DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

All or nothing

Jul 23, 2007 Free Agency, National Media, Preview, Rumors, Training camp 2007

Reader Dan points to this article by Redskins Insider Jason La Canfora (picked up by Rotoworld) regarding Keenan McCardell. According to La Canfora

[I h]eard the veteran WR has agreed to terms with Houston, as expected. The Skins had some serious interest in him, but only at the right price - the [veteran minimum]. He lives in Houston and if he was going to sign anywhere for that kind of money it was going to be there.

Now, I have not yet been able to verify this report, but I am inclined to believe it. After all, dollars being equal, why wouldn’t he sign with us?

Assuming the veracity of said article, what does this mean for the Texans?

McCardell joins the logjam at WR2, but I have to think he is going to be given the first best chance to win the job. Just looking at the raw numbers over the last five years, however, I think one has to temper his expectations of what McCardell can do. Best case scenario, we are probably looking at 65 catches, 850 yards, and 7 TDs. Worst case scenario, he resembles Eric Moulds, circa 2006. Unfortunately, at least for planning purposes, each of those scenarios is as likely as the other.

We can argue all day long whether McCardell is the right guy to “teach” Jones and Walter how to be starting NFL receivers. I suppose it depends on what level of instruction you are looking for–if you mean “show them some tips and tricks for playing at this level,” then he can do that in spades; if you mean “take them under his wing and groom them to replace him,” I don’t see Keenan going that far. What he will bring, though, is a higher level of competition for the WR2 position. I get the feeling, just from McCardell’s quotes around the time of his workout that he sincerely plans on making the team and starting all sixteen games. (Sure, maybe it’s just to pad his career numbers, but it’s better than just signing for a paycheck.) This means that Jones & Walter & Apostrophe & Anderson & Bethel & Adams & Mr. Glass are all going to have to work that much harder to make the team.

Speaking of making the team, the Texans broke camp last year with 5 WRs. If they take that same number this year, who are the odd men out? Johnson is in. Jones is in. Walter is likely in. Which means you have 5 or 6 guys competing for 2 spots. My guess is that Apostrophe and McCardell round out the squad.

Ever intrepid, I’ll keep looking for some sort of confirmation of this rumor. You can click here for DGDB&D’s discussion of KMc.

UPDATE: I emailed Carmine Pirone and Nicholas Scurfield of houstontexans.com and asked about the rumor. Pirone’s response was a simple “Not true.” So–for now, at least–there you go. Somewhere, Apostrophe Davis just relaxed a little.