DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Sashay, Shantee

Aug 4, 2007 Andre Johnson, Athletes who don't stab people, Chocodiles, Jerome Mathis got hurt reading this, Michigan Wolverines, Posts that list too many players, Shantee Orr, Shawn Barber and Danny Clark

Going into camp, two pretty wide-spread assumpion were that Jerome Mathis would wind up being cut and Shantee Orr would compete with Charlie Anderson for the starting SLB role.

Oh, how things can change in a week.

First of all, it appears that Mathis is healthy and playing well at WR. (Plus, he’s still really friggin’ fast.)

It’s the best football practice he’s had since I’ve been here, Kubiak said of Mathis. There was a little buzz tonight, some people out here. You can tell his juices are flowing, and if he keeps this up and stays on the field, he’s going to have a special year. We’ve just got to keep him going. He hasn’t worked much at receiver, but he’s progressing. That was nice to see the things he did tonight.”

Then, today, we get this nugget from camp:

WR Jerome Mathis continued his fine play, with several catches, including a leaping one that covered 40 yards.

So… where does that leave us? At first blush, this development would seem to be the worst case scenario for Bethel Johnson. There is absolutely no reason to keep Mathis Lite on the team if the full-calorie version is healthy and productive. If we assume Mathis makes the team, that’s four spots filled (along with AJ, JJ, and K-Dub). I see no way we keep more than six WRs, meaning Apostrophe Davis, Keenan McCardell, David Anderson, the aforementioned Bethel, and a couple scrubs will be duking it out for two spots.

On the other side of the ball as well as the other side of the keep-drop ledger, Shantee Orr has apparently gone from being a starter in 2006 to being unemployed in 2007. Chalk it up to some combination of Orr’s nagging injury, Kubes’ affection for Charlie Anderson, Danny Clark’s versatility, Shawn Barber’s experience, and the emergence of Zac “Choco” Diles, but Shantee seems almost certain not to survive the first real round of cuts.

Linebacker Charlie Anderson hasn’t recorded a start in his three-year career with the Texans. But if his production in training camp is indicative of the future, that statistic may need to be revised, according to Kubiak.

“When I look at the defensive side of the ball, I think Charlie Anderson’s really separated himself,” Kubiak said. “When you look at the linebacker group, you look at Morlon (Greenwood), you look at DeMeco (Ryans), and you look at Charlie. Then right away you go to Zac Diles, and you go to Danny Clark. Shawn (Barber) is missing time, but Shawn looked good. You look at those six, and chances are you’re going to keep six. Those guys have kind of distinguished themselves day in and day out.”

One notable omission from that list is last year’s starting outside linebacker Shantee Orr. Orr has been slowed by injuries this camp, and the fifth-year pro out of Michigan will need to return quickly in order to compete for his roster spot, let alone his old job, Kubiak said.

“He got bruised, some type of bruise the first day of practice, and just continues to not be able to be out here,” Kubiak said. “It’s very important for him to get out here for him to make this football team.”

I fully admit to being a pro-Shantee guy. Hell, I’ve posted at least twice that I thought he would be the starter and would have a pretty good season. That said, I am far from broken up about this; if the linebacking corps is so solid this year that we can cut one of last year’s starters, that is a good thing.