Seven-year veteran offensive lineman Victor Riley, an unrestricted free agent who started 31 games at right tackle for the New Orleans Saints the last two seasons, signed a one-year contract with the Texans. Complete financial details were not yet available, but it is believed Riley can earn about $1 million if he plays regularly. Riley, 30, has been told that he will be given an opportunity to win the starting job at left tackle, where youngster Seth Wand struggled at times in '04, his first season as a starter. He could also challenge for playing time at right guard. A former Auburn star, Riley entered the league as the Kansas City Chiefs' first-round choice in the 1998 draft. He departed Kansas City as a free agent after four seasons and signed with the Saints in 2002. In seven seasons, Riley has appeared in 101 games and started in 85 of them. --Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com senior writer http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2057778&num=0
I won't pretend that i know anything about the guy. However, at least the Texans finally signed an OL. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out where their problems are.
It's a good signing for depth, I think he has a much better chance of replacing Wiegart at RG than Wand at LT since he doesn't have very good footwork and is more or a physical, run-blocking type player. That being said, I think it'll be interesting to see how Wand progresses this season, as I thought he improved a great deal during last season. Yeah, he got destroyed by Dwight Freeney, but a few weeks after that Freeney abused Jon Ogden, who is considered a top 3 LT in the league. Casserly has already said that he was forced to play a year before he was ready, so hopefully he'll make great strides this season. IMO, we need an upgrade in the interior line (ie McKinney, Wiegart) much more than Wand needs to be replaced.
I still say it's Chester Pitts that needs to be replaced. I've never seen any lineman destroy big plays with penalties than Pitts. It seemed every time DD had a run of 20 more, it was called back. And everytime it was called back you would hear, "Holding...#69, offense."
Those Oilers teams at the end were brutal, but that Matthews-Munchak offensive line in the late 80s/early 90s was just awesome to watch.
you're right it was....it just seemed like the Oilers were snake-bit with untimely penalties on a grand level!
It's not that bad when you consider the reason he broke those runs was probably because of the holding. Course, it would be nice to have an offensive lineman who could break open holes without doing anything illegal.
