Two of those pieces would be a healthy DeMeco and a return of 2009 Cushing. From NFP.com, Brian Cushing has knee surgery.
With a great class of D line in this year's draft we are in great position to move down to maybe the 16-17 range and still get a guy we like as long as its a D line and stock up on picks. I wanted the Texans to draft a CB but it looks like the 2 blue chippers will be gone my time we draft.
Is there really a great class of defensive lineman? It seems to me (and I haven't done much web surfing on the subject), that the consensus is that there are 2 or 3 pretty good defensive ends, one good defensive tackle, a couple pretty decent edge rusher defensive end/OLB combos, and the rest of the lineman projected in the first round are just decent? Paea from Oregon state, at first seemed to be someone that would fit our needs and be on our radar, but lately he seems to be dropping from a couple mocks I've seen. At this point, if none of the blue chippers are left (and I don't think they will be...unless tons of quarterbacks go before us), I think our best bet is going with a Von Miller-type edge rusher.
come on now, it's not like I said those are the ONLY two pieces we need But you can't deny that the defense took a drastic turn with the loss of DeMeco.
I wouldn't say it took a DRASTIC turn. It certainly didn't get any better after he went down, but it was pretty piss-poor from the get-go. You can't simply blame the suckiness of the 2010 defense on him getting hurt, unless your name is Bob McNair.
I'm not, I'm saying that with a return to health of Mario, DeMeco, and (hopefully) Cushing, you are a lot further along than if you scratch all three guys going into 2011. Don't let your hatred of all things McNair cloud your perception of the players who are talented on that side of the ball. We were 4-2 before DeMeco got hurt, yes the secondary still sucked those first 6 games, but when DeMeco went down, now the Linebacker play regressed as well. Do they need better players, yes, but they also need the good players they have to play better (i.e. get healthy) in 2011 as well. Don't read more into it than that.
A few thoughts: -While we do need to draft for defense, we aren't turning this group around with guys learning on the job. Fairley, Peterson, and Prince are guys that I'd be happy to throw out there...but not too many others. We need some vets that know what to do, in particular a NT and a DB or two. If we can't get one of the elite CBs and end up with an Ike Taylor, than getting a FA safety becomes a priority. -I'd really caution against the "we'll have a healthy Ryans back" mindset: just one year ago we were saying that about OD. Two years ago it was about Robinson. Coming back from a blown Achilles isn't easy to do and it can be a real career ender. I'm not as concerned about Cushing. -Luck (and some others) staying in school to dodge the lockout really hurts us at #11. It was already a longshot that one of the guys we'd love (Fairley, Dareus, Peterson, Amukamara) would drop for us, now they're all being sucked upwards. I like Robert Quinn, but he's probably gone. I'm not as enthused about Von Miller. I won't lie - given our options at this point, I might be more excited about stealing Julio Jones than drafting for need. Don't pick another overmatched Kareem Jackson to "fix" a problem position - we need real answers. -With them essentially having a double draft.....it's a good time to be a Pats fan.
Exactly. I'll go so far as to say we should scrap this "build through the draft" philosophy for a few years and start building through free agency exclusively. If I were in charge, I would even trade down to get extra picks for depth only, since that's the kind of talent we usually end up drafting anyway...
Goods news guys, Devin McCourtney, the CB taken right after Kareem Jackson will be going to the Pro Bowl. This helps explain everything - the Texans are terrible in the draft and free agency, the coaching sucks and the owner is already showing signs of either dementia or alzheimer's disease. So now there's no need for you guys to run around acting like we can turn things around through this coming draft or free agency.
I remember getting verbally assaulted for "questioning" the pick of Kareem Jackson. The Texan's drafts IMO have been typically mediocre and last year was no exception. Anyway, the scouting reports on Jackson, readily available on the Net were not complimentary. I guess the Texans couldn't find them.
I'm with you. Jackson was projected in the 2nd round. If anything, they should of traded down to build up assets and still get him Pats style.
This is why I'm so blah about the Texans. Because I don't believe they're going to get it right. It's not a "wait till next year" thing...it's a "wait till there's a new group of decision makers" thing. And with McNair at the helm, I have no idea when that will be. I honestly do not expect them to be anything other than what they've been the last few seasons. Bad to mediocre.
Everybody had Kareem Jackson in their top 3 CB's and the conventional wisdom was that he would be more NFL ready because he played for Nick Saban, the CB's guru, at Alabama, when their defense was dominant. It was the safe pick, it just didn't pan out... yet. You guys are just a bunch of Monday morning quarterbacks, re-writing the history to suit your need for blame. The fact is, in the NFL draft, the results are not entirely predictable under even the most rigorous analysis. ]
1. Jackson was a CB in the SEC...not exactly a conference featuring the pro style offense. As for him being in the top 3...I don't recall seeing anything that had him ranked better than 4, behind Haden, McCourty and Wilson. 2. I agree on the draft generally..but you gotta hit better than they did in 2007-2010 drafts. And if you don't, you can't close yourself off to free agency and pretend it doesn't exist.
Looks like it. At #11 you get one of these guys. In fact you could probably get two of them by trading down. DL Fairley Dareus Bowers Quinn Paea Smith (Mizzou) Clayborn Sione Fua (NT, Stanford DB Peterson Amukamara Harris 3/4 LB's Miller Ayers Bailey (Miami)
Can we pull up that thread for the 2010 draft? I remember many of us were against the pick. On the radio, I remember Lance almost losing it saying kareem could have been had later. I no longer think it's about building through the draft. When our Texans, sorry, when mcnair's texans were 4-2, according to national experts, we had the most talented young roster in the nation. Now the local media questions if the texans even have one good player from any previous draft. Foster is awesome. He went undrafted, but you have to give them credit for acquiring the hidden gem. Cushing needs to do whatever clay is doing. I have no way of judging what went wrong with cushing. One week he was throwing around chris johnson, the human bobble head, like a tire in his backyard..the following week, he was caught out of position getting flatened by a 3rd string bronco running back. I think he suffered the most from not having Demeco in the line up. Brown is a talented left tackle in a top rushing offense and a potent passing attack. It's not his fault the coaching staff decides to start him right away, not providing any help, against freeney after missing four games. Hey guys let's pass the ball against the colts who can't stop the run!! what can possibly go wrong on 3rd and 12? Schaub.. love that guy. He was basically had for picks, so he has to count as a member of that 2007 draft. Basically, overall, the texans have done a nice job acquiring impact players through the draft. But they made a mistake of biblical proportions by getting cocky and thinking that they didn't need any veteran leadership in that defensive backfield. All because they wanted to save tio mcnair money. The way I see it, tio mcnair is exactly like Seinfeld's dad, everyone in the front office knows he loves a great deal..so they tell him what he wants to hear. At this point, a wizard tip calculator is more useful than Kareem.
2007 Draft: 1 10 (10) Amobi Okoye DT Louisville 3 9 (73) Jacoby Jones WR Lane 4 24 (123) Fred Bennett CB South Carolina 5 7 (144) Brandon Harrison S Stanford 5 26 (163) Brandon Frye G Virginia Tech 6 9 (183) Kasey Studdard G Texas 7 8 (218) Zach Diles LB Kansas State University 2008 Draft: 1 26 (26) Duane Brown T Virginia Tech 3 16 (79) Antwaun Molden CB Eastern Kentucky 3 26 (89) Steve Slaton RB West Virginia 4 19 (118) Xavier Adibi OLB Virginia Tech 5 16 (151) Frank Okam DT Texas 6 (173) Dominique Barber S Minnesota 7 (223) Alex Brink QB Washington State 2009 Draft: 1 15 (15) Brian Cushing OLB USC 2 14 (46) Connor Barwin OLB Cincinnati 3 13 (77) Antoine Caldwell C Alabama 4 12 (112) Glover Quin CB New Mexico 4 22 (122) Anthony Hill TE North Carolina State 5 16 (152) James Casey TE Rice 6 15 (188) Brice McCain CB Utah 7 14 (223) Troy Nolan S Arizona State 2010 Draft: 1 20 (20) Kareem Jackson CB Alabama 2 26 (58) Ben Tate RB Auburn 3 18 (81) Earl Mitchell DT Arizona 4 4 (102) Darryl Sharpton ILB Miami-Fl 4 20 (118) Garrett Graham TE Wisconsin 5 13 (144) Sherrick McManis CB Northwestern 6 18 (187) Shelley Smith G Colorado State 6 28 (197) Trindon Holliday WR LSU 7 20 (227) Dorin Dickerson TE Pittsburgh Thoughts: Who other than Cushing...in 4 flipping drafts...would you say has been really impactful for the Texans. Maybe Duane? At least he's a starter (although you could say that about Kareem while rolling your eyes) Slaton - had a really good year. They've drafted 6 CB's in the last 4 drafts. And still finished with arguably the worst pass defense of all time last season. Dynamite. Looking back over those drafts...and knowing that they've never been active in free agency...is it really any surprise that 9-7 is this franchise's best record?
Further proof that we suck, especially at evaluating defensive talent: Tramon Williams. Guy is a pro bowler, just signed a 40 million dollar extension, had 6 interceptions in the regular, has 3 so far in the playoffs, but was cut from our team at the end of pre-season. To be fair, it was his rookie season. He was a practice squadder until his second year. Maybe Wade Phillips will fix this? Doubt it.
