a decent line.

 

a little late, but, obviously (and unfortunately), no. we had a contact in mobile who sent us carr's contact info while he was in mobile. we called his hotel room but no one picked up the phone and though i left an eloquent message for him, no one ever returned my call. my best guess is that a maid heard the message before carr did.

however, the contact is interviewing carr this month and promised to set us up with him, so, hopefully, we will get him to answer a few questions for us.

 

I don't think McGinest is a possibility, though I hope he is. I think he's too expensive.

I didn't click the link, but who did the Rams put on there?

 

I had heard that there was a former Redskins QB that was a free agent and Charlie Casserly had actually drafted him and they wanted to bring him in as the veteran QB. Who is that?