DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Texans by the numbers

Aug 21, 2008 2008 Season, Andre Johnson, Awesomeness, David Anderson's Dance Party, Hi Steve!, K-Dub, RB free-for-all, Stats

Just in case you were wondering, here are some preseason statistics for your Houston Texans.  Grains of salt optional, but recommended.

QB

Matt Schaub: 18-21 (85.7%), 10.3 YPC, 2 TD, 0 INT, 0 Sack, 141.3 rating
S. Rosenfels: 16-23 (69.6%), 10.0 YPC, 1 TD, 0 INT, 1 Sack, 116.4 rating

Analysis: Ladies and gentlemen, Matt Schaub is your QB now and for the foreseeable future.  Even without context, he has been better than Sage.  Then, once you factor in that Matt’s passes have come against mainly first-stringers and Sage’s have come against mainly second-stringers, the distinction becomes even more clear.  Schaub absolutely put on a clinic against New Orleans.  Here’s hoping he keeps it going against Dallas.

RB

Steve Slaton: 24 carries, 94 yards (3.9/carry), 1 TD, 0 fumbles
Chris Taylor: 22 carries, 53 yards (2.4/carry), 1 TD, 0 fumbles
Darius Walker: 8 carries, 29 yards (3.6/carry), 0 TD, 0 fumbles
Chris Brown:    8 carries, 19 yards (2.4/carry), 0 TD, 0 fumbles
Ahman Green:  0 anything because he’s a big ol’ mangina.

Analysis: I included the fumbles just because that was one of two knocks against Slaton.  The other was that he was too small, though, as people have noted, he seems to have added around 15 lbs of muscle to his frame since the Combine.  And, if you watched the second half of the Saints game, Slaton was the MAN.  His TD run involved slipping one tackle, then lowering his shoulder and driving for an additional two yards.  I’d like to see him named starter from the jump, but regardless, if he’s not starting by week 3, I’ll be shocked.  Also, Ahman Green and Chris Brown…ewww.

WR

D. Anderson: 9 catches, 128 yards (14.2 YPC), 1 TD
Kevin Walter: 7 catches, 105 yards (15.0 YPC), 1 TD
Andre’ Davis: 4 catches, 46 yards (11.5 YPC), 0 TD
Jacoby Jones: 2 catches, 61 yards (30.5 YPC), 0 TD

Analysis: Looking at that list, two things jump out at me:  (1) Matt Schaub’s numbers are even better when you realize he hasn’t been able to throw to Andre Johnson a single time this preseason, and (2) our passing attack has the potential to be ridiculously good this year.  When you add in AJ, you have four receivers (plus Jacoby) who all bring a little something different to the mix and who create all sorts of matchup problems for opposing coverages.  The real question is whether we run four wide more often than last year (when I believe we were 30th or 31st in the league in number of plays) and if we are more efficient in the shotgun spread formations (where we were not very good at all last season).  If Slaton gives us merely as much as Ron Dayne gave us last year—which I don’t think is asking a lot—I think the answer to both of those questions is yes.