So, with Mario now in Buffalo, Winston cut, and Chris Meyers and Mike Brisel FA's...do we sign them both or go for Meyers only. I think if the Texans lose out on these guys then we are taking huge steps backwards next season. I believe in what Wade will do with Brooks Reid and Connor Barwin filling more mins for Mario, but I do not have faith in having 3 new starting Olinemen that would have to learn our zone blocking schemes. Arian may find it tough sledding next season if we dont bring back our guys. As good as he is, the line sure helps for some of his production. As far as Peyton Manning is concerned, yeah I understand that he would only be here for a few years, but the light was at the end of the tunnel. He would be a huge upgrade over Matt Schaub..here is my reasoning. The difference between Schaub and Manning is Schaub - getting us to the Superbowl and Manning - Winning the Superbowl. We made not even an ounce of noise trying to lure him. We have the best weapons he could have asked for in Arian, AJ, OD, and the defense to win games. The Texans are my team, but I cannot come to grips and understand just what in the world is our front office thinking. I hope I am not the only fan who thinks we may be in some serious trouble if we dont straighten up and fly right.
Rashad Butler will move to RT. He knows the system. At worst it'll be 2 new linemen learning the system though I expect they'll be able to re-sign at least one. Don't presume that Peyton=automatic ring. And if you really believe Schaub is capable of taking this team to a Super Bowl, you should probably believe he's capable of winning it as well. We just cut our starting RT and FB just to get under the salary cap and let Mario walk away without much effort to keep him. We can't afford Manning, especially with Schaub still on the roster.
I don't understand why fans are so keen on retaining all players after they become quality FAs and gonna get their money. The key to maintaining success in the NFL is to get the most bang for your buck. If the Texans OLine falters next season, it won't be because they fail to pay these guys. But rather they fail to develop their replacements. Duane Brown IMO is the only exception. He was a 1st round pick and simply massively more talented than everyone else. Hence it would be highly improbably to just find his replacement out of the blue. But Myers and Brisel were both I believe free agents that came in and developed here. The Texans should have guys capable of replacing them. Kubiak and McNair have both talked about building the right way blah blah blah. If that's true, then they should be able to continuously pump out solid linemen for their ZBS. Otherwise, it becomes a pointless strategy because once you build your players, it becomes
Append: impossible to retain them all at market value. So you need to be able to keep finding replacement parts for areas you are good at developing.
If Manning signs here, thats means, Myers and Brisiel would be gone, so how they would protect Manning? and btw is Myers not Meyers, Brisiel not Brisel, and Reed and not Reid.
lol I noticed I misspelled their last names after I made the post..but at 11:45 pm at night IDC about the spelling. All I care about is that we bring someone in, most notably a good #2 WR and cut Dropcoby Jones. He is absolutely aweful. He was making just as much as Winston was so why not keep Winston and cut Jones?
At this point a # 2 WR isn't at the top of the wish list. They need to sure up the Oline and add another OLB to not only push for a starter position but also add depth.
Might have to go Peter Konz, C and Kevin Zeitier, G in the first two rounds. Two linemen from Wisconsin but atleast they translate well to our offense and the ZBS. Maybe take Juron Criner at WR in the third. Resigning Myers is the big key though, let Brisiel walk then we could trade our first for a second and fourth and take Zeitier and Stephen Hill at WR, then go defense with a S or NT in the third or a second WR.
My guess is, based on the number of outside linebackers in this draft, they will target that position in round 1 (Upshaw, Perry, Branch, Mercilus). My personal favorite is Nick Perry from USC, his combine numbers were off the chart but he seems to be flying somewhat under the radar given his numbers. Mayock says he sees him more as a 4/3 end but so was Mario and he is smaller and quicker. There are not too many of these guys to go around this year (round 2 possibilities are Curry, Lewis, maybe a couple of others). I know we have Reed but I think the Texans want to protect against injury and be able to rotate. We'll see. I think the best move could be, depending who is still on the board is perhaps to move out of the first altogether and get an extra second this year and address needs that way. Then grab a receiver in round 2 (since this class has depth) and whatever else going forward. The o-line is a major concern but assuming Butler takes over at right tackle, if we can retain Myers or Briesel then I think they can fill that other hole in free agency for cheaper like they did with Wade Smith at right guard a couple of years ago. That is unless they really have high hopes for Shelley Smith.
Actually, not true. Brisel's replacement is already on the Roster....he split a lot of time with Brisel: Adrian Caldwell. You remember that Foster TD late in the Bengals' game? Caldwell was a RG on that play. Time for Caldwell to step up full time. We can lose Brisel...Meyers is the key guy.
Caldwell was the same guy getting crushed on the left side right? The one subbing in for brisel when he broke his leg? that dude is definitely not brisels replacement. maybe winstons though....
Caldwell played right guard in Brisiel's absence. He actually played just fine, most scouts thought, but fans wanted a scapegoat because those games were losses and made him out to be awful. There's a reason Brisiel and Caldwell were basically co-starters and alternated series for much of 2009 and 2010.
My guess is that they're prepared to start Caldwell, Newton and Butler, none of whom are new to the system. I have total faith in Kubiak and his coaches when it comes to offensive personnel. There could a learning curve - but I would wager by week 8, they'll be a finely tuned machine and all will be well. Manning has won a single Super Bowl in his 11 trips to the postseason. He's played in only 2 (throwing a critical pick-6 in the loss to New Orleans). He has, in fact, been one-and-done seven times in the playoffs and has universally played below his standards. So I'm curious what you're basing this confidence in Manning on. They had to get under a league-mandated cap figure. I'm sure they have plans in place to free-up additional cash if need be - but they're not going to pull those triggers if they don't have to.
I think the Texans were (prior to the 2011 season) expecting to keep the whole O-line intact. Keep Foster with a bump and deal with the big fish Mario. Things that happened (hoped for, but not expected): 1)The O-line continue to gel to the point they became FA focal points (ie Briesel, Myers) where they could command above budget FA money, even with an average year for Winston. A playoff appearance and win sort of does that for you. 2)Mario shine in the 3-4 (although it's not his bread-and-butter). He made the most of the few games he played 3)Reed and Barwin, coupled with Watt being such beasts in Mario's absence (making him far less valuable to the team than the money he wanted) 4) Foster having another monster year to where he was worth a BIG contract, rather than a franchise tag It was a successful season that panned out well for some players financially, but threw the front office a curve ball
The ZBS is designed to be easy cheese for offensive linemen, is it not? Kind of like a one trick pony. And as long as your left tackle is good and center is at least competent, the passing game should be ok. This gives me some hope. Along with the fact the defense is pretty much 100% intact (Mario was less of a part of that D than Brooks was). Schaub's health is really the only legit concern I have. I have faith in the coaches to adequately replace what we lost. If we draft at least one impact player, we'll be sitting pretty. Question is, who and what position?
http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexans/2012/03/mcclain-cap-proves-to-be-big-headache-for-texans/ At least they seem to realize that Duane Brown is not replaceable....... " The Texans are trying to avoid being in the same predicament next year. Before next season, they’d like to re-sign some players like offensive tackle Duane Brown and outside linebacker Connor Barwin, who’ll be in the last year of their contracts."
I thought one thing going into this offseason -- win now. But the Texans appear to be planning for the long haul. Which could workout great... but just kind of a surprise. It'll be interesting to see what we have out there on opening day.
If this is really the case, that's a terrible decision. Looking at the AFC right now, there's really only two teams that are a possible threat to the Texans -- the Ravens and the Patriots. You can't ever count out the Steelers but I think their defense is old and getting older each year. This is perfect opportunity to try and win the AFC while its weak.
