DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

From reader and occasional guest-poster, Will “The Thrill”:

Here’s a point that hasn’t been brought up anywhere yet, and I think it’s the biggest problem facing the Texans.

We have to avoid, at all costs, getting into the “funk” we got into many of the games last year.  Not playing physical.  Not hitting people in the jaw.  Jags play physical and so do the Titans.

I remember being so mad during the second Titans game I left the sports bar at the half and watched the rest of the game from the house.  It wasn’t necessarily talent, it was just playing on their heels.

It’s a mental aspect, an intangible.  Is it coaching, or is it scheme?  It’s contagious, whatever it is.  At times it looked like the team wanted to curl up in a fetal position and find a happy place rather than hit someone in the mouth.  We need more “mean streaks” like you see in O-Line scouting reports.  BTW, is that the same as saying a girl is “sweet,” meaning their technique isn’t the best, but they’re mean?  She’s kinda fat, but she’ll still fuck.  [Awesome. --Ed.]

The strange thing is someone finally steps up, and then it’s like the team gets a Popeye can of spinach, and then everyone’s back in the game.  My favorite Maddenism is so true, “90% of the game is half mental.”  I forget what the spark was to the Titans comeback, but a big part of it could support the next argument.

We came back on the Titans when they started playing back on their heels on defense.  I firmly believe non aggression on defense can lead to playing on your heels.  Whether or not this is THE issue, it’s a major issue, as we’ve cited numerous times last year.

Maybe it’s coaching, and guys like Alex Gibbs and Ray Rhoades will keep a fire lit under people’s ass.

Speaking of Rhoades, when will some of the local media quit copying each other’s stories and look at Rhoades some more?  The Alex Gibbs deal has been re-run to death.  Give us some damn ax-cess!

You know, I hadn’t even thought about it because the season ended on such a high note, but Will is exactly right–there were times last year when it looked like the Texans were scared.  The Chargers game comes to mind [Side note: Fuck you, Drayton Florence] as one where they never snapped out of the “funk.”

I have two theories as to why this is, at least on our defensive side of the ball.  First, Richard Smith is mildly retarded and has no idea how to play aggressive defense and get the most out of what he has.  Unfortunately, he is still here.  Fortunately, Ray Rhodes is lurking and might give him a pointer or ninety.

Second, the Texans are a young team.  I haven’t looked at the numbers to back this up, but it’s my guess that young teams are more prone to getting overwhelmed early in a game and then being on their heels the rest of the day.  Of course, it’s that same youth that comes out fearless when they get some early breaks.

What say the rest of ye?

One of the odder things about me,¹ especially to people who have only known me for a relatively short time, is that I spent nearly two years working in a daycare. Even more strange, however, is that I still count that one as my favorite job I’ve ever had. During the school year, I would drive the (short) bus and take the school-age kids to their respective elementary schools, then spend the rest of the day in the three-year-old room, quietly crafting my unholy toddler army. But that is a story for a different day.

During the summer, however, I abandoned my post as three-year-old assistant teacher and was full-time in the school-age room. For the most part, I was responsible for driving us on field trips, delivering some kids to the community swimming program, and making sure no one got killed (which is harder than it sounds when you are the one wanting some of them to die). I also spent a great deal of time dominating nine-year-olds at basketball (on an 8-foot goal!) and wiffle ball. Those were the salad days.

Part of our summer program included something called Outdoor Teaching Activities, which we predictably shortened to OTAs. Ostensibly a way to teach the kids about science and nature, these were really nothing more than having them measure wind speed with bubbles or guess how many helium balloons it would take to lift object X five feet off the ground. Maybe they learned something, maybe they didn’t, but it got them outside and kept us (the teachers) sane. Plus, there is nothing more entertaining than watching a kid who throws like Lamar when he is on flat ground try to throw while standing on a balance beam. High comedy there.

ANYWAY, the point is that, to this day, when I hear “OTAs,” even in a Texans context, my mind does not go to 7-on-7 football and cone drills. Instead, I immediately picture Charles Spencer lighting leaves on fire with a magnifying glass and Zac Diles standing on top of a jungle gym with a bubble wand. I am nothing if not strange.

My own mental issues aside, however, OTAs continue in Texanland, entirely devoid of four-leaf clover searches and sidewalk chalk. And, as a blogger, I suppose I should get off my lazy ass² and mention them. First up, some choice quotes (and my less-than-choice reactions) from that font of wisdom and geyser of information, Gary Kubiak.

(on the possibility of a healthy QB Matt Schaub, RB Ahman Green and WR Andre Johnson) “Well, it means a great deal. Y’all saw how we played offensively when Ahman was available because he just brings a new dimension, and I think what we’re doing running the ball with Alex (Gibbs), I think Ahman’s really a nice fit with that and I think he’s gaining confidence in what we’re doing. The health of the football team’s important across the board, not just those three, but those three are pretty darn important.”

Not gonna lie to you, Gar…this isn’t exactly what I was hoping to hear. My hope was that you would say “Ahman? Ahman who? Oh, you mean that guy we are going to cut June 1? Yeah, F him.” In retrospect, I was probably hoping for too much, both from him last year and from you in this quote, but still.

Seriously, though, (1) I don’t see Green staying healthy and (2) I REALLY don’t see him thriving in the new system. His field vision is good enough, but methinks there are too many miles on those old legs to really get the explosive cuts that make the system effective.

Kubiak again:

(on the role of DE Anthony Weaver) “I think it could actually pick up for him because he’s healthy. He’s going through the offseason and he’s feeling as good as he’s ever felt. You always have to rotate D-linemen. I think maybe we’ll get a little more out of Anthony than last year just because we’re getting a good offseason out of him.”

Phew, that’s good. I was worried that we’d get less out him than last year. What’s that? There’s nothing less than zero? Oh…yeah…I suppose you are right.

Yes, yes, I know he was coming off a shoulder injury, so I will cut him a little slack. But when you are the highest paid player on the team, you only get so much slack. I really hope he does contribute like I thought he would when we signed him, because that would give us a monster D-line. I’m just not going to hold my breath here and I won’t be surprised one bit if BFD’s prediction of Chaun Thompson as a situational DE limits Weaver’s impact.

Other news and notes from the first three days of OTAs:

• **Unlike last year, the Texans website is no longer pluralizing OTA as OTA’s. This makes me exceedingly happy. And, because I wrote this last year, I am going to take credit for the change. Viva me!
• **DGDB&D whipping boy Petey Faggins is back and he’s mad! OK, not “mad,” really. More like, “hoping to still be on the team come opening day.” Says the seventh-year pro, “I just remembered all the good things that happened and got my confidence back up.” No offense, Pete, but I searched my memory long and hard for good things that happened to you and all I could come up with was you losing your starting job after the Chargers game.
• **I have a theory. If you face this everyday in practice, Kyle Vanden Bosch starts to look as intimidating as a midget driving a VW Beetle:

• **Finally, and as BFD mentioned, Andre Johnson is still on the shelf following minor knee surgery. It sounds crazy, but the health of that knee is likely the difference between 7-9 and 10-6. He is THAT important to the offense, as we saw over and over again last year. Here’s hoping he’s 100% come September.

¹ Which, if you know me, is really saying something.
² Figuratively, of course. Because who would type standing up?

If there’s one thing on which we can rely on Pancakes (except for cleaning his plate with his tongue), it’s his ability to be the Texans’ stenographer.  In his latest dictation, Pancakes is told that:

Even though (Duane) Brown played left tackle for only one season and offensive tackle for just three seasons at Virginia Tech, he’s going to get a baptismal by fire. In other words, assistant head coach Alex Gibbs and offensive line coach John Benton are going to put him in and let him learn on the run.

*gulp*

I’m not sure how much of this was strategized (heh) by the coaching staff in the off-season because it seems more like happy/life-threatening coincidence than anything else.  However, if the coaches do expect Brown to start right off the bat, then that explains why we kept Rosie Rosenfels, signed Quinn Gray, and drafted Alex Brink.  It could also explain why we’ve been trying to lure Commander Cody Carlson out of retirement {scours Internet for proof of rumor.  Can’t find it.}  Awww, fuck it, you read it here first!

I’m not saying Brown can’t handle LT…in two or three years, that is.  There simply aren’t many college tackles whose names don’t rhyme with Darcus NcPeel who can start and play at a high level in the NFL their rookie season.  That Brown has only been an OL for three years and a LT for one just magnifies the dysfunction of this decision.

Of course, the sense of urgency is driven by the fact that we’ll only get a year or two out of Alex Fucking Gibbs (h/t Steph).  I can’t blame the man for wanting to get his pet into the starting lineup ASAFP, but I’m not looking forward to Brown matching up with Kyle “Baby Eating-Sister Fucker” Vanden Bosch, Dwight “Kitten Crusher” Freeney, and Derrick “Peaches” Harvey twice a year.  Just scary, actually.

Brown is a project, and while I am normally for “trial by fire,” I think that we are taking our QB’s health a little too lightly with this decision.

——–

Echoing Matt, thanks to everybody who stops by to visit.  Life’s been extremely stressful lately, which is why I haven’t been too talkative, but I sincerely appreciate y’all.

——–

Finally, is there a better hard reporter covering the Texans these days than SOLIS?  His work simply embarrasses those who should be doing this kind of reporting for a living (aka, the entire staff of the Comicle).  Well done, man.

I love to quote myself as an authority in later conversations. It really disorients the listener and, if you are engaged in a debate of some sort, bolsters your own cred and you current argument at the same time. It works in pretty much any discussion.

“Man, Pacino is a much better actor than DeNiro.” “Actually, as I noted just two weeks ago, DeNiro’s range makes him a much better actor than Pacino.”

“I love creamy peanut butter.” “Interesting, but are you aware that I stated over a year ago that crunchy peanut butter is the bee’s knees?”

“You suck.” “Have you considered my findings of 4/12/06 that you are a shiteating cockrag?”

Anyway, with that in mind, I won’t be grading this year’s draft in any sort of conventional sense. Because, as I said in this blog’s inaugural post,

Speaking of “grading” the drafts, let me just say that I find the whole process asinine. The two most important things in a draft should be (a) filling needs and (b) taking the best available player to fill those needs (with an eye on not drafting a player too early). Unfortunately, most people seem to grade the draft by guessing what the drafted players will do in the NFL. Teams that get the Can’t Miss players automatically “score” higher. But, for every Reggie Bush, there are multiple Can’t Miss guys like Robert Gallery, Charles Rogers, and Joey Harrington. Even more to the point, there are plenty of guys in this and every draft taken after the first round or two who will become stars. So, when Kiper says that the Raiders did well because they got a “franchise QB” in JaMarcus Russell, he’s talking out of his ass. Which probably also has fantastically groomed hair.

I stand by that; grading a draft is stupid because it assumes you know what players are going to do. Or you are simply giving the best grades to the teams who got more of the players you rated highly beforehand, which is also stupid. So, aside from my esteemed co-blogger, who I would totally make out with if we weren’t both straight guys, anyone who grades a draft can go die in a fire.

What I will do, however, is offer a completely biased, utterly unscientific ranking of the players into categories of my own choosing. This is not a draft grade, it’s an arms race, ho. Or something like that.

Player Whose Selection I Absolutely Love:

Xavier Adibi–Well before people started declaring for the draft, Adibi was on my shortlist of LBs possibly coming out (along with Laurinitis and Beckwith). I even watched four VaTech games solely to keep an eye on him. So, yeah, you could say I am thrilled about this pick. He has insane lateral speed, a great nose for the ball, and I don’t think I ever saw him give up on a play. Plus, he knocks the shit out of people, seemingly just for fun sometimes. I dare say that, if he becomes the player I think he will, a trio of Adibi, Greenwood, and DeJesus gives us one of the best LB units in the league. At worst, his selection will push Zach Diles to become a better OLB, so it’s kind of win-win. In fact, the only person this selection is probably bad news for is Kevin Bentley–I don’t see us breaking camp with six linebackers and my guess is that we’ll take Adibi, DeMeco, Greenwood, Diles, and Thompson. (This is subject to change if BFD’s “Thompson as DE” theory pans out.)

Players Whose Selections Make Me Excited In A Non-Sexual Way:

Frank Okam–While I think BFD might be throwing out the ultimate absolute best-case scenario when he likens Okam to Shaun Rogers, I am a big fan of Frank. Given that I basically screamed for a NT non-stop over the last three months, getting a really bright guy who is 6′4″/350 and runs a 5.32 is like a dream come true. I am not buying the “move him to guard” talk for a second, as Okam is immediately the best NT prospect we have. Yes, that includes you, Trav, you underwhelming fuckhole. Anyway, getting Okam in Day 2 more than makes up for not getting Balmer with our first rounder in my book. Plus, I honestly think that his presence makes Amobi and Mario better this year, which should frighten the sweet tap-dancing Christ out of opposing QBs.

Steve Slaton–The thing that really excites me about Slaton is that I think we got a great bargain where we picked him. If you harken back to, say, August 2007, Slaton and Brian Brohm were talked about as early Heisman favorites. Now, neither had the season to back that up, but–in Slaton’s case, at least–I don’t think that’s entirely his fault. That WVU team had so many weapons in the backfield that I feel safe in assuming Steve merely got lost in the shuffle. Once Pat White started dominating with his legs in the spread, Slaton’s role was diminished and it was further hurt by the impact of Noel Devine and Owen Schmitt. *takes another sip of the Kool-Aid* Regardless of whether I am indulging in wishful thinking, one thing is for sure: Slaton is the potential homerun threat that we haven’t had since…um…ever.

Players Whose Selections Do Not Make Me Want To Kill Someone:

Antwaun Molden–We needed a CB according to many people and, other than DR-C (side note: Fuck you to death, Arizona), I wasn’t really wanting to take one with our first-round pick after overpaying Frenchy Reeves. So getting Molden answered both of my wishes with respect to this position. As others have more descriptively detailed, Molden is a physical corner and is a workout warrior. Reminds me of a certain Gamecock we drafted last year.

Dominique Barber– The only reason I don’t dislike this pick is because I am all for some good, old fashioned competition in the safety corps during this year’s camp. I’ve never been much of a fan of C.C. Brown or Glenn Earl, so bringing in more bodies to up the level that people will have to perform is all right by this guy.

Player Whose Selection Will Only Be Acceptable If Accompanied By A Pro Bowl Selection:

Duane Brown–Look, I’ve read all the explanations for taking him. For the record, I like this one from Chris the best. But here’s my problem with this pick: the beauty of the ZBS is that in all the years Gibbs has been doing it, he’d only taken an offensive lineman once in the first round.

Another consistent thing about Gibbs’ teams–more often than not, they don’t take offensive linemen early in the draft. In 1984, the first o-lineman they took was in Round 8 (Winford Hood). In 1985, Round 5 (Billy Hinson). In 1986, Round 4 (Jim Juriga–this one is misleading, though, because the fourth round was the first pick Denver had). In 1987, Round 8 (Dan Morgan). In 1995, Round 4 (Jamie Brown). In 1996, Round 7 (Leslie Ratliff). In 1997, Round 3 (Dan Neil). In 1998, Round 7 (Trey Teague). In 1999, Round 2 (Lennie Friedman). In 2000, Round 4 (Cooper Carlisle). In 2001, Round 4 (Ben Hamilton). In 2002, they didn’t draft one. Finally, in 2003, Round 1 (George Foster).

When he went to Atlanta, the trend continued. 2004–didn’t draft one. 2005–Round 5 (Frank Omiyale). 2006–Round 5 (Quinn Ojinnaka).

Look at those names for a second.  Presumably, these are all guys that Gibbs was “really high on,” yet only one of them warranted a first-round selection.  By taking Brown in the first round, Gibbs must be saying that Brown is such a perfect fit for his system that Gibbs absolutely could not take the chance of not getting him.  In short, Brown must be the ultimate archetype of a ZBS lineman.  Or at least as much of an archetype as George Foster was.
Yeah…

Anyway, that’s not the reason the selection pissed me off so much.  If Brown really is designed for the ZBS, that’s great.  But the question is whether he’s better at LT than Mendenhall would have been at RB.  Or Jenkins would have been at corner.  Sure, we got Slaton and Molden, which definitely eases the sting a bit, but if Brown falls on his face (or even if Mendenhall and Jenkins thrive elsewhere while Brown is just average), there is going to be a huge “what if Gibbs had just stuck to his pattern and not reached for Brown” hanging over the pick.

Player Whose Selection Suggests Kubiak Must Owe Alex Brink’s Dad A Favor:

Alex Brink–Seriously…what the fuck?

Well, it’s all done but the crying. I gotta admit that I’m still disappointed that we lost out on DRC (note to self: do a better job discrediting who we want next year), and I will forever hate the Cards because of it. Or something. That said, I’m gonna throw up (sic) some grades for our draft this year, and I would love to hear your feedback. I’m not going to do any purposeful agitating a la Little Dickie Justice, age 12. I’m going to try and be as honest as possible with my subjectivity and objectivity.

1st Round (#26 overall): Duane Brown, LT, Virginia Tech.  I originally wasn’t too excited, and then I slipped quickly into acceptance. Considering he was taken with the 26th pick of the 1st Round, it’s definitely an over-draft. That we traded back eight places and still got the guy we allegedly wanted the entire time earns some points, though. For now, it’s a bit of a wash on the good and bad, and I am still worried about his ability to have a short-term impact on the team, so I will go with a Grade B. No, not great. I think it’s average right now, and it’s a full grade higher because of the trade down and acquisition of additional picks. Mr. Brown and Smithiak are certainly welcome to make me eat that grade, however.

3rd Round #1 (#79 overall): Antwaun Molden, CB, Eastern Kentucky. curtisdisco had some good things to say about Molden at BRB, and if you check out the entire thread, the guy is definitely a work-out fiend. Seriously, the guy seems to be a slightly lesser version of DRC: small school and huge combine numbers. Considering what the guy has had to deal with as a human, and how *pissed* he was at his badass workouts, I am prepared to go JJ on him. Grade B+.

3rd Round #2 (#89 overall): Steve Slaton, RB, West Virginia. I do worry he’ll be a Chris Perry at the highest level due to his size and seeming inability to run between the tackles, but he definitely has game-changing ability. Used in the proper role, I can see him excelling. Grade B+. I do think we need to set realistic expectations that he is not a true #1 RB, but I have no problem with that, either.

4th Round (#118 overall): Xavier Adibi, OLB, Virginia Tech. Here’s my take…so, we didn’t take a DE in this draft, yet I believe it to be a serious area of need. We signed Chaun Thompson, who could line-up at DE as a serious speed rusher. Yes, that’s where I am going with this. Chaun will see a lot of time opposite Mario at DE, and I have absolutely no problem with this. Chaun *is* 6′2″, 250lbs, so he’s not terribly undersized. But if he can become a demon off the outside, yeah, I’m liking this.

As for Adibi, as I said previously, I see a lot of Morlon Greenwood. Others in the Draft Thread said DeMeco, but that’s a little too far for me. And again with the b0ng hit of Adibi. He’ll definitely challenge Zach Diles and Kevin Bentley at SAM. An interesting pick with some seriously high upside. Grade A-. As stupid as this may sound, if any of our picks have a big impact in 2008, I think it’s most likely to be Adibi.

5th round (#151 overall): Frank Okam, DT, The University of Texas at Austin…bitchez. Yes, an alum from my beloved alma mater. And, yes, I am super-excited about this pick (though not as excited as Tim). He has a first-class body, a top-of-the-class mind, but he has the motor of a moped. He also needs some serious work on his technique. The worst thing about him is his ability to disappear for stretches, but when he’s on, he’s Shaun Rogers good (when his engine is running, of course).

Going into the 2007 season, I thought Okam would be a legit 1st round pick. That he slid is more of an indictment of the motor, technique, and (oh yeah!) conditioning than it is anything else. A motivated Okam would be an absolute steal and the acquisition of a 1st rounder in the 5th. Grade A-.

6th round (#173 overall): Dominique Barber, S, Minnesota. I just don’t understand this pick. We took Molden, we have enough DBs to hold up against Andre Ware, and we took the slowest S on the board? I mean, I think even I could hang with this guy in the 40 (20 years ago). Look, he may be Marion’s brother, but I hate that SOB. Grade D.

7th round (#223 overall): Alex Brink, QB, Washington State. I watched only about half of one WSU game this year, and I don’t have much of an image of Brink. He’s mobile but smallish, and he definitely has a “West Coast Offense” kinda arm, which means it ain’t the strongest. I will reiterate that I believe that Kubiak carries three QBs on the active roster, and Brink will be practice squad fodder. Grade who cares.

Overall Grade:

I think we are seeing a trend of sorts with Smithiak, which is taking safer picks in the earlier rounds and going for the homerun in later rounds. I’m OK with this. Brown, for all the smack, was a fairly safe pick. Mario and DeMeco were a fairly safe picks. In 2007, ManChild was an easy call and not a gamble, but they went Jacoby Jones in the 3rd, Fred Bennett in the 4th, and Brandon Frye in the 5th (looking forward to seeing him in the summer).

This draft just seems similar to me. A safer pick at the line early (Brown vs. Okoye), l33t skill position in the 3rd (Slaton vs. JJ [nod to JJ here, though]), a DB with upside (Bennett vs. Molden) in there, and another lineman with talent in the 5th (Okam vs. Frye).

Overall, I give this draft a very sold B+ with a greater possibility of upside than not. Molden and/or Okam could make this grade an “A” by themselves, much less Brown or Slaton. I’m excited.

I’ve had a bit of a cold over the past couple of days, and it’s been a bear to sleep.  Top it off with a huge line of storms that hit at about 5:30, and I’m running on little sleep.

So, in that time, I’ve been thinking about Duane Brown, football, and sweaty men in tight pants in general.  After looking at the other comments, I think a lot of us having been thinking about large men with big, manly hands…and have come to fairly similar conclusions.  Here’s my take:

I woke up next to Duane this morning, and I didn’t have a case of coyote ugly.  I looked over at Duane and thought to myself, “You know, he ain’t bad.  He’s not a cheerleader, he’s not the hottie drill team chick….he’s kinda like the homely looking Debate Club girl, not at all as in Not Another Teen Movie, though.”

Now, we had a good time, but I’m not quite ready to meet his parents yet.  Frankly, he’s going to have to work on a few things to win me over completely, such as creating holes, getting to attack points, getting stronger, and washing windows - you know, the usual stuff.

Now, the last time Alex Gibbs set somebody up in the first round with a LT, it was George Foster.  Foster was also a “terrific athlete” who was supposed to be all that and a bag of Cheetos.  Sure, we can’t control the fact that he ate all that, the bag of Cheetos, and the bag, but it still turned out to be a bust of a pick.  Alex seems to be a bit better at the whole “My Fair Lady” thing, taking lumps of clay and molding them into gold.  Matt Lepsis, who was signed as an UDFA by the Broncos, is a perfect example.

We did get 3rd and 6th round picks to make up for trading back.  And, heck, I would be elated to take Jamaal-American Charles with one of 3rd rounders to bring in for the occasional menage-a-trois to spice up the marriage a bit.

One additional comment: Somebody mentioned (too lazy to look, sorry!) that this was like 2006 all over again.  I respectfully disagree.  I think there was consensus that we wanted a LT, just not one so damn early, especially considering we passed on Rashard Mendenhall, a bunch of DEs, and other schwag on the way through.

Don’t worry, Duane: I’ll call you in the morning.  I know some people - and they apparent already really like you, as well - that can fix you up to make me proud to be in a long-term relationship with you.  It’s a little more maintenance than I had hoped, but I’ll give it a chance to work.

{hugs and kisses},

bfd

First take: Seriously?

Second take: No, you can’t be fucking serious.

Third take: Seriously?

4th-Nth takes: See third take above.

Yes, it’s like that.

Look, I recognize that he “fills a need.”  But as somebody who could’ve been drafted 20 picks later, who cares.  Ya see, Brown is what we call “a reach.”  A “reach-around” is almost good.  Hell, depending on the pitcher and the money involved, I’d be down with that.  A “reach” is ***not*** good.  Not in the least.

The draft is about maximizing talent and maximizing what your team needs.  Yes, we need a LT - and the problem, after reading his fucking scouting report, is that we still do - but we could’ve traded this pick, gotten more schwag (a la our 18th), and still been happy.

Duane Brown as a Texan?  Not a bad idea.  Duane Brown as the 26th pick of the 2008 NFL draft?  Fuck.

Get the point?

Truly, I am not trying to be angry with the pick.  If the Cards hadn’t dicked us by taking our beloved DRC, then all would’ve been good (props to whomever reminded us of this misjustice).  But that didn’t happen.

Reaching is simply a different way to say that we did not maximize our pick @ 26.  The last time Alex Gibbs “drafted” an OL was when he took George Foster out of Georgia…the same dude who got traded to Detroit for buffet costs.  I don’t understand why we didn’t give Gibbs a chance to work with what we already had, especially if we were trying to sell Barbaro has healthy.

Let me end this rambling, drunken post with one, single word:

Reach.

Rotoworld is reporting that C Steve McKinney, an original Texan, has been cut.

From a purely business point-of-view, the news isn’t a surprise. Between his knee injury last year and the smorgasbord of centers we have signed or traded for in the off-season, the message was there.

Still, the ex-Aggie workhorse (that’s for you, beef. I love you, man!) put a lot of effort into the team over his years. In fact, before his injury in 2007, he was having an excellent season, and the running game suffered noticeably after his injury.

McKinney has said he’d like to return at a reduced cost, and he may, but he’ll still have a ton of competition to stick on the active roster.

I won’t make this his official Texans obit, but the time is probably nigh. Thanks for all the work and good luck, Steve.

Note: So, the hosting provider had a bit of a hurl this afternoon, so this is waaaaay late getting posted. Still, I wrote the damn thing, so it’s going up.

Oh, and I hope the title reference is obvious enough.

In a sign-and-trade deal, the Broncos signed C Chris Myers and sent him to our hometown Texans for a 6th round pick.

Now, I admit I don’t know a ton about the guy, but the Broncos fans on the link don’t seem overly thrilled with the deal. What I do know is that he didn’t stick out to me when I watched the Broncos played last year, which is normally a good thing when you are an OL. He’s an athletic 6′4″ and 300 lb OL who can play both C and G. If there was a trade that said “Hey, we employ ex-Broncos on our team!”, this is that deal.

Getting this guy with a reasonable salary (4 years, $11MM, $3MM guaranteed), fairly young (27 yo), and supposedly athletic OL for a 6th round pick? Yeah, you can consider this deal to be bfd approved (for the record, my personal seal has an eagle holding a pint glass with one wing, a spicy oyster po-boy with the other, and a big-assed jalapeno with its talons).

(On a personal note, sorry for the communications black-out the last couple of days. I had an extremely sick daughter, who’s doing much better now, and some other family issues come up. It was no spring break, I can tell you.)

So, what I want to know is, do you crush Chris Taylor and snort him? Or do you roll him and smoke him? Just curious.

Pancakes has a column up discussing his take on why the Texans won’t draft a RB in the first round. If you can get around the poor grammar and writing style (”really high?”), it’s basically because of Alex Gibbs and Chris Taylor. You know, thinking about the column, this is about the highest level of technical football I’ve seen him write. Then, of course, he spends most of the column self-fluffing. OK, enough bashing.

That the coaching staff is “really high” on Taylor isn’t really new news unto itself. They have been for a while, and Kubiak specifically wanted Taylor. I believe a healthy Taylor is why “Three Pies and a Cloud of Meringue” Dayne has not been re-signed (obviously a drastic blow to the Houston area House of Pies franchise). However, Taylor’s 4.54 40-yard isn’t exactly top-of-the-line, and that’s before his reconstructive knee surgery.

Pancakes also mentions a LT, but unless one of the more elite prospects amazingly slides to us, I don’t think Kubes takes a LT in the first round.

That said, and with another influence from Matt’s post yesterday, my current hypothesis is that we go DE in Round 1, RB/CB/LT in Round 3, CB/LT/RB in Round 4, and DT in the 5th (assuming we don’t trade up or down in the first). The Texans may be getting really stoned on Chris Taylor, but he’s not the long-term answer here, and I still think we take a RB on the earlier side.

In other self-fluffing news (if I could, I’d never leave the house), I just started reading _God Save the Fan_ by Deadspin’s Will Leitch. Already an entertaining read, and it’s yet another reason why I think our best “news” and information is coming from the blogosphere these days.

Edit: Matt mentions the possibility of taking Aqib Talib in the first, which is obviously a possibility, as well.

First, h/t to Eric for the reminder.

Oh, I am a stats geek. Back in the 70s - which few of you outside of stacy even know - I was a sabrematrician. That’s right, bitchez, I am a baseball geek, and I think there’s a HUGE progression to be made with football. So, let’s hit it.

At footballoutsiders.com, they have broken down offensive line play. And what do their vicious computers say? They say that, *gulp*, or offensive line don’t suck so much. In fact, we were the best team about getting positive yards from the run, and we were the 10th best team at avoiding the sack. There’s a lot to like from these stats. AND, when you consider that we did all this with Ron Dayne (and a cloud of meringue) as our leading rusher, then we look all the better.

Now, am I saying that we have the best offensive line evar!!!!~!~!~111~!? Well, no. Obviously, we could stand to use a little work. Tenth, after all, ain’t first. And if you ain’t first, you’re last (or something). I do, however, think it’s another data point in that we won’t be looking LT with our first pick (#18). Putting Alex Gibbs in control, alone, should put us up the scale a notch or two. If, and I pray to Barbaro’s Alp0-ed ass every day, our own Barbaro, Charles Spencer can come back, then we might bump up a couple more notches on the o-line rankings.

At this point, with a history of passing on offensive lineman early in the draft, and a focus on the system rather than the specific player, I again hypothesize that we do not go o-line with our pick. I just don’t see it, and yet, it doesn’t concern me. We will go defense, even if we trade down.

Allow me to end this post by saying that I am doing nothing more than self-gratification here - I have been married for 13 years, so I am used to it - and I could be wrong. And I oh-so-want to be proved right. But, you know, my ego ain’t that important, and I am mostly talking from the logical side of my brain. Anyway, it’s either this, or I can talk about all the super important people I talk to. Why, the other day, my mail-lady told me about…

For some unknown reason - and I think it has something to do with the half-assed coverage our beloved team normally receives - I have this irrational infatuation with how outsiders look at us. As one example, let’s look at the latest team needs via yahoo on rivals.com.

Running back? Sure. Cornerback? Well, like duh. Defensive end? Ummmm…..

I dunno. There is something a bit odd about Rivals listing DE as a Texans team need. And, see, here’s that weird little thing about Rivals that the Comicle can’t rival: Rivals actually takes pride in their reporting. So, if the Rivals sez it’s true, it must be, right? Well, in that self-gratification kinda way, they nailed that sucker!

Look, let’s be honest here. Will Smithiakibbs take a RB in the first? Extremely doubtful. I simply don’t see the team taking a RB with #18 with the new system in place and a whole host of RBs coming out this year. LT? Yeah, I don’t think so. I mean, if you took George Foster, would you take another T in the first so soon? Talk about jilted dude syndrome. CB? That’s a maybe. I still think that the team look at CBs via FA, and the CB talent this year in the draft - while not horrible - it won’t be elite by our pick. Talib? Maybe. I just don’t think so.

I’ve said for a while, no matter how irrationally, that we take a DE with our pick. I’m going to wait until after the combine as to who I think that might be, but, personally, I think that’s where we are going. However, I jumped on the Shake train a long time ago hoping that we will trade down to acquire a late first and late second. If that’s the case, all the better. Still, I think our first pick will be a DE.

If I am wrong, I will dance for your entertainment.

Eric sent me a little video today (and thanks!) starring two of DGDB&D’s favorite people: Pancakes McClain and Anna-Megan, whom Matt hates cuz she dumped his ass at his 7th grade Spring Dance. Anyway, guaranteed to make you 125% more dumb, here is the video. Go ahead, watch it, I dare you.

Done? Now look inside your underwear to remember your name. 1Tex, your name isn’t Tuesday, but close enough. You are reading a blog. Back with me? Sure? OK, back to the action.

What did you gain from this video? Anything? Personally, I learned nothing new regarding football. I did learn that Pancakes talks to a lot of people whom he believes to be very important, but they don’t actually tell him anything of substance. The whole thing was a one-man circle jerk starring Pancakes’ delicate ego. It was pitiful at best and a cry for help that someone tell him he’s really important at worst.

For someone who is supposedly an omnipotent insider who knows so much more than those nasty bloggers, he doesn’t know shit. And that’s for a reason. Do you think Smith or Kubiak or anybody will actually tell him something concrete? Hell no. At least here, we take the time to break down the possibilities and to try to be a step-ahead in the game. Pancakes is a stenographer with a press pass. Whenever he tries to tell you how important he is, think about the 5:22 of your life you just wasted watching him fluff himself in the video.

Bumped from my pathetic post, the lovely, talented, and extremely sexy Eric links us to a video discussing zone blocking.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LvtJHq_0YvA

For me, this does two things:

1. Gibbs adds a new dimension to our offense.

2. The RB is a part, not the piece. The video is helpful in the sense it’s easier to visualize the one-cut system. Denver was able to cycle through RBs because of the system, and while the RB is not entirely irrelevant, he’s only a piece of the system. The focus is getting the right OL for the system along with the proper coaching, and it’s yet another reason I don’t believe that a RB is necessary with our first round pick.

Peeling off from the last post, let’s talk about safeties.

As Andy so righteously mentioned, there are distinct differences between strong and free safeties. In summary, the strong safety is generally more relied upon in run support, while the free safety is more relied upon in the passing game. Think of it this way. The strong safety is on the strong side of the formation, thus, his “coverage” responsibility is the TE. Again, this is very much a general statement as the defense is wont to mix things up in order to confuse the offense (unless your defensive coordinator is Richard Smith, natch).

So, with a number of SS options already on the roster, why TF would I believe that we’ll target a SS in the draft?

I can’t be the only person who did a double-take when America’s Penis Idol (aka, Will Demps) got the Pro-Bowl nod. His manos de piedras were awesome, if that’s a good thing when the QB basically hands you the ball (hint: it’s not). And, even though he is a strong safety, I expect you to catch the damn ball every now and then. Demps still brings the pain, but unless his contract needs are very reasonable - and I don’t expect them to be so - I still don’t think we sign him. I might be wrong.

So, that leaves us with a “plethora” of other SSs: Boulware? Brown? Earl? Harrison??? Hurl!

Personally, I don’t think we have position of greater need than the entire fucking defensive backfield. Dunta is hurt, and it’s not good. As the proud owner of a half dozen knee surgeries, I can speak from experience that they suck. Dunta didn’t have a meniscus repair: he ripped his hammy off the bone and had a torn ACL to boot. Fred Bennett (this dude seriously needs a nickname) didn’t embarrass himself while starting, for sure. SS clusterfuck? FS???

Speculating, but I think a post-injury Dunta can be reincarnated as a top-flight FS. This means, of course, that we simply need to sign a shutdown corner. I don’t see any real alternative here. We can go into the draft and hope that a Mike Jenkins or Aqib Talib falls to us, but I don’t want to head into 2008 depending on a second year and rookie at CB. This is compounded by the fact that I hope we trade down.

Dunta’s injury puts us at a real disadvantage heading into April. 8-8 was great, but we are a team with a huge number of needs. Our DB was completely ass-tastic in 2007, and we’ll be without Dunta for at least the first month, if not more. Demps is likely gone. When you consider that Gibbs doesn’t necessarily take OL early in the draft, I’m guessing that we take a SS sooner than later.

Now, go into the comments and rip me a new asshole for this post. Beetches.

[Author's note: I've written this in fits and starts, had a bunch of different things I wanted to cover, and never really worked it through beginning to end. If it rambles, I apologize; if there are factual mistakes, they are mine.]

As we discussed in part one of my obsessive-compulsive pre-draft coverage, what a team should do in the draft cannot be determined in a vacuum. Therefore, to do this correctly, we need to compile as much information as possible and create a coherent Big Picture from which to work. So consider this Part Two of the project.

Now, whereas the last post focused on answering questions about the team, this one is going to take a look at what we know (or, more accurately, what we think we know) about the team and its tendencies. Hopefully, by combining what we know with our answers to the original questions, we can create an epistemological framework for analyzing the 2008 Draft. In this post, we will address what we know about the relative depth at the various positions on the roster.

1. Where we are thin. There are really two kinds of depth in the NFL. There is the “we have a body in case this guy goes down” and there’s “we have enough talent at a position to do all sorts of permutations and substitutions and keep everyone fresh while remaining effective on every snap.” For an example of the latter, look at the NY Giants defensive ends.

Thing is, only the “talent” depth is worth anything at all. In fact, you can go further and say having the “body” kind of depth as an actual goal is just plain stupid. I mean, you have a 53-man roster, so by definition you should always have enough bodies to replace an injured starter. So effin’ what? The point is to have depth with talent. While the Giants’ situation with their DEs is rare, it is the type of all teams should aspire to. Ideally, every guy on your roster is there because he was the best available player at his position in terms of what your team will ask of him. I say, “ideally,” however because teams and coaches seem to insist on carrying guys that serve no purpose (Petey Faggins) when there is almost certainly a better alternative out there. And they do it because “he gives us depth,” as if such a statement means anything.

How useless is “body” depth? As we saw with our secondary this year, even if every guy you planned on relying upon has been hurt and you have reached the end of your roster and have no guys left at a position, you are still going to be able to find someone to fill a hole. It might not always be pretty, but it’ll fill the hole and, really, the free agent on the street is unlikely to be appreciably worse than that 50th guy on your opening day roster. (And, on the flipside, you might just find a Will Demps who should not have been released by his former team and still has Pro Bowl-level talent.)

Anyway…all of this is just pie-in-the-sky rambling. Moving on.

Back to the point–where are we thin? The most obvious answer is in the Secondary, where neither of the top two CBs from 2007 is likely to start the season opener in 2008 and it remains to be seen if and to what degree Dunta Robinson will contribute in 2008. Moreover, Glenn Earl is an unrestricted free agent, is coming off a season-ending foot injury, and was never suited to be a free safety in the first place. Even worse, some of the backups–Jason Simmons (injured), Dexter Wynn, Von Hutchins (craptastic), and Roc Alexander (injured) are unrestricted free agents as well. Oh, and C.C. Brown is a restricted free agent. So, yeah, even if you account for unknowns like Derrick Roberson and Curome Cox, as of this very moment, it is not a stretch at all to say this unit is thinner than Tara Reid on a three-month coke bender.

Second–and perhaps most arguably–we are thin at RB. Ron Dayne (and this is the ONLY time you’ll see him listed among things that are thin) and Darius Walker are currently 1-2 on the depth chart I suppose, as Ahman Green is still a huge question mark. He’s injured, he’s old, he’s expensive, and he’s unproductive…but he’s also who we were relying upon as recently as 6 months ago. [Edit: Plus, you have the constant question of "is this the year Chris Taylor stays healthy and produces?"] With that kind of unsettled situation and only two healthy RBs–neither of whom is exactly something to write home about–you can only describe the position as “lacking.”

The final answer to my way of thinking is NT. Because we don’t have one. The Texans roster on the team homepage lists Travis Johnson as our only NT (most likely as a hold-over designation from the 3-4 days that no one bothered to change), but there are all kinds of things wrong with giving him that label. First, the mere fact that he outweighs our other DTs (other than Cedric Killings) does not make him a two-gap player. Second, he’s not even the best current team member for that position–in my opinion that would be Anthony Maddox (whom the interactive depth chart curiously has listed as Amobi’s backup), though I have unsubstantiated high hopes for DelJuan Robinson. Third, and perhaps most importantly it is my fondest wish that Travis would show up to Reliant one day, only to find that the locks had been changed. Then, as he looks around for a janitor or someone to let him in, he is gunned down by Central American Libyan rebels in a VW Microbus.

Where was I? Oh, yeah, lack of bodies. So, secondary and nose tackle are definitely thin as of now, and running back is arguably lacking as well. That could change if Demps is re-signed and remains exceedingly solid, or Dunta comes back quickly, or Ahman decides to stay healthy, or Travis gets sent to one of those shock boot-camp things where they send the crappy kids on Montel. But, for now, thin.

But that’s all obvious, because that’s a case of actually lacking players. If we turn our attention back to “talent” versus mere “body” depth, a case can be made that a number of other positions run the gamut of thinness from skinny to skeletal.

For one, and with apologies to Ephraim Salaam, we still don’t have a single NFL-quality left tackle on the roster unless Fluffy Spencer suddenly comes around. (The signing last offseason of Jordan Black was a perfect example of “body” depth as a goal, as no one in his right mind should have believed that a guy nicknamed “Turnstile” by fans of his previous team was going to offer much in the way of talent. The signing of the since-departed Kevin Barry was arguably the same thing–an attempt to accumulate large, non-dead humans.)

Currently, in addition to Salaam, Black, and Spencer, we have Brandon Frye who spent much of 2007 on the practice squad and of whom I wrote back in May:

The other Round 5 Brandon is, apparently, a mutant. 6′4″, 302, with a 690 lb squat and a 445 lb bench press to go along with a 4.79 40. He may be raw (actually, that’s not true… he IS raw), but he seems to have the tools to become a good offensive lineman. He finished the season at VT playing some left tackle, but I am guessing he will move to the interior of the line, perhaps displacing Fred Weary in a year or so.

Now, nearly a year later, I stand by the first part of that–that he is, indeed, a physical mutant and seems to possess solid tools from which to build. The only change I would make is to the second half of it, as his combination of speed and strength makes him a nice choice for the left tackle in an Alex Gibbs system.

But even if Frye is the LT of the future, that gives us…um…one healthy, in-shape, potentially-NFL-quality LT. THIN!!!

Moving inside to the guards, our depth chart currently shows Kasey Studdard as the backup at both left and right guard. Fred Weary is old (and injured and a free agent), Chester Pitts was less-than-stellar for much of the year, Scott Jackson is injured, and Mike Briesel and Dan Stevenson are relative unknowns. Until we have some sort of idea how Jackson will heal and what Briesel and Stevenson are capable of, the guard position offers nothing more than the “body” depth at best (and actual thinness at worst). And this problem could be exacerbated if some of the guys who seem healthy and ready to contribute prove unable to adjust to the Gibbs system.

On the other side of the ball, defensive end gives us another example of “body” depth without meaning. Currently, we have one great one (Mario Williams), one who has shown an occasional glimpse of real talent (Earl Cochran), one who is ancient and a free agent (ND Kalu), one who is grotesquely overpaid and did next to nothing this year (Anthony Weaver), and someone named Eric Powell who was just signed to a future/reserve contract. Unless Cochran turns out to be something good, we are sitting right now with one defensive end who is starter-quality and another–Weaver–who could possibly be again.

The other spot where we are sorely lacking on defense is at strongside linebacker. Danny Clark is good, but is a free agent and had momentary lapses that the coaching staff did not like. Charlie Anderson likewise had some solid moments but, overall, was uninspiring. Unless Zac Diles can move to the strongside (more on him in a bit), this position needs addressing in the offseason.

(Pauses to re-read all of the above.)

Guh…that was more than I planned to write for the first point. I think it all makes sense, though, so I am leaving it. Moving on…

2. Where we are deep. Based on the point I belabored above, you can guess that by “deep” I mean “richer than average with talent.” Under that rubric, really, it is possible to be “deep” at a position where you have but two players and not be deep at another where you have five. Which sounds confusing and counter-intuitive, but really isn’t. But, instead of further kicking that dead horse, let’s all just agree to read the following with that definition in mind, ok?

The most obvious position of depth on this team is quarterback. When you can have a serious discussion about whether or not you would trade your backup QB for a third-rounder, I think it is safe to say that you are stocked at the position. No, neither of them is going to remind you of Peyton Manning (because both of them are straight, for one thing), but they still give us solid talent behind our starting talent. For the record, I would still trade Sage in a heartbeat for anything in the fourth round or higher. But that is a different post that we and others have covered ad nauseum.

Secondly, we are stocked at middle and weakside linebacker. DeMeco is a golden god, but Diles has impressed both coaches and fans alike. (He’s also been versatile enough that Kubiak has made mention of moving Diles to one of the outside spots, which would change this equation somewhat.) What’s more, Danny Clark (assuming he’s re-signed) gives you a third option at middle linebacker.

On the weakside, as this blog and others have said, Morlon Greenwood is one of the most underrated defensive players in the league. He was consistently good to very good (with moments of great) this season. Behind him, you have Shawn Barber (assuming he comes back from injury and the team keeps him), the possibility of Zac Diles getting some time here if we find a strongside guy, and Danny Clark has experience at this position as well. This position is not so deep that it couldn’t be improved, mind you, but every person but one in line to play it brings at least some starting experience to the equation.

Moving back to the offensive side of the ball, a case can be made that we are potentially deep at Center. In addition to current starter Steve McKinney and seemingly serviceable Chris White (both injured), we recently signed two guys in Chukky Okobi and Greg Eslinger who seem to be very, very good fits for the new Gibbs regime. Thus, without even pausing to consider Mike Flanagan (who should not be on the roster as a center come September) or Drew Hodgdon (who might still be able to play guard), we have four Centers from which to find our best zone blockers and any of the four could conceivably be the guy.

Finally, I don’t think it is much of a stretch to say that we find ourselves deep at Wide Receiver. Andre Johnson, Andre Davis (because we better re-sign him), Kevin Walter, Jacoby Jones, David Anderson…that’s a solid five-man rotation. Now, as we saw, losing the guy at the front end of that list changes the dynamic greatly–Andre Davis is good, but it’s not like having a Reggie Wayne to stand in for Marvin Harrison–but going into the year with those five counts as quality depth in my book.

Now, astute readers will notice that the positions of TE and RT don’t appear on either list. The reasons why are as follows: At TE, whether we are deep or thin is going to depend on whether we resign Breuner, whether Gibbs likes Owen Daniels enough to make him the Shannon Sharpe of this offense, and whether we decide to keep Jeb Putzier (and how we choose to implement him). At RT, we have a very good starter and a specified backup, which is not really deep or thin at this point.

***

What can we glean from all this? Well, when you combine these holes with the draft history of the Kubiak-Gibbs era in Denver, I think we can assume that we will almost certainly NOT be drafting an o-lineman (even an LT) with our first pick, barring Jake Long falling to 18, but will fill up much of our second-day picks with the big fellas. There is a fair-to-good chance that we will go with defense, with the pick likely being the best-available defensive player who doesn’t play MLB or WLB. Personally, and I think I have said this before, I would rather get a CB through free agency instead of relying on another rookie alongside Fred. Also, if I had my druthers, I would prefer a nose tackle, but then this post isn’t about what I want.

There is also at least some evidence to suggest that Kubiak and Co will be willing to trade back if the offer presents itself, even trading all the way out of the first if the right package was available. Finally, I would not completely write off the idea of a running back at 18 if a Felix Jones or Jonathan Stewart was sitting there and Gibbs was convinced that was his guy.

The hiring of Alex Gibbs prompted at least three people to ask me to re-address the zone blocking concept. Because there are a few things in the original post on the subject that I wanted to correct or clarify, I am glad to. [Note: all block quotes are cut-and-pasted from the original post.]

Not long ago, I heard a color commentator mention during an NFL game that a “zone blocking system is one in which the lineman all have a specific area they are responsible for, kind of like a zone defense in basketball.” I found the same sort of thought at Football Outsiders, too. While this is more-or-less, sorta kinda accurate when it comes to pass blocking, it is not correct vis-a-vis run blocking. Or, at least, not near correct enough to get the point across. At its most basic level, all a zone run blocking scheme means is that the offensive linemen work in pairs against two or three of the defensive linemen–i.e. the guard and center simultaneously block a defensive tackle–with one of the offensive linemen then peeling off and blocking a linebacker. The “zone” the system refers to is the part of the line where the running play is going. This is what creates the “one cut” system, but we’ll get to that in a minute.

Let’s expound on that a little. First, for the sake of brevity and clarity, let’s get some acronyms working. “ZPB” will refer to zone pass blocking and “ZRB” will refer to…well, you get it.

Anyway, in a ZPB scheme, it is true that the offensive linemen are responsible for an area rather than a specific defender. This means on a blitz or a defensive lineman stunt, the offensive linemen must all be on the same page as to assignments and all must maintain zone discipline similar to lane discipline on special teams coverage. Getting this coordinated movement down is one of the more difficult aspects of learning the system, mainly because of some of the intricacies involved.

For instance, imagine a twist-stunt between the RDE and RDT. In pure theory, the LT and LG are just going to wait for the stunting lineman to come into their respective zones. Problem is, the game moves at too high a speed–especially when you are talking about the speed of a DE compared to an OG. In this situation, assuming a normal twist where the end goes under the tackle, four distinct movements will happen on the O-line. (1) The LT will engage the DE to stop him from shooting the gap. (2) The LG will step backward and to his left. (3) The LT will disengage the DE, passing him off to the LG who is now in position to block him. (4) The LT will locate and pickup the stunting DT.

As with any pass-blocking scheme, you have the question of how blitz pickup works. There are some people who disagree, but I actually feel blitz pickup is easier in a zone system. Assume a blitz where the SLB is going to shoot the B gap, the LDE is going outside the tackle (C gap) and the LDT is going A gap. Here, we have at least three defined movements. (1) The RG engages the DT, allowing the C enough time to get his head up and make the 45-degree step back and to his right. (2) The RG passes the DT off to the C, now in position, and slides right to pick up the SLB. (3) The RT picks up the LDE as he usually would. The reason this is preferable (at least in my mind) is that it simplifies the blitz pickup assignment, as each offensive lineman is essentially guarding a gap rather than worrying about who will pick up the extra rusher. This way, if the SLB actually goes to the C gap and the LDE stunts to the B gap, the RT mirrors what the RG did in steps (1) and (2) above, then passes the DE to the RG. The TE mirrors the two linemen, picks up the SLB (if necessary), and then passes him off to the RT before releasing.

“Yeah, yeah,” you say. “That’s all fine and dandy, but what about the good stuff?” Because, as we all know, the real excitement of the Gibbs hire (and the real difficultly in implementing the zone system) comes from ZRB.

Let’s walk through a example play where the running back is supposed to go right against a 4-3 defensive front. At the snap of the ball, the left tackle and left guard block the nose tackle, the center takes under tackle, and the right guard and right tackle block the left defensive end. This two-on-one blocking allows the offensive front to get a push and, also, to create the running lanes. Now, here’s where it gets tricky. Depending on certain factors (where the defensive player lined up, which direction the running play is going, where the LB is in relation to the defensive lineman, etc.), one offensive player from each double-team will disengage the defensive lineman and pick up the corresponding linebacker. So, in our example, assuming a standard 4-3 Over, the LT would disengage and slide to the second level to pick up the WLB, the RG would do the same and pick up the Mike linebacker, and the TE would be responsible (from the snap) for the SLB.

If this is done correctly, there should be a hole between the TE and RT, the C and where the RG was, and the C and LG. This is the “inside zone” and is where the “one cut” comes into play. In this system, the running back chooses one of these holes, makes his single cut, and goes. Ideally, he won’t make this cut until he is almost to his offensive lineman, thus allowing the defense less time to react to his angle. By contrast, the “outside zone” is the area beyond the TE/Sam block. Plays designed to seal off the defense and open up the outside zone do not have the “one cut” aspect to them–the running back is obligated to head outside (in theory, at least)–so the linemen block similar to a man blocking scheme, where there is a pre-determined hole.

The above part is where I should have been more precise. Apologies.

For one thing, if you want to be extremely technical, running this play to the hole between the RG and RT is “middle zone.” That’s really neither here nor there for our discussion, but I want to be thorough. Additionally, you could include a stretch play, where the RB heads for just inside the last offensive player (i.e. a WR). This is far more common in college, but can be done in the NFL with the right personnel.  We shan’t be doing it much with Ron Dayne, however, so we’ll ignore it for now.

Another slight correction. Re: the man-blocking appearance of the outside zone runs, it is possible to run a variation, wherein the tackle seals the DE, the C cuts the DT, and the G peels around to seal off the OLB. This is often called a “pull and overtake” or “pin and pull” maneuver. The key is that the G make an initial hit on the playside shoulder of the DE to knock him off balance and allow the OT to overtake him.

With those corrections out of the way, let’s look at some other aspects of ZRB.

First, some historical background. Like all good football innovations, ZRB was developed as a response to a defensive trend. Teams were using a slant/angle defense, where the defensive linemen all rush to the same side of their corresponding offensive linemen and the blitzing linebacker flows back the other direction into a wide open rushing lane to sack the QB or blow up the running play. ZRB (and ZPB) mitigated this by allowing linemen to pass rushers off and stay home to deal with the linebackers. In fact, with ZRB, a properly-handled blitzing LB is basically taking himself out of the play. If he is blitzing to the same side as the running play, he’s picked up and and sealed off like any other defensive lineman; if he’s blitzing to the backside of the running play–as long as it is not through the A gap–he is generally allowed to shoot through with minimal resistance as the one-cut technique allows the RB to be long gone by the time the LB adjusts.

A second feature of ZRB is its consistency in appearance. From snap to cut, every play should look more or less the same, forcing the linebackers into a no-win choice–do they stay home and see where the play develops (and, thus, risk getting picked up by the offensive lineman who has just disengaged and looked to the second level) or do they flow with the play and more often than not overpursue? Part of the reason they are forced into this quandry is because the RB in a ZRB system has two responsibilities–first, he is running to a specific spot (usually called a “landmark”) on each play. This spot can vary, but it usually somewhere right around the OG’s butt. Second, he is running toward that landmark as for as long as he can, so that he gets as deep as possible into the line–and causes the flowing linebackers to keep moving away–before making his cut.

[Author's note: I need to make another correction here. I stated that running to the outside zone does not have the one-cut aspect to it and that it is more like traditional man blocking. While this is true, it overlooks that, because it looks the same as the middle- and inside-zone runs as it initially develops, the fact that your back has been making cuts effectively turns not making a cut and going outside just as effective as the cuts. Like anything in football, it's all about mixing it up.]

A third feature of ZRB is actually what it does not feature. Namely, it is very rare (read: never) that you will see a counter or misdirection play. The reason for this should be obvious. If the running back goes right, but the entire ZRB unit sets up for a run to the left, the play doesn’t really fool anyone, the RB is pretty much forced to turn the run into an outside zone or stretch play when he heads back to his left, and the RB is running right into the defensive players that ZRB lets through with minimal resistance. There are some variations on ZRB that attempt to incorporate traps and counters, but they are few and far between.

Fourth, traditional ZRB chooses which side to run the play to based upon the defensive technique. What do I mean? Well, take your inside zone, for instance. Most teams will run all inside- and middle-zone runs toward the 1-technique tackle, regardless of whether he lines up on the right or left. This is because his position relative to the inside shoulder of the OG makes it easy for the C and OG to double-team him, push him in the proper direction, and still be in position to pick up the LB. This lack of this sort of theory is part of what made the Texans system in ‘06 and ‘07 a hybrid–they would run plays to pre-determined sides, meaning that certain plays called for man blocking and eliminated double teams.

Facets of zone blocking thus taken care of, let’s move on to the final pieces of the puzzle–personnel and Gibbs’ history.

In the last post, I wrote:

Well, as Tim correctly notes, the zone blocking scheme almost invariably features smaller, more agile offensive linemen. The reason should be obvious–it is not going to be real easy for a Larry Allen to engage a defender, then slide his big butt away from the block and pick up a linebacker who is 4 or 5 tenths of a second faster than he is. Besides, since you are hitting at the initial point of attack with a 2-on-1 advantage, you don’t need a pair of 340 lb. behemoths; a pair of 280 lb. lineman will work just fine, with the added bonus of being able to pick up linebackers and be more maneuverable in space.

I then went on to opine that our current crop doesn’t fit that mold, which is true, and explaining the underlying theory of the smaller guys. However, what I failed to really flesh out is that the idea of smaller linemen is only the current theory of what works and it is primarily based on the success Denver has had. However, just like how teams moved from the power-I to today’s offensive formations, the current mold for a ZRB lineman is not necessarily the only thing that works.

The Denver theory of using two-on-one and having the speed to get to the second level is fine and it is incredibly successful. However, it is also the reason that they have to use the cut-blocks that so many people complain about. When Gibbs took over Denver’s offensive line in 1984, his offensive linemen were nearly all between 260 and 280. He played with the hand he was dealt and created a ZRB scheme that utilized cutblocking because he had to (though it is no stretch to say that, over time, he developed an affinity for the sub-300 lbers). After all, there are two ways to create running lanes–you can move the defensive player out of the way or you can knock him down. Even going two-on-one, because of the way ZRB quickly disengages and moves to the next level, your two 280-lb linemen don’t have the bulk to appreciably move a 340-lb 1-technique tackle before one of them releases. So you send one of the 270-lbers into the side of the DT’s thigh and knock him flat.¹

If, on the other hand, you have more bulk at the point of attack, you obviate the need for the cut block because you can physically move the DT before the OG (or whomever) slides to the next level. Simple physics, really–620 lbs are going to exert more force in a given time than 560 lbs will.

Now…which of these lineman prototypes is preferable? I honestly can’t say. On the one hand, as we discussed, the smaller, more agile linemen give you the speed to move to the linebackers and the size to fit through smaller gaps in order to get to that next level. However, as commenter cseafous pointed out (comment #4), modern linebackers are always going to be faster than even the most agile OG. So, unless your RB is really, really good at running to his landmark and freezing the LBs, there’s a fairly decent chance that the OG will not be able to pick up the LB on the run. Conversely, if you have traditional offensive linemen, you have a lot more mass at the point of attack, but you create a situation where the doubleteam has to engage, move, have one disengage, and find the next level more quickly to compensate for the lack of speed.

Ideally, you’d get guys like Eric Winston who were slightly smaller than average (305) but were strong (22 reps) and quicker (4.93) than average, basically splitting the baby and getting maximum push in a short amount of time while still having the agility to pick up LBs. Of course, if it were that easy to find those guys, everyone would do it. Still, I imagine that, over time, you will see the girth of our existing line lessened.

Ignoring the size of the blockers for a second, the cool thing about Gibbs, however, is that he’s had success everywhere he’s gone, regardless of the initial group he got to work with. When he got to Denver, the team ran for 746 yards in its first five games. When he went to Atlanta in 2004, he had guys like Kynan Forney (307), Martin Bibla (306), Michael Moore (318)…not exactly the prototype from his Denver days (and not exactly All-Pros). Yet that Falcons team had both backs–Warrick Dunn and TJ Duckett–average at least 4.2/carry and they were consistent in those averages pretty much game in and game out.

With that kind of sustained success, regardless of the personnel he starts with, I think it is safe to say that hiring Alex Gibbs is going to prove to be bigger than any single offseason move we might make. And I would stick by that statement even if we signed Nnamdi Asomugha.

Another consistent thing about Gibbs’ teams–more often than not, they don’t take offensive linemen early in the draft. In 1984, the first o-lineman they took was in Round 8 (Winford Hood). In 1985, Round 5 (Billy Hinson). In 1986, Round 4 (Jim Juriga–this one is misleading, though, because the fourth round was the first pick Denver had). In 1987, Round 8 (Dan Morgan). In 1995, Round 4 (Jamie Brown). In 1996, Round 7 (Leslie Ratliff). In 1997, Round 3 (Dan Neil). In 1998, Round 7 (Trey Teague). In 1999, Round 2 (Lennie Friedman). In 2000, Round 4 (Cooper Carlisle). In 2001, Round 4 (Ben Hamilton). In 2002, they didn’t draft one. Finally, in 2003, Round 1 (George Foster).

When he went to Atlanta, the trend continued. 2004–didn’t draft one. 2005–Round 5 (Frank Omiyale). 2006–Round 5 (Quinn Ojinnaka).

Long story short, you can probably stop mentioning names like Ryan Clady and Sam Baker when you are talking about possible picks at 18. While not drafting first-round OTs is nothing new for this franchise, with Gibbs on board, the results almost surely will be.

¹ Mark Schlereth has also said that a benefit of the cutblock is that you keep knocking these 300 lb. DTs down and they have to get right back up and trail the play while the O-lineman lays there and rests until the play ends, thus tiring the defensive player far more quickly. This is probably true, but is more of an added benefit than a raison d’etre for ZRB.