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The Texans young talent


Pastor Dillon

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I decided to go back and look at the young talent we have on the team. With so many holes, this will give us an idea of where we might see some internal growth and where we might turn to for playing time during this lost season. For the sake of "young talent" I am talking about guys we have drafted that are still on the rookie deal. I am not looking at undrafted rookie FAs in this post because few of them are worth building with. 

Offense:

WR
Will Fuller - still technically on his rookie deal, he is definitely a starting level WR who is going to be looking to make some money this off season. 
Keke Coutee - probably the best debut ever for a rookie WR who did literally nothing after his rookie debut. I really want to see him get some playing time
 

TE
Jordan Atkins - he is definitely not young, but he is still on his rookie deal. he is a starting level TE for us, who hasnt been good enough to demand a pay raise after his rookie deal
Kahale Warring - he had a lot of upside, but has been an IR bust. IDK if he is healthy enough to come back but I would love to see what we have in him

O-Line
Tytus Howard - 1st round pick who flashes both potential and Bust. At this point, we have to consider him the RT of the future and roll with it
Max Scharping - He looked really solid as a rookie and has been beaten out this year for most of the snaps. I think a good o-line coach can still make a starter out of him
Charlie Heck - this was a wasted draft pick for some unknown reason

Defense:

D-Line
Ross Blacklock - hasnt impressed, but a lot of people were really high on him. We need him to develop for this defense
Charles Omenihu - He has been solid but not spectacular. He is a guy that figures to be on the D-line for us for a few years. 
Carlos Watkins - I had high hopes for him being able to develop like Reader did, but so far he's barely a back up level guy

Linebacker
Jamie Martin - while we didn't draft him, hes still on his rookie deal and has flashed some potential
PETER KALAMBAYI - Special teams guy with very little upside

Secondary
Justin Reid - the only guy who should be starting long term on this defense. I suspect our rebuild will not include him because he is gonna get paid soon from someone
John Reid - has been ok at times, but hasnt gotten a lot of playing time. I want to see him more and hargreaves less. 
Lonnie Johnson Jr. - hes a disaster out there. I had hoped the move to safety would bring him to life, but hes looking like a bust
Gareon Conley - another guys we got in trade that is on his rookie deal. he seems to be a decent league average starter but his injury this year have really set him back

 

 

we are so devoid of young talent, especially on defense. its going to take a few years or some really good late round picks to pull us out of this defensive hole we are in. 

 

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I would include Watson because he is a HUGE piece of offense & young-ish talent (just turned 25)

DL P.J. Hall has flashed (I think if you put him and Watt next to a lane clogger [Ankou?], you may see enhanced productivity

LB Dylan Cole - when not injured (which ain't often) has flashed big play potential (alas I think all of those injuries have robbed him of his calling-card athleticism)

LB Zach Cunningham - remind him that wrapping up the legs is the key to a good tackle

Edge Jonathan Greenard - let the man play so we can see what we got there - especially over Scarlett

Others who are unknowns because of injuries: Coulter & Ejiofor

 

If we add youngish RB (who get hit the A gap apparently); IOL; and a solid CB with a 3rd place-ish schedule next year, I think we vault back into contention.

But would we be able to compete with the KC's, Baltimore's, Pittsburgh's of the AFC?  That's another question.

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56 minutes ago, jch1911 said:

I would include Watson because he is a HUGE piece of offense & young-ish talent (just turned 25)

Add Tunsil to this spot, too. A 26 year old franchise LT is huge.

56 minutes ago, jch1911 said:

DL P.J. Hall has flashed (I think if you put him and Watt next to a lane clogger [Ankou?], you may see enhanced productivity

I don't dislike him, think he's worth another season with a new regime. I could see him in a 4-3 rotation as an UT with Ross Blacklock - pair that inside with a plugging NT or two and get a DE rotation with Charles Omenihu, Jon Greenard/Jacob Martin as a pass rushing specialists - that's a revamped front seven that can keep LBs clean to the ball.

56 minutes ago, jch1911 said:

Others who are unknowns because of injuries: Coulter & Ejiofor

Ejiofor is pretty much done. An ACL and an Achilles to a "try hard" guy who never had much athleticism to begin with is a death sentence for any chance. I'd be highly surprised if anything developed from him.

Coulter looks the part - but he's a virtual unknown. We can't judge him, but he's got to see the field before he gets the Warring treatment.

56 minutes ago, jch1911 said:

But would we be able to compete with the KC's, Baltimore's, Pittsburgh's of the AFC?  That's another question.

Ideally? We're talking about young guys, but we need a veteran in the secondary to compete against the big guys of the AFC. Part of the problem of the secondary - there's no veteran leadership back there. There's no JJo, there's no Kareem, there's no guy who has seen what needs to be done as a player to turn it around. Justin Reid is simply not that guy - he's talented, he'll stick around and be a great contributor, but he does not not know how to right the ship as a vet. 

There's going to need to be a FA acquisition in the off-season, someone who brings that presence to this secondary.

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Lonnie Johnson Jr has a 62.7 PFF rating at safety. Not great but much improved from the 49 rating he had last year. Perhaps he can become a starting level safety, especially when we get some real coaches in here. 
 

for reference pff has Justin Reid at 62.4

Edited by Pastor Dillon
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16 minutes ago, Pastor Dillon said:

Lonnie Johnson Jr has a 62.7 PFF rating at safety. Not great but much improved from the 49 rating he had last year. Perhaps he can become a starting level safety, especially when we get some real coaches in here. 
 

for reference pff has Justin Reid at 62.4

I'd have to see how they rate these guys, because Johnson flat out looks lost out there. Maybe he can improve with competent CB play (that's VERY much in play here) but to me - it seems as if Johnson is thinking too much out there and isn't playing on instinct. 

Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong. DB is a tough position to learn as a 2nd year guy, let alone transitioning from CB to S. Maybe I'm being too harsh.

Edit: This might be an opportunity to look at Dan Quinn as a potential DC. At his peak, Quinn was able to create The Legion of Doom, and the chess piece that really made that unit possible was Kam Chancellor (not Richard Sherman or Earl Thomas). 

Quinn - along with Sherman as a FA/mentor/starting CB - that could work.

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7 hours ago, ET80 said:

I'd have to see how they rate these guys, because Johnson flat out looks lost out there. Maybe he can improve with competent CB play (that's VERY much in play here) but to me - it seems as if Johnson is thinking too much out there and isn't playing on instinct. 

Maybe I'm wrong, I hope I'm wrong. DB is a tough position to learn as a 2nd year guy, let alone transitioning from CB to S. Maybe I'm being too harsh.

Edit: This might be an opportunity to look at Dan Quinn as a potential DC. At his peak, Quinn was able to create The Legion of Doom, and the chess piece that really made that unit possible was Kam Chancellor (not Richard Sherman or Earl Thomas). 

Quinn - along with Sherman as a FA/mentor/starting CB - that could work.

I think we're under estimating the effect of this no offseason/preseason on these younger players like Scharping and Lonnie. They needed the reps and to be in the building for OTA"s and mini camps. Def negatively effected their development.

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On 10/29/2020 at 2:28 AM, Pastor Dillon said:

Coulter has been activated from IR and is on the active roster. At the very least we should dump Stills for a 6th rounder just so Coulter can get that 4th spot and get some reps. 

"Not a year for rookies" apparently...

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We have nearly 0 options to upgrade the secondary this off season. No high picks and no money in free agency. One guy I would like to bring back is Conley. He was decent last year for us. His injury this season could be a blessing as he isn’t gonna command much money as a free agent. I’d love to lock him up as one of our starting CBs moving forward. 

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33 minutes ago, Pastor Dillon said:

We have nearly 0 options to upgrade the secondary this off season.

I'd argue that Patrick Peterson or Richard Sherman would be upgrades. If Dan Quinn is a potential option at DC, Sherman would be a lock to join us on the account he and Quinn were key figures in the Legion of Boom.

They're older, sure. They'll command a bunch of money, yes (this is where the David Johnson savings come in). But that sort of veteran leadership is valuable in a rebuilding situation.

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