With the 181st pick in the NFL Draft, (6th round) the Houston Texans select Alfred Blue, running back out of LSU. Here is an article: http://www.nola.com/sports/index.ssf/2014/05/alfred_blue_2014_nfl_draft.html
Hope he can tackle because he will only make the team as a special teams player these polls need a never saw him play option
As I read about him it seems like he might be the FB when we need one, the red zone hole puncher *edit* oops
I really like the prospect of blue. Doesn't have a lot of wear and tear from heavy use. Very strong YPC. Yeah, he's had the ACL tear, but that's not as concerning as it used to be. Silky smooth runner with good speed. I could see him being a solid RB.
Just because he didn't play doesn't mean he isn't good. I like the pick. No reason not to gamble at that slot. LSU has had backup RB's play well in the NFL in the past. They're also fresher coming in. SEC backs are getting 1-3 years taken off their careers coming out these days.
If there were no more RBs who have accomplished a lot left in the draft, I would get this. The dude got injured and his backup did much more than he ever did. Not saying he is horrible but Seastrunk and Storm have accomplished more. Not to mention he is not a change of pace back.
Ya it's headscratching given O'Brien's earlier comments about needing three backs the way NE has it set up. There's your three down back (Stevan Ridley:Arian), your smashmouth back (Blount:?Prosch?), and your scat back who runs screens and catches passes (Vereen:?Johnson vs Graham?). That leaves Andre Brown and now Blue who are both in the Foster mold. It really makes you feel like the coaching staff is doing everything they can to make sure Foster doesn't get comfortable in his role, that he knows that there will be people breathing down his neck all year. And maybe by the next offseason his contract will preclude any kind of performance from saving his skin. He's almost assuredly gonna be a cap casualty by then I think.
Seastruck is gonna be a bust. I liked Storm Johnson. If Blue doesn't get hurt he's a 3rd round pick. He's got a lot to prove and I think he's determined. Great 6th round pick!
As a huge LSU fan I'm excited for the pick of MY BOY BLUE!!! Ha but seriously he runs very smooth, not as smooth as Foster though. He's big, but more of a finess back than a power back. Doesn't have the best cutting ability and isn't the quickest, but in open space he has the speed to break away from defenders. As mentioned he has elite ball security, only fumbling once, and IMO has more upside that Seastrunk. His knee injury hurt, without it he would've started over Jeremy Hill(who is better and someone I had hoped would be available to the Texans later) but got washed into the glutton of LSU RB's(at any other school, he would've been the feature back). He'll be a good backup to Foster and Brown.
Andre Brown is your bruiser back at 6' 0" 227lbs. I do wish we had held on to Cierre Wood as he would have gotten a lot of carries last year and I liked his ability. Blue is not Tate, but could he be like Dominick Davis? not sure. He is a decent insurances policy in case Arian totally flames out (injury, can't break a tackle, etc) and gets cut next year. "You're my boy Blue!"
Any undrafted free agent who gets a shot in the nfl and blows it by smoking herbs is a fool and worse. Not someone worth holding onto. Wood has talent but so do 100 other rbs.
