DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

It’s a homonym.

May 22, 2008 2008 Season, Free Agency, National Media, Roster

If you were watching the ol’ waiver wire today, two things should have jumped out at you.  First, you are as bored and lonely at work as I am.  Second, and (seemingly) more importantly, the Texans signed DB Jimmy Williams today.

When I read that, I actually got excited for a second.  I checked Google News.  Indeed, it appeared we really had signed the heretofore underperforming second-year pro out of Va Tech.  I was chalking this up to Ray Rhodes creating a fantastic secondary from parts people didn’t want anymore.  A 6′2″/205 CB/S who was the #1-rated DB in the 2006 draft?  Color me thrilled!

But then reality, in its typically cold fashion, showed up and smacked me in the mouth.  We didn’t sign that Jimmy Williams; we signed this Jimmy Williams.  The 6-year pro who most recently suited up for the Seattle Seahawks and who, at 5′10″/190 and 29 years of age, is unlikely to even register on the 53-man roster’s radar.  Damn.

Oh, well.

Open Thread for 3/6

Mar 6, 2008 2008 Season, Bud Adams is evil, Dancing With the 'Tards, David Carr has Post-Concussion Syndrome, Free Agency, Fuck the Cowboys

I’ve been either super busy (voting and studying), ill, or helping take care of my super sick daughter since my post on Tuesday, so apologies for the Cone of Silence from my end. I’ve got a horribly busy day at my bill-paying job, so I’m going to make this an open thread for all the actions going on around foosball. And here’s a couple of links to get you started.

Greg Cote of the Miami Herald believes in GLOVE POWER!!! You know, if journalists were held to any kind of intellectual standards, he’d already be looking for a new job. Alas, the best we can do is laugh and point. (h/t Eric)

If you haven’t seen this by Steph, you are a liberal fascist communist who hates America, Cuba, and Xenu.

Assorted sources: The Texans will have or have had G Jake Scott, S Chris Crocker, DE Corey Smith, and C John Wade in for visits. Crocker would compete with CC Brown at SS, but more likely he’d be a backup for the Ladies Man and CC. Smith is quick but undersized and good on special teams, but I still think we’ll be looking for a long-term answer opposite Mario in the draft. Wade would be a backup at C and possibly G. For the right price, none of the last three guys would nauseate me, though I don’t think Smith would stick on the 47-man roster.

Scott, however, is intriguing. He’s an athletic G, average build (6′5″, 295 lbs), and only 27 for the season. This is the kind of player I get excited about. The Titans are also in on him, and it’d be nice to give Bud a kick in the nutz.

Open thread for all! Now, to go shake my money-maker.

2/19 Roster Moves

Feb 20, 2008 Barbaro is dead, Free Agency, Had to post something

The Texans did a little house-cleaning yesterday, though nothing major, releasing:

Shawn Barber - Pancakes is reporting that Zach Thomas is being brought in by the Texans next week. Will he try to re-capture Barber’s magic from the 2007 signing? Or will it be yet another bullet point that signing old linebackers who’ve lost a step is actually a bad idea. Barber costed us over $2MM. Yay?

Jeb Putzier - I really thought he would be a special receiving TE in Denver, and when we signed him, I hoped he would break out for the Texans. Yeah, I was a little wrong.

Drew Hodgdon and Mike Flanagan - These moves shouldn’t be a surprise in that we signed Okobi and Eslinger. Flanagan, especially, does not personify the mobile C necessary in a zone-blocking scheme.

All I can say is: Zach Thomas better not be the only free agent we bring in over the next couple of weeks.

Alive

Feb 16, 2008 Andre Johnson, Blasphemy, Bloggerating, Free Agency, Had to post something, Inanity, Injury bug, Jacoby Jones is slighty less unheralded, Ron Dayne likes pie, Rosie Rosenfels, Roster, Sign Andre Davis now, Updates

I know it’s been dead-ish around here. Apologies.

All should improve starting tomorrow. I think. Probably.

Until then, here are five topics to discuss:

• Has anyone ever done more in a shorter time to submarine his own trade value than Sage did at the end of the season?
• Andre Johnson–god, or mere demigod?
• If Ahman Green died in a forest, would anyone notice?
• Given that Andre Davis is a special teams ninja as well as a solid receiver, do you think Jacoby Jones admires Apostrohpe or secretly wishes him dead?
• Who weighs more: Ron Dayne or Rosie O’Donnell?

Don’t forget to pack those gloves, Zoolander

Feb 11, 2008 2007 Season, Awesomeness, David Carr has Post-Concussion Syndrome, Free Agency, Sandy Vag, Sucks to be John Fox, Zoolander's snazzy handwear

I suppose I should take the high road, but that is clearly not my style. So file this under “Things That Continue To Make Me Laugh.”

CHARLOTTE – It’s time to begin trimming the fat from NFL rosters.

The Carolina Panthers, like other teams around the league, are free to begin releasing unwanted players Monday morning as the NFL waiver wire picks up. The cuts will come for various reasons – age, overall ineffectiveness, injury concerns and high salary cap figures.

After finishing 7-9 in 2007 and failing to make the playoffs for a second straight season, the Panthers are likely to see plenty of turnover. As owner Jerry Richardson said last month, the Panthers can’t afford to have a “ho-hum” off-season.

That means the team will be looking to make changes. And to make room for the new, the Panthers in many cases will have to part with the old.

And while the cuts won’t all come Monday – and, in fact, some may takes weeks or months to make as the team makes certain it has a replacement in place – you can bet the Panthers roster will look very different when they report to training camp in July.

That said, here are a number of players who should be a little concerned with their job security over the off-season:

QB David Carr

Reasons to cut him: Carr looked frightened in the pocket and his teammates quickly lost all confidence in him. By the end of the season coach John Fox was even afraid to play Carr, demoting him to third string. With a cap figure of more than $4 million, keeping Carr would be, well… ludicrous.

Reasons to keep him: Can’t think of any.

My take: To me, this is easiest cut in franchise history. I would anticipate the team will waste little time parting with Carr.

Over/under on how long it takes before he starts blaming the players around him and suggesting that, had there been more talent, he would have succeeded?

Finally

Feb 3, 2008 2007 Season, Colts Shmolts, Free Agency, Houston Chronicle, Predictions Guaranteed To Go Wrong, Super Bowl 2008, Teams that aren't the Texans, Tempting Fate, Up yours 1972 Dolphins

Over the last two weeks, there have been roughly 15,163,167 maudlin stories written about how “after the Super Bowl, we enter the long, dark winter of the offseason.” Said stories almost always talk about how great football season is (which is true), how any weekend with football is infinitely greater than any weekend without (which is arguably, usually true), and how the Super Bowl is the culmination of that greatness (which is a complete fucking lie unless your favorite team happens to be in it).

Don’t get me wrong–I love the Super Bowl. But not for those reasons. I love the Super Bowl because it is a social event where people who would never even watch an NFL game come together with those of us who watch way too much to drink, shoot the shit, laugh at commercials, and eat copious amounts of food. (In fact, the reason I am awake right now, at 4:30 AM on a Sunday was because I had to get the smoker started so the pork will be ready for kickoff.) More than THAT, however, I love the Super Bowl because it is the end of the bullshit.

Do you have any idea how hard it is to find shit to write about your team in the two weeks of Super Bowlgasm? Pretty fucking hard. Like “teaching in Port Arthur without a bulletproof vest” hard. Hell, even Chron.com is overrun with stories about the Pats and Giants and the gap in Mike Strahan’s teeth. For these two weeks–or more, depending on your team–there has been little to no coverage of anything that wasn’t Super Bowl related. This makes sense, I guess, but it still blows.

But, come the end of tonight’s game, all that is over. We can finally get down to brass tacks when it comes to free agents and the draft. After the Super Bowl, we start getting 40-times and workout monsters. We get overpriced free agents and incentive-laden one year deals. In short, we get everything that matters to anyone who didn’t watch his favorite team today. The end of the season is nothing to bemoan, people. It’s something to look forward to with great anticipation. Because the end of the Super Bowl means the real beginning of he 2008 season.

Last Fortnight: 1-1

Regular Season Record: 156-91

Playoff Record: 8-2

Super Bowl Pick

New York Giants v. New England. Brady’s foot. Plaxico’s mouth. Moss‘ pimphand. Belichick’s hoodie. Coughlin’s ineptitude. Tiki’s vagina. Does that about cover every tired story or did I miss one? Like everyone else, had there not been the two-week layoff between the title games and today, I might have tried to convince myself into taking the Giants. That defense–especially the front four–has been playing out of their collective tits for weeks now. Plus, Eli seems to have made the “leap” from punchline to potential star.

Thankfully, the fourteen-day rest gave me time to come to my fucking senses. First, Eli is still a Manning, right? The only reason Peyton was even IN the Super Bowl last year is because Reche Caldwell sucks at historical levels. Manning did his damnedest to give that game back, but he couldn’t overcome Ol’ Bugeyes’ complete inability to catch TD passes. Second, Tom Brady is NOT a Manning. Instead, he’s apparently a golden god who gets to live the life every one of us pretended to be living when we created players in Madden. “Yeah, I’m the QB. I date Super Models. I’ve won a bunch of Super Bowls. Everyone wants to be me. I’m kind of a big deal.”

But the main reason I can’t pick NY? Tom Coughlin. It’s not that he sucks in a vacuum, though he does. It’s that he is woefully less talented than Belichick. This matchup, with this layoff, is like giving Stephen Hawking and Corky Thatcher two weeks and telling them “OK, now give me a mathematical model of a black hole and explain how it relates to dark matter.” I have few rules in life, but one of them is this–always bet against a retard. Pick: New England

Update: Or not.

2500 Words on Roster Depth

Jan 21, 2008 2008 Draft, Alex Gibbs, Curious Coaching, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Free Agency, Gary Kubiak, I really need a different hobby, Like whoa, Posts that list too many players, Predictions Guaranteed To Go Wrong, Roster, Rumors

[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.

Three pies and a cloud of meringue

Jan 21, 2008 2007 Season, 2008 Draft, Charles Spencer, Free Agency, Offensive (punch)Line, RB free-for-all, Ron Dayne likes pie

There’s been a lot of talk about taking a running back with our first round pick in the 2008 Draft - with good cause - so I am going to take just a quick look behind and ahead at our RB experience.

2007 was the year of the Pie for the Texans running game. After signing a $400 quadrillion contract in the off-season, Ahman Green proved what most of the rest of us already knew: a RB over 30 years old = over the hill. And to get over that hill, he’ll need some oxygen. Now, it is true that Green looked great in the pre-season and in the first game. Sadly, though his longest rush of the year came on his first rush of the year, and he wound up with only 260 yards and a pathetic 3.7 YPC. This left the majority of the team’s carries to Ron Dayne.

It’s not like Dayne had a bad year. His YPC was marginally successful at 4.0, but the league averaged 4.1 YPC. In other words, the guy who got the ball the most for us was below average versus the league…including the super sucky Bears. As a team, the Texans ranked 24th in YPC and 22nd in total rushing yards. Yeah, as master of the obvious, let me state: we need to improve the running game.

As Matt mentions in his Zone Blocking Manifesto, Gibbs is unlikely to take an offensive lineman in the first round, though he has done this. With as deep of a crop of RBs as there are in this year’s draft, I’m not sold on taking a RB with our first pick, either. Look at how well 7th round pick Ahmad Bradshaw performed last night: RB talent can be found deep in the draft. We know that Gibbs alone with help the running game, but there’s no way in hell we should count on Barbaro Spencer being healthy, either. There are a ton of variables at play here to improve the running game, and I haven’t even talked about the rest of the offense yet.

Personally, I’m starting to convince myself that signing Tatum Bell might be a good idea, then use a pick (maybe a 2nd rounder if we trade back, or a 3rd rounder if not) to take a RB. Bell should come relatively cheaply, and he knows the system. Hell, in Denver, he averaged 4.9 YPC. Yes, he comes with some baggage (pouty, can’t handle a big workload, issues picking up the blitz), but he also gives us the home run ability that not a single other Texan on the roster has. After his 39 yard run, Dayne had to have a peach pie IVed into him. By drafting a RB a little later, we can still address the problem in the running game and plug a hole elsewhere.

Regardless (and assuming we re-sign him), if Dayne gets more than 40 carries in 2008, we will have to consider our off-season plan to address the running game a failure. And, no, I give no disclaimer due to injury. Simply, there are better options out there than Dayne, and we need to find them.

Source: nfl.com for stats.

Enyimba Enyi

Jan 18, 2008 2008 Season, Adimchinobe Echemandu is fun to say, Free Agency, Nigerian Mafia, Nnamdi Asomugha

Good news, Texans fans: the team is already addressing some of our needs and filling holes in the roster. For instance, with the unceremonious release of Adimchinobe Echemandu a couple weeks ago, the team suddenly found itself short one Nigerian. Problem solved–yesterday, the team signed veteran Center Chukwunweze Sonume Okobi, better known to you and I as Chukky Okobi.

This is the kind of pro-active move that lets one know that the team is committed both to winning and to maintaining a Nigerian mafia. This is something that a certain Raiders cornerback might ought to consider when looking for a new team.

(Yes, yes…technically Chukky was born in Connecticut and his parents are Nigerian, but with a name like his, that is close enough.)

Opening Salvo (Remix)

Jan 3, 2008 2008 Draft, Barbaro is dead, Charles Spencer, Dunta Robinson, Free Agency, Injury bug, Nnamdi Asomugha

Two follow-up notes to the post below:

1. I realize that I am being uncharacteristically optimistic when it comes to Dunta. It is entirely plausible that he doesn’t step on the field at all in 2008. I am just buying into the idea that his rehab is going well and assuming that he has the type of personality that lends itself to a more rapid recovery (i.e. “fuck the naysayers, this is the style I bring” vs. “oh, man, I don’t deserve this; why’d this happen to me?”) You’ll note, however, that I am not so sold on my own beliefs that I don’t also think we should go after Asomugha.

2. Until Steph mentioned it, I was completely unaware that Charles Spencer is a big ol’ fatty now. Probably not the best thing for a rehabbed leg. I’m leaning more toward assuming he’ll be a guard in 2008.

Opening Salvo

Jan 2, 2008 2007 Season, 2008 Season, Barbaro is dead, Batman, Black Salaami, Boulware, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Free Agency, I'm not a doctor, Mark Bruener, Matt Turk rules, Nnamdi Asomugha, Posts that list too many players, Roster, Secondary issues are primary, Sign Andre Davis now, Tremendous Busts

Certain discussions in football are incredibly dependent upon context. Take, for instance, “who is the greatest player of all time?” Without contextualizing the question, we can have different answers and all might be correct. If you are asking “who was the most dominant in his era,” the near-universal answer is Jim Brown. If you are factoring in which player had the biggest drop-off in talent between himself and the second-best player at his position, Lawrence Taylor is a popular answer. And if you are considering longevity coupled with a high level of performance, a case can be made for Larry Allen, Emmitt Smith, or even Brett Favre if a person is so inclined.

Discussing the draft is no different. Before we can have any sort of serious discussion regarding our needs (both perceived and real) and how the draft can meet them, we have to answer the following:

• What is the 2008 contribution from Dunta Robinson likely to be?
• What is the 2008 contribution from Charles Spencer likely to be?
• Is Travis Johnson going to be on the 2008 Texans?
• Which of our free agents are going to be re-signed?
• Which free agents from other teams are we looking at?
• Which role players/reserves from this year played well enough to challenge for an expanded role next year?
• Which starters played poorly enough to “earn” their outright releases?

Let’s try to tackle these. Everything from here is on is my best guess, so feel free to correct/mock/taunt me in the comments.

1. What is the 2008 contribution from Dunta Robinson likely to be?

The facts: According to this article (hat tip to reader Eric, who keeps me abreast of stuff almost daily), Dunta is taking rehab seriously and is progressing well.

“I know myself, and I know what I will do to get back on the field,” [Dunta said].

Unless you enjoy being wrong, don’t doubt him.

He might be moving slowly with a limp [as of now], but at some point next season, No. 23 will throw his body around Reliant Stadium, making hard-hit highlights.

***

The most likely scenario calls for Robinson, 25, to be placed on the physically unable to perform list entering camp. If he isn’t ready at the start of the season, he would not be eligible to be activated until after the sixth game.

Though he has been told he is ahead of schedule in the rehab, he smartly realizes to rush would be foolish.

Really bad grammar aside, no one is currently ruling out the possibility that he will be back on opening day. Now, given the severity of the injury–see video here–it might be a little much to expect a September return, but what if he is ready to go by October? With Dunta and Fred Bennett, it would make very little sense to draft a CB at 18. (This is doubly true when you consider that this draft isn’t exactly rife with big name cornerback talent–not only would be drafting redundantly, but you would be reaching to do it.)

One strange sub-question to this is what if Dunta does return as planned in 2008, but is not as fast as he was prior to the injury? Because I know we don’t want to hear it right now, but there is no guarantee that he can rehab his speed back to what it was (or even what it needs to be to be a top corner). If this happens, as a couple people said shortly after he was hurt, it might just make sense to pencil Dunta in as a free safety when he returns, allowing him to play the ball and still knock the piss out of people, but without expecting him to also turn and run with the Reggie Waynes of the world. In such a scenario, obviously that second corner position is an issue. I’m just not sure it is an issue to address via the draft.

Predicted answer to the question: I think Dunta returns in mid-October and, by November, is in “playing shape.” He might be slightly slowed, but any conversion of him to safety would be in 2009 at the earliest.

2. What is the 2008 contribution from Charles Spencer likely to be?

The Facts: If it seems like a really loooooong time since Spencer got hurt, you are not imagining things. He had surgery on the broken leg on September 18, 2006, meaning that 103 weeks will have passed between that date and opening day 2008. Now, of course, the good news is that there was some talk and hope going into 2007 Camp that Spencer would play at some point this past year. While that didn’t happen (obviously), the team website reports that Barbaro is expected to participate in the team’s offseason conditioning program.

To have been cleared for such workouts, Spencer’s rehab would have to be completed to his personal physician’s satisfaction and he would have to have been evaluated by the team doctor. So, apparently, 2 out of 2 medical professionals agree that Spencer is healthy enough for NFL workouts. That’s a start. Much like with Dunta, however, there is no way of knowing short of seeing Spencer play whether he was able to rehab to the level of an NFL left tackle.

Also similar to the Dunta situation, if Spencer does not have the quickness and explosiveness needed to take on professional defensive ends, the team is not without options. Fred Weary is a free agent and Chester Pitts was less than stellar for much of the year, so moving Spencer to a guard spot is certainly a possibility. Given his bulk and athleticism (6-5, 350 compared to 6-4, 307 for Weary and 6-2, 320 for Pitts), lining him up beside Eric Winston or a real–read: not Ephraim Salaam–left tackle would certainly be an asset to our running game (unless it is foolishly decided by the powers above that we are going to convert to a pure zone blocking scheme).

Predicted answer to the question: I think that Spencer will be at 100% of whatever his post-surgery ability is and that Kubiak will give him every chance to win back the LT spot. For better or worse, unless Spencer is visibly way too slow, has some sort of major surgery-related setback, or Jake Long/Sam Baker falls to us at 18, I’m guessing that Spencer is our guy going into next season.

3. Is Travis Johnson going to be on the 2008 Texans?

Facts: Travis is a loud-mouthed, under achieving jerk. While his taunting of Trent Green was hilarious (to me), his play has never been such that we can absorb his stupid penalties and brain farts.

Prediction: This organization values “character” and “appearances” more than just about any team ever, so I really can’t see how Travis is on this roster come September. He will be gone either through trade (if we can find a sucker) or outright release closer to June 1, either of which is fine because we need a real nose tackle anyway.

4. Which of our free agents are going to be re-signed?

Facts: The following are my predicted fates for the unrestricted free agents:

• Roc Alexander–gone w/ no offer
• Charlie Anderson–signed
• Kevin Barry–gone w/ no offer Oops.
• Mark Bruener–gone? retired? neither?
• Danny Clark–signed
• Andre’ Davis–signed
• Ron Dayne–signed
• Will Demps–signed
• Glenn Earl–gone w/no offer
• Von Hutchins–gone b/c offer withdrawn after Wynn signs
• ND Kalu–signed
• Cedric Killings–gone (retired)
• Jason Simmons–gone w/ no offer
• Matt Turk–signed
• Fred Weary–gone b/c unable to perform in 2008
• Dexter Wynn–signed

And for the restricted free agents:

• CC Brown–signed
• Anthony Maddox–signed
• Jerome Mathis–gone b/c he’s a fragile wuss
• Scott Jackson–signed

Quick Review:

Unrestricted Free Agents have four or more seasons of service and have reached the end of their contract. They are free to sign with any club through the first day of the first scheduled NFL training camp. After that, their exclusive rights revert to their original club (if that club made a June 1 tender to these players) and that team has until the Tuesday after the 10th week of the season to sign the player. If the player does not sign, he must continue to sit out the rest of the season.

Restricted Free Agents have completed three accrued seasons of service and have reached the end of their contracts. They have received offers from their old clubs, but can negotiate with any team until April 21. If a new team’s offer is accepted, the old club has the right to match the offer and keep the player. If they do not match the offer, the old team might receive a compensatory draft pick (subject to how much the new team’s offer was).

Notes regarding predicted answer to the question: I have been going back and forth on whether they will sign Mark Bruener. He’s a great run blocker, but he’s old as hell, so it wouldn’t shock me to see them carry Joel Dreessen if they want a third TE or for them to keep Bruener because they release Putzier. I think the Von Hutchins/Dexter Wynn thing comes down to who signs first and, god, I hope it’s Wynn. I think Demps wins out over Glenn Earl and I think that is a good thing. Finally, I think they keep Turk for another year unless someone releases a top-tier punter for some odd reason.

5. Which free agents from other teams are we looking at?

Facts: We have a better free agent budget than in some recent offseasons, but we are still not free and clear of some of the dead money (Domanick Davis Williams, anyone?) Keeping in mind the overriding philosophy of not over-spending on big names and putting character at the forefront of any player evaluation, here are some names at key positions that I could see us considering (my favorite at each position is linked to player info):

RB–Musa Smith, Derrick Ward, LaBrandon Toefield, Michael Bennett, and Justin Fargas. Notable omissions–Michael Turner (price), Julius Jones (not good)

DE–Marques Douglas, Bobby McCary, Travis LaBoy. Notable omissions–Jared Allen (character, price), Justin Smith (price)

DT–Ethan Kelley, Isaac Sopoaga. (This position is likely better filled through the draft) Notable omissions–Albert Haynesworth (character, price), Pat Williams (I was an idiot and overlooked his extension signed in September, so he’s not a free agent like I had been saying)

S–Gibril Wilson, OJ Atogwe, Mike Doss. (This position is extremely thin in free agency this year) Notable omission–Ken Hamlin (slight character concerns, overpriced due to Pro Bowl)

CB–Keith Smith, Domonique Foxworth, Nnamdi Asomugha. (Yes, I realize Asomugha’s predicted price tag, but if the team thinks Dunta will not be back in 2008 or will not be back to his old self, I think Smithiak realizes the value of a shutdown corner. Plus, I am hoping that his low INT total this year will temper the cost.) Notable omission–Asante Samuel (will think he’s worth too much and won’t talk to smaller-market teams)

OT–Jordan Gross, Stacey Andrews, Adrian Jones. Notable omissions–Flozell Adams (age), Cory Lekkerkerker (not enough Ks for jersey if he’s signed)

6. Which role players/reserves from this year played well enough to challenge for an expanded role next year?

Facts: The injuries to 94.35% of our roster this season gave us an extended look at some guys who under normal circumstances would have gotten nothing but scout team and special teams reps. Honestly, this was the one silver lining to come out of the bubonic plague that struck our locker room.

Not counting free agent guys like Andre Davis and Charlie Anderson, the three guys who jump to mind are Earl Cochran, Kasey Studdard, and Zac Diles. Last one first, Kubiak said recently that Diles had shown an ability to possibly play the other LB positions, so I could see him getting a chance to earn the SLB position in camp next year. This is not ideal–I’d much rather have a pure SLB over there–but if we can’t resign Charlie Anderson and Danny Clark, it might not be the worst thing to happen. Cochran showed a real nose for the ball every time he got in there and he even earned a starting role for the last game of the season. Studdard is a coaching staff favorite and showed real potential on the interior.

Predicted answer to the question: If the team is able to get a big nose tackle either through the draft or through free agency, it would not shock me to see Cochran given a chance at the starting defensive end gig next summer. I like the guy, so this would not bother me. Diles’ opportunity to earn a starting role is going to be limited to a total departure of the other SLBs on the roster or the untimely death of DeMeco Ryans. Finally, Studdard should be in line to compete for an OG position, especially if Spencer is playing OT. There’s also a chance that Brandon Harrison or Brandon Frye could compete, but, again, that is going to depend more on who leaves this offseason than what either actually did during the 2007 campaign.

7. Which starters–other than Travis Johnson–played poorly enough to “earn” their outright releases?

Facts: Anthony Weaver is the highest-paid player on this team, yet he was not even among the five best DEFENSIVE players we had this year. That is unacceptable. Shawn Barber started off fine, but injury derailed him. Still, that might be enough to earn a ticket out. Ahman Green I cannot discuss without getting angry. DeMarcus Faggins should lead this list, but he seems to have some sort of soft spot in the hearts of the leadership. Jeb Putzier…I’m pretty sure he is still on the team, though you wouldn’t know it by watching the last 8 games. Jordan Black was atrocious from day 1. Mike Flanagan apparently subscribed to the Jordan Black newsletter. Finally, Michael Boulware was decent on special teams, but horrid in coverage. If you listen real closely, you can hearing him whiffing on another assignment as I write this.

Obviously, there are salary cap implications for cutting any of these guys. Based on the best numbers I could find, the cap hit for each guy would be as follows (and remember that you can split guys cut on June 1 over two seasons as well as 2 guys cut prior to June 1 but designated as such):

• Weaver: $8.1MM
• Barber: $1.4MM
• Green: $3.75MM
• Faggins: $425K
• Putzier: $950K
• Black: $900K
• Boulware: $0 (unless there are some hidden bonuses that I missed)
• Flanagan: $1MM
• (Johnson: $2.7MM)

Keeping Weaver is going to cost us $6.2MM against the cap, so it depends entirely on whether losing him is worth roughly $2MM plus whatever his replacement costs. Then again, if he is one of the June 1 guys, you are saving money ($4.05MM vs. 6.2MM) in the short term. Knowing this, I think he’s either gone or will be “asked” to restructure his deal. Same deal with Green, though I say it is less likely that he is given the chance to restructure because he is cheaper to cut than to keep ($3.75MM vs. 5.1MM). Deciding whether to keep the others listed here depends less on dollars and cents and more on long-term planning for the franchise.

Predicted answer to the question: Like I said, I think Weaver is either not a Texan or is not under the same contract come September, but I am betting it is the latter. I think Green is giving his walking papers, which he will carry with a limp. Faggins stays around be he’s cheap, they like him for some reason, and because God likes to torture me like that from time to time. Putzier…I’m going back and forth on. I think he’s gone if they keep Bruener and vice versa. Boulware and Flanagan are done. Barber stays because he’s versatile and is good leadership for some of the younger ‘backers.

*****

So, about 2700 words later, there you have it. One obsessive-compulsive fan’s look at the background questions that have to be answered before we can form a coherent draft strategy. I’m sure I missed something in there.

.500

Dec 30, 2007 2007 Season, Awesomeness, Chad Stanley, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Free Agency, Matt Turk rules, Owen Daniels is a big ol' Pimp, Posts that list too many players, Ron Dayne likes pie, Rosie Rosenfels, Roster, Secondary issues are primary, Sign Andre Davis now, Stats, Team Records

Ladies and gentlemen, allow me to introduce your non-losing Houston Texans.  There were a lot of statements made in this game, both good and bad. At the end of the day, however, the fact that we won our eighth game overshadows every single thing I am about to write.

• Dear Texans Fans, You’re welcome. Love, Andre Davis. Seriously…that was amazing. Hell, it was Hester-esque. Between what he offered as a WR when Andre Johnson was out, how well he played on punt coverage (highly underrated), and his contributions as a kick returner, we would be ridiculously stupid not to sign him to a multi-year deal. As an added bonus, signing him means we don’t even have to consider re-signing Jerome Mathis, which is good if only because Mathis might hurt himself signing the contract.
• Dear Matt, How’s that for “not good?” Love, Darius Walker. I apologize for doubting you. No, you might not have the fastest top-end in town and, no, you might not be able to get the corner against a fast defense, but you have fantastic vision and you don’t dance around behind the line. Like I said over in the Game Thread, it seems like Walker hits his top speed–whatever that may be–instantly. So, what he might lack as an open field runner, he more than makes up for between the tackles. Fact: If you take away his 41 yard run, Walker still averaged 5 yards per carry; if you include that run, he averaged 8.6. Nice.
• Dear Petey Faggins, I don’t think your pre-game pointers helped. Love, Von Hutchins. Wow…as surprisingly good as Walker was, that’s how shockingly bad Hutchins looked. It got to the point early on that I half expected Garrard to come to the line, find Hutchins, and start laughing before the snap. Even Tina Turner wasn’t abused like that.
• Dear Von Hutchins, Thanks for the opportunity! Love, Dexter Wynn. Much like how Kubiak pulled Faggins out of the Atlanta game to try and stop the bleeding, Wynn replaced Hutchins for the most part after the second TD that Hutchins coughed up. Dexter looked surprisingly solid, especially when you consider the size he was giving up to the Jacksonville WRs. He wasn’t perfect and you sure wouldn’t want to go into the season with him as your CB2, but he might have gotten a leg up on Hutchins in the “which one will we re-sign” battle (both are unrestricted free agents).
• Dear Sage Rosenfels, About that whole trading-for-you thing…nevermind. Love, NFL GMs with QB Problems. Short of sporting bouffant hair and wearing white gloves, I don’t know that it would be possible for a player to damage his trade value more than Sage has the last two weeks. While he wasn’t atrocious or anything to day, he wasn’t anywhere approaching “good.” Even the TD pass to Daniels was on a poor throw and required a great grab by the big TE. Of course, he later felt the need to hit an opposing DB between the numbers for his weekly INT. He’s still a good backup, but any talk (by me) of getting a third-round or better pick for him or any talk (by others) about a QB controversy needs to be put on hold. Let’s all take a deep breath and move on.
• Dear NFL QBs, Be afraid in 2008. Very afraid. Love, Mario Williams. No, our resident sackmaster didn’t get the one he needed to pass Patrick Kearney, but Jacksonville was clearly concerned with him from the first snap. This was some of the most blatant holding of Mario we’ve seen this year, but the refs seem to have already put him in the category of elite pass rushers that can be held with near-impunity. I don’t think it’s a stretch to expect at least 18 sacks out of Mario next season. Reggie who?
• Dear Richard Smith, How did you manage to make Quinn Gray look like Peyton Manning? Love, Texans Fans. Here’s a thought–and I think we’ve been over this before–but when your secondary is getting worked like Jenna Jameson’s labia and you are letting a backup QB throw for four TDs, maybe you shouldn’t completely abandon the blitz. Because, maybe I am crazy, but it seems like you would have seen over the past month how much better this entire defensive unit is when you are blitzing and you would have used that knowledge against the Jags so they didn’t pick you apart with their gigantic WRs against your patchwork defensive backfield. Just sayin’.
• Dear Rick Smith, Please get rid of Richard Smith before he forces me to climb a clock tower and start shooting student nurses. Love, Matt.
• Dear Rick Smith, I think I deserve more than $1.3MM next season. Love, Ron Dayne. The Trayne ended this game with 88 yards (4.2/carry) and 2 more TDs, giving him a team-high 773 yards (career high) and 6 rushing TDs. He also added career highs in receptions (17) and receiving yards (112). If we can get him back for any combination of bonus and salary under $2MM/year, I think we have to.

Other tidbits

• When he wasn’t busy misidentifying Texans or mispronouncing names, Dick Enberg mentioned that the forty-two points scored today was a new franchise record. This breaks the old record of 34, set against Carolina in week 3. Ladies and gentlemen, we have an offense.
• If I told you before the season started that Darius Walker would have more rushing yards than Ahman Green and that the two of them combined would have fewer than Ron Dayne, what would you have guessed our record to be?
• Chad Stanley, 2006: 41.6 yards per punt, 36.7 net. Matt Turk, 2007: 41.7 yards per punt, 37.9 net. Yet, despite their similarities, there were only a couple games where Turk worried me, as opposed to sixteen where I was concerned by Stanley. Weird.
• We won despite being outgained by 91 yards and having 3:34 less in time of possession. God bless Andre Davis.
• 8-8. Never has symmetry looked so nice.

Do you have the Beatles’ White Album? Nevermind, just get me a glass of hot fat. And bring me the head of Alfredo Garcia while you’re out there!

Dec 29, 2007 2007 Season, Colts Shmolts, Free Agency, Fuck the Cowboys, LT, Predictions Guaranteed To Go Wrong, Self-Referential Stuff, Teams that aren't the Texans

Give yourself 100 bonus points–redeemable for absolutely dick–if you recognized the quote without Googling it.

Last week: 11-4

Season: 146-85

Week 17 Picks

New England @ New York Giants. So, I’ve been thinking–I have been vocally in favor of the Pats going undefeated all season, just to piss off Indy fans and to shut up the decrepit old fucks from the ‘72 Dolphins. These things please me. At the same time, the idea of Bill Simmons crowing non-stop about how great this team is makes my skin crawl. My hatred for the Colts still outweighs everything here, so if push comes to shove and I have to choose, I’m backing the Pats. IF, however, the Colts lose before they play the Pats, put me firmly in the “lose, you bastard New England shitbags!” camp. Pick: New England

San Francisco @ Cleveland. Bah. Piss on you Derek Anderson. All you had to do was win and Sunday’s Colts/Titans tilt would be meaningless. I hate you for this. Pick: Cleveland

Detroit @ Green Bay. Speaking of choke jobs, how about that thrashing Chicago put on Green Bay last week? Who saw that coming? Certainly not this guy. I am hoping that it was the wake-up call the Pack needed in order to have their collective minds right when it comes time to beat the ‘girls. God, I hate the Cowboys. Fucking homos. Pick: Green Bay

New Orleans @ Chicago. If you are the Bears, are you kicking yourself more for keeping the wrong running back or for not trying to actually develop Kyle Orton over the past years? Or maybe that botched negotiation with Lance Briggs that is going to cause him to walk this offseason. Pick: New Orleans

Jacksonville @ JUGGERNAUT. What’s that old saying…dance with the fat bitch you rode in on? Something like that. Pick: Houston

Carolina @ Tampa Bay. Hello, Vegas? Yes, can put $200 on “David Carr and Jeff Garcia will go together to Georgie’s Alibi in St. Pete?” Thanks. Pick: Tampa Bay

Buffalo @ Philadelphia. This is one of those games where you can make a strong argument for either team. I’ll save you the tedium of reading that, however, and just say that I prefer wings to cheesesteaks. Oh, I also prefer long-suffering fans to insufferable pricks. (But I loved it when they cheered Michael Irvin’s injury. I am fickle like that.) Pick: Buffalo

Cincinnati @ Miami. It is an accomplishment, albeit a dubious one, when you can be the absolute least interesting game in a week of uninteresting games. Congrats, losers. Pick: Cincinnati

Seattle @ Atlanta. Unless my calculations are off, losing this game would lock Atlanta into the second spot in the draft, while a win could have them as low as fifth or sixth. Because life hates Arthur Blank, I’m going with the Falcons to win convincingly. Pick: Atlanta

Minnesota @ Denver. Strange but true fact: I grew up in a town that had a population of 72 people. Which has nothing to do with this game, but is nearly as interesting as the current Broncos team. Pick: Minnesota

Pittsburgh @ Baltimore. Baltimore’s offense is like Natalee Holloway’s killers. They have to exist, you are pretty sure you know the players involved, but no one seems to be able to find them. Now, I’m not suggesting that he did it, but…has anyone questioned Ray? Pick: Pittsburgh

Dallas @ Washington. Joe Gibbs has his best player murdered, his starting QB lost for a chunk of the year, and faulty offensive and defensive lines, and he still has his team on the brink of the playoffs? Now, either he’s the greatest coach ever or the NFC really is that much easier right now. I’m going with B. Pick: Washington

Kansas City @ New York Jets. HERM BOWL!!!! Pick: Kansas City

San Diego @ Oakland. You have to figure that LDT will play little, if at all, in this game, but will get almost all the carries in the postseason. That being the case, Michael Turner is basically getting a chance to make the last image anyone has of him prior to his free agency a positive one. If he gets close to 200 yards, that $6MM/year pricetag is going to seem awful reasonable to someone. And it’s going to have yours truly listening to the Musa Smith talk and trying to convince people that Felix Jones is really that good.

St. Louis @ Arizona. That thing I said earlier about Cinci and Miami being the least interesting game? This was its closest competition. Unless you are a fan of either of these teams, I can’t think of a single reason to watch this one. Hell, even if you are a fan, you might want to consider flipping back and forth between this one and a real game. Pick: Arizona

Tennessee @ Indianapolis. It’s pretty well-documented that both this blog and BRB are not fans of Albert Haynesworth. With any luck, he could be playing his last game as a Tennessee Babyeating-Sisterfucker. I don’t know about you, but I’d much rather hate him once every three years than twice a year. Now, if he could just end Peyton’s career on his way out the door, we’ll have some nice parting gifts waiting. Pick: Indianapolis

Everyone out! C’mon. No, not you, Scottie. Not you, Number 2. Not you, Frau. Not you, Goldmember. Not you, guys back there. Not you, henchman holding a wrench. Not you, henchman arbitrarily turning knobs, making it seem like you’re doing something.

Dec 27, 2007 Adimchinobe Echemandu is fun to say, Corky Johnson, Free Agency, Hype, Nigerian Mafia, Nnamdi Asomugha, Tremendous Busts, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Tim beat me to the punch on this, but Adimchinobi Echemandu was cut by the Texans yesterday, ending my dream that he would become the new Nigerian Nightmare.

While the official reason given was that the team needed to cut someone to make room for DelJuan Robinson (more on him in a minute), the fact remains that there had to be some underlying reason for why Joe E. was the person chosen. One can only assume that either Kubiak never got past Joe’s back-to-back performances against Oakland and New Orleans (2 carries for 6 yards, then 1 carry for 2 yards and a fumble lost) or the team is completely committed to using Darius Walker the rest of the way in order to evaluate him.

Either way, I can live with the decision. After all, this was a guy that we signed out of absolutely nowhere and those kinds of players rarely get mulligans. Besides, it’s not like he bounced back after that New Orleans game–in two more games he had 7 carries for 15 yards. Walker, on the other hand, is averaging 3.7 yards per carry and has 13 catches for 81 yards in his three games of action. Now, the pessimists–of whom I am a charter member–will point out that Walker showed last week that he lacks the speed to be a true number one back in the and that he would be best suited as a 3rd-down back, so an evaluation of his “long-term potential” is rather pointless. (The numbers certainly support this: he ran a 4.56 and a 4.57 at the NFL Combine; for the sake of comparison, Najeh Davenport ran a 4.44 at his Combine. Davenport also pooped in a hamper, which has nothing to do with Darius Walker but is still worth mentioning.) While this may be true, I think the general consensus was that Echemandu was not going to be the answer, regardless of how Walker did or did not pan out. Fair enough.

All of this overlooks the main reason I was high on Echemandu from the start. Namely, that a certain cousin of his is arguably the best or second-best cover corner in the NFL and can opt out of his contract at the end of the season. I was hoping that some family ties might have made it easier to entice him. With the emergence of Fred Bennett, however, and assuming that Dunta Robinson will be back and be 100% at some point next year, then giving Nate-Clements-money to Nnamdi Asomugha is probably not the highest best use of our free agent dollars (see, e.g., Pat Williams, Alan Faneca, Jared Allen, Demorrio Williams…)

Which sorta segues into DelJuan Robinson. The Second-team All-SEC tackle was undrafted out of Mississippi State, primarily due to a knee injury that limited his senior season to 8 games. In those 8 games, he had 12.5 tackles for a loss, which was fifth-best in the SEC. At MSU’s Pro Day, Robinson ran a 5.07 40, a 2.88 20, and put up 23 reps on the bench. He was part of the group of undrafted free agents that the Texans signed in May, was released by the team at the end of August, and was signed to the practice squad shortly thereafter. Because defensive line was the one place that didn’t turn into a M*A*S*H unit, Robinson had not gotten a shot at the active roster. Until now.

But let me ask you this: if you are the front office and you have four healthy defensive tackles, one of whom is retarded, but have injuries throughout your linebacking corps, secondary, and offensive line, why would you activate another defensive tackle? The only answer I can come up with is “because we are washing our hands of the retarded guy.” If that’s the case, it makes sense to see if Deljuan can play and let Travis languish until the time comes to set him free. (If they make Johnson a June 1 casualty next year–either by cutting him then or cutting him prior to that date but designating him as one of the two June 1s allowable under the CBA–there will be a cap hit of almost $2.5MM in 2008 and 2009 as opposed to a $5MM hit in 2008 if they cut him right now just to make a point). Besides, they might be able to convince Cincinnati that Travis would fit right in on their roster and get something in trade for him.

So while I might have had high hopes for him, if you are telling me we had to sacrifice Joe Echemandu to get rid of Travis Johnson…well, that’s a deal I’d make any day of the week.

Professor, without knowing precisely what the danger is, would you say it’s time for our viewers to crack each other’s heads open and feast on the goo inside?

Nov 28, 2007 2007 Season, 2008 Draft, Charles Spencer, Football 101, Fred Weary is dirty, Free Agency, Offensive (punch)Line, Secondary issues are primary, The Future

Somehow, between my switch to WordPress and my continued insistence on making up conversations, I managed to miss talking about the departure of Mike Sherman. Thankfully, the more sane among us have been all over it. Even better, in Tim’s coverage and the comments thereto, an interesting point was raised–will the departure of Sherman signal the end of the Green Bay influence on our offensive line play? More specifically, will the lack of a competing philosophy of run-blocking cause Kubiak to shift more toward a true one-cut, zone blocking running game like they use in Denver?

Before we get ahead of ourselves, however, let’s bust out the ol’ football primer, just so we are on the same page. (If you already know all this, please feel free to skip ahead to the part where it says ***STOP SKIMMING!!!***)

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 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 linebacker 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 left tackle would disengage and slide to the second level to pick up the Will linebacker, the right guard would do the same and pick up the Mike linebacker, and the TE would be responsible (from the snap) for the Sam linebacker.

If this is done correctly, there should be a hole between the TE and Right Tackle, the Center and where the Right Guard was, and the Center and Left Guard. 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.

***STOP SKIMMING!!!***

That’s all well and good, but how does that translate to our system? 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.

And therein lies the rub. Look at our current crop of O-linemen. All are over 300 lbs. Of the opening day starters, only Eric Winston and Steve McKinney are agile enough (arguably, in McKinney’s case) to play in a zone blocking scheme. Charles Spencer–assuming he ever recovers from that injury–is far too large to play the role effectively. Of the backups, Chris White is the right size, but who knows if he is actually all that good? Kasey Studdard isn’t overly agile and he’s too heavy. And so on, and so forth.

On top of this personnel issue, there is the problem that such a scheme takes a long time to install. It’s not a plug-and-play system where you just tell the guys “ok, we’re switching to zone” and it takes care of itself. The teamwork required in knowing which blocker is to disengage and find the linebacker is not something that happens overnight. Even if you already had five offensive linemen who fit the system, it’s doubtful that such a change could be made successfully in one summer of workouts. A full summer and camp of practice would allow you to run it, but the bugs and kinks of the system would take at least a full season of play to work out. And, like I said, that is with five guys who were perfect fits.

In general, I am a fan of the zone run blocking system, if only because I feel like it’s easier to find guys who are 280-300 and somewhat agile just by culling from the college players who are “undersized” or even “too small” according to the Mel Kipers of the world. I also like the system’s emphasis on blocking through the second level instead of allowing that level to come to you. That said, I don’t know that you can slowly switch to such a system. If Kubiak and Co. decided that they wanted to run it, such a change would require dedicating much of your draft and free agent money to finding the right guys (and, thus, ignoring the glaring problems in the defensive backfield). It would also require telling guys like Fred Weary and Chester Pitts and Ephraim Salaam, “sorry, but you’re not really needed anymore.” I don’t know that our regime is willing to make such dedications and statements at this point.

Isn’t that the dark-headed chick from Friends?

Nov 14, 2007 Free Agency, Injury bug, Secondary issues are primary, Who?

I suppose it is a sign of how many injuries you’ve had in your defensive secondary when you start signing guys the same week they were cut by other teams. In that vein, your Houston Texas signed Curome Cox yesterday, less than a week after Cox was released by the Broncos.

I have to be honest; Twenty-four hours ago, I had no idea who Curome Cox was. But, as is usually my wont, I decided to find out for you, the reader. That’s the kind of nice guy I am. So, I present “Ten Five Things You Probably Didn’t Know About Curome Cox.”

1. Cox was an honorable mention All-ACC selection his senior year at Maryland. He finished the season sixth in the conference with 10 passes defensed per game, and also made 40 tackles (32 solo).
2. A cornerback by trade, he primarily played safety in Denver.
3. He was not invited to the 2004 NFL Combine, but was decent enough in college that Scouts, Inc., considered his a “notable omission” and 2004 Previews listed him as a “key loss” for the Terps.
4. He ran a 4.52 and did 19 reps at Maryland’s pro day workouts.
5. Holds two Chick-Fil-A Bowl records (though both were set on the same play).
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You say "Echema," I say "Echemandu"

Oct 13, 2007 2004 Draft, Amobi Okoye is 20, Free Agency, Jerome Mathis got hurt reading this, Nigerian Mafia, Nnamdi Asomugha, RB free-for-all

I didn’t mention it on Wednesday, but the Texans signed Adimchinobe Echemandu–known as “Joe Echema” at Cal before he decided to go back to his real Nigerian name–to the practice squad. (There was an extra spot after we filled Jerome Mathis‘ roster hole.)

Anyway, it could be the fact that it’s late and I’ve been drinking or it could just be the paint fumes getting to me, but I am sorta jazzed about this signing. “Why,” you ask? A number reasons.

First, the simple fact that we signed him may mean that Samkon Gado is not factoring into our long-term plans. Which is good, because he sucks.

Second, though, and more importantly, is that when Echemandu is not injured, he’s fast. No, scratch that. He’s fast. He was banged up and didn’t run the 40 at the combine in 2004, but he turned in a 4.33 into the wind the summer before. Had he run that time at the combine, it would have been the fastest time in that year’s RB crop. Not shabby. And not surprising, as Joe was a sprinter before turning to football full time. He has had some injury issues since and has been very limited in playing time in the NFL, but that kind of speed is hard to come by. If you can get it at a discount like this, why not take a shot?

Third, Echemandu is a cousin of Nnamdi Asomugha. Do not underestimate how excited this makes me.

Finally, Joe is the fifth Nigerian-born player under some sort of contract with the Texans right now, joining Amobi Okoye, ND Kalu, Samkon Gado, and WR Gbolahan Devin Aromashodu. I suppose the way Amobi talked early in camp about Kalu being like a mentor/big brother to him is what makes me like this signing of Echemandu, as I buy into the idea of players overachieving when placed into highly comfortable situations. And that idea ties into us somehow luring Asomugha here in the offseason. Yes, I am slightly obsessed.