Mario as a DT would remove what works for him in at DE, which is space and the ability to overpower Tackles one on one with his skills. Put him in the DT position, you have him getting double teamed from two sides every time, leaving the tackles alone with whatever DE we have and none of them are that good to constantly win like Mario, not even Barwain. We do need a DT, because none of our guys are capable of consistently keeping linemen from moving them about and Okoye while great at getting into the backfield, that is about the extent of what he has been shown able to do. Honestly, I wonder if we shouldn't try Okoye out at DE, he isn't large enough to be effective at DT without someone bigger next to him or so it seems.
I say DT is the priority. Its like tires on a car, you have good ones and the rest of the car will perform much better.
I would line up Mario between the guard and tackle. The other DT would be lined up almost directly in front of the center with the responsibility of not letting the center double Mario even if a little jersey needs to be grabbed. Current personel at DE isn't good enough for this to be effective a lot. I do want a large DT to be the one in front of the center. Also, even if the DT isn't effective at stopping the double team, the Texans have a huge advantage when they blitz from the side opposite Mario as mario has taken a guy away from blitz pickup duties.
I know he getting up there in age but I would be tempted to offer a 4 or MAYBE a 3 for Shaun Rogers from Cleveland. He can still clogs the gaps and put some pressure thus maybe draw some attention from Mario.
In the offseason the Texans need to let Dunta walk and use the money to sign Casey Hampton to plug up the middle vs. the run. Then draft a corner like the Lindley kid out of Kentucky in the first round. Two good safety prospects for the second or third round in Myron Rolle out of florida st. or Kam Chancellor from virginia tech. They are both about 6'2 225 and hit like hammers as well as stop the run. I would take an offensive gaurd in the 3rd or 4th such as Joe Thomas from Pitt. He is 6'5 300lbs. and fits the zone blocking scheme to replace Chester Pitts along with Kasey Studdard. We should also address WR and RB in the 4th and 5th rounds seeing that Walter is probably gone and Slaton needs some long term help at RB. And finally we need to lock up Demeco, Owen, and Slaton to long term deals next offseason. If we can do these things our D will be much improved against the run and maybe even a top 10 Defense overall. Time will tell.
I heard from Kubiak's press conference today that Antonio Smith came off the bench in yesterday's game and used sparingly is because he had "issues". When asked further, those issues were coming in late etc.
I was thinking about the Texans' D for next year. As I posted earlier, I think we should let dunta walk, sign Casey Hampton, and draft a safety and corner in the first 2 rounds of next year's draft. Somthing I would love to see but probably wont happen, is a new defensive coordinator and a switch to a 3-4 defense. This would be my defense in 2010. RE - M. Williams/Bulman NT - C. Hampton/Okam LE - A. Smith/Okoye (or vice versa) OLB - Barwin/Diles MLB - Cushing/Bentley MLB - Ryans/Bentley OLB - Adibi/Diles SS - Draft pick/Barber FS - E. Wilson/Busing CB - Draft pick/Reeves CB - McCain/Moulden Nickel corner - Reeves/Quin
I don't see the Texans playing 3-4 anytime soon except as maybe a changeup. Not to say I wouldn't mind seeing the Texans go to a 3-4 in some passing situations. I'd have Cushing and Barwin as the OLBs in a 3-4.
Been there done that, its like green bay (and damn capers) bringing out kampman to LB. Someone said it before, it downplays Mario's strengths.
Those suggesting moving Mario to any position other than DE make me wonder if you wouldve switched Akeem to power forward post-Sampson, pre-Enlightenment. While it's probably true that either would still be very effective at either position(s), you're not only taking them away from the position they are most dominant, you are also putting a bandaid where you need gauze, tape and pressure (if not a tourniquet). Just as Hakeem needed someone to relieve pressure from him...someone to keep the defense honest (be it from the Horry outside or Thorpe inside) and Mario needs someone to crush the pocket from the outside or collapse it from the inside (Okam, where are you?). For as long as you move Mario around, OC's will just run the play opposite of him. Behind Mario is just a travesty, imo. Bennett has potential to develop into an above avg CB and Demeco/Cushings. Are more than adequate vs the run and pass. However, we continually trot out secondary players that should barely be on the practice squad. Faggins...horrid. JReeves...are u kidding me? ANY of our safeties (save Eugene) have been absolute garbage. Dunta, I believe is an above avg CB, even post-injury, but is absolutely devoid of focus right now. Apparently, $10MM doesn't buy you a good shrink or a good agent anymore. We do have enough talent, still, to be a decent defense as long as we can keep MW active and aggressive along with Cush/Meco. Our secondary is just going to have to learn that letting a man get behind them is still a cardinal sin...even after Pop Warner, it still applies (go figure). And, yea the guy carving them up like a XMas Ham should always be accounted for. The NFL is not the NBA, where you can let one guy get his, hold everyone else to below their average, and still blow them out. One guy, given enough opportunity, can beat you (if by no other reason than controlling the clock and eating yardage). Chris Johnson damn near did it, if not for Schaub and Dre remembering each other, some timely JJones plays, Chris Brown remembering he's not injured for one day, and ODaniels continuing to be a damn fine replica of Jason Whitten. Next Sunday's game is against a team we "should" beat, but that little bowling ball full of knives named MoJo is perfectly capable of doing a CJohnson on us. If he gets off like the Titan did, don't be surprised if Jacksonville's offense suddenly becomes adequate and we end up with a dogfight on our hands.
I'd like to see them play Okam some more. The man is enormous and freakishly strong, and I think he could eat up some blocks and free up some room for Okoye to work.
Not the same thing. The PF is the easier position to fill. It would be more similar to moving Sampson to PF to get Olajuwon in the game. Also, generally formations are asymmetrical so it is difficult for OCs to run the play opposite him if they don't know where he'll be. Granted, the QB can audible, but the more you make an offense think at the line, the more likely they get the blocking assignments off. Right now, he is the only one on the dline that the oline has to use a blocking scheme against. Keeping him in the same place makes it easier for the OC to develop blocking schemes to negate his affect on the game. Mario will not be quite as dominant individually if he played some downs at DT in passing situations, but the Texans may play better if they can get another pass rusher on the field. I believe this is why the Texans went after A Smith. He supposedly can apply pressure from the DT spot on passing downs. While he would be more effective as a DE, it allows the Texans to get another pass rusher on the field. Same theory for Mario, except you are using a better player. If Mario was a speed rusher, I would not be suggesting this.
You play a players strength. Mario, is a outside rusher with speed and power (granted...he has a lot of strengths). You want to give him space to work. sure, he can move inside at times, dominate DEs need to be dominate DEs. No need to overcomplicate things.
Well so far the Texans D is the worst in the NFL plus we have given up 2nd most penalty yards in the league so I think there is no where but up.
Kind of random...but can it be that our pass defense is actually decent? Check out the following stats. Passing Defense QB% - 4th Yards/attempt - T-10th TDs allowed - T-4th QB rating - 8th Yards/game - 9th Rush Defense Yards/attempt - 31st TDs allowed - T-last Yards/game - 29th I understand that playing against Jamarcus may have helped out our pass defense, but every team has played an offensively challenge team at this point in the season. Anyways, Ive been incredibly critical of the pass defense this season. Maybe I should focus my attention on stopping the freaking run. Bring back TJ.
Garrard and the Sanchise have been playing exceptionally this season. But then again our worst games for run defense have also been against franchise backs. Arguments can be made that instead of being a UFL level defense the Texans are just the kind of defense you'd see on a 8-8 team. Mediocre and reliably bad against better opposition.
