That's why they signed Demps. This really is a 3-page thread about our 4th safety, who I don't think will see the field, barring injury.
Demps is replaceable if we sign Harris. If we brought in Harris today, Demps would probably still be the 3rd safety on Sunday but would move down to the 4th safety/special teams guy, a role he's more suited too and played for us before. Harris would probably eventually overtake Nolan in the starting spot and have him go back to being the 3rd safety. The bottom would be... Harris/Nolan > Demps > John Weeks at Safety >>>>>>>>>>>>> Shiloh Keo
Again, we're talking about a back-up and that back-up's back-up. It' not really worth this much conjecture and hand-wringing, is it?
I guess you didn't read the rest of my post. If we brought Harris in, a second team All-Pro last year, it would be for him to START opposite Quin and have Nolan be the 3rd safety. That is more than "hand-wringing" wouldn't you say?
Wade has been using 3 safeties all year. Quin and Manning were the starters and Nolan would come in on passing downs or come in if Quin or Manning needed a breather or got injured on a play. Quin is the only safety on this roster that is a for sure starter, Nolan gets the job now by default. If we bring in Harris, I would imagine he would eventually and essentially replace Daniael Manning as the other starter for the up to 10 weeks he's going to be out, and Nolan will go back to the role he has been playing all year as the 3rd safety. Demps was brought in because he was the guy they knew would be able to contribute immediately since he's played for us before and played in this defense in the pre-season. He's only a short-term solution, I doubt this team rolls with just Quin, Nolan, Demps, and Keo for potentially 10 weeks. It's up to Wade to determine if Harris fits the scheme they run and what they want out of their safeties.
I could be wrong because it's hard to pay attention to it on TV, but we haven't been playing "3 safeties". The impression that I've been under is that Quin slides to the nickel and Nolan and Manning are the safeties in the nickel. Now, I assume that Quin will stay back with Nolan and Mccain will play the nickelback. Brandon Harris could potentially see some time as the dime-back, unless they play Allen or Kareem inside (yikes).
You could be right, but I swear I've seen the 3 safeties and McCain out there as the nickelback at the same time. Either way Wade likes to rotate almost all of his guys except for Cushing, maybe even Joseph. We still need a 3rd safety that can play those rotational minutes and step in if one of them gets hurt
McClain_on_NFL John McClain Texans aren't interested in Chris Harris, safety released by Chicago. They're happy with Troy Nolan replacing Danieal Manning.
John McClain saying we aren't interested usually means he should be fitted for a Texans uniform before 5 pm tomorrow
My interest in Harris is merely to rid this team of Jackson by moving Quin back to CB. I guess this team is not ready to give up on Jackson.
I'd say thats partly why they created the single Houston Texans forum here. So threads can reach "GARM"-type level nitpicking.
The Texans should at least bring Harris in to work out. Rick Smith's job is to make the team better. Signing Harris and cutting Keo makes the team better. Its a no brainer. And after Keo clears waivers (who would want him) the Texans can place him back on the practice squad. If I was the Texans, I wouldnt want Keo being a twisted ankle away from playing.
