both have to declare first; i suspect mcgahee eventually will; smith won't. portis may or may not be a great back, but one thing's for sure -- denver's o-line is a great o-line. no way he does in HOU what he did in DEN, and it's not really fair to assume he would have. as for gaffney, remember: he was very young (just a redshirt sophomore). also, he wasn't that bad. he definitely showed flashes. compare his numbers, playing on an expansion team, mind you, to the three guys picked ahead of him, all playing on playoff-caliber teams, all first round picks: gaffney: 41/483 (11.8), 1 TD stallworth: 42/594 (14.1), 8 TD lelie: 35/525 (15), 2 TD walker: 23/319 (13.4), 1 TD he had a perfectly acceptable first year. i think, at worst, he's going to be a dangerous second option.
My Texans wishlist: Draft: 1. Charles Rogers (Shocked if he gets past Lions at #2) 1A. Jimmy Kennedy (Could really bolster the DLine, which would improve an already good defense. Does he play NT or DE?) 3. Terrance Newman (You're shocked, I'm sure, but Glenn probably has 2-3 good seasons at the most left in him, and Coleman was solid but unspectacular this season. Could be a good cover corner in the NFL, and eventual replacement for Glenn. Probably trade down a few spots before drafting him, though.) FAs: *** Orlando Pace, Peter Boulware, Takeo Spikes, Chris McAlister (Pipe dreams, hence the stars) 1A. Colvin (Same reasons as stated, another good young LB for the 3-4.) 2. Tebucky Jones (Amazing how Schulters solidified that Titans secondary, huh? Jones could do the same.) 3. Orlandis Gary (Could he want a bigger stage, i.e. starting RB? Productive runner, ready to be a feature back.)
On Portis I agree with the Denver line argument but that guy is something else, certainly far better than Wells. He's got great speed and quickness and has made some moves that you just don't see from many backs. Gafney to me was pretty ho hum this year and even though he many turn out well I just don't think he'll be the playmaker from the WR position that Portis has shown to be from the RB position. I'd rather have Portis and Charles Rogers than Gafney and any running back in the draft right now but things can change so we'll see how it all works out. Also, I don't know if there are speed issues with Andre Johnson from Miami but he's frikken huge and is just the type of receiver I'd love to see on this team. A big guy pushing around little db's across the middle! Reminds me of Plaxico Burress a little bit.
Who would ya'll rather have, Chester Pitts or Clinton Portis? Because that is who the Texans picked in the 2nd round, then Portis was grabbed the very next pick by the Broncos.
are you serious? check back in 10 years, we'll see if you still feel the same way, hell, check back in five. pitts will be a fixture, and a damn good one, in this line for a long, long time. meanwhile, the clcok is ticking on portis....
I'm as big of a portis backer as anyone out there. I simply love watching the guy play, and he is a gamebreaker for sure. A couple things to remember, though. AS others have stated, he was playing behind a much better line in Denver. I think the bigger thing to remember is the "lifespan" of the running back in the nfl. You can get much more out of a quality lineman for a longer duration of time than a quality running back, in most cases. Right now, no question I'd rather have portis. But I think the texans had so many needs, and HAVE so many needs, that they felt they could get an acceptable back to fill the gap for the time being until they address more pressing needs. I quality back is worthless without the line to block for them, unless you have someone like barry sanders. Like i said, I love portis, but i think the texans mindset focused more on the short amount of time a team can usually get out of a running back.....
I say you go with the best player available. I think the pick will come down to whom the Lions don't take -- Willis McGahee or Charles Rogers. Whichever one they don't take, we will. We can REALLY use help at a lot of positions, but the main thing we need is offensive playmakers. I tend to believe that if you have either McGahee or Rogers available, you take McGahee because of how important a good RB is. A 1-2 combo of McGahee and Carr is very formidable, and we can try to pick up a receiver with the next pick we've got. By doing this, it gives us young talent at the two biggest offensive positions. I don't think it'll be up for much debate though, as I would bet the Lions take Rogers. The Lions are my 2nd favorite team (behind the Texans of course), and the biggest things they need this offseason are receivers and a new coach. I'd love to see Dennis Green coaching the Lions with Joey Harrington and Charles Rogers. They could use a good RB, but IMO they need a good receiver even more. They literally have NO ONE to catch the ball. Schroeder was supposed to be the no.1 but he got injured and then just flat out sucked when he returned.
I disagree. If Rogers is there, you grab him over McGahee. Running backs have a much shorter life in the NFL (like an average of 5 years), and we're not close to being a title contender. So, if you grab McGahee, he might be all banged up by the time this team is ready to contend (i.e. all used up). Whereas Rogers (and Gaffney) will have time to develop with Carr, our franchise QB. It takes 3-4 years for a wide receiver to really come into their own (unless you're talking about Randy Moss, who was a superfreak his first year in the league). It takes much shorter for a RB to progress. When everyone starts talking Super Bowl, then grab a franchise back...
I think yall are overating McGahee a little. Don't get me wrong, he's a good back, but I don't think that he is even the best back in the draft (Larry Johnson). My picks: 1)Charles Rogers 2)Jordan Gross 3)Terrence Newman 4)Jimmy Kennedy
^^ I was thinking the same thing about McGahee. And if we end up with those 4 after the draft, the league needs to give a comprehensive drug test the every GM in the league except Casserly.
You'll never get to the point where people are talking "Super Bowl" without a good RB. The simple fact is that both James Allen and Johnathan Wells are not good NFL RBs. Wells may be able to develop, but IMO he'll never be all that good. Even if he'd had a better OL I doubt we would've run the ball much better with those two. NFL RBs have a short lifespan of being good, that is true. But the thing is, even if we only got five or six years out of our franchise RB, that is what we are needing -- in 3 years we should be in the playoffs and by 5 hopefully superbowl contenders. Well, I thought it was a lock that the IDIOT Mornhinweg was going to be fired, but I guess not . . . I'd take half of the coaches in Houston HS football over this moron . . .
I'd like to wait till they have the NFL Combine to see which prospects can help the Texans. The problem is that the Combine cant really determine how you will play on the field. Not everyone can run a 4.4 40 yard dash or have a 40 inch vertical leap. Some guys are just football players. I do think its interesting to see what players are physically capable of.
McGahee cuz every good team has a good QB and a good RB. What about Holt in the second or third round? Does anybody have any info. about him. He plays for NC State.
Yea I didn't mean that we should come away with those guys after the draft, I just mean those are the guys I at this point would be happy with us getting with the first pick, whether that is trading down or whatever. But I trust that the front office guys know a hell of a lot more about the individual college guys than me so I would trust whatever choice they made after the first round. There is always some guys you never heard of waiting around in the later rounds who will become great NFL players.
Vengeance: Super Bowl was mentioned quite often with the Broncos simply because of Elway. But he didn't get his until Terrell Davis. Terrell Davis had 4 or 5 productive years in the league. The Broncos equation wasn't intentional, but it worked out to where their franchise back experienced his best years at the crest of Elway's career, getting them two SB's. I'd hate to draft McGahee now only to see him break down after five years, right when Carr is starting his HOF drive. On the flip side, while there are no guarantees in outcome, I guarantee you there is a better CHANCE that Rogers or Kennedy will have a longer shelf life. I'd much rather draft a running back later in this draft or later on down the line.
Yeah Holt is a very good free safety. He had 5 block punts this season and has 12 for his career. He would be a nice pickup for the Texans.
Ric, if you don't mind I'd like to get your opinions on a few things: Do you think Pitts will be slated for the LG spot next year, regardless of Boselli's status? What does the backup QB situation look like? Any intention of keeping Banks or would they rather go after a different backup? Is James Allen going to re-sign, say as a 3rd down back? Are they pleased with Jabari Baxter? I really don't keep tabs on him while watching, so, as funny as this sounds, I don't know if he's good or not. I have more, but don't want to overwhelm.
Free agent signings: Roosevelt Colvin Peerless Price Safety, (there is a plethora available and since this is probably the Texans weakest area they'll sign one.) Draft: Barring a trade it looks like Palmer/Leftwich will go #1 and Charles Rogers will go #2. Say hello to your newest Texan Jimmy Kennedy. Guys get over this Willis Mcaghee crap. If he does come out we would be fools to take him. He would get killed behind our line period. RB has a very short learning curve, meaning we could get most of our team set at the other positions and then draft one next year or the year after. A RB can come in as a rookie and dominate a la Portis but only because he was playing behind a cohesive, healthy, veteran line. I'm also betting that the Texans are banking on Boselli being back. Reaching for Jordan Gross or Kwame Harris just because we need a LT is rediculous. We have waaaay to many holes to use a #3 pick on anything less than a dominant sure thing tackle. Think about it like this, everyone wants to draft a O-lineman because of all our injuries. But our D-line is much thinner than our O-line depth wise. Think if Walker and Payne were banged up all year like Boselli and Young. Then we'd all be begging for Kennedy or William Joseph. We need a DT and there isn't a good one available in the FA market. Demingo Graham is gone, and don't forget about Milford Brown whom we picked up in the supplemental draft. He could very well be our starting RG next season, word is the Texans are very high on this guy. I'm sure we'll sign a FA guard or tackle for depth like Graham last year. Point being: we need a DT more than O-line help, none of the tackles are worth a #3 pick anyway, Casserly doesn't draft RB's high and he is of the opinion that a RB is one of the final pieces anyway. So it all comes down to whom the Texans like more Kennedy or Joseph.
