I am hoping that I can get a conversation going here. Im curious as to what people think of the Texans at all the different aspects of football. Please feel free to break down the team from all aspects and end with a prediction. I am not an expert at breaking down teams, but I am a big fan that does pay attention. QB- Schaub is an avg starter who is not going to win a game for you , but is not going to lose one for you either. If he can stay healthy, he should make some strides in year two of the new system. If he does fall off or go to the IR, Sage might be the best back up in the league. I feel very good about our QB situation as a whole. This is more of a strength for us then a weakness. Grade B RB- This is one of our wild cards on this team. Camp should be entertaining to see who steps up and who steps down. With so many avg running backs trying to grab some carries, the overall play should rise do to the competition. Green should be the starter if he can stay healthy. Chris Brown and third round pick Steve Slaton help the depth of this team. Slaton should be a great change of pace back. This is the most depth the Texans have ever had at RB. We should finish in the middle of the pack in rushing, but if things go well and with the improvement of the OL, I would not be suprised if we finished in 8th or 9th in rushing. If this is the case, this team will be in the playoffs. Grade B- WR- The strength of the Texans offense. If AJ can stay healthy (the theme of the Texans) he will finish in the top 5 of productivity for all WR. Andre Davis and Walter both have shown that they are very good compliments to AJ, and if Jones can show what he showed last year in the pre-season, this could be one of the the top three units in the NFL. Own Daniels was very good last year at tight end, and the more I look at our WR's, the more I think this is our greatest strength. Grade A OL- This has been the achillies heel for the Texans since the beggining of time. With the new OL coach Gibbs and our 1st round selection of Duane Brown, the OL seams to be moving in the right direction. No more is our OL the cellar of the NFL. We fall in the middle of the pack. Last year we made great strides and this year shoud be no different. Grade C+ Overall Offense For the first time ever the Texans do not have a glaring weakness. We are solid form all aspects and could end up having a conservative offense that finishes in the 1top ten overall in total offense this year. If we can improve our running game, it will open up our passing game so much more and make our offense so much more effiecient. Overall grade B I will break down the defense very soon.
Depth-wise, I'd give both the RBs and QBs a higher grade. I think Schaub showed what he was capable of if he can stay healthy, but we also know we don't lose a beat if he goes down. Schaub's numbers pre-injury would've been much better had AJ not been injured.
I will reserve my QB opinion until we see Schaub for a full season. Remember, he looked real good at the start of the season, and was his first time as a starter of his own team. With the new zone blocking scheme our run game should be improved greatly, which opens up the passing game. This will raise our OL's grade. Being proficient in the run make it easier on the line and the QB because we will see less double coverage on the receivers. Receiver core is solid and I look for Owen Daniels to have an even better season. Andre and Andre and Kevin W. make this a really good team. This team should be really balanced on offense, with big play ability form receivers and possibly Green if he is 100% recovered.
I just hope Jacoby emerges as a go to speed threat in the slot. This team, in my opinion needs two things to be a playoff team: One person to emerge as an above average, 15 to 20 carries a game running back. One speed threat 2nd or slot receiver. Being that I live in the Buffalo area, I'll say that Lee Evans would be the ABSOLUTE perfect compliment to Andre.
Receiver might be the best position on the team. Andre Davis is among the fastest guys in the league, and if Jacoby Jones can improve other parts of his game his speed is up there too. We're fine at receiver. I think o-line and secondary are the biggest areas to improve that will get us over the hump and into super bowl contention. Running back remains to be seen, but most likely we'll have to find a playmaker in the backfield that really scares people. Overall though, the depth on this team is tremendous. There are going to be some tough cuts to make at the end of preseason.
I am absolutely pumped about the upcoming season. Now that I am done with school (for now), I will be able to really watch some football for the first time in about 3years.
I love sage, but come on dude. That guy has had a chance to be a starting quaterback before. Also sage throws a lot of interceptions. Sage is not the future, schaub is and if he isn't then rick smith will bring in a new starting qb.
I know we have Demeco Ryans, Mario Williams, Roosevelt Colvin, Amobi Okoye, and Dunta Robinson (when healthy). This defense still has a lot of work to do to even be half the defense the bears, giants, chargers, or steelers have. Until we can stop the run and get much better at the pass rushing to a expert level i dont see us making the playoffs. I give our defense a C+. Even though we have two potential 2008 pro bowlers on defense.