Second season following the Texans - Time to learn positions

Our Quarterback couldn't out run an sloth.

 

Will be somewhat time consuming answering your question you ask OP.... I suggest you just quit on the Texans before you begin and start following the Redskins. :grin:

 

The question about safeties i hear a lot even from people who watch the game.

Strong Safety typically bigger, slower of the two, more responsible for run support and covering tight ends.

Free Safety roams the field to try and disrupt the passing game in a multitude of ways.

These aren't set in stone positions, a lot of safeties do both but this is a basic outline of the positions

As for the recievers, Tight Ends are larger and slower than Wide Recievers. They usually line up on the offensive line. They are responsible for blocking as well as receiving. Some of them almost act exclusively as blockers and don't catch much. Some catch and don't block much.

There are far to many nuances to go over in a single post, but this should clear up some.

 

If you want great detail here is West Coast offense playbook. We run a variation of this. http://www.centuryinter.net/midway/chris/westcoast/wco.pdf

And an old Wade Phillips playbook. http://www.footballxos.com/download/defense/pro-defense/2003-Atlanta-Falcons-Defense-Wade-Phillips.pdf

 

The quarterback is the guy that will usually throw a forward pass. He lines up behind the center. The center is the middle man (most of the time) of the line. Seven guys have to be set at the line of scrimmage. Umm what else.

 

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/American_football_positions

 

After reading those playbooks OP will be like



Maybe your best bet OP is to take interest in something easier like frisbee or ping pong.

 

Offense:

Quarterback QB - guy that says "hut" : throws the ball or hands it off
RunningbackRB - guy that gets the hand off from the QB
Fullback FB - guy that lines up usually in front of the RB, delivers big blocks
Wide Receiver 1 WR1 - Andre Johnson, nuff said (called the Z receiver), catches pass from QB
Wide Receiver 2 WR2 - lines up opposite of Andre, generally called the X receiver, catches passes from QB
Wide Receiver 3WR3 - called the "slot receiver", or the Y receiver, usually lines up between the 5 guys right next to each other and the WR1
Tight End TE - lines up next to the five guys right next to each other, blocks and catches passes from QB.
Offensive Line - the five guys always right next to each other
Left Tackle LT - Guy farthest on the left, blocks
Left Guard LG - Guy right to the right of the LT, blocks
Center C - in the middle of the five guys, gives the ball to the QB to start each play and blocks
Right Guard RG - like the left guard but on the right, blocks.
Right Tackle - guy furthest on the right of the five guys, blocks.

A team can play up to five Wide Receivers at once, and some teams play up to three TE's at once. There is always 11 people on offence on the field and 7 have to be on the line of scrimmage (where the ball is located).

Defence: for our purposes, Texans run a 3-4. That means three people on the line and four linebackers.

Defensive Line: (much different than offensive line)
DE - JJ Watt, nuff said.
DT - guy in the middle, just plugs holes basically.
DE - contains plays from coming outside, lines up opposite of JJ Watt.

Linebackers: fill "gaps" between the other teams offensive line-man and make tackles and cover against the pass
Outside Linebackers OLB's - primarily rush the QB and contain the edge runs. the "sam" linebacker is the strong side (where the TE is at), and the "will" linebacker is the weak side (where the TE is not)
"mike linebackers" Inside linebackers ILB's - contain the run, and do a little pass covering as well.

Secondary: Safeties and CB's
Cornerback CB1 - lines up on the opposing team's best WR (WR1 usually)
CB2 - lines up on the WR2
CB3 - called the slot corner/nickel corner - lines up on slot receiver
Strong Safety SS - generally a better tackler and provides more run support, but still has to cover opposing TE's
Free Safety FS - better at coverage and often helps against the deep ball or slants in the middle. Can be lined up on TE's, and maybe runningbacks.

K - kickers, kicks the ball.
P - punter, punts the ball.

Texan's rank (being generous and not too much homer):

QB - ugh, not worth to start a debate, he look ok. - Matt Shaub
RB - top 5 in the league - Arian Foster
FB - top 10 (blocked for a really good running attack for many years) - Greg Jones
WR1 - best in the league - Andre
WR2 - a rookie, I would say he will be decidly mediocre this year, maybe #17 for WR2's (still an upgrade over last year) - Deandre Hopkins
WR3 - hopefully catches a pass or two - Keshawn Martin
TE - maybe #11 in the league? - Owen Daniels
LT - best in the league, bar none - Duane Brown
LG - #13 in the league - Wade Smith
C - top 3 in the league - Chris Myers
RG - nobody knows, honestly. Lots of potential, but nothing proven yet. - Brandon Brooks
RT - in shambles, maybe in the bottom 10 in the league - Derek Newton (position up in air)

DE1 - Best player in the league - WATT
DT - mediocre is what he will hope to accomplish - Earl Mitchell
DE2 - top 10 DE, remarkably consistent - Antonio Smith
OLB1 - top 15 in the league - Brooks Reed
OLB2 - don't know yet - Whitney Mercilus
ILB1 - arguably the 3rd best in the league - Brian Cushing
ILB2 - doesn't play much, and always hurt - Darryl Sharpton
FS - when healthy, one of the best - Ed Reed
SS - maybe top 15 inconsistent. - Daniel Manning
CB1 - top 3 corner when healthy - Johnathan Joseph
CB2 - top 10 corner (for 2nd corners, not all corners) - Kareem Jackson
CB3 - arguably the best when healthy - Bryce Mccain

Hopefully this helps you, and others. If you have any questions, and if you have a lot of questions, please list them in an orderly fashion.

If you have any disagreements, just point them out and make it clear and visible: I obviously put this thing together pretty quickly and am prone to mistakes.

 

Dre can get seperation from the best defenders which is a rare skill, he can go up and get the ball at a high point which gives the QB a much larger target area, and he has flat out speed to run past people. He may not be the best, I think most of us would agree Calvin Johnson is right now, but Dre is right there with him.

There are literally thousands of WR that can run good routes and catch the ball when it's thrown to them. Only a few are good enough to get themselves open against NFL defenses. The elite WR are so dangerous you have to commit a second defender at all times which gives the rest of the recievers a much easier job getting open.

 

Not to mention he has a rare blend of size, strength, and speed for the position. Another underrated part about Andre is that he is not a diva. Most wide receivers are me first type players. Andre Johnson is the exact opposite of that.

 

To start every play, the quarterback slams his hands in the center's junk and yells "hike".

 

I' m a lot higher on Hopkins than jbasket. I think he'll have a solid year.


McCain sucked last year.

Kareem a top 10 corner 2? LOL. The dude was a beast last season. Yeah I said it.

 

I am high on Hopkins for the future, but I just find it hard for him to have anything beyond an average WR2 year as a rookie.

McCain sucked last year. The year before, he was the best nickel corner in the league. Which type of player is he? He was injured last year, so I am leaning towards his season where he was the best bar none at slot coverage.

Kareem was a beast last year, I agree. But it is not fair to rank him against people that cover the top WR, because he usually covers the WR2 (Megatron exception). For Kareem to really jump into the upper tier, he needs to put together another good year and establish consistency. He was pretty bad the 2 seasons before (young). I am a fan of him, and maybe didn't rank him high enough in retrospect. Once again, I put the list together in a couple minutes. I think top 10 removes any homerism I might have.

 

He is the best because he has the whole package. Pro Football Focus is your best friend when ranking players, and Andre Johnson was the best last year and the last 5 years. His yards receiving per route run CRUSHES all other competition, including Calvin Johnson. This stat puts in perspective how much of a gunning offence the Lions ran, and how much Stafford just chucked the ball. The fact that AJ got 1600 yards with such a prominent run game was greatness. Calvin got a lot of yards because they threw the ball all the time. AJ was ranked the 9th best WR blocker in the league, something Calvin didn't even sniff (too lazy). AJ had one of the best completion percentages to him (maybe the highest, I'm not sure), despite being double covered all the time because of the Kevin Walter affect. He has some of the best hands in the league, out muscles CB's for a living, and runs the best routes in the league. I still think he has down the hill speed, and although he is 32, no team is going to press him thinking he can't burn them long.

 

Bumping this thread: OP are you able to follow the season better? Have you been watching the games? Any other questions about preseason/first two weeks?

 

dat accuracy.. tate only had to jump up and away to get that screen pass...