DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

All-Time Texans Team - Defense - DE

Aug 20, 2008 All-Time Texans, Anthony Weaver is a thief, Super Mario

Picking up where we left off a while ago.  On the defensive side of things, we’ve already hit FS (C.C. Brown), SS (sadly, also C.CN. Brown), and MLB (DeMeco Ryans).  I think BFD gave up on the offense, though, when he realized he’d have to pick a LT.  Up next, Defensive End.

I decided to go with DE as a single position, but with the understanding that I will pick two players.  This is because (a) the position is one of the more fungible ones, relatively speaking, and (b) the role of the 3-4 DE and 4-3 DE differs a bit, so it’s just easier if I lump all the DEs together and choose based on performance in the system at the time.

The Candidates:
Gary Walker
Jerry DeLoach
Corey Sears
Robaire Smith
Anthony Weaver
Mario Williams

The first DE spot is a no-brainer.  Mario, welcome to the All-Time team.

The second spot, however, is a little tougher. Gary Walker transitioned from a DT in Jacksonville to become a Pro-Bowl DE in Houston in 2002 with 6.5 sacks and 52 tackles.  Unfortunately injuries to his shoulder and his groin limited Walker after 2002 and, though he started 30 more games over three seasons, he was never close to his 2002 level.

Jerry DeLoach started two full seasons (and parts of two others) at DE for your Texans.  And he sucked.  Badly.

Corey Sears was a starter for 12 games in one season (2003) and was non-descript.  Meaning, of course, that he inspired less anger than Jerry DeLoach did.

Anthony Weaver…guh.

Meaning, lame as it is, the only competition for Gary Walker on this squad is Robaire Smith.  Smith never put up good sack numbers, but watching him play, you could hardly blame him.  The team was using an almost-textbook 3-4, sending LBs (notably the woefully-out-of-place Jason Babin and Kailee Wong) on blitzes to get after the passer and smith was a 4-3 DT playing a 3-4 DE role.  He did defend 13 passes in his two seasons and he also posted 121 tackles over that same time.  Not bad.  Solid, even.

SO…do you go with the guy who had one very good year and was then wrecked by injury or the guy who had two solid years where he did exactly what he was expected to do?  Well, given the inability this team has in getting QB pressure over the years, coupled with my preference for big play DEs, I am going with Gary Walker.  Congrats, Gar.