but so too did the emergence of adibi; the insertion of wilson and fergueson into the line-up; the improved play of weaver and okoye, not to mention the play from bowman and robinson as their back-ups. i think it would be irresponsible to just assume dunta is the sole reason for the improved play and hand him over that kind of money. i think he's a good player, and good players make teams better - but i'm not sure he's a top 5 CB.... there's no such thing as an everydown back anymore in the NFL. they need a second RB - one to get the tougher, shorter yards and to give slaton a rest - remember how we all thought DD was the answer? smaller backs wear down (as slaton did this year, requiring a full week off and close monitoring of his touches), as a general rule. it's not their top priority, but it's among the bigger prioroities.
Considering how well this regime has drafted so far (and not just 1st round, but 3rd and 4th round as well) I don't want them to do anything that results in fewer draft picks...unless the team is just absolutely enamored with a guy and it only costs us like a 4th or a 5th. But I don't want them to trade any first day picks to move up. This front office is too good at filling holes through the draft.
I think you're missing the fact that No Worries is the official Debbie Downer of everything Texan-related on this bbs. It's his schtick, if you will. He's basically the glynch of the Texans forum.
I think this is a almost pressure free offseason, given how we're closing out the year. I don't think there's a big need to chase expensive FAs like Haynesworth, not that we've ever gotten into bidding wars. If I were them, I'd see who falls our way in the draft. 1st round I'd snatch a safety if a serious player like Mays from USC drops into our lap. Safety's the only position where we are completely patchwork (IMO). If no safety is worth it when we select, see if an elite CB is there instead. 2 top corners will almost make up for no upper tier safety in the back. No corner? Look for DT or LE. After that, look for line depth. After that, look for a short yardage back. repeat each round, add QB to the list once we're in the 4th. Evan
Good call. I got a buddy who's a Bengals fan and watching a game the other day Kevin came up. He told me that he didn't do anything when for them. He has really become a good number two guy for us though.
sure, sure - there were a lot of factors. i'm not sure the defense was ever as bad as we thought; they were 4 minutes away from holding manning and the colts to 10 points and have been forced to overcome some offensive shortcomings. not sure they're this good, either - that's why the dunta decision is going to be, i would think, a diffcult one.
Do whatever it takes to keep Dunta on the squad. I don't think that it is a coincidence that the defense started playing better once he was back up to steam. As for some free agent signings - I would love to see Julius Peppers, but I don't think that he'll be in our price range. I'm guessing that we'll address the D-line in the first round of the draft again this year, but I really don't mind. We're a solid player away from that line being a monster! I hope that we are not in a position to draft Brian Orakpo, because you know that the fans will be screaming about drafting him. I just don't trust players coming out of the UT system right now.
This is my opinion as well. IIRC the Chronicle ran a article about this being Dunta's last year with the Texans awhile back. The article had quotes from Dunta, saying as much.
Didn't mean to make it seem like it was the sole reason. But I do think it was a huge one. The level of intensity seemed to pick up in a big way since Dunta returned. What's Ron Dayne doing these days?
I agree with this sentiment, and I would take it even a step further with saying that we could almost draft BPA between a corner and a DE/DT in the early rounds. I think whoever we DO take in the draft in the first 2-3 rounds has the opportunity to make a HUGE impact on this defense, whether it's a shutdown corner, a legit safety, a pass-rushing DE, or a middle-clogging DT. My inclination though would be to draft a lineman first, since pressure on the QB masks any deficiencies in the secondary rather well, and then we could try and pick up a corner/safety in the later rounds.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/6126229.html Here's the article. Considering the franchise tag was never even mentioned by Solomon, that leads me to believe he's talking out of his ass and had a typical, piss poor analysis instead of digging deeper into the subject. Such is the status of most journalism these days. The Texans were 3-7 at the time, and it was a much sexier/more exciting story to sell the angle that Dunta would walk because the team was so bad. It plays off the emotions of simplistic fans, and the chron.com crowd ate it up. Unfortunately for Solomon, it's not reality. Also, the only quote from Dunta in the article... He's not leaving.
completely non-scientific but here're the pass defense #s these past two years with and without dunta: with (18 games): 63.1%; 211.6 pass yds/g; 1.3 TDs; .89 INTs; 10-8 W/L without (12 games): 66.1%; 237.3 pass yds/g; 1.8 TDs; .58 INTs; 5-7 W/L it comes to roughly 1 less completion a game; 8 fewer TDs and 5 more INTs over the course of a season. it's hard to really put those #s into any real context - who's to say those 8 fewer passing TDs don't become rushing TDs? still, with 30 games being a pretty decent sample size, the team IS better, statistically, with him than they are without him. but you could also argue he missed 12 of the toughest games among our past 30, meaning he was there for 18 of the "easier" ones, which could very easily explain the difference... i didn't really set out to prove anything; i was hoping the #s might swing one way so massively that they'd give us some insight into just what dunta's impact is. but, really - it seems pretty marginal/circumstantial. like i said, it's going to be a tough/interesting decision for them.
I hope we pick up an UFA at safety. Dawkins or Milloy ideally. or Peppers at DE. Think how crazy it'd be constantly swapping Mario and Julius at left and right ends. Footballsfuture.com has a thorough list of all the players ready for free agency for the 09-10 season.
In free agency, I'd make a run at the following players & see what shakes out. Chris Canty (DE) Victor Adeyanju (DE) Oshiomogho Atogwe (FS) Sean Jones (SS) Richie Incognito (C/RG) Bryant McFadden (CB) Rocky Bernard (DT) There are others, but this would be a great list to start with. With Weaver, Green, Greenwood, & Chris Brown being waived, we should have some nice cap space available to go after some of these guys. After this, I'd offer Oakland TJ, or a 5th round pick for Michael Bush (RB). Depending upon how these moves shake out, we might be able to draft the BPA in the 1st & add quality depth after that.
I dont think the Texans will have to pay top 5 money for Duante. With the seriousness of his leg injury, only have played a half a season and even less as a starter I would think the market for him would have softened a bit. I really think he will resign just to be here when the Texans are going to be good. 6-7 million should get it done.
If Terrell Suggs doesn't get franchised, I would pay top dollar for him. He's only 26-27 years old and one heck of pass rusher.
