To me he is one of the biggest reasons for consistency on offense. I thought the Texans would have to give up on him and spend money on a high dollar second receiver. its nice to see him regain some of that athleticism. he's a very good number two when healthy.
Kevin Walter. Looks the same to me...i just don't think they went to him as much or in similar situations.
Having Schaub healthy is a pretty big part of it, IMO. His ability to read the coverage and still include his third option (which Walter usually is) has allowed them to connect on a more frequent basis. That being said, Walter is also becoming more "Welker" like... knowing that he's never going to out-muscle his defender, he just needs to find an open space SOMEWHERE, and Schaub can find him.
He's healthy; that's the biggest thing, IMO. And Texans fans have consistently underrated him. He's been a very good WR. The other issue: Foster has, for whatever reason, been taken out of the passing game. I don't know if he's being defensed differently, if Kubiak is trying to limit his touches, if there's a directive for Scahub to look upfield - whatever the reason, Foster's 50(ish) receptions are now being distributed to actual receivers and Walter and Daniels are both benefiting from it.
It's WALTER....KEVIN WALTER. And he's been in the league for I believe 10 seasons now. I'm guessing he didn't do anything differently this off-season than he has in the past. It's simply just a matter of executing the plays that are being called, and the coaching staff giving him opportunities to run routes that have the potential to get open. He's not demonstrating any better athleticism than he has in the past, it's just the fact that the offensive scheme is allowing him to pull double moves on corners who are being set up by short hitches and in routes.
I disagree on that Walter is like a precursor to Jordy Nelson, he is big enough to out muscle many secondary players especially cornerbacks which is why he is known for his run blocking. He just doesn't have the speed or athleticism to be a reliable deep threat or to jump up and get the high thrown balls. To me, Schaub is the one that has improved, Walter has always run good routes when healthy and been fast enough to get a little bit of separation when cornerbacks don't expect him to even try. The difference this year compared to the last few years has been Schaub delivering the balls in spots Walter can actually make the catches while still running.
He said that he has never felt better before the season started. I didn't believe him but he wasn't just making it up apparently .
Oh and this is the first season in a while where he, Owen Daniels and Andre Johnson started it and have played most games relatively healthy. Teams have to play him more honestly with the threats of Johnson and Daniels out there and he surprises them like that.
I never disliked him but he was definitely overpaid. He still isnt the WR2 threat yall wanted to see. Anyways, he's producing with Dressen now removed.
