Looking at the snap count for this past week: http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...p-counts/ee4ee7e7-1742-44df-9aa5-7d2d6005f30e Brooks Reed has the lowest snap count of any linebacker. I hardly see this as a coincidence, considering it was Clowney's first week back, Mercilus has had some good games recently, and his play has been declining (not really surprising here). Here's to Mercilus removing his name from the long list of busts for the Texans.
Reed is playing hurt. Probably more dinged up than anyone realizes (from what O'Brien says). Nothing more to it at this point IMO. I think they're both average pass rushers.
Another thing I forgot to mention was these snap counts also occured with Cushing out. while Cushing hasn't really played well, he still gets consistent snaps. Seems like the clock is really ticking on Reed's time here.
debatable. reed can offer production in a limited role, and play special teams. cushing is done like dinner & will be cut this offseason.
i don't see any scenario where cushing sticks around. he's too easily replaced. hell, dent looked like 10x the player cushing is... and where the hell did he come from? PS? after i learned of cushing's contract going "year by year" after this season, i knew he was toast.
Another thing on Reed, he's still by far the superior run stopper over Merciless. Merciless was rumored to be on the outs with the staff early-on. I think that's changed but I just don't see why anyone would think Merciless is going to steal the show (the mediocre show). BoB made it clear this week - Reed is playing hurt and dealing with a lot of pain.
Can Cushing's contract be restructured...? Even better, couldn't they just cut him and resign him at a cheaper price (assuming no other team picks him up)...? Because if he doesn't get any better, I don't see how they can keep him at that price... You're debating who's better between Merci and Reed....??? Lol.
You forget that Reed is even on the team, until you check out the box score and see that he has a whopping 1 assist on a tackle.
Any chance that Reed can bulk up and move to the D-Line? I know he was a DE in college and I'm wondering if that would be more of a realistic transition for him as opposed to ILB. Even though his play doesn't show it, he's still a hell of an athlete. Is there any chance that he can be a JJ Watt ultra, ultra, ultra, LIGHT and take advantage of his athleticism on the inside? Maybe it was never a good idea to move him to LB to begin with. That could explain his inconsistency.
I think the key is putting Clowney and Mercy on both edges and moving Reed to the ILB spot on long third downs to control the RB.
