http://blog.chron.com/ultimatetexan...ured-mccain-starts-opposite-joseph-at-corner/ Was reading the article, and remembered how well Brice McCain played last year in the slot, . . .now they "say" they are still going to play him inside, but he has impressed enough to be perhaps the second best CB (Thanks to emjohn for reminding me "DB" is too general) on the team, which may or may not warrant putting him on the outside? - I know he is 5'9", but with nice speed and definite coverage improvement from 2010..Finnegan is about the same height and played outside for TEN ... Maybe keeping him at slot is better since he had good success there, but I guess the real question is can someone 5'9" play outside with the taller receivers?
Speaking of corners on the short side, any news on how Brandon Harris is developing? I had high hopes for that kid this year.
FIFY It's not unusual for CBs to be in on the small side. Personally, I would still far, far rather Quin sliding back and Nolan covering the back with Manning. But that's clearly not on the table. It's one of few concerns to watch. Wade's system can be exploited by 2 minute drills or sharp West Coast timing routes. Kareem already makes that a red flag...and the depth at corner and nickel back doesn't inspire a lot of confidence. Are Camichael and Harris going to pan out or are they going to bust out? We really need at least one of them to develop into a guy that can hold his own.
McCain is too short to start on the outside. He played really well last year as a nickle and dime back. Graded as one of the top corners in the league I believe. No need to change that.
McCain would get abused by any receiver with muscle, like most starting WR are these days outside a few exceptions.
i have faith in kareem, if he continues to do what hes been doing then the texans are set. progression was apparent, by the end of the season kareem was glued to his man, he got beat on some pretty good throw and catches. that secondary is scary good if kareems progression continues. can he be that shutdown-ish #2, taking the same amount of snaps as j-jo.. we'll see.. i like kareem, i think he was given unrealistic expectations by the fans in his rookie year and wont be forgiven because people are stubborn..
eh if it ain't broke...I'm sure this discussion will be brought up again after we play the Packers, Lions, Patriots so let's table it until then ok? Unfortunately fact of the matter is that no one is stopping those offenses no matter who's playing corner for us. So it will be a conversation in vain. But it will still be a conversation...
Exactly. Kareem actually had someone to coach him last year, and about halfway through the year, it was apparent he was taking to the coaching. He had his best year yet. The two years of being thrown to the wolves, with no apparent direction set him back. By about halfway through this year, or the playoffs, we will see what type of player he will truly be. People still think he is as bad as he was his rookie year, which is completely untrue. Most people either don't pay attention, or hate just to be haters.
I think Kareem's "progression" has been blown out of proportion by a lot of people here. Sure he got noticeably better last season, but it was hard not to after being arguably being the single worst defender in the National Football League in the previous season. Sure, he wasn't torched 99% of the time like in his rookie year, but he was still torched way too much for my liking. Not sure how he can be defended as much as he is when he was arguably outplayed by Jason Allen for the majority of the season. He had a substantially better supporting secondary around him in year 2 and I think that was the major contributor to him being "better." They now have the personnel to cover for a guy like that. He is still the noticeable weak link to the otherwise stout defense. I don't think any amount of coaching is going to fix his poor closing speed and utter inability to turn his head around and look for the ball.
Last year was his second year. And the entire secondary benefited greatly from Wade's system. Once the 5-Tiger got into a rhythm, QBs were under pressure to no end and it became something of a duck shoot. HOWEVER - the system is vulnerable to 2-minute drills and West Coast attacks, where the pass rush is largely negated. The Saints exploited that in a huge way, and so did the Colts in Indy. That is an area where we still need to see improvement. Brady, Peyton (if himself), and Rodgers will be the biggest challenges the secondary has face so far.
No secondary has a chance at stopping Manning, Rogers, Brees, and Brady... Or even limiting them for that matter. A team's front seven is what makes or breaks them against those QBs. The Texan's pass defense was nearly tops in the league last year and KJ made huge strides. He still has a bit to go, but if he doesn't regress the Texans have nothing to worry about. Out of Joseph, Jackson, Harris, McCain, and Carmichael there only two obvious question marks. And that’s because a competent coordinator sat two rookies in order for them to learn a thing or two before being tossed to the wolves. There aren’t too many teams out there that aren’t susceptible to a two minute drill. That’s never an ideal situation to put your defense in. Watt, Cushing, Barwin, Reed, Mercilus (hopefully), Joseph, and Manning. That’s what matters. If they’re clicking, KJ will be an afterthought - Just a solid player on a great defence.
I think Kareem will be solid this year, not good, not great, but solid. He was historically bad his first year, but looked much more like a corner last year (which as someone above stated wasn't necessarily hard to do in comparison to his first year). Although his first year his biggest problem was getting burned and falling down trying to cover people. That wasn't something I noticed last year, which is promising to see. The main problem I noticed last year was his lack of awareness for where the ball is. He did a pretty good job of sticking with his man last year but on the deep balls he would never locate the ball until it was in the WR's hands. He has an entire offseason this year to work on things which he didn't have last year so I am hoping to see him take even more strides heading into this year. I trust that Wade has hade it a point to work wth him on his weaknesses.
So Kareem goes to effin awful to just bad and people have faith in him? That should tell you something right there.
