It’s that time of the year. Basketball is far away and the 2007 NFL season is rapidly approaching. Thank god for 2 more weeks. Thanks to the local Astros, this has been a long, terrible summer. Thankfully the Houston Texans training camp and pre season has kept me occupied. I have been a die hard fan of this team since their inception. Might I add, im a real fan, unlike others who jump ship when the team doesn’t go the direction they want. A la Vince Young. Through the last 5 years, I have seen two different regimes, two different quarterbacks, some good and bad draft choices and some decisions that do make you scratch your head. Im hear to tell you, these are not my freshman year of college Texans. A few things i've seen and know.
1. Far from the Capers and Casserly era, our new GM and coach, Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak respectively, seem to know what they are doing regarding a football team. They have made smart decisions within the draft and free agency. Let me start by the notion of Mario Williams being a bust and undoubtedly the wrong choice. In a way I mostly agree that he was the wrong choice #1 overall, because VY would have raised the standards of the Texans a year sooner than what they are now. (Might I add, the standards are higher now than they have ever been). Mario is not or will not be a bust. Ill explain later. Kubiak and Co. have found street free agents and made them into potential starters and added depth. In the 2nd round of last year’s draft, we picked up the reigning defensive ROY in Demeco Ryans. 32 other teams passed on him which makes him an excellent choice. In the 5 round, we picked Owen Daniels whose production slipped towards the end of the season because of injuries. Daniels still almost produced 500 yard receiving. Two tackles were chosen in Eric Winston and Charles Spencer. Both started most of the season with Spencer suffering a career threaten injury. Winston will be a future pro bowler, mark my words. It’s too early to rank this class but early results show it as a top ten class that would make even Mack Brown proud.
2. Carr is gone. This in itself helps the Texans in many ways. He single handedly crippled the Texans. He held on to the ball too long and by watching Schaub in training camp, you can tell the new #8 adds more to this team than Carr ever could. Schaub gets the ball out and finds the open man. No more force feeding the ball to Andre Johnson and bad throws. I haven’t seen one bad throw by Schaub in preseason. Yes, I know it isn’t the regular season, but it is still impressive. His teammates respect him more and he has added a contagious swagger to the offense.
3. Better skill players. With the added dimension of 3rd round pick Jacoby Jones out of Lane College, our WR core is almost complete. We have speed, veterans and possesional type receivers. Kevin Walter may not be the best #2, but he runs great routes and doesn’t mind doing whatever it takes to help the team. Jones plays so many spots, it’s hard for opponents to defend him. Everyone has seen what he has done to our punt return game so watch out for him. (Great 3rd round choice Smith). Let’s not forget Ahman Green. He may not be in his prime but he is still a better back than anything we have ever had. He hits the hole hard and can block. He won’t be relied on to carry 20 plus times a game so people won’t have to be cautious of him being injured. That should make all those fantasy owners happy.
4. The offensive line can actually block. I don’t care much for Salaam at LT and he is our weak spot but as a unit since last year, you can see the difference in what they have become with Schaub under center. Winston is steady at RT and so is Chester Pitts at RG. At LG Fred Weary is pretty average but still good enough for our zone blocking scheme. With zone blocking its more of being a unit than individually being a great blocker.
5. The defense is ready to break through. We don’t have all the playmakers we need in the secondary but we are suffice for now. Dunta Robinson is becoming a household name alongside Faggins who is ok. Watch out for Jamar Fletcher. He can be scary good as a nickel corner. Our line backing crew is set with Morlon Greenwood and Danny ‘Hammer” Clark next to our reigning ROY. On paper, our Dline looks great but needs to play up to its potential. Amobi Okoye and Travis Johnson have shown flashes but aren’t there yet. Hopefully this is the season we see dominance with this line. With the moves I have seen made, im optimistic they will get it together. Mario Williams is not the key to this season. Whoever is on the other end spot is. Whether it is Babin or Orr, Mario has to have a disruptive speed rusher next to him for him to be overly effective. As a run stuffer, Mario is our top defensive man and is dominant with it. His problem is that he is not a pass rusher to the dismay of many. At NC State he had Manny Lawson racking up the sacks while Mario played the intimidator. His sacks came from team’s game planning on stopping Lawson and his speed. It may be a few seasons before we see the Mario Williams- Julius Peppers comparisons ever being similar. I don’t see it happening but it’s something to shoot for. He being the #1 pick was a reach, yes, but he is a good player now, so no reason not to expect more and better consistency with him. VY would have been the better pick but it’s not Mario’s fault where he was picked, so haters get over it.
Ill never become a Titans fan. My loyalty and Houstonian insurance wouldn’t allow it plus outside of Vince, they are the 05 Texans. Hate it or love it, a legacy is building. Prediction Texans 9-7.
1. Far from the Capers and Casserly era, our new GM and coach, Rick Smith and Gary Kubiak respectively, seem to know what they are doing regarding a football team. They have made smart decisions within the draft and free agency. Let me start by the notion of Mario Williams being a bust and undoubtedly the wrong choice. In a way I mostly agree that he was the wrong choice #1 overall, because VY would have raised the standards of the Texans a year sooner than what they are now. (Might I add, the standards are higher now than they have ever been). Mario is not or will not be a bust. Ill explain later. Kubiak and Co. have found street free agents and made them into potential starters and added depth. In the 2nd round of last year’s draft, we picked up the reigning defensive ROY in Demeco Ryans. 32 other teams passed on him which makes him an excellent choice. In the 5 round, we picked Owen Daniels whose production slipped towards the end of the season because of injuries. Daniels still almost produced 500 yard receiving. Two tackles were chosen in Eric Winston and Charles Spencer. Both started most of the season with Spencer suffering a career threaten injury. Winston will be a future pro bowler, mark my words. It’s too early to rank this class but early results show it as a top ten class that would make even Mack Brown proud.
2. Carr is gone. This in itself helps the Texans in many ways. He single handedly crippled the Texans. He held on to the ball too long and by watching Schaub in training camp, you can tell the new #8 adds more to this team than Carr ever could. Schaub gets the ball out and finds the open man. No more force feeding the ball to Andre Johnson and bad throws. I haven’t seen one bad throw by Schaub in preseason. Yes, I know it isn’t the regular season, but it is still impressive. His teammates respect him more and he has added a contagious swagger to the offense.
3. Better skill players. With the added dimension of 3rd round pick Jacoby Jones out of Lane College, our WR core is almost complete. We have speed, veterans and possesional type receivers. Kevin Walter may not be the best #2, but he runs great routes and doesn’t mind doing whatever it takes to help the team. Jones plays so many spots, it’s hard for opponents to defend him. Everyone has seen what he has done to our punt return game so watch out for him. (Great 3rd round choice Smith). Let’s not forget Ahman Green. He may not be in his prime but he is still a better back than anything we have ever had. He hits the hole hard and can block. He won’t be relied on to carry 20 plus times a game so people won’t have to be cautious of him being injured. That should make all those fantasy owners happy.
4. The offensive line can actually block. I don’t care much for Salaam at LT and he is our weak spot but as a unit since last year, you can see the difference in what they have become with Schaub under center. Winston is steady at RT and so is Chester Pitts at RG. At LG Fred Weary is pretty average but still good enough for our zone blocking scheme. With zone blocking its more of being a unit than individually being a great blocker.
5. The defense is ready to break through. We don’t have all the playmakers we need in the secondary but we are suffice for now. Dunta Robinson is becoming a household name alongside Faggins who is ok. Watch out for Jamar Fletcher. He can be scary good as a nickel corner. Our line backing crew is set with Morlon Greenwood and Danny ‘Hammer” Clark next to our reigning ROY. On paper, our Dline looks great but needs to play up to its potential. Amobi Okoye and Travis Johnson have shown flashes but aren’t there yet. Hopefully this is the season we see dominance with this line. With the moves I have seen made, im optimistic they will get it together. Mario Williams is not the key to this season. Whoever is on the other end spot is. Whether it is Babin or Orr, Mario has to have a disruptive speed rusher next to him for him to be overly effective. As a run stuffer, Mario is our top defensive man and is dominant with it. His problem is that he is not a pass rusher to the dismay of many. At NC State he had Manny Lawson racking up the sacks while Mario played the intimidator. His sacks came from team’s game planning on stopping Lawson and his speed. It may be a few seasons before we see the Mario Williams- Julius Peppers comparisons ever being similar. I don’t see it happening but it’s something to shoot for. He being the #1 pick was a reach, yes, but he is a good player now, so no reason not to expect more and better consistency with him. VY would have been the better pick but it’s not Mario’s fault where he was picked, so haters get over it.
Ill never become a Titans fan. My loyalty and Houstonian insurance wouldn’t allow it plus outside of Vince, they are the 05 Texans. Hate it or love it, a legacy is building. Prediction Texans 9-7.
6 comments:
"Might I add, the standards are higher now than they have ever been"
That's really saying something.
"He won’t be relied on to carry 20 plus times a game so people won’t have to be cautious of him being injured. That should make all those fantasy owners happy."
Way to jinx him. You're worse than Madden with that shit.
And you're talking about these dudes like they're damn near a flawless team. Talk about the fact that they've looked good in the preseason before, and have flaked out in the reg season. Talk about how until Saturday's game against Dallas, their run game has been up and down to put it nicely. Talk about how Mario and Amobi Okeye (who I actually like) were getting pushed around and almost consistently late on the majority of plays.
9-7? We all know you're kidding yourself with that shit. The Texans ain't balling, they pump-faking.
TITANNNNNNNSSSSSS!
Your right, i expect greater things from them. Losing seasons are no longer acceptable
No team is flawless, especially the Titans. If they were, Vince would be able to pass. I hope the Titans dont mess up the #1 pick next year. Maybe VY will find someone to pass to there.
Trey wrote:
Way to jinx him. You're worse than Madden with that shit.
And you're talking about these dudes like they're damn near a flawless team. Talk about the fact that they've looked good in the preseason before, and have flaked out in the reg season. Talk about how until Saturday's game against Dallas, their run game has been up and down to put it nicely. Talk about how Mario and Amobi Okeye (who I actually like) were getting pushed around and almost consistently late on the majority of plays.
9-7? We all know you're kidding yourself with that shit. The Texans ain't balling, they pump-faking.
TITANNNNNNNSSSSSS!
...Sounds like someone can’t lay off the haterade. The only pump faking going on around here is your grossly underestimating this squad. Not saying it’s a lock that we go 9-7 but it’s not out of the norm either. The most important thing you fail to recognize is that Kubs has the right system installed to coincide with the talent present. Comparing this unit with any other under achieving unit in the past is blatant negligence on your part. We haven’t staffed a roster this good since our inception.
I don’t know if you’re a Titans fan or not but trust me when I say an entire team can’t ride the coattails of 1 player. If we ain’t "BALLIN" then rest assure that the Titans damn sure ain’t ballin either, unless you think that stable of overrated backs and one trick pony receiving core is capable of showing any semblance of cohesion ... I suggest you line up Vincent all over the field because the Titans are going to be poster child for mediocrity this season.
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