http://houston.cbslocal.com/2013/04/10/the-texans-are-not-done-making-moves/ McClain: -- I have never changed from a WR. If they started play today, with no new free agents, there will be some, no draft choices, there will be some, they would be set at every position except the other wide receiver spot, which would be Martin or Jean, who combined for 16 catches. Inside Linebacker would be Sharpton and Cushing. Mercilus and Reed would be OLB. Mitchell at NT. We know the safeties and cornerbacks. They would be able to play and play very well. Obviously would need backups but now. The only position, other than right tackle, where Newton is recovering, now that they have Harris back, but that other wide receiver spot would scare me. -- I still think they need an offensive tackle in the first three rounds. This time last year we knew they would draft an outside linebacker/defensive end high because they lost Mario. Now it would be stupid to think they won't do it again because they need another guy. It depends on where they determine their needs are, who they have ranked higher where they have a need. No bigger need than wide receiver. They need to do like Atlanta did and hit a home run on a wide receiver like a Roddy White type. -- They'll sign a free agent wide receiver they can get for cheap. What they need at wide-out: someone who can run, has size, plays hard, who will block, they need someone who will step in and play right now. A one year guy in college like Patterson at Tennessee , he has all the talent but scares people because he only played one year as opposed to Terrence Williams at Baylor who played every year and got better ever year and last year was the best deep threat in college football. There are players like that. I've had them taking Hopkins of Clemson, who everyone says is ready to play. Who is best to come in and play right away? Not necessarily a guy who needs to develop a year. They like Martin in the slot when they go three wide. ... Wide-out is the second toughest position for a college player to make the transition compared to QB because all the mental stuff that goes into it. -- 3.8 million in cap space -- To redo, say Brian Cushing, I think Cushing will end up being like Duane Brown - right at the start of camp. That's when they'll have to re-do somebody. Antonio Smith still needs to be re-done. They have not re-done one contract. They have other moves coming. -- They have not restructured one contract. They're trying not to do that. To get Cushing, they'll have to restructure someone, most like Antonio. They have gotten through free agency with no restructures and one cut. -- Matt Schaub deserves the criticism. You can't be a QB and throw 1 TD in your last 4 games. They won the Cincy game, that's great. When he threw the two against New England, they were hopelessly out of it. Does he need more help? Yes. They need another wide receiver. Andre having 4 TD passes is ridiculous. They need to have confidence in Andre in the red zone to throw the ball to him like Flacco did w/ Boldin in the playoffs. I think they'll get another wide receiver. That other wide-out doesn't need to give Matt 50/60 catches. He needs to be a deep threat to make the free safety worry about that side of the field. That would help Matt a lot. It would help if the right side of the line is more consistent. Brooks is the guard, Newton the tackle right now. He'll have a new fullback the fourth year in a row. So far that hasn't mattered. Consistency, yeah, but they key is, they played well in the red zone on both sides of the ball up through the first 12 games. Matt is the guy we all look to, they look to. He got to be able to make plays and make them when they aren't there. -- Kubiak needs to do a better job calling plays. They have to play to their strengths. The defense got beat in the NE game and acted as if they've never seen a team hurry up to the line. They stunk on both sides of the ball. -- It's time they have an offensive-loaded draft. He needs more talent. ... It's time to do that for that side of the ball. Manning, Joseph, Watt, Reed, that's four starters right there. It's time to add/have that influx [of talent] on the offense. -- Matt says the criticism will make him a better person & player and "it drives you". He's aware of it. I have no problem with the way Matt handles anything. He is totally different behind the scenes with his players and his teammates. He fires out one liners. I think you need a cool head like that leading you. Matt is definitely the leader of the team. You talk to any player, it's all about 8 this, 8 that, talk to 8, 8, 8, 8 and you see that on both sides of the ball. Players respect him and like him. That won't change. If he doesn't play well, say he plays like he did over the last 4 games, they will look for another QB to bring up unless all the sudden they feel like Yates is the guy, which we don't know yet. This is an important season for Matt Schaub. He knows it, we know it, they know it. -- They have too many needs and backup positions that need to be filled. Kubiak and Smith believe in Schaub. That's why I don't think they'll draft a QB. They have 2 extra picks and think they'll draft the positions they need. -- If it was going to surprise me, Rick Smith would trade up for the first time without trading down. Rick values his picks. If they pick anyone other than a wide receiver, I'd be surprised. If they took a QB, that would surprise me. They have 2 good tight ends, but with the way Gary loves tight ends, I'd be surprised if he didn't draft another tight end. They got to have another running back. Would it be a rookie or someone off the street? You can't count on Ben Tate. It's Ben's last season. If they get a back, it would be the idea of the 3rd RB this year and 2nd next year. Will they get another vet? -- No clue on Yates.(Texans feeling on him-heir apparent or solid backup?) -- (Matt said in an interview with you, with Lechler here, this may allow me to throw it away on 3rd downs more often.) He doesn't throw many interceptions. They tell Matt not to force it into coverage. Throw it away and live another play. That's their motto. Quarterbacks who have a lot of interceptions try to force the ball. ... Texans led the NFL in red zone points last year. Where they screwed up was those last 4 games. One thing he does on that end of the field, he throws it away a lot and takes the 3 points. That drives people crazy but that's what the coaches tell him to do. He was saying, because Lechler can pin teams deep, he's gonna be more likely, not do it more than he does now, but another example of why to throw it away and live for another play because teams won't drive it more than 80 yards on our defense. -- I think they'll get 5 prime-time games again. They're an exciting team. The league loves Arian Foster and J.J. Watt. Popular players, a super bowl contender, a team who usually scores a lot of points, I think if they had the max last year, they'll have the max again this year.
Forgot Winston. Listened to part of his interview. Don't count on a Texans comeback. (On Cowboys report) To act like a deal will be signed tomorrow? False. A lot of teams have called. Fluid situation. Something can break when they want it to break. People are sticking to their guns right now. A lot of teams have called but it hasn't happened yet. There will be some activity around the draft - before or after. We'll see what happens. You don't have a ton of control but hopefully things will break open soon. Have the Texans called? Not really. Maybe at the very beginning they might have inquired or something. I think they probably moved on. They're pretty happy with Newton. Some of the times I watched him play this year, I thought he played well. He's a young player and needs to play. If something like that came about, that'd be great but it doesn't seem like that's in the cards right now. Hard to understand what some teams thought processes are. Everyone has the same idea of what they want to do and what guys are worth for some reason. I do think it's a situation where that's gone on a little bit.(collusion?) Tough to quite understand what everyone is thinking. I don't believe there are that many RTs better than me. That's the frustrating part. Where is that disconnect?
J.R. - seriously man, what do you do for a living? I hope you get paid to aggregate the entire sports universe here on Clutchfans.
Bleacherreport... blah Reliable hands Can make tough, contested receptions Good route-runner Polished, well-rounded receiver These are strengths? Really? They belong in the other category imo.
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/nfl/news/20130410/nfl-mock-draft-5/ 27 Keenan Allen WR California Jr.6-2206 Allen didn't run too well (in the 4.7s) at his Pro Day this week, but speed has never been his game. He has good hands and the ability to come down with the ball in traffic, and his recovery from a PCL knee re-injury is not yet complete. For what the Texans receiving game still lacks, Allen is the answer. With or without spiffy 40 times. First year wide receivers are so iffy, I think the Texans need to go ILB or OT in the first and use the the young WR's they have already invested a year in. Especially when there are really good WR's that they could get later like Hopkins, Williams (2) Boyce, Goodwin, Swope,Patton (3 or 4) Ace Sanders (5). I like what I read about Hunter too, but I don't think the Texans would think he's a battle fightin' character guy.
I think Allen or Hopkins would be terrific picks. Ogeltree, Minter, Te'o and the best ILB imo Arthur Brown would also be solid. I think WR is deep this year though, so ILB might make sense if you ask me. Alonso and Bostic are other ILB I like in the later rounds too, but you could probably get a very very good receiver in the second(Patton, Woods, Wheaton or Bailey), even though you never know with the WR's, they have a high bust ratio. Not a fan of Patterson and Hunter though, but they have a ceiling. Just don't think it would be a good pick since the Texans are pretty much on the verge and need some players that are more polished and could really contribute from day 1.
This is what I imagine J.R. sits on, with a scrolling LED display of Twitter and player interviews around his room.
I'm pretty sure he's just a beta program with an algorithm written by Google that is being tested on this forum.
http://www.houstontexans.com/news/a...urvey-40/75eb2050-da88-4212-9a27-581ca88a52de Website (Writer) Pick Latest Mock ESPN.com (Mel Kiper) Robert Woods, WR, USC April 4 ESPN.com (Todd McShay) Menelik Watson, OT, Florida State April 10 NFL.com (Daniel Jeremiah) Alec Ogletree, ILB, Georgia April 10 NFL.com (Gil Brandt) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson March 27 NFL.com (Josh Norris) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson March 13 NFL.com (Bucky Brooks) Robert Woods, WR, USC April 8 NFL.com (Charles Davis) Tavon Austin, WR, West Virginia March 5 NFL.com (Charley Casserly) Robert Woods, WR, USC March 25 NFL.com (Matt Smith) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson March 18 SportsIllustrated.com (Don Banks) Keenan Allen, WR, Cal April 10 CBSSports.com (Rob Rang) Robert Woods, WR, USC April 8 CBSSports.com (Dane Brugler) Keenan Allen, WR, Cal April 8 Houston Chronicle (Lance Zierlein) Datone Jones, DE, UCLA March 1 Houston Chronicle (John McClain) Terrance Williams, WR, Baylor April 7 Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Charean Williams) Keenan Allen, WR, Cal March 5 Ft. Worth Star-Telegram (Adam Teicher) Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee April 6 ProFootballTalk.com (Mike Florio) Lane Johnson, OT, Oklahoma April 7 Yahoo! Sports (Doug Farrar) Margus Hunt, DE, SMU Feb. 27 NationalFootballPost.com (Russ Lande) Arthur Brown, ILB, Kansas State April 3 FOXSports.com (Peter Schrager) Terrance Williams, WR, Baylor April 2 USA Today (Nate Davis) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson March 26 Sporting News (Eric Galko) Chance Warmack, G, Alabama April 8 Sporting News (Vinnie Iyer) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson April 5 Bleacher Report (Matt Miller) DeAndre Hopkins, WR, Clemson March 21 OurLads.com D.J. Fluker, OT, Alabama April 9 WalterFootball.com Justin Hunter, WR, Tennessee April 9
Lance Zierlein mock 2.0: Jones and Hunt look like the "safe" picks and we all know the Texans usually go safe. That's not always a bad thing, either (Duane Brown, JJ Watt, Kareem Jackson all now look better than alternatives 1st rd options that came out the same year). I've kinda been thinking that TE would be really nice in round 1 though. Garrett Graham just did not cut it IMO for a team that uses a 2nd TE so heavily. I would love to see a dynamic pass catching TE prospect - that could lessen the need for a #2 WR.
If Eifert falls, it would be hard to pass him up. Texans TE position is a pretty delicate situation with due to it's limited depth and how dependent they are at having 2 quality TEs.
Eifert would be a very nice pick. I could see him fall and be available and might very well be BPA at that point. He's the only true 1st round TE and it would make 2TE sets deadly and would make Schaub look better than he really is imo. I would hardly consider Hunt a safe pick. Jones would be a much better pick if that's the case imo. I don't really see DE as a need for the Texans though. But you can never have enough passrushers. I think most teams should go BPA anyway.
