DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Don’t call it a comeback

Jan 28, 2008 2008 Season, Had to post something, Hydrocodone, Jacoby Jones is slighty less unheralded, Jared Zabransky, Roster, Self-Referential Stuff, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

So, I’ve been absent lately. I nearly wrote “notably absent,” but that would have been presumptuous on my part and, most likely, incorrect. We’ll just stick with “absent.”

Anyway…as I have bitched to a number of you over email or text message, I managed to catch some sort of virus last week, which filled me with roughly twenty pounds of snot. By Saturday, I was feeling better, so I allowed myself to be roped into helping someone move, which caused me to spend all day out in damp, 40-degree air. Apparently, this was a bad idea, as my doctor informed me today that I now have “severe bronchitis, a double ear infection, and tonsilitis.” Which is another way of saying I feel like I got skull-fucked by a rhinoceros.

Why am I telling all of you this? Because I like to pretend like you care. Moving on…

As has been discussed here and elsewhere, the Texans hired Ray Rhodes. There is absolutely no way this can be seen as anything but a fantastic move. Whether Rhodes is merely an assistant and is tasked with helping to improve the secondary or he is made an assistant head coach and has more oversight, the end result is that someone with a MUCH better defensive mind than Richard Smith is going to have input on the defensive side of the ball.

1Texan’s dream of a Jared Zabransky-led offense is kaput–the Sooner Killer is expected to sign with the Steelers. He’s expected to “compete to be the team’s 3rd-string quarterback.” There really isn’t anything else to be said here.

[Author's Note: The movie The Number 23 is playing in the background as I write this. I am, coincidentally enough, 23 minutes into it. Does it get to a level even approaching "decent" in the near future, or should I change channels at the top of the hour?]

Finally, it seems that Jacoby Jones is back at Lane College this semester and hopes to graduate this summer. Good for him. I hope one of his final classes focuses on not being horribly cliched and boring in Q-and-A sessions. Reading that was like watching him return punts against Tennessee–painful and awkward.

Recent Signings - the end of Petey?

Jan 21, 2008 Demarcus Faggins sucks, Undrafted Free Agent watch list, Weak-ass arguments

Along with Okobi, the Texans signed others recently. 1Tex wrote me asking about them, and here’s a quick take (and, to be honest, I don’t know a helluva lot about a couple of these guys):

DE Eric Powell - He couldn’t make the fuckin’ Bills, and they cut him even though that left them with only three true DEs. Pass!

RB Arliss Beach - He had a very impressive pre-season game for the Packers, but when a lot of their RBs wound up starting the season healthy, he got the ax. Ran a 4.45 at a combine, but went undrafted. I don’t think we’ll hear much from him.

CB Derrick Johnson - Somehow managed to get a start in SF, but he makes Petey look less sucky than normal. Pass!

S Brandon Mitchell - good size (6′3″ and 210 lbs.), but a bit slow for the position.

LB Kevis Coley - Ummmm, OK. His name doesn’t even ring a bell. He appears to have bounced around a bit. Anything else you know about him is purely a bonus.

OL Dan Stevenson - Probably no more than a backup out of Notre Dame. But, with the additon of Gibbs, anytime an OL is signed, it should pique our interest.

CB Derrick Roberson - A workout fiend. Ran a 4.34 40. As crappy as our non-Dunta/Bennett CBs are, and with my worries that Dunta even returns close to normal, I’m hopeful we give him a genuine shot to make the roster. He’s about the same size as Petey and, better yet, he’s not Petey.

C Greg Eslinger - Eslinger was the 2005 winner of the Rimington Award for the best college center. Drafted originally by Denver for his athleticism and his seeming fit in a zone blocking scheme. Of all the guys here, he’s probably the one with the best hope of being on the 2008 roster.

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.

Hula Dancing 101 (3 credit hours) Instructor: Prof. Mario Williams.

Dec 14, 2007 2006 Draft, 2007 Season, Awesomeness, Black Salaami, Curious Coaching, DeMeco Ryans, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Jerome Mathis got hurt reading this, Morlon Greenwood, Posts that list too many players, Reggie Bush, Rosie Rosenfels, The Future, The Schaub Experiment, Undrafted Free Agent watch list, Will Demps makes love to the...ladies?

It wasn’t that long ago that Comcast cable decided to slip on the old sandpaper condom and bend me over by moving the NFL Network from basic cable to the “Sports Entertainment Package” and charging extra if I wanted to watch it. I have to say…that was the best extortion I’ve ever been victim to. In all honesty, following last night’s impressive win, I would have paid five times as much for the NFL Network. [Author's Note: If anyone at Comcast reads this and bumps the price up, I'll fucking blow your shit up. For real.]

Anyway, what you witnessed last night–from the pitch-perfect opening drive to the Mario Williams show–was the most complete and most dominant game your Houston Texans have ever played. Ohmygoditsbulletedlisttime!!!!

• Like you don’t know where I am going to start. Mario Williams–excuse me, SUPER Mario Williams–is a bad motherfucker. He’s like Shaft, but with a better 40 time. Who’s the defensive end/ that just sacked Cutler again?/ MARIO!/I can dig it. Seriously, though…wow. As one of roughly nine people in the world who liked the Mario pick from day one, watching last night’s game gave me a weird sense of satisfaction. 13 sacks on the season, our single-season and career sack leader (besting immortals Jeff Posey and Kailee Wong, respectively), and, by all accounts, a great guy and an emerging lockerroom leader? Fuck Reggie Bush.
• How great was that first drive to watch? The line held up well, Darius Walker ran just enough to make the play-action make sense, and Andre Johnson had his way with the Denver DBs. Seeing how much Andre’s mere presence changes this team, there are a whole lot of “what ifs” about this season that revolve around him not missing eight games. After all, I don’t think it’s a stretch to say his presence would have been worth at least one more win, possibly two. Atlanta? Tennessee? Indy? How much different is this year if he’d stayed healthy Kubiak hadn’t allowed him to get hurt?
• Morlon Greenwood continues to be the most underrated player on this defense. 12 tackles, solid in both pass and run defense, and a couple big hits. I don’t know about you, but I will take that out of my Will every single Sunday. Or Thursday.
• Two dropped INTs aside, this patchwork secondary continues to play miles above their heads. That play Jamar Fletcher made in the endzone was as good a recovery as you’ll see. Fred continues to develop nicely. Smoove Will might have butter fingers, but he is hitting people like they are standing between him and sweet virgin ass. Girl ass, even. Getting Petey out of there and getting the defense to blitz (more on that in a second) has made all the difference in the world for this unit. When (if?) Dunta comes back healthy, he and Bennett should be a better one-two punch than we’ve ever had. Or, if we really want to give me a raging boner, we could sign Nnamdi Asomugha and let Dunta play free safety, where he could hit people and go after the ball without worrying that the surgically repaired leg was going to hamper him in one-on-one coverage. Just sayin’.
• If you are Rick Smith, don’t you HAVE to sign Andre’ Davis to a multi-year deal with some guaranteed money and just tell Jerome Mathis not to let the door hit him on the way out (lest it break his fragile spine)? Davis was fantastic in the receiving game when Johnson was out and he’s become a kick return ninja of late. Why not ink him?
• Mario Williams. Just wanted to mention him again.
• ND Kalu…nice to see you again!
• Whether or not you are on the Sell Sage bandwagon, you have to admit that he did nothing at all to hurt his value last night. He even offered the slowest bootleg TD run in history and capped it off with a Special Olympics bronze-winning dive.
• I have no idea how he did it, but Ephraim Salaam managed to make Elvis Dumervil a non-factor last night. If you’d given me 100-1 odds that Salaam would pull that off, I still wouldn’t have touched it. That was beyond surprising.
• Early in the second quarter, a friend of mine in NY turned on the game and, almost immediately, sent me a text saying “was that a Texans blitz?!” You bet your ass it was. Over the last two weeks, this defense has worked straight linebacker blitzes (especially using Charlie Anderson off the edge) and zone blitzes with Anthony Weaver and/or Anthony Maddox dropping into coverage to fill the holes. Now, I ain’t sayin’ that the powers-that-be read my little truck stop/strip joint on the information superhighway, but I am pretty sure I’ve seen this before. Now…how is it that it took them 13 weeks to figure this out?
• As with any game, win or lose, there were some things that still need to be fixed. First, Jacoby Jones–seriously, what the fuck? How can he be Dante Hall in the preseason and Dante Hicks in the regular season? Second, can someone PLEASE explain to me why Vonta Leach is getting so many looks in the passing game? General rule: Your run blocking FB getting a one-yard TD run? Acceptable. Your run blocking FB getting a 23-yard pass thrown his way on a skinny post route? No gracias, amigo.
• It feels weird to be this far into a recap without having mentioned DeMeco Ryans. Playing on a bum wheel, he notched six tackles and was a half-step short of getting a sack. Meaning he is better with a bad ankle than a lot of linebackers are at 100% health.
• Finally, kudos to Darius Walker and Ron Dayne on a very productive night running the ball. 24 carries for 143 yards and a TD is something we’ll take from the running game every single week. I am right at the point where I feel like we should keep the Dayne Trayne around next year as our RB2. Preferably behind Michael Turner or Felix Jones.

So, that’s that. 7-7 with two potentially brutal games upcoming. It could be better. It could be a lot worse. Fuck it…bring on the Colts.

High five

Aug 10, 2007 Amobi Okoye is 20, Athletes who don't stab people, Batman, Jon Abbate, Preseason 2007, Super Mario, The Schaub Experiment, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Game on!

Sure, it’s only preseason. Sure, we’ll only get to see The Schaub, Batman, Manchild, and Super Mario for a few plays. But it’s football. Texans football. So… like I said… GAME ON!

One player I am curious to see tonight is Jon Abbate. The story is well-documented–Abbate, a linebacker at Wake Forest, left school early to enter the draft, but tore a hamstring at the combine (and was considered too short to boot), so he went undrafted. Abbate signed as with Houston, still planning on making the team as a linebacker. However, when Jameel Cook’s knee injury was slow to heal, Abbate was asked to make the switch to fullback, a position he hadn’t played since high school.

With that kind of attitude, it’s easy to get behind Abbate. And Jon invites all Texans fans to get behind something even more special.

As he has done in every game for the past year, Abbate plans to begin the fourth quarter of Saturday’s Houston Texans-Chicago Bears preseason game by holding up five fingers. Wherever football takes him, it’s still about remembering his younger brother, Luke. It has been that way since Valentine’s Day 2006, when he died in an automobile accident on his way home from lacrosse practice. He was only 15.
[***]
[Texans fans], too, are invited to join in, should they choose.

‘I hope they do,’ Abbate said. ‘We’ll see what happens. This is definitely a community like Winston-Salem. It could carry over. I hope it does. If not, I understand. My family and I will do it until my career is over with.’

While I won’t be at tonight’s game, I want to echo Stephanie. Please hold up five fingers at the start of the fourth quarter. Hopefully, the people around you will do the same and something pretty cool will happen at Reliant Stadium tonight.

(You know… in addition to beating the Flying Grossmen.)

Oh, here’s the YouTube video detailing the whole Abbate story.

Black Snake Moan

Jul 30, 2007 Black Salaami, Free Agency, Mormons, Offensive (punch)Line, The Schaub Experiment, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Perhaps signaling that the team is not completely convinced by at least one part of the Black Salaami, the Texans signed G/T Kevin Barry on Saturday. As discussed a few days ago, Barry has pretty good size and some success in a small sample size of games.

My guess is that the team realizes that Jordan Black is just not going to cut it at left tackle and that Ephraim Salaam was good only by stop-gap standards last year. Of course, there is no guarantee that Barry will be better than either of those guys. So, at this point, it almost seems as if Smithiak are hedging their bets when it comes to protecting the Schaub.

In other O-line news, the team released Tavo Tupola. Tupola was part of the gaggle of undrafted free agents we brought in back in May. His release means that my fodder for Mormon jokes has just been reduced considerably.

Get out of here! Come back!

Jul 30, 2007 Injury bug, RB free-for-all, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Chris Taylor’s knee hates him. EDIT: Taylor underwent surgery for a torn meniscus on Sunday and he was placed on the IR, meaning he is lost for the season.

Taylor’s value to the team was two-fold. One, he showed some flashes of talent as a starting RB (99 yds, 1 TD v. Cleveland). Two, he can also play FB, meaning your lead-blocker is about as fast as your RB in those packages. That’s a nice weapon to have. At least it would have been a nice weapon to have.

In place of Taylor (and the PUPed Jameel Cook), the team brought in Quentin Griffin and Patrick Pass for workouts, signing Pass. They also re-signed the recently cut Darius Walker.

Signing Pass makes sense to me; he’s a versatile back (RB and FB, like Taylor), he’s a solid receiver out of the backfield, and he’s played on a winner before. (That last fact is always a plus on any roster.) Re-signing Walker, however, confounds the hell out of me. We let him go (or he asked to be released) because the odds were not good that he would make the team and because, at least according to one source, he’s not very good. Even if the loss of Taylor slightly improves Walker’s odds, I don’t think it will suddenly also make him an NFL-quality back.

In other injury news, Roc Alexander cracked his kneecap and was placed on IR. This isn’t overly important.

Zac Woodfin, we hardly knew ye

Jul 24, 2007 Batman, Preview, RB free-for-all, Ron Dayne likes pie, Training camp 2007, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Remember way back on July 10th, when the Texans–to much fanfare, I might add–signed LB Zac Woodfin? Nevermind, kid. Woodfin was released Monday along with FB Cory Anderson, G Atlas Herrion, C Enoka Lucas, CB Derrick Roberson, RB Darius Walker, and P Eric Wilbur. (Herrion was also with the team less than two weeks.)

Of these, I suppose the only true surprise is Walker, if only because we kinda sorta actively pursued him. Walker was close to signing with the Bears before, depending on who you ask, he either couldn’t come to terms with the Super Bowl losers or we swooped in and signed him first.

Then again, I don’t know that you can even call his release a surprise. As of right now, you have Batman and Cartman occupying spots one and two. That leaves Lundy, Taylor, and Gado fighting for two spots (assuming we keep 4 RB like last year). Surely Walker–and, more importantly, his agent Drew Rosenhaus–are smart enough to realize he is not likely to supplant TWO guys who have shown flashes of talent in the NFL (a description that applies to all three). It wouldn’t surprise me at all if he asked to be released.

Lucas, Anderson, Roberson, and Wilbur were all part of the herd of undrafted free agents we brought in back in May.

*****
As to news of additions, it seems we brought in P Matt Turk. Which I am sure has the guys at BRB thinking of happy, Stanley-free days.

*****
Amobi Watch: Still no news.

UPDATE: Someone who would have occasion to know such things echoes the sentiment that Walker probably asked to be released, but adds “Walker’s not good, but you’re right [in thinking] he asked to be released. That said, I would be shocked if he made a roster, let alone play a down in the NFL.”

The same person also said that both Manchild and JJ will sign before camp, but “it could be as late as Thursday.”

Petey Faggins and I will likely not be exchanging gifts this year

Jun 1, 2007 Demarcus Faggins sucks, Overexposure, Preview, Secondary issues are primary, The Fred, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

As I mentioned to Stephanie in the comments to the previous post, I am fully aware that (a) I am very tough on Petey Faggins and (b) that, in theory, he could prove me wrong and actually develop into an NFL-caliber CB2. I admit both of these points without hesitation.

Faggins seems like a nice enough guy¹, and I think that is why Texans fans who are pro-Petey give him the benefit of the doubt time and time again. (Well, that and the fact that he is a native Texan; you know how loyal Lone Star Staters are to their own.) But, nice guy or not, I can’t shake the feeling that he looks lost every time I see him on a football field. Given that he scored a Vince-esque 10 on the Wonderlic, my suspicions are grounded in a bit of reality. He also doesn’t seem strong enough to play corner against receivers taller than 6′0″, which his THREE reps at the combine bear out.

Now, yes, I realize those combine numbers are half a decade old. He is probably a little stronger and he has developed his football intelligence. However, I am instantly struck with the old saying about a Silk Purse and a Sow’s Ear. Or maybe it’s that thing about not being able to make a ho into a housewife. I’m not good with metaphors.

Whatever. If I am in the minority about thinking that Petey out-and-out sucks, I’ll give him one more season to prove me wrong. And, by “one more season,” I mean “until he jacks up so badly that I scream YOU SUCK at the television.” Until then, I’ll ease up and just classify him as “not that good.”

******

In other CB2 news, the latest from Lance Zierlein says that CB Jason Horton is doing “a very nice job during OTAs.” He doesn’t say what Horton is doing a nice job at–it could be bringing water to Mario for all I know–but I suppose that this is a positive development. My money and my vote are still on Fred Bennett beating out Horton, Fletcher, etc.

Also, I still haven’t heard ANYTHING about Brandon Mitchell, the undrafted FA out of tOSU, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he makes a good showing during camp. If he’s still alive, that is; like I said, I haven’t heard word one about him. If anyone has any news, I’d be glad to be privy to it.

******

Finally, in Matt news, I have two announcements. First, Chron.com has added DGDB&D to their main Texans page. The posts over there mirror what you see here (with editing, where need be), so there really isn’t any reason for regular readers at this address to go over there. Still, I thought I would mention it. (I also don’t have my picture beside my blog name, which I guess means I am not as cool as Thomas Hilton. I cry now.)

Second, I am going on vacation² starting Sunday. I’ll still be posting–no need to panic–but it could be a little more sparse, especially from Sunday through Thursday.

¹ He and I have the same birthday (June 13), so he can’t be all bad. Nice, I just used a parenthetical in a footnote!
² I’m sure the people who know me in real life are thinking “vacation from WHAT?” Bite me.

DeMarcus Faggins couldn’t cover Christopher Reeve (and I am talking about right now)

May 16, 2007 2007 Draft, Demarcus Faggins sucks, Dunta Robinson, Secondary issues are primary, The Fred, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

From KC Joyner’s latest ESPN column (insider only):

The Texans have issues at two positions in the secondary. DeMarcus Faggins‘ 10.0 YPA in 2006 strongly suggests he may not be capable of holding down a starting job, and Dexter McCleon’s history indicates he is a big question mark at nickel back.

The Texans signed Jamar Fletcher in free agency, but his 11.4 YPA indicates he might not be much of an improvement. Fred Bennett, a fourth-round draft pick out of South Carolina, may help the secondary, but he has some durability questions. None of the veteran backups on the Houston roster — Roc Alexander, Von Hutchins, Chris McKenzie and Dexter Wynn — is worthy of a starting job.

Joyner’s first paragraph is pretty much what I’ve been bitching about since the end of last season. In fact, it boggles my mind that people continue to incorrectly harp on the Texans’ offensive line situation while simultaneously ignoring that the Texans have exactly one good DB (Dunta Robinson). Petey Faggins is beyond worthless and Dexter Mc hasn’t been good since the last years of the Clinton Administration.

The player Joyner overlooks in this whole mini-rant is non-drafted free agent signee Brandon Mitchell (S, Ohio State). A converted CB, Mitchell is 6′3″/205 and turned in a 4.5 40. He was also a second-team All Big Ten selection. If he can make coverage easier for Petey by helping over the top, this would be the same as getting an upgrade at CB2. (Of course, it is my opinion that a half-eaten ham sandwich would be an upgrade over Faggins…)

Finally, durability issues aside, Fred Bennett is a solid candidate for nickel back. He has size, he’s a big hitter, and he is paired with another former Gamecock (Dunta) in the secondary. (I firmly believe that such relationship can be an asset.) He could also work his way into a starting position at CB2 in 2008.

Darius Walker is (possibly) dy-no-mite

May 9, 2007 2007 Draft, Batman, Michigan Wolverines, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, RB free-for-all, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

The Texans have signed Notre Dame RB Darius Walker. Now, I may have an active dislike for Notre Dame football (not to be confused with my all-consuming hatred for anything even tangentially related to Ohio State), but I like this move. Walker joins the Texans’ logjam at RB (Ahman Green, Samkon Gado, Ron Dayne, Wali Lundy, Chris Taylor), so there is no guarantee that he will even make the team. This is still a nice low-risk/high-reward move.

An undrafted junior (d’oh!), Walker rushed for 1267 yards and 7 TDs last season. He also caught 56 balls for 391 and another TD. Granted, most of his big games came against the service academies, but he did put up 128 against an LSU defense that dominated the Irish. (Happy Author’s Note: Michigan held him to 25 yards while serving a hot plate of ass-kicking to the Domers. Suck it.)

Jon Abbate has the Wake Forest football fever

May 3, 2007 John Abbate likes to tackle, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

Looking back over that list of undrafted free agents, I realize that I completely blanked on Jon Abbate. You may remember him from such heart-strings-tugging pieces as this one about honoring his late brother. Or, perhaps more relevantly, you might remember him (as I did… finally) as the guy who had 15 tackles–including one for a loss–and a fumble recovery in Wake’s 24-13 loss to Louisville in the FedEx Orange Bowl.

Anyway, Abbate apparently decided to skip his final year of eligibility (the first player ever in the… uh… illustrious (?) history of Demon Deacon football to do so) and go pro. Considering that he wasn’t among the 255 players taken, that was probably not the wisest decision. Still, he did lead the Deacs in tackles in each of his three seasons, was second in the ACC in tackles, and was on the Bednarik watch list to start the ‘06 campaign. No, I don’t think he’ll become a starting linebacker–because, seriously, who is he going to displace? –but I do think that this guy could be a special teams beast.

Jared Zabransky’s family crest is a picture of a baracudda eating Neil Armstrong

May 3, 2007 Bill Brasky, Houston Chronicle, Jared Zabransky, Mormons, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Undrafted Free Agent watch list

According to the Houston Chronicle, the Texans have come to terms with or received commitments from the following undrafted free agents:

• QB Jared Zabransky (Boise State)
• LB Jon Abbate (Wake Forest)
• FB Cory Anderson (Tennessee)
• WR Onrea Jones (Hampton)
• CB Derrick Roberson (Rutgers)
• DE Deljuan Robinson (Mississippi State)
• FS Brandon Mitchell (Ohio State)
• TE Luke Smith-Anderson (Idaho)
• DE Victor DeGrate, (Oklahoma State)
• WR Terry Richardson (Arizona State)
• C Enoka Lucas (Oregon State)
• OT Tavo Tupola (Utah)
• P Eric Wilbur (Florida)

Of these (and despite my intense hatred for everything OSU), Brandon Mitchell is the one I am most interested in. A converted corner, Mitchell is 6′3″/205/4.5 and a technically solid tackler. He was also a second-team All-Big Ten selection.

Tavo Tupola is also somewhat interesting. Apparently, Tupola was recruited out of high school as a 186 lb safety. After one year at Utah, he left for two years to serve his mission (which, I suppose, means he’s either Mormon or special forces). When he returned, he weighed somewhere north of 290. “When I went to Tuscon, it affected me a lot. I gained a lot of weight,” says Tavo. Gee, ya think?