christ on a tortilla, you would think I insulted someone's mother. Doesn't Martin being flexible lend to the possibility of moving to another position should the situation call for it? BoB loves multiple positions, so if he wants to open the offensive line kamasutra I'd rather have it in the preseason then in the middle where missed assignments are happening. I can see Martin starting at center or Martin starting at guard with Filo at center or anyone not named Brown, flipped flopped. And it wouldn't be a disappointment if Martin isn't the starting center. It takes 2 years for linemen to find their groove. Silly to give up on filo or clowney.
Did I sound upset or cuss you out in my reply? I just disagreed with you and you respond with "you would think I insulted someone's mother"? Really? lol And I explained why I disagreed with you. When was the last time Sua Filo played any meaningful minutes at center? Martin and Bergstrom did last year so they have a better chance to start at center than Sua Filo does. Why do you think Sua Filo is more suited to play there than them? And I'm not suggesting giving up on Sua Filo. The guard position is his to lose. If he remains at guard then either Bergstrom or Martin would be his backup as well as backup center.
Agreed, there are a lot of questions marks. -two of our best players sustained serious injuries, and Brown is getting older -Brock has better tools and potential than the QBs we had last year, but he was only average in the games he played in Denver -our OL probably got downgraded because of the loss of brooks -we are still missing a de -we are still missing a TE -our lbs still can't cover anyone -safety still a question mark -Wilfork and Joseph getting old That said we have reason to be optimistic too: -no more carousel at QB -an explosive solution at rb -young guys like Clowney, Covington, mumphery, Kevin Johnson and even Mercilus and Hopkins can keep getting better -most of the same, solid defense is back -New targets on offense, though as rookies they are a year or two away My concerns are as usual mostly how bob and Rick are building the roster. Theres been a solid core of star talent but I'm not sure they've taken it to the next level in the last 3 years. Most places have us forecast for 8 wins yet again
Those are reasons why I wasn't as excited as some on here about the draft I do think they addressed Wilfork through the draft and it may take some time but I think the OL should be okay. I'm most concerned about Duane Brown's recovery on the line. I don't trust Chris Clark as a starter. I also think this schedule is a little tougher than last year's (God help us with all those prime time games). I'm excited about the new assistant coaches and the effect (and personnel) they have. There should be a big improvement in the passing game and special teams.
Nobody is giving up on XSF...but he's not a center, Martin is. XSF mostly played tackle and guard at UCLA. And he's been a guard his entire tenure with the Texans. Bringing in a retired Chris Myers would be better for the Texans at center than XSF playing that position. It's nothing against Filo...but we have better options at center, even if one of the options is just a rookie.
It's funny I think 2 of the 3 you highlighted are totally overblown. I don't think Crick was so productive that you can't plug someone in for him and get the same production. I don't think TE is as bad as some think, you have a solid starter that can block and catch and you have 2 receiving only TE's behind him. I mean that's not going to set the world on fire, but it's decent. The linebackers who can't cover anyone might be a problem, but I'm willing to wait and see on that one. I'm hoping Cushing gets some of his quickness back now that he finally gets an off-season without rehabbing from injury.
I think we are a year away from really putting things together. I liked our 2015 draft and Im definitely fan of this years draft. I think next draft will have a defensive emphasis...and getting faster there, similar to what we saw with the offense this season. I like the direction we are going, but I do believe that our chemistry is going to take some time to gel...and our schedule doesnt help. I think getting 8-9 wins will actually be an improvement over last season. I think 2017 is the year where we really turn the corner.
The good thing about our schedule is we face the Pats without Brady and the road game with oakland is in Mexico city
Agreed, assuming our offense plays up to expectations, I see us drafting jojo's replacement, a stud de opposite watt, and possibly cushing's replacement. We also still need to address the safety positions.
Osweiler has a good chance to be better just on the strength of his arm and has shown he is more elusive whereas Schaub was a bit of a statue. On those two aspects, I hope Osweiler is better. I don't expect it immediately though - he will have to gel with his offense.
When the lights were bright, Schaub too often turtled. Gaudy regular season passing numbers just don't excite me all that much. Brock not playing scared on the big stage is more important.
I hear you, but he didn't have gaudy offensive numbers anyway. However, he did perform (sometimes) after we were down 2+ scores and/or after seasons were already mostly lost.
Exactly. Pagan, Covington and or Still will be able to replace Crick's minute production. Shoots I believe one of them will do a much better job. Cushing maybe be getting older but he still led this defense in tackles with well over 100. That's pretty impressive, especially after having to rehab from two major knee surgeries. Clowney will also play much better this season as well I believe.
Stat wise you would take "Schaub" and just hope BO doesn't "curl up and die" in big games or when the game is on the line. Schaub's fortitude on the football field was what was lacking.
I would argue the the OL will be better. XSF should get better, Martin > Jones, Allen = Brooks. I think the Texans genuinely like Covington. Remember he had a major knee injury in college otherwise he may have been a 2nd or 3rd rounder. He is now another year removed from the injury and should be that much better. The TE's will be better because Fuller and the Millers will open up the field for them and allow them to get some mismatches against linebackers. Maybe Anderson could surprise here. The other concerns are legit.
This year will show how offensive line, defensive line, cornerbacks, linebacker play, all of it...equates to about 50-60% of your team's ability to win games. The rest? It's all up to the skill of the QB. A good QB can make up for a mediocre line (a great one can make up for a downright bad one). A good QB can put points up on the board even if the other team is scoring a lot too. in In aggregate, our team could be tangibly worse than last year's team aside from the QB position, but still we could end up with a better record. The answer is that it comes down to the QB. For that reason, I think Rick and Bob took our overall team needs going into the draft and threw it out the window, in favor of guys that could maximize our QB's ability to do well. I agree that the offensive line could have also been upgraded in order to improve Osweiler's performance, but you look at our roster now and it's not like we have a shortage of guys. It's just that we don't have any great ones. I'm not the biggest fan of this draft either; I'm just trying to legitimize it. If you ask me I would have done everything possible to make sure this team continued to have an elite defense, because that's another way, albeit harder, to get to a championship. Whatever happens, this year our team will look a ton different than the previous few incarnations. At worst I think it could be another 2009.
To me you are so wrong and our results show it. If nothing else we will have a dynamic offense. Will it work , who knows but we do know that your way does not work. If we go from a top 5 defense to a top 3 defense it will not matter if we cannot score, we did what was needed whether it works this year or not.
Think about the (threat of a) deep pass, from a strong arm, to (potentially) dynamic weapons like none this franchise has seen before, that opens up everything underneath for the run game and quick passes, that sustains drives, that alloys our defense more rest, making them more effective off top.
