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53 Man Roster plus more (There's always next year)

lumberjackchris

By lumberjackchris
in Houston Texans

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ET80

ET80

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1 hour ago, Texansfan713 said:

They can bring Walter Jones out of retirement and I wouldn't care.  I just want serviceable offensive lineman this offseason.

I don't think Justin Pugh qualifies - that Giants OL is a disaster this season, and Pugh is part of the problem.

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Apollo Stallion

Apollo Stallion

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8 hours ago, Pastor Dillon said:

Fido might be calling it a career. He's got 10 million guaranteed but since its concussion related, his salary would be decreased but I'm not sure what the hit would be. 

Anderson has been a solid 1st TE option but he's definitely not a blocking TE 

Yep - gotta love the NFL.  I wanna be the lawyer on the Fido case when the NFL signs a BILLION dollar settlement over covering up concussion damages then still allows language in contracts that makes a concussion a "pre-existing condition" that triggers a $2.7 million annual de-escalator in pay.  Sorry for the CTE, but we'll be needing a refund cuz your brain damage is bad for our business. We might be able to hook you up with a couch from Mattress Mac to be comfortable in your dementia, cuz McNair already tapped out giving money to cure "real" diseases like cancer and homosexuality.

Fido plays back to backs after 2nd known concussion then gets 4th within a year, 3 TE's concussed in 1 week, Savage allowed back into game after clear fencing response, cognitive distress and concussion history, Hoyer playoff game with same.  Texans turf has gone from the ACL factory to concussion factory.  Simone Bilas was a guest cheerleader for this game - did we hire the pedophile US gymnastics coach to work our medical tent?  We'll be needing another BILLION cuz the lip service ain't quite cutting it. 

(Awaits Texans PR department releasing a statement that Savage was just honoring Hakeem with his "Dream Shake.")

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ET80

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Given th situation at CB - Kareem Jackson has regressed to the point of failure, Kevin Johnson isn't that good (or healthy) and father time has caught up to Jonathan Joseph - I think CB Malcolm Butler has to be a priority in FA. 

He's assuredly gone this off-season, as he was nearly traded last off-season to the Saints, and Bill Belicheck is notorious for not paying out 2nd contracts to anyone. He's quickly turned into a shut down CB and is kinda known for making the big play when the team needs it. He's going to break the bank, but given that you didn't break the bank for Bouye, you're not exactly in a position to haggle over sticker price. The Texans have to be the first team on the phone with Butler and his rep during the legal tampering stage of free agency.

Brent Grimes and Trumaine Johnson also come to mind, but Butler is the key guy to get.

On the S front, Tre Boston and Lamarcus Joyner are both top tier guys who will command top dollar on the market. There's no promise they even hit the market, as both LA teams have the funds to keep them on board - but if they hit the market, you gotta pull the Ed Reed card out and bring them in on the private jet. TJ Ward is somebody I wanted to take a look at when he was cut from Denver this off-season, and would bring a physical presence to this secondary - a presence we've tried to cultivate at CB, which isn't the spot you cultivate it at. 

If we can land 2-3 quality DBs in free agency, I'd feel much better about next season. 

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Apollo Stallion

Apollo Stallion

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Grimes is a year older than Jonathan Joseph, not as good, more expensive, AND you have to deal with his wackadoodle wife (altho maybe we could sick her on Rick Smith).

Have you seen what my boy Xavien Howard (Baylor) has been doing over in Miami lately?

  • Targeted 17 times - allowed 2 catches for 30 yards - intercepted 4 (including two from Tom Brady) - swatted 4 more.  Completely shut down Brandon Cooks. 

Of course then there is this:

  • Through 14 weeks, quarterbacks have attempted 21 deep passes against cornerback A.J. Bouye, which is tied for the most among all cornerbacks. Bouye has allowed just two of those passes to be caught, he’s intercepted three, broken up another four and has allowed a passer rating of just 4.0, which is the second-best mark among cornerbacks with at least 10 deep targets

I've never been a big fan, but Eli Apple is certainly buying his ticket out of NY and pickings are so slim, I'd look into it.  Gotta figure the Raiders load up on secondary in the draft this year after getting roasted, which could make David Amerson and his contract expendable (we have plenty of $).  Trumaine Johnson is going to get paid this offseason, but I don't like his fit for us at all as he's just another bend don't break guy, not a man to man shut down type with speed that we need.

The right combination plus good coaching can turn underperforming corners into stars.  Patrick Robinson cost $775k and has been playing at Pro Bowl level for Schwartz in Philly.  Rasul Douglas was a 3rd round pick.  Ronald Darby was a pre-season add via trade. Common attributes: Speed and man to man coverage skill and the right combination of players to fit the scheme. 

We are painfully slow, have one player who can play man to man and he's turning 34, and have our resources tied up in two players with redundant skillsets in inside zone corners Jackson/Johnson.  And of course, the thing we have lacked since Daniel Manning - a rangey free safety who can bail out corners who eithers get beat by speed or fails to jam at the line. Rick thinks we are Seattle, but even Seattle isn't Seattle without Earl Thomas allowing the CBs to be aggressive.

 

 

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Apollo Stallion

Apollo Stallion

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Don't have time to research it, but seems like every week I see PFF breakdowns of Texans games it's the same thing.  Kareem allows 4 of 5 targets, Johnson allows 5 of 5.   Joseph has 3 solid games then gets burned a play or two with no safety support.  Our cornerbacks don't seem to actually cover anyone anymore - they just play 8 yards off and tackle. Honestly can't remember the last time a member of the Texans secondary made a break on a ball to even knocked a ball down, better yet make an int (4 by CBs all season). Demps made 6 ints by himself last year on opportunistic plays sniping on covered receivers in the back 3rd. We don't even contest catches in Vrabel's defense (that borrows the worst for cover 1-2-3, then randomly switch into Cover 0 despite lacking any semblance of playmaking skill from the safeties. Or we stick in C2 and crap TE's like Garrett Celek toast our crap safeties. Bend don't break has devolved into just bend over.

As mentioned above, we seem to be playing as almost a Seattle press cover 3 without the press cover part which just means giving up the boundary flanks which is as high percentage as it gets.  We just drop into deep zones because pressing leads to disaster.  Johnson also can't tackle so easy completions end up with large YAC.  Seattle combines their cover 3 with essentially a cover 1 free up the corners to gamble, but Hal lacks either the instincts or speed to be trusted with the back 3rd so we play this jumbled soft mess.  Of course, then you throw the TE into the mix with the useless mess that Gilchrist/Moore/Pleasant are and you get a secondary that has gone from top 3 to bottom 6.

The good news to me is that it's fixable, but only if we concede that we don't have a CB1 (anymore), Kareem is a nickle or a safety, and Johnson is a dime until he shows otherwise (personally I think Joseph still has another year or two as a #2). Hal has value but to me he's a #3 safety, not a starting free safety (draft/FA priority one along with LT/RT).  I don't know why at this point we wouldn't at least try Kareem at the strong safety spot which is the obvious weak link and while he's small for the position, he's got the mentality.  See how it works, and if it does, get him to bulk up in the offseason and give him the choice to either be a high paid safety here or go be further exposed as a CB on a one year deal someplace like Chicago. Johnson still could develop into that #2 to replace Joseph, but I don't see it ever happening without a safety blanket. 

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ET80

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49 minutes ago, Apollo Stallion said:

Grimes is a year older than Jonathan Joseph, not as good, more expensive, AND you have to deal with his wackadoodle wife (altho maybe we could sick her on Rick Smith).

Miko Grimes is half the reason I even mention Brent. Watching her go nuclear on the Texans would be worth the contract.

50 minutes ago, Apollo Stallion said:

Rick thinks we are Seattle, but even Seattle isn't Seattle without Earl Thomas allowing the CBs to be aggressive.

This, I can agree on - and it actually looks like a pretty solid FA class at the position. Joyner and Boston stand out as low cost/high performing options, but guys like Morgan Burnett and Kenny Vaccaro are also due to hit the market - each of these names will command a big deal. If you could find the cap room for Butler and someone like a Vaccaro, you'd be making some plus moves to fix this secondary.

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