There's very little chance of that, the Texans play a last place schedule so if Cushing and Foster are healthy and they draft Clowney odds are they'd be closer to winning the division than tanking. You guys are just going to have to get used to a game manager found in the second or third round that we can all start calling elite after the defense and run game gets us to the SB.
I don't think Clowney is a good fit as a 3-4 DE either. They might take him based on pure talent and try to pigeon hole him in there (or try him at SOLB), but it won't be the best fit. A 2 gap 3-4 DE typically isn't a glory position. It's grunt work in the trenches.
This sucks, one of my fav players I have ZERO faith in this franchise. They clearly aren't doing anything for next season when rebuilding is clearly a totally outdated idea in the modern nfl.
He'd be a blitzing OLB in base packages and a DE in nickel, however, even if they did want him to 2 gap he could easily do it because he did it pretty much all year long. He's actually even better against the run than he is blitzing. It would actually work out pretty well because offenses would have to guess which one of them, if either, were two gapping because I'm sure they'd mix it up between Watt and Clowney. Pretty much the only difference for Clowney would be that he'd occasionally be asked to rush without a hand in the ground and he'd now have talent on the other side of the line that would mean he couldn't always be doubled. Still by far the best possible idea for the first pick. Mack would also be a good possibility, but he doesn't bring to the table anywhere near the blitzing ability or run stopping ability that Clowney would, but he could drop in coverage which is something Clowney wouldn't do.
There never really is when you have a legitimate top tier QB in the draft.....unless there is two of them.
FA signings mean little to nothing in the NFL. Having the right personnel means a lot more than just trying to plug in big names here and there.
Free agent acquisitions can be very important. But I don't think Smith fit the Texans future plans. The Texans need big fat defensive lineman and they can get those type of players at a cheaper price. I think the Texans may be more active in the free agent market after the draft.
Remii we are going to miss the Ninja. I think we would have resigned him but his price tag was too high. We only need one hog and that's the Nose Guard. Other than that we need D lineman that are pretty quick.
It seemed like almost everybody in this forum thought and/or knew that Antonio Smith was not going to be a Texan next season. Nobody thought he was coming back. Now that he's gone it seems like half this thread is shocked and blasting Rick Smith and the Texans for f%^king up. Not that there's anything wrong with that. What changed? If it was a foregone conclusion that this guy was done as a Texan why are people mad?
Maybe it was due to the amount he signed for and it wouldn't have been that much to retain him. With his age and the scheme change I'm fine with it.
Mad because Texans are not doing anything to fill the holes they have or had. Guys are leaving and no one is being signed. All the while fans are not falling for the BS they have been falling for in past years. This is not the Patriots were there is franchise qb and a gm that find great sleeper players after all the good ones are signed in a proven system that wins. Bottom line is the texans are not contenders and the owner is acting like we are and it's a bunch of BS that makes it hard for fans to even believe that the Texans even know what they are doing now or has a legit plan to truly get better.
The last place schedule accounts for two games. The rest are the same games they would be if we had won the division.
They could have afforded Smith if they wanted him. The contract he got from Oakland wasn't that much more than what the Texans paid Graham. Romeo runs a true 3-4 which requires more than one hog on the line. Even Richard Seymour was a hog (he was 320 lbs easy). I expect the Texans to try to find a big NT and a DE that's over 300 lbs as well. That will be better for J.J. because Smith didn't have to be doubled.
