I still think our offense sputtered on 3rd downs early in games against good teams too often. Would have liked to see them stay with their pick in the 4th and taken a WR. Keo could turn out to be a good player at a position of needed depth and Yates could be a good back up and maybe yield some assets, but neither can contribute as much, as soon, as a good WR could imo. I remember getting very upset on many drives that in 4 WR sets, on crucial downs, no one could get open, and thats even with Andre getting a lot of the coverage.
You say that like it's a bad thing. I think (hope) the entire franchise is in "win now" mode. As it should be. It's not 2004. Our star players aren't in their early 20's with their whole careers ahead of them anymore. I think drafts should be graded 2 years down the line, but if I had to grade this year's draft, based on minutes and minutes of YouTube study on my part, I'd give it a B+.
We still are gonna suck!!!...I see a 6-10 season comin.....I'd give the draft a C-....because we didnt get a FS...
Tolliver would be a great undrafted FA pickup. Being a Houston-area kid (Hempstead), I think the Texans will take a look at him.
<iframe width="425" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/_sIupvV4LHg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Gucci, sign me up!!! He's an awesome talent, was the #1 WR out of high school for a reason although he underachieved in college. This game shows he can be solid.
Don't ya think that Owen Daniels will help just a tad in those situations? Of course considering he's back to full health by that time. Unless there was a top flight wide out on the board that was a can't miss I don't think it was as bad a postion we needed to fill as you think. I would definitely curse the world if they did something stupid like that, as I'm sure everyone else here would as well.
Both Wade Philips and Vance Joseph have made it clear that they want our safeties to be twins, meaning there will be no difference in skill-sets between the FS and SS. Drafting Shiloh Keo, and moving Glover Quin over to safety should be an improvement over the Pollard/Wilson debacle of last year. I can understand not agreeing on ONE or TWO picks in the draft, but because they didn't address one position on a laundry list of like 6, you're going to give them a C-? That hardly seems fair. I think simply for the second round ALONE, they should be given a B. And Carmicheal and Keo are both going to be playmakers for this team, just wait.
I see where he's coming from: The "twins" in this scheme are both free/cover safeties, Wade even said they dropped Pollard because he has no need for a box/strong safety. Shiloh Keo is regarded as a box/strong safety with iffy cover skills...and word was pretty quick that he was drafted for ST. One reason I'm happy but not over the moon about the draft is the move to trade back in the 4th. I suppose they wanted to make up the quantity of picks after getting Harris, but Quinton Carter looked like a guy that really could join Quin in the lineup and make plays as a FS. I don't personally see Keo or Carmichael contributing this year on defense. Even Harris is being penciled in as a nickel back.
I thought the Keo pick was interesting considering the "twins scheme" Wade mentioned after Day 2. But Wade coached Keo at the East-West Shrine Game and apparently came away extremely impressed so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt. I really wanted Carter in the 4th as well but I do wonder why he lasted so long considering the lack of depth/talent at S in this year's class.
Bad drafting or bad coaching? As of right now, Williams, Mitchell, Barwin, Ryans, Cushing, Jackson and Quin are penciled in to be major contributors. That's 7 potential starters drafted prior to Phillips' arrival, and all within the past 5 years. I expect each, at the very least, will benefit from better teaching and playing in a better scheme. Some may eventually not fit but as of right now, on paper, that's a pretty decent haul. If you can add Watt, Reed and Harris to the rotation - well, that's a mighty good core.
Drafting 2 walk-ons who blew up physically and on the field in college as upperclassmen would give me pause after the Cushing fiasco. But hey, there ain't no testing in a lockout...
Just to play devils advocate, how many other teams besides the Texans would the bolded guys be penciled in as "major contributors" on? I am a little more optimistic about Wade than I was, say, a few months ago. But I am worried about his seemingly blitz-happy philosophy and how that's going to affect our inexperienced secondary - whether they are "coached up" or not.
Almost all for Mitchell and Barwin. Provided he is healthy, expect Barwin to compete for if not lead the team in sacks.
All of those guys, save for Quin, are "day 1" picks (using the old draft format). So assuming they weren't egregious reaches, I'd say all of them, save for Quin. But he's shown enough flashes to be included, too, IMO.
Look, no one wants to hear this - but it is very common for young teams to have a stumble as they ascend. Look at the Saints - 10-6 and 60 minutes away from the SB in '06, followed by 8-8 and 7-9 seasons. Should the stumble be happening in year 5? No. But I think bad decisions finally caught up to them last year and they regressed terribly. You can't take a team that's making definitive strides year after year and just write them off for what could be a one-year abberation, IMO. The lock-out is going to hurt; but I fully expect them to be markedly better this year, and really, really good the second half, especially.
