Jump to content

Texans off-season thread


ET80

Recommended Posts

The possibility of going 3-13 the rest of the season is very much on the table, and there's no top 5 pick waiting for us on the other side. However, we should be in good spirits going into next season, with DW4 back in the saddle, along with JJ Watt and Whitney Mercilius. This being said, it's not enough - there are holes to be filled, and we won't have the traditional means to fill them.

What do you think the off season should look like?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If there's any way to fix or help keep our players from getting injured, I'd like to see that. Less injuries next year

 

we might need a new tight end bc i dont know how long ours are gonna last at this point

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We should also be in top 10 in cap room this off-season (top 3 if we cut Cushing & Newton). Newton gives me pause, but he should have collected enough $$$ to be set by now.

 

LT Nate Solder (NEP) (5 years, $70M, $25M SB, $40M guaranteed – 1st 2 years fully guaranteed)  highest paid LT in the NFL by average annual salary & guaranteed $$$

CB / S Lamarcus Joyner (LAR) (4 years, $40M, $30M guaranteed, $20M signing bonus) top 7 highest paid safety & top 5 guaranteed $$$

Trade WR Braxton Miller to WSH for CB Quinton Dunbar (WSH) RFA

CB Johnson Bademosi (NEP) (3 years, $9M)

G/C Joe Looney (DAL) (3 years, $4.5M)

QB E.J. Manuel (OAK) (3 years, $7.5M)

OLB / DE Chris Smith (CIN) (3 years, $4.5M)

QB Jerod Evans (GB) PS (do this now!  he plays similar to DW4, but without the pedigree) 

WR Jeff Janis (GB) (3 years, $4.5M) or WR Jaron Brown (AZ) or WR Brice Butler (DAL) or WR Jordan Matthews (BUF) or WR Kendall Wright (CHI) or WR Robert Davis (WSH-PS)

CB / S Brandon Wilson (CIN) (PS)T Max Rich (SFA)

 NT Glen Antoine (SFA)

 

 

 

Draft

CB (outside CB) trade KJax + compensatory 3rd to move into bottom of 2nd to get player who falls

T (swing)

RB (young, fast, returner)

maybe NT

 

Re-sign

WR Bruce Ellington (3 years, $4.5M, $1.5M SB)

G/C Greg Mancz (5 years, $25M, $5M SB)

CB Johnathan Joseph (1 year, $5.5M - fully guaranteed)

 

Those moves will still leave us with enough to re-do contracts of Clowney & McKinney

 

Super Bowl or bust, baby!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Clean house and start at the top.  Rick Smith presided over 3 seasons of mediocrity with 8-8 finishes in 07 & 08, peaking at 9-7 in 09, then imploding to 6-10 in 2010.  Peaked in 2011 & 2012 with playoff seasons but ultimately broke down due to flawed rosters lacking depth at key positions and obvious holes at others.  Fully imploded in to 2-14 in 2013, but problems blamed on coach and QB and not free agency moves that destroyed the defense and one of the most incompetent drafts ever including a player with a known career threatening injury (Brennan Williams), known major character problems (Swearinger/Montgomery) or so awful they never played a down in the NFL (Bonner/Travardo Williams).  Rebuilt again to mediocrity with three 9-7 seasons fluffed by historically bad conference, before a 3rd implosion this season under his watch.  It is simply pointless to discuss "building" this team when the architect has had 3 of his buildings crash to the ground and this time seems to be actively handing his foreman plans designed to fail.          

Of the 3 implosions, this one is the most directly attributable to the GM as the seeds were sowed with the worst signing in NFL history in Osweiler that destroyed 2016 on the field, 2017 cap including Bouye, and 2018 with no 1st or 2nd round picks.  Like the Ed Reed / Glover Quin debacle, Smith seems to get a pass on Osweiler because of some feeling ownership pushed for it, but that either makes him weak, a mere yes man, or incompetent. The offensive line, secondary, Duane Brown, Bouye decisions, and disappearance/lack of leadership during "prisoner-gate" are all sufficient for votes of no confidence.  Sure, the Watson pick was special as were the Hopkins and Watt picks, but picking 1st rounders is the layup part of the job that will allow you to build an 8 man ran roster in 8 years, not 53 man rosters with depth to survive injuries and attrition. 
 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

We are now faced with a bottom 5 finish with the unprecedented lack of 1st or 2nd round picks to rebuild with.  If you think we are close, WE ARE NOT.  We need starting LT, LG, RG, RT, backups at LT, LG, 2-3 CBs, 2 starting safeties and 1 backup, 1-2 TEs, 1-2 backup QBs, starting OLB, starting RE, 2WRs.    That's at least 20 players or roughly 5 seasons of 2nd-5th round picks that have been botched by this personnel department. Sure, Deshaun Watson made us look like contenders a few weeks, but he bought us wins vs. two terrible teams in Cinn/Clev, 1 good win vs. Tenn, and 2 feel good losses which is the 8-8/9-7 same mediocrity that defines Rick Smith's career upside with a collapse every 4 year.  How many games does Watson last behind this line next year?  How many losses are given away by the secondary?  Those aren't one player problems like QB, those are 4 player problems which is a real problem when 70 players will be picked before you go to the stage and your GM misses on 4 for every 1 valuable asset he finds in rounds 3-7. 

The math of roster building has been a massive problem the entire Rick Smith era as churning 5 of your 7 picks means you aren't "building" anything, you are surrounding 8-10 quality players you draft and retain to 2nd contracts with 40+ that are churn and reality is 60-70 players make rosters thru the course of a season.  Smith based his "philosophy" on Jack Welch's 20-70-10 vitality curve, except Rick churns the 70% that are supposed to support the superstars, not the 10% non producers.   You CANNOT build or run a successful company on the strength of the 20% as you don't get the top end production advantage from them if the 70% aren't doing their work at industry average or better, they are just compensating for the failures of the 70%.  That's Brown, Watt, Hopkins, Joseph, Mercilus, Clowney now and Andre, Arian, etc before.  And for God's sake, you CANNOT have players from the bottom 10% eating up the payroll for the top 20% and that's exactly what we have with Osweiler, Cushing, Jackson, Allen, Hal, Clark, Gilchrist. THAT's how you LOSE 20%ers like Bouye and Brown and forget attracting other 20%ers. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, tab said:

If there's any way to fix or help keep our players from getting injured, I'd like to see that. Less injuries next year

 

we might need a new tight end bc i dont know how long ours are gonna last at this point

7-2 Vikings called and want Texans fans to stop whining about injuries as they sit atop their division after losing 2 franchise QBs, franchise RB, and have been without top pass rusher and o-linemen multiple weeks.  Apparently, Case Keenum + deep roster + good coaching = playoffs, not 2-14 or 3-13 for a Rick Smith roster.  See also, Chiefs who seem to lose 3 or 4 of their top performers to injury every season yet are looking at their 4th 11 win season in the past 5 without the benefit of a cakewalk division.  Packers have been a MASH unit the past few years, always are drafting in the high 20's and just beat another perpetually building team in Chicago on their field with their backup and no healthy RBs vs. the #2 pick and years of high picks and free agent dollars spent.  Some teams get it.  We are amongst those who don't. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I'll believe it when I see him packing bags, but Rick Smith absolutely, positively one hundred percent should be the first man out of the building.

Because we don't have any draft picks (thanks Brock!), we're not going to be able to rebuild through the draft for a couple years, so we get the dubious challenge of trying to improve almost entirely through free agency. QB, RB, WR and DL I think are generally taken care of - past that, pretty much everything's on the board. O-line gets the first dibs, mostly because Watson at this moment is the most important person on the team (sorry, JJ, you're still absolutely amazing and I have faith if anybody can come through an injury like yours, it's you - but this is a QB league) and protecting the biggest investment seems like the most crucial part of the scenario. Honestly, you could pick pretty much anybody up at any position along the line and they'd be an improvement. Well, maybe we can still get away with keeping the center.

I don't think I'm treading any controversial ground by saying the secondary should be second, so that we don't have to score 45 points game to make up for the inevitable 70-yard pass plays we keep seeming to give up. I don't know how we let AJ Bouye get away (oh right, Rick Smith is an incompetent dunce), but he's gone now and we're left with the pieces. Again, pretty much any position you can pick and get an improvement on - I know we're all fond of Joseph, but you saw him get straight up burned earlier today, and he's not getting any younger.

Past that, if injuries have shown us anything this year it's that our depth is god awful - so y'know, use all that cap space we got by sending a 2nd round pick to Cleveland, not re-signing one of the best CBs in the league and running a Pro Bowl LT out of town.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

They should spend all their money on offensive line help, just like the Raiders did a couple years back. #1 priority should be keeping Watson upright, healthy, and not taking unnecessary shots. With a decent/good offensive line, the offense is scary. Any left over money should be spent on secondary help. Getting Mercilus back will be big for the front 7, but they should work under the assumption that Watt is not coming back. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

BOB has to go. He has to. 

 

The entire future of the Texans is wrapped up in who can replace BOB and can Watson come back 100% and have a sustained career. 

We cant help but he better next year with just having Mercilus and Watson back. Watt is finished. Sad to say it but he's never going to be a dominate player again. I highly doubt he plays the first 8 weeks next year. 

Add a couple Linemen, a CB and a Saftey and we are a super bowl contender. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Just now, Apollo Stallion said:

7-2 Vikings called and want Texans fans to stop whining about injuries as they sit atop their division after losing 2 franchise QBs, franchise RB, and have been without top pass rusher and o-linemen multiple weeks.  Apparently, Case Keenum + deep roster + good coaching = playoffs, not 2-14 or 3-13 for a Rick Smith roster.  See also, Chiefs who seem to lose 3 or 4 of their top performers to injury every season yet are looking at their 4th 11 win season in the past 5 without the benefit of a cakewalk division.  Packers have been a MASH unit the past few years, always are drafting in the high 20's and just beat another perpetually building team in Chicago on their field with their backup and no healthy RBs vs. the #2 pick and years of high picks and free agent dollars spent.  Some teams get it.  We are amongst those who don't. 

we literally have a 3 time Def Player of the year and a OROY injured who was in talks for MVP so like.. im gonna complain and continue to enjoy complaining

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Archived

This topic is now archived and is closed to further replies.




×
×
  • Create New...