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Kickoff
by MattSeeing the world through Rosy-colored glasses. Via reader Charlie, we get the breaking news that Rosevelt Colvin is going to sign with the Texans. I plan on doing a bigger post about him and, more importantly, the impact of this signing on our 4-3 later, but I wanted to mention it here as well as point to this post over at Stampede Blue. Suck it, BBS. (Seriously, Greenwood “stinks?” Do you watch football?)
If the Queen had balls, she’d be the King. Via Eric, a WhatIfSports breakdown of the AFC South. Guess who they have in last, with a record of 6-10. Now guess which blogger thinks the person who wrote said article is a cockrag. That’s right.
Nerd. Recently, the Texans launched ImATexan.com, which is like myspace for Texans fans. Which, yes, is as awful and lame as it sounds. Judging from the comments around there, though, I’ve got to give the fans a little credit–they are true believers. ”I know we’ll win the division this year… 12-4…” “10-6 at the very least.”
Me reed? Finally, just like last year, I return from vacation with a couple book recommendations. First, for the real dorks in the crowd (read: all you engineering fellows), I present Bad Astronomy. The author also runs badastronomy.com, and just like at the website, his book breaks down the myths and just plain stupid shit that people believe when it comes to Earth and sky. Very informative. Second, I know I am years late on this one, but When Pride Still Mattered is a fantastic book and one every football fan should read.
June 16th, 2008 by Matt Book Review, Colts Shmolts, Colvin, I really dig my readers, Kickoff, Vacation-related posts Trackback
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June 16th, 2008 at 7:58 am
Fucking. Awesome. Makes me wonder if it spells the end of ND Kalu as a Texan.
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June 16th, 2008 at 8:08 am
bfd-
I don’t know Kalu has been pretty good for us, so if anybody goes I would have to say it would be Tim Bulman for the DL and Chaun Thompson could be in trouble as he was supposed to be our 3rd down pass rusher opposite Mario.
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June 16th, 2008 at 8:11 am
Counting their simulated “average scores,” I get 7-9, not 6-10. I have a hard time trusting simulations of a season from people who can’t do arithmetic.
I actually really like the look of that schedule. I can see us beating the Ravens (lots of instability there), Dolphins (lots of suck there), Lions (ibid), Vikings (our weakness has been pass defense… I’m sure Tavaris Jackson will rape us… yeah…), Bengals (broken team), Browns (regression), Packers (I think it’ll take Aaron Rodgers at least a year to be ready), Raiders (hahaha what a shitty team), and the Bears (they have even less offense than in years past). I’d be astonished if we don’t take at least 1 game from the Titans, and surprised if we can’t steal one from the Jags, too.
Really, the only games I don’t like the look of are the opener on the road against Pittsburgh and, of course, playing the Colts. But even with those, anything can happen in the season opener as teams try to figure out what they’ve got, and we’re certainly capable of beating the Colts, especially if Andre Johnson isn’t hurt again.
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June 16th, 2008 at 8:45 am
I haven’t thought it all the way through - I have an extremely busy real work day - but here’s my logic:
1. Kalu’s role has, essentially, been that of situational pass rusher.
2. Kalu is 73 years old.
3. Chaun can play LB, as well.
4. Chaun can play special teams.
5. Chaun is not 73 years old.
6. Rosy will take over as the situational rusher.
7. BBS knows as much about football as do the idiots from RealFootball365.
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Bulman is already on the fringe and had to beat Kalu or Cochran, essentially. Because Bulman can play both DT and DE, there may be some swing-man value there. So, I do see Kalu as being the odd man out in this equation. Definitely up for discussion.
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June 16th, 2008 at 9:29 am
Colvin is bringing his magical (regular season) undefeated powers to the Texans! We’re like *totally* winning the division this year! Super Bowl bound!!!
/my guess at what a typical ImATexan.com post looks like
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June 16th, 2008 at 10:40 am
@grungedave - Yeah, the news broke at Texanstalk.com and the parrots are all over it. Talking about “colvin is the piece that’s been missing the last seven years…” or whatever.
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I’ve been very tempered in my assessment of Colvin’s potential to contribute. People are talking about him having “double digit sack totals because he’ll be a DE like he was in Chicago” - which is bullshit - dude only did that situationally from the OLB spot - not to mention the dude did that six years ago in the prime of his career.
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Rosie C is going to be 31… Even with the Pat’s dominating defense, he didn’t reach double digits. He’s had solid numbers there, but that’s playing in the 3-4, which is supposed to create sacks from the OLB position. If we do play him at situational DE, does he still have the quicks (with the hip and the ankle) to get to the QB? At 250, he’s going to be giving up almost 75 lbs to the starting tackles in this league. He better have his PF Flyers tied tight…
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Fuck it. Bring him in and I’ll be his biggest fan. I’m just curious how many people are going to willingly eat their words if he has a Weaver-like season.
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June 16th, 2008 at 10:49 am
@Solis-I’ll gladly eat my words if I am wrong. Hell, I’ve done it before. Here’s the thing (and you kind of touched on it): He won’t be playing DE qua DE in our 4-3 because he’s not the right size. BUT (and that’s a big but) using him as a situational DE as well as playing him at SLB creates two different (but equally important) pass rushing scenarios for him. Hell, if Shantee Orr can put up good sack numbers from the SLB slot in our 4-3, Colvin should be able to as well.
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As for his numbers in NE, only one season was he used as a starter rather than a plug-in pass rusher. In that season, he got 8.5. Not double-digits, but close. And, even then, he was frequently spelled for other LBs on first, second-and-short, etc., meaning that he didn’t get any of the freebie or “easy” sacks that every down players get from time to time.
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But, put it another way: If he only plays passing downs and we get 8 sacks and 60 tackles from him, do you think that production will trump what Weaver or Diles will give you on those same downs?
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June 16th, 2008 at 11:33 am
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That’s the $64 question. I think we’re all in agreement that this deal has shades of Green all over it - right? A pedigreed player, hitting his thirties, brought in to fill a glaring hole. Sounds familiar.
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For the money, will he deliver? And if is production is so-so, let’s say five sacks, thirty-nine tackles… are those numbers that could have been had by a hungrier Diles or a re-energized Weaver? Who’s to say. I haven’t swayed much from my initial assessment from last Feb - and I could be totally wrong by not giving enough credit to Rich Smith, but this deal, if it works out the way I think it will, has a higher risk than potential reward.
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I just don’t see Colvin being a dominating force given his age and his past injuries. God I hope I’m wrong.
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June 16th, 2008 at 11:35 am
I totally fucked that quote thing up. Damn you wordpress.
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I meant to quote “do you think that production will trump what Weaver or Diles will give you on those same downs?”
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I guess that’s par for a Monday.
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June 16th, 2008 at 11:37 am
Agreed. That is the big question.
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Another reason I am in favor of this move is because I am a proponent of using that kind of flexibility to throw an infinite number of packages and looks at the opponent, a la the Philadelphia Eagles defense.
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June 16th, 2008 at 12:57 pm
I just hope he can stay healthy. There are a lot of sacks up for grabs on our defense with the attention that Mario and Okoye are going to get. We just need somebody competent to beat a tight-end or chip-blocking FB off the line. Weaver can´t do it, and hopefully Colvin has a little more left in the tank than Kalu does.
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June 16th, 2008 at 1:01 pm
Oh, and I was just thinking.. Trade for Elvis Dumervil, anyone? Denver drafted Jarvis Moss and Tim Crowder last year, so they aught to be set at DE. What they need is somebody who can stop the run, and as much hate as there is for Travis Johnson, he can sorta do it. Perhaps some sort of TJ + Morlon for Dumervil could be in order. TJ and Greenwood would help them stop the run, and Dumervil could collect double-digit sacks here. Meanwhile, Adibi or Diles could slide over and play WLB.
Just a thought.
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June 16th, 2008 at 10:43 pm
@Nash - I don’t know how plausible that would be - but I like the way you think!
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June 17th, 2008 at 3:48 am
Nash. That would be highway robbery. Here’s hoping Denver would be that dumb.
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June 17th, 2008 at 8:33 am
@Nash: Plus, Denver has serious cap problems, which is how we got Myers so cheap.
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June 17th, 2008 at 10:28 am
Hey, any word on Colvin’s numbers/contract? The Indy article suggests that we are showing him the money. I just don’t want it to be a too stupid contract, just a reasonable risk contract.
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As for the Texans MySpace thingy, yeah, it is teh ghey, but a lot of people don’t feel comfortable with MBs and blogs and if it is a way to make fans feel more invested with the team, then it can be a good thing.
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Social networks can be used for a lot of things, and eventually the Texans will be able to use this as another way to communicate to fans about things like Pro Bowl voting and the like. They are trying to reduce the distance between the people who run things and the fans, so I can’t knock them for that.
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Oh and some love: http://www.imatexan.com/profiles/Texans_Chick/profile_blogs.asp?POST_ID=113
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Personally, I see the site as just another way to communicate with fans and help them out some.
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Oh, and a way for guys to say they are friends with the Texans Cheerleaders.
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June 17th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Oh, I apparently didn´t grasp how ridiculous that trade sounded when I wrote it. It all hinges on Kyle beating Mike in a game of horse, or something like that. Still, depending on how much faith they have in Moss and Crowder, Dumervil aught to be a tradeable asset. Shanahan definitely doesn´t like having the worst run defense in the league, and starting a situational pass-rusher at DE certainly isn´t solving the problem.