If you noticed how he got the sacks you would be underwhelmed. He either had a clear lane where no one picked him up or he pushed a tiny RB out of the way to get the sack and i think he had a game against a terrible team where he got like 3 of his sacks because of missed assignments. Mercilus needs to get MUCH stronger, he already has speed but he can't shed blocks to save his life. He is still much better than Reed who won't be on the team after next year though.
Nix's main role is to be a run stuffer lineman occupier...could care less if he gets sacks or not...if he is blowing up the line from the inside, teams will have a problem primarily because of the speed on the edge...
Indeed, when he turned the question around by asking how the other guy's knees were I couldn't stop laughing!
He makes it to where you have to double team 3 separate guys on the D line which is pretty hard to do. In a typical 4 man rush you'd have Clowney, Watt, Nix, and probably Crick. Crick is the only one that you could realistically block one on one.
Yep...now imagine those three guys on the line and a blitz is incoming... OF COURSE this all assumes Clowney is half of what he's supposed to be and Nix isn't a health concern. Big potential for this defense in the future.
Even if he doesn't pan out, he's gonna be a great lockerroom guy. http://www.nfl.com/videos/nfl-combine/0ap2000000326756/On-the-Clock-Louis-Nix
Exactly. This is a space eater. Not only will be a nightmare guarding 1 on 1 for even a probowl center not named Chris Myers but he can help mask any ineffeciency Texans may have at ILB. Plus teams can't destroy the Texans up the middle like last year.
Absolutely. The big if IMO is if Nix can stay healthy, but have that front 4 coming at you and Cushing on the blitz? Not fair.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Nix took 19 credit hours his senior year so he could graduate. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Texans&src=hash">#Texans</a></p>— Drew Dougherty (@DoughertyDrew) <a href="https://twitter.com/DoughertyDrew/statuses/464958089364398080">May 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Yup. Excellent pick. I cannot believe he fell this far down. EXACTLY what we needed on the DL. We finally have someone who can bust a run up the gut. I'm stocked about our D.
This guy already predicted it: <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>For those who were sleeping when I tweeted it last night: Louis Nix III perfect 3-4 DT. Future star. <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Texans&src=hash">#Texans</a> should take him, get QB later.</p>— Nick Mathews (@Nick_Mathews) <a href="https://twitter.com/Nick_Mathews/statuses/464777445804376064">May 9, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Was this posted already? @LanceZierlein: For those asking abt HOU drafting Louis Nix, keep in mind O'Brien said he expects to play nickel 70%. Too few snaps to take a NT at #33
http://www.metricsfootballmedia.com/cfmsubscriber/2014/DL_Nix_Louis.html Nix has been in Mock Draft projections between #30-50 for several weeks, and more 'not in the 1st-round' than 'in it' as of late. When you are not in the 1st-round of mocks...you become an NFL Draft 'ghost' of sorts. Somehow a 330+ man just blended into the prospect crowd. I barely acknowledged him myself, but a recent event came along to change all that. I had been waiting and waiting to do research on Notre Dame DE/DT prospect Stephon Tuitt, who had to skip pre-Draft workouts due to a foot injury. When it appeared all hope was lost on getting hard speed-agility, etc. times, I finally pressed on to do the Tuitt research without them. Tuitt, like Nix, is usually found in and around the #30 spot on mock drafts. You'd almost think there is a conspiracy or 'fix' in to pump Notre Dame prospects, and to some degree there is a collective hype-bump...all of which makes me want to just discount them as some kind of "Golden Dome bias." It was the Tuitt tape that drew me to Nix. I was not impressed with Tuitt, but I was wildly impressed with what else was happening on the Notre Dame D-Line. Many of Tuitt's (who was at DE mostly for Notre Dame) best plays came as a result of two guys trying to wall off Nix. The defenses rarely/never gave any thought to double Tuitt, but they were feverishly attacking Nix. When Nix did get a single blocker, he was like a bulldozer pushing terra firma forward against its will. The nature of Nix's game does not lend itself to racking up huge numbers, but it allows others to...and there is an NFL value in that. Nix gets a lot of backfield pressures (not a 'concrete'/normal output statistic to measure), and/or he is wiped-out totally by a double-team...which r****ds his ability to rack up any meaningful football numbers. Louis Nix is not a 'sexy' performer in the box score. He is a 330-pound monster pushing everything forward, anchoring the middle of the line of scrimmage. He is a brick wall up the middle. He makes a great 3-4 NT prospect...not one who will post huge tackle or sack totals, just one who makes everyone else on the D-Line and LB corps better. I was watching his games against Alabama (National Championship game 2012-13), and against Oklahoma in 2013. Games against teams with NFL-like O-Lines. They both had trouble containing him. Many times they had to employ a double-team. Again, there is great value in that. Side Note: There was one guy who could handle him one-on-one...Oklahoma Center Gabe Ikard. I'm telling you he is the best Center prospect in this draft, and will be a steal when he is taken in the 4th or 5th round. If your team runs a 3-4 scheme, you want Nix (if you need a NT). Nix probably works in a 4-3 as well, as the guy that frees up things for others, but he is a more 3-4 NT kinda guy. The prospect problem with Nix is a torn meniscus in 2013, which cut his season short. He started having issues after the Alabama Bowl game the season prior. He played through, and eventually needed to stop and have surgery in 2013. Nix put on weight in 2013, and had a poor NFL Combine...it may be because of the meniscus injury, and subsequent rehab from surgery. Nix may actually be a gem in waiting with better athleticism than we realize. Our numbers on Nix are still poor overall, because the NFL Combine was so bad, but if those numbers are a false-front, due to the injury, he might be one of the better prospects in this draft...as an NFL asset/talent. Louis Nix III, through the tens of our DT Scouting Algorithm In the past two years, Nix has faced Oklahoma 2x, Michigan State 2x, USC 2x, and Alabama...as his toughest competition. In those seven games, Nix averaged 4.0 tackles (good for a NT/DT-type) and 0.6 TFLs per game. Those are decent numbers, especially considering in some of those games he was fighting his injury, and many times he was double-teamed. What drags Nix down as a prospect, for us, is the terrible NFL Combine numbers. I am not expecting him to run a 4.4 40-time or anything, but 5.42 with a 1.89 10-yard split, and terrible agility numbers is not lighting my scouting world on fire. The computer hates it for the NFL. It's not a 'sexy' prospect story, but Nix projects as a mountain of a man you just stick in the middle to just bottle things up, push the interior backwards, and play well against the run. There is a huge value in a human battering ram...allowing the rest of the invading hordes to storm the castle walls.
Loved this pick. If his knees hold up, the Texans got a real steal here. I wanted him back in the 2nd but even with the trade up, I think it's a solid value pick. I'm with most everyone else. Keep building from the inside out.
But you know, teams play you different. Some games they'll spread you out and you'll be in Nickel the whole time. Some games they'll keep you in your Base D the majority of the snaps. It's not like it's a stead ratio from game to game. And I'm not sure we have the line depth where Nix wouldn't play DT in a 4 many front most of the time.
Nix can can play in a 3-4 or 4-3 that's no issue. My concern is that the teams in our division loaded up on offensive lineman and have receivers we can't cover.
fast forward to 3:18 for his college diet plan <iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/OlAS3bHNOwc" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>
