Remember kids: Don’t be safety blinded; be safety minded!
Aug 28, 2007 2008 Draft, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Free Agency, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Secondary issues are primary, Teams that aren't the Texans
I hate the be the bearer of bad news. Actually, wait… that’s not true. I generally LOVE to be the bearer of bad news, so long as I am not impacted by it. I have a well developed sense of schadenfreude. Unfortunately, this news does impact me (and most of you) as a Texans fan.
Here’s the deal: Barring a whole lot of unforeseen disasters or player developments, it is pretty much a given that we have to address the secondary in the 2008 offseason. Most likely, we will be looking at either or both safety positions, but that supposition hinges on Faggins or Bennett or Fletcher (or whomever) turning in at least an average performance at CB2.
The bad news, though, is that it looks right now like the pickings at safety are going to be extremely thin, both in terms of draft and free agents. On the college front, there appear to be no safeties in the top 40 overall prospects. The highest ranked safety (according to ESPN) checks in at number 42, is 5′8″/180, and inspires such comments as, “he’s a safety prospect that actually lacks ideal size for a cornerback” and, “not afraid to mix it up but he gets lost in a crowd too often when filling versus the run.” Awesome. And it does downhill from there. Only two of the players are currently graded by Scouts, Inc., as at least an 80. More than a few are slow. Many have horrible footwork, hips, or both. Be still, my beating heart.
On the potential free agent front, only one name jumps out–Mike Doss. He’s not exactly durable and he did go to Ohio State (which means that he hates all that is good in the world), but he’s a playmaker and a big hitter. Unfortunately, like I said, he’s the only guy out there that a Texans fan could actively covet, as other names include Jordan Babineaux and William Bartee.
I am fully aware that a lot can change between now and the end of the season. One of the Brandons could develop into a good safety. One or more of the college players could have worked hard this summer to develop into the next LaRon Landry. Nuclear apocalypse could render this whole discussion rather trivial. Etc. Assuming none of that happens, though, the odds are looking fairly good that we are going to have to find our starting 2008 secondary from within the organization. I think we’ve heard that song before.
