(on the versatility Watt provides playing opposite Mario Williams) “Well I think it gives us a lot of versatility with Mario now. This guy can play the left end for you and that gives you some versatility with what you want to do with Mario. I think that’s a big key point for us also.” from the 610 presser makes me think mario is going to play some olb
Wade was on 610(as already mentioned). Watt is on Twitter. PC if I heard correctly will be 2 pm tomorrow.
So I was out tonight and found out the pick through my phone. I predicted people were going to be pissed that: 1) We passed on Fairley, Amukamara, and Quinn 2) That we didn't trade down 3) That we drafted the position where we were most set on defense. Looks like I was right. Count me in the camp of fans who don't think Watt is a bad player but believe that we could have improved our defense more by drafting another highly rated player at a position of greater need. The way it looks now, Watt is going to be part of a rotation. It seems like drafting one of the other players fans wanted, they would 1) have been a bigger upgrade over what we currently have and 2) would be on the field more than Watt will be this season. I do think it's a bit of a head scratcher. Not a huge one. There were definitely much bigger WTF moments in the first round. But it is at least mildly puzzling.
More with/from Watt: Q: What are your initial thoughts on being selected by Houston? Watt: It's a great day to be a Texan. I can't wait to get down to Houston and start getting to work." Q: Did you have any inclination that the Texans were going to pick you? Watt: "I didn't know exactly. I knew it was one of the teams that might pick me. At the end of the day, I was waiting for a phone call and was extremely excited when it came from Houston." Q: What do you think of the Texans' defense? Watt: "I know (DE) Mario Williams is a great defensive end. I can't wait to play on the same defensive line as him because he makes everyone around him look good. Hopefully I am there to take some blocks off him, as well. (Defensive coordinator) Wade Phillips has a great defense. I am ready to get to work." Q: What are your impressions of defensive coordinator Wade Phillips and head coach Gary Kubiak through your pre-draft meetings? Watt: "They are great coaches. They want guys who are going to work hard and give them everything they have. I really like that they push their guys to the limit and I am going to give them 100 percent." Q: How do you project your abilities as a transitional offensive player aiding the Texans' defense? Watt: "I have good athleticism. When you have a guy like (DE) Mario Williams on the other side, he's a great athlete as well. I am excited to come in, learn the defensive, and give them everything I got." Q: How did you get such a strong work ethic? Watt: "I got that from my parents and coaches growing up. One thing my parents always told me, ‘If you are going to do something, do it 100%.' That is what I have tried to do on the football field. I would be disrespecting the game if I didn't give it 100 percent all the time. That's what the Texans are going to get, a guy that comes to work every single day and give them everything I got." Q: What do you think about moving inside in certain situations? Watt: "That's fine by me. I'm more than happy to move inside in certain situations. I feel very comfortable playing anywhere along the defensive line. The goal is to sack (Indianapolis QB) Peyton Manning; that's what everyone around here is saying. That's my job." Q: How did you develop a knack for deflecting passes? Watt: "That is something I learned over my career. I was never really taught about it. I figured it's one great way to limit the QB's throwing range is to put your hands up. It's something I have tried to work in over my career and it's worked great for me." Q: What are the expectations for you to perform as a first-round selection? Watt: "I think it's expected to be a first-round draft pick that you come in and perform. No one has higher expectations for me than I do. I am going to come in and give it everything I have, and at the end of the day, I hope it helps the team win football games because, that is what it's all about." Q: Have you spoken with the two ex-Badgers on the Texans, TEs Owen Daniels and Garrett Graham? Watt: "I have talked to them a little bit. I talked to Garrett a couple weeks ago and they love it down there. They say nothing but great things about the Houston area and the Texans' fans. I can't wait to experience it for myself." Q: Did you expect to be drafted by the Texans? Watt: "I really didn't. It's been a crazy process. I had no idea where I would end up in the draft. I was taking it as it comes but I'm extremely excited to be a Texan." Q: Are you eager to sack the league's premier quarterbacks? Watt: "That's definitely the goal of a defensive end is to sack quarterbacks. To me it doesn't matter what number or jersey they are wearing, I want to get them all. That should be the mentality of all defensive ends - that you want to sack every quarterback you play. That is the goal." Q: What is your biggest strength? Watt: "My biggest strength is my work ethic. I am going to put a ton of time in the film room, weight room, and on the field. Like I said, I am going to give you every single thing I have, every single play, and at the end of the day we're going to win football games because of it." ... Q: Did you envision playing in the NFL while in community college? Watt: "That was always the goal and the dream. I worked every single day towards it, but the feeling I had today I could have never imagined. It's an unbelievable feeling and words can't express how I feel. "Glad to be a Texan."
hopefully he can have the kind of impact that cushing had on the defense two years ago and **** **** up
Wade Phillips on Watt: Opening statement "J.J. Watt, I think you talk about value and you talk about need and we certainly needed a defensive player. He was the top guy we had right there and right then. I like his ability. He's our kind of player. He plays a hundred miles per hour every play. This was the kind of player we want on the Texans defense. He reminds me a lot of Phil Hansen, who I had at Buffalo for a while, that same kind of size, movement and temperament. If he plays anywhere close to Phil Hansen, that'd be great for us. I think the kid is very talented athletically. He ran a 4.81, I believe, at 290 pounds. They worked him out as an outside backer and he actually didn't look bad at 290 pounds as an outside backer. He's really a defensive lineman and at 6'5½", 34 reps, he's strong and we think he can come in and help our defensive line and play really well in our area. He is a good pass rusher. He will help us on the pass rush. I think he had seven sacks this year. He's just coming along. He played tight end. He moved from Central Michigan where he was a tight end and is really working his way up as a defensive end. He keeps getting better and better because he works at it. He's become stronger. He's become faster and he's going to keep helping himself because he's such a hard worker. I was impressed with the way we did the draft. All the scenarios we've been through before. Every single one of them that got to our point, we had gone through so I was impressed the way Rick (Smith) did it and Gary (Kubiak) and how they set it up. We had a lot of discussions. I've been with teams where we had a lot of arguments. These were discussions. People made their points. We came down to our final decision and we think it's a really good one for us." Q: What put J.J. Watt ahead of other players available when he was selected? Phillips: "I think he's just a really good football player. He led their team in sacks, caused fumbles, hurries and blocked kicks. He was second on their team in tackles and second on their team in passes defensed. Now passes defensed for a defensive lineman and tackles for a defensive lineman at that position are rare. This guy makes a lot of plays." Q: How does he compare to Nick Fairley? Phillips: "I don't want to talk about another player. I'll talk about our player. We decided who we wanted to go with. We had been through the scenarios and this was our pick and we feel good with it." Q: How does the Wisconsin defense translate to that of the Texans? Phillips: "It's a little different than ours. You have to project what a player can and can't do, but he did play a lot against offensive tackles and five-technique type things. He's really good at getting off blocks. Once he's engaged, he gets of blocks quickly and that's why he's been able to make a lot of tackles. He knocked down an inordinate amount of passes. He is tall, but there are a lot of tall guys that don't have that feel to reach up and knock the ball down when they're throwing it. I know he had six or eight of those; a lot more than any other player that I've seen." Q: Were you surprised DE Aldon Smith was selected by San Francisco so early? Phillips: "No. We liked him. We liked him all along. I think he's a good player. I think that's a good pick for them. People recognize good players." Q: What sort of versatility does Watt provide playing opposite Mario Williams? Phillips: "Well I think it gives us a lot of versatility with Mario now. This guy can play the left end for you and that gives you some versatility with what you want to do with Mario. I think that's a big key point for us also." Q: Did you feel Watt would be there later in the round? Phillips: "You can make expositions all the time and say if you trade back and still get the same guy or this guy or that guy. We talked about Aldon Smith and obviously we liked Aldon Smith. He was taken way before we even picked. If you've got a good player and you really like him, you better take him at that point. If you've got four guys that you think are the same guy, then that's a different thing." Q: Were you tempted to trade up? Phillips: "We really never had that opportunity. It never came about. I think we were open to that and I think Rick said that earlier. The opportunity never really arose." Q: Does the selection fo Watt change the defensive focus in later rounds? Phillips: "No. We need to get defensive players. Our coaches that were in the room, we're holding up defense every time we get a chance. When Rick looks back, we're holding up defense. We still need some more defensive players. What's best for the team is what's best for me, I don't mean that. I think it's clear that we need a lot of defense in this draft." Q: How much input did you have in the pick? Phillips: "I think the great thing about this was it was an organizational decision. I think we were real strong in that area." Q: Where will Watt play on the defensive line? Phillips: "I think he'll play defensive end, although you saw him in the pass rush situations, you saw him on the highlight film play on the nose and beat the center because he's a good athlete and if you get him one-on-one, he's going to give them problems. Just like all our guys, we're going to try and get him one-on-one as much as we can. I look to him to play at defensive end on first and second downs and maybe go inside on third, but that remains to be seen. When you've got (Connor) Barwin and (Mario) Williams outside, if you he can play inside which I think he can, we saw him do that in the pass rush and that was a strong area for him. He'll fit well." Q: Would you move Mario Williams to outside linebacker? Phillips: "There's a possibility that he could play defensive end or outside backer, I think." Q: What will you expect Watt to contribute in 2011? Phillips: "Anytime you pick a guy with the 11th pick of the draft, you expect them to play and help you this season. I think that's a reasonable expectation."
What the.... 1) 6th pick cost Atlanta 1/2/3 this year and 1/4 next year. The Texans have a lot more holes to fill than to trade away an entire draft. 2) A 3-4 defense need to have a pretty big guy up the middle. A 6'4" 250 pounder just doesn't seem to be a right fit for a 3-4. I've read many reports questioning his motor. The guy gets by because of his initial first step. that step does not do too much for a 3-4. The Texans needed a stop-gap in the middle, something that neither Fairley nor Okoye really fits. They'll need to draft someone or have someone else from FA to be effective, imo. 3) Prince is a very interesting case. The major concern for this guy is that he does not seem able to stick to a guy and have issues with catch speed. I believe we just drafted one of those. The other issue, if you watched him in college is that he has ridiculous "happy feet." The guy likes to juke around for whatever reason and I'm worried about how that affects him against pro WR speed. His recovery speed is a concern and without a good pass rush defense, i'm worried about having Prince as a main CB. I wanted someone like Robert Quinn or to trade down. I do feel that Watt would be available for another 5 picks or so, but finding a trade partner is not really as easy as it seems. One of the two trades that happened included someone giving the farm and made a ridiculous offer for it to work out. Quinn have two concerns: one being the injury front (but I believe that's just bad timing) and two being his run defense. Quinn is a one direction rusher. He's vicious in his attack of the QB but has never really shown the capability to change directions once a handoff is made. A 3-4 defense requires a lot of reaction to the offense. Either way, I believe if Watt works out and Mario gets moved around as the word seem to agree, then it could work out great. If they could confuse the offense and bring in rushes from the line and from OLBs, then there's a slight possibility that Kareem Jackson's speed could still be utilized. The sad part is that I expect Prince to look great as a Giant, but because of the system and the team composites rather than what Prince is as a CB. I've seen him get burned on a straight run down the sideline too many times to consider him as the next big thing. i'm actually afraid of what Kareem/Prince would look like if the opposing QB continues to get around 10 seconds to throw the stupid ball. Improving the rush could definitely help increase offensive mistakes. Our TO ratio was nothing short of embarrassing last year. I think, in this case, a Safety would be a major concern and some depth at CB and ILB. i'm not sold on Cushings as a middle linebacker, but who knows. Maybe he'll overtrain and be a beast again.... Don't just take the "experts" words for it. They've been wrong and wrong again. Players that thrive under a system seems to get high praises. Intangibles should include the little things that makes players great. Good reaction time, the ability to play against run and passes, and more importantly, how a player fits a team. Players interact in the defense and their skills should complement each other. More importantly, the players needs to fit the skillset to play a position within a defensive scheme. I just think that the Texans, although didn't pick the best SKILLSET with their pick (as opposed to whatever a best "player" available means), did pick someone that could flourish in their system, just like a line as crazy as the Giants and a secondary that changes schemes with the purpose of throwing opposing players offguard, might flourish as a Giant. The extra pressure would help offset the current deficiencies that Prince came in with and possibly kept it from being exposed. When that happens, I'm guessing I'll see a lot of "I told you so, etc." I still think the system makes the players, just as the run-and-shoot caused a lot of teams to mistakenly pick a lot of ex-UH/Texas Tech quarterbacks.
My displeasure with today stems from the Texans inability to capitalize on a situation where we could have upgraded a position of need with a guy who barring injury probably ends up in the Hall. Barring a deal for Peterson, Fairley was there...We're talking about a higher talent level ... I'm familiar with J.J. ....This guy will probably give us 10 + solid years ...a safe pick....but not the right move IMO. As to the Fightin Whities comment ...I have a buddy who recently named one of his fantasy teams, the Fightin Whities. It was meant as sarcastic, self effacing humor regarding the natural stereotype of the white athlete.It just rolled out in my post. I CAN see how it would be offensive without the context and for that I apologize.
cnt believe how dumb some of our fans act seriously this is a great pick i watched alot of badger football last season and drooled at the posibility of jj watt being a texan this kid is a stud just look at the tape as the great mike mayock would say
Yes but Fairley has these knocks on him. He has had one good year and his motivation has been questioned. The Texans have one too many of these guys on their team. He's too Haynesworth for me. Also yes the guys on the board had some great potential. Quinn and Fairley...but I remember the last time we reached on a player who had great potential...Okoye. Texans do not need any more guys right now that need to be motivated, that need to be started up. Thats why the Steelers are good, they get guys who go 100% all the time, Ravens too. Also I can understand the need for OLB and CB but I think the Texans have faith in Kareem. Not many CBs even play their first year, forget about playing well. So I don't think they saw it as big of a need. As for OLB I think it would have been a bigger reach. I don't even think another LB was taken, Quinn would have likely stood up but it seems the Texans are going to do that with Mario so is that a big need there? Jimmy Smith would have been a reach and it was rumored all along that the Texans didn't like Prince too much any ways. Just that i've seen it thrown around a lot. That he's not a athlete or something and his measurable say otherwise. He seems like he's going to be a fixture for this team and when the Texans have drafted DL year after year and only have two of those guys on the team?(and Okoye sucks so Mario is the only one they hit right on) That would be a big improvement.
1) It cost a lot more to move up from 27 or so to 5 than it does from 11 to 5. 2) I just see Fairley as a rare beast of a player who dropped from the possible number 1 down to where he went because of "attitude" issues.We've seen this sort of thing before. That guy is going to go nuts in Detroit with Suh ... I would have liked to have seen him crank it out with Mario.. The Texans have for been for the most part concerned with only clean cut clock punchers. Cushing aside ..Well, we can't afford to pass up a monster like Fairley. We need talent AND more of a meanstreak on our defense. I can appreciate the allowances one must make for the 3-4 but Fairley's talent transcends this. It's going to be interesting to see how well Ryans does in his comeback from that knee. Hopefully he can make it back strong enough to free Cushing to wreak havoc. Of course, like you said, I'm assuming Cushing DOES return to the dominating player he was before.
Are you talking about Fairley? He was measured at 6'3", 291. That's the same as Earl Mitchell who we're penciling in at DT at the moment.
I feel you on Fat Albert, but ...they won a title with him...I mean the guy had mad talent and was a physical specimen. I'm not condoning all of his shenanigans...It's just we need another guy with attitude and talent on this defense....and to have that guy playing the middle is even better/rarer. Plus he would have been surrounded by quality men out there who command respect.(not the secondary at the moment...LOL) Okoye was so young, still maturing physically while Fairley was a man amongst men in the SEC. I keep hoping he'll come around .... As far as Kareem goes, I was stunned that they let it go on all year. It cost us dearly. One day Jackson will be a good cornerback ...or even a safety, but for us to count on him now on the other side is not acceptable as far as I'm concerned.
