Texans off-season thread

[Pastor Dillon]

On 4/30/2018 at 11:23 PM, Apollo Stallion said:

Defensive Insights from updated Madden ratings:

Our front 7 is just scary good.  96-83-76,  88-84-77-91.  Backups are 77-73-72-72-72-71-70 which is better than our starting o-line.  I know everyone thInks Ejiofor is likely just Mercilus' backup at LOLB, but I really think he could be a big cog that could enable us to have Clowney play more RE opposite JJ or play there himself, not to mention moving JJ inside more which will reduce the strain on his back/knees with the spin/swim moves. 

CBs - Joseph (76), Colvin (75), K. Johnson (74), K. Jackson (74), Bademosi (71), Decoud (68)

Safeties - Mathieu (84), J. Reid (73), Hal (72), Moore (71), Drummond (62), Campbell (62)

Interestingly Mathieu has higher man coverage ratings than all of them and Reid has highest zone coverage and they are also our two fastest and best hands, tacklers. Much like o-line, I think this secondary are pretty interchangeable parts and it wouldn't shock me one bit if Mathieu and Reid see more time at CB than Kareem or Kevin Johnson especially in Crennel's preferred cover 1 where Hal can be deep FS. Personally, given our injury history and miles of cap space, I'm fine keeping Kareem around, but both he and Jeff Allen are most definitely trade bait should the right player or draft pick be offered up.   

madden gonna madden....JJ Watt is more like a 75 than the 96 his rep gets

[Pastor Dillon]

Jake Matthews will be a free agent next year, unless he reaches a deal with the falcons. He has family ties to Houston, and would be worth a ton of money to be our LT. He will just be 27 years old. I would go big on him if he is there, unless Davenport proves to be a pro bowl level LT. That would free up our 1st round pick for something else. 

[Apollo Stallion]

On 5/4/2018 at 10:07 AM, Pastor Dillon said:

Jake Matthews will be a free agent next year, unless he reaches a deal with the falcons. He has family ties to Houston, and would be worth a ton of money to be our LT. He will just be 27 years old. I would go big on him if he is there, unless Davenport proves to be a pro bowl level LT. That would free up our 1st round pick for something else. 

Don't hold your breath on this one.  Teams simply don't let quality tackles go in their prime (especially one's protecting a $150m QB) and the Texans and Bengals only reinforced that further by sabotaging their seasons by letting aging vets D. Brown and Andrew Whitworth go.  The Bills moved Cordy Glenn, but only because he has missed huge chunks of the past 2 seasons, was going to cost $30m in cap the next 3 years, and 2nd rounder Dion Dawkins effectively replaced him.    The Pats let Solder walk, but they knew he was going get a massive overpay for a mediocre pass protector not asked to do much.  I haven't seen the "hometown" connection do anything for us in the past, but at least Gaine seemed to at least not completely ignore our home state vs. South Carolina and Chicagoland.  Remember, Jake's Oiler daddy left H-Town to go coach with his buddy Munchak in Tenn. 

Don't get me wrong, Jake Matthews would be a huge upgrade altho I still say he'd ideally be a RT or LG, but I fully expect T to be our #1 priority in the 2019 draft. Best case scenario would be Davenport developing into a quality pass protector on left side (he's got great length), Rankin excelling at LG, and focusing on a big RT who can get to the next level in run blocking in draft.    Seantrel Henderson could be a find at RT, but I fear his Crohn's disease is always going to hold him back (or get him suspended long-term since he smokes weed to deal with it and already got popped once).
 

[ET80]

52 minutes ago, Apollo Stallion said:

I fully expect T to be our #1 priority in the 2019 draft.

I agree, and next class looks like a good class to find one. With our extra 2nd, we can virtually move around anywhere outside the top 5 to get our guy. Trey Adams would have been a top 10 guy in this draft prior to his ACL, and could find himself back in the discussion if he recovers and continues on his path.

I honestly want Davenport to be the guy, but the "floor" for him is serviceable. Just get in there and not screw up too bad. Then you tag a guy in 2019 and you have a nice bookend set to run with.

[lumberjackchris]

Ya, the 2019 draft prioritizes are OT, CB, RB. Good thing we have 3 top picks.

[Texansfan713]

4 hours ago, lumberjackchris said:

Ya, the 2019 draft prioritizes are OT, CB, RB. Good thing we have 3 top picks.

depending on how watt plays DE will be a need as well. heck, even without Watt getting a defensive end is a priority.

[ET80]

1 hour ago, Texansfan713 said:

depending on how watt plays DE will be a need as well. heck, even without Watt getting a defensive end is a priority.

It's quite the year for that position, too - DE/DT tweeners such as Ed Oliver, Dexter Lawrence, Rashan Gary, Christian Wilkins, Raekwon Davis, Derrick Brown, Zack Allen - it's a stacked class.

[Pastor Dillon]

I’ve seen a couple places were some SEC sports writers were saying that Rankin is a steal and will start at LT week 1

[ET80]

Was listening to O'Brien at rookie mini-camp, ane he was raving about Keke Coutee - incredibly quick off the line, can take the top off of the defense with his speed and some really sticky hands. 

Looks like Braxton might be a camp casualty...

[Texansfan713]

On 5/11/2018 at 3:19 PM, EliteTexan80 said:

Was listening to O'Brien at rookie mini-camp, ane he was raving about Keke Coutee - incredibly quick off the line, can take the top off of the defense with his speed and some really sticky hands. 

Looks like Braxton might be a camp casualty...

I said that once the pick was made.  Coutee is a natural slot WR.  Miller is still learning.  This will be year 3 for Miller.  If he doesnt show anything this season (if he makes the roster) then he will be gone.

 

Looks like we placed Jeff Allen on the PUP list.  He might be another cut as well. 

[Apollo Stallion]

21 hours ago, Texansfan713 said:

I said that once the pick was made.  Coutee is a natural slot WR.  Miller is still learning.  This will be year 3 for Miller.  If he doesnt show anything this season (if he makes the roster) then he will be gone.

 

Looks like we placed Jeff Allen on the PUP list.  He might be another cut as well. 

Even with $35 million in cap space, paying a backup RG $7.4 million this year is bad business when cutting him saves $11.3 in cap over the next 2, especially when we signed Fulton for $28m and Kelemente $12m to shore up the inside where he and XSF were amongst the worst in the league two years straight.  Allen (and XSF) were the previous administration's mistake as was Braxton Miller and we've literally fired everyone involved with those mistakes (aside from "leave of absence" press release guy who is totally coming back because guys "taking a break to deal with their wife's cancer" usually have every person they were associated with purged and the Head Coach using his "new philosophic alignment" catchprase with such joy as the Ivy League way of saying working with Rick Smith was like having his brain "aligned" with Rick's sphincter).

Allen might have a chance to stick if he actually shows up in shape for the first time since he cash his big paycheck and if Rankin doesn't look like he can be a T and If UDFAs Jaryd Jones-Smith and Anthony Coyle don't show anything as Kendall Lamm is the only other guy who could step in at T if Davenport and Henderson struggle or get hurt.  Nick Martin likely still starts inside with Mancz and Fuller as interior backups (Malone could be PS). I think Quessenberry and Slade are longshots to make the roster as we have better options inside and they aren't good enough outside. 

BTW - just to clarify PUP rules because half of the idiots that cover the Texans seem to specialize in putting out poorly researched misinformation.  It was reported as "Reserve/PUP" which doesn't make much sense since it means the player would not be eligible to even practice until week 6 and has to be cut, IR'd or actived by week 10. Hard to believe we needed that 90th offseason roster spot so bad, we would lock in a highly paid 2 year starter coming off minor injuries to missing the entire offseason and 2 months of the regular season.   Active/PUP is basically the same except you have the option of transferring the player to the Reserve/PUP at the end of preseason which also doesn't count as a roster spot.  Both options still count against the salary cap and you are ineligible for either list if you even step on a practice field, so basically there is no reason to send a player straight to reserve/pup so I suspect that's just lazy reporting with him merely on active/pup which means he practices/plays as soon as the med staff clears him. We could just be using the designation as a holding spot before releasing him with an injury settlement or trying to get some garbage pick via trade, but that seems unnecessarily complicated in May. We've already purged 6 more players post-draft (DL Matthew Godin, T Jake Rodgers, CB Bryce Jones, TE Ryan Malleck, TE Zach Conque, and LB Gimel President) and I doubt adding a 14th UDFA is important enough to lock Allen into not practicing until mid-October. 

   

[Apollo Stallion]

So am I the only one who thinks the Texans should cancel their contract for training camp at the Greenbrier in West Virginia this year?  Supposedly we signed a 2 year deal with a 3rd year option that cost Uncle Bob $4 million, but IMO the results of what I will forever call "fat camp" were abysmal.  The team was soft and out of shape from the get go after an uninspiring resort stay and it feels like a "reward" a 4-12 team has no business receiving.  As a history lesson, the Saints were the first team to hold camp there but ditched it after 3 straight uninspired 7-9 seasons coming off a Super Bowl win and playoff appearances in 4 of 5 seasons.  They were a play away from the Super Bowl again last year after returning to sweating it out in New Orleans including beating us up in a few joint practices. 

For those who don't know, the Greenbrier in the Allegheny Mountains is primarily known as a 5 star golf resort, includes a bunker intended to house congress in case of attack, but also has a full-on casino including a place for Bob to bet on his horses.  Was Atlantis in the Bahamas not available so Bob could visit his offshore accounts or maybe we could work in a mexican meat steroid excuse and go to Cabo?  I'd have their entitled butts out there on Kirby sweating balls all summer and force them to come in early to watch the week 1 Jags tape of them punching us silly in our house if they need a reminder of just how woefully unprepared they were to start last season (and before "injuries" excused away an awful roster and underperforming players).  As a reminder, we lost 5 players to concussions in that game which may have just been of freak occurrence or a sign of a team that wasn't ready to be hit.

I'm already getting the feeling that this team is believing it's hype as a 2018 playoff / AFC leading contender vs. a team that won ONE GAME since October 16, 2017!  We start out on the road at New England, then Tennessee and only 9 of the past 83 (10.8%) teams that start out 0-2 have made the playoffs, so there is no time to try to rewrite the entire offseason plan on the fly in week 3 like last year.  O'Brien's teams feasted on a down AFC South for 3 years while going 12-18 outside the division which is even padded by soft Browns, Bengals, Bears, Bucs, Raiders, Jets wins.  Despite our "easiest schedule in the NFL" we play 4 playoff teams (Pats, Eagles, Jags, and Titans) on the road next season with O'Brien's teams owning exactly 1 win vs. a playoff team on the road in 4 seasons (Cinn) and a 6-20 overall record against playoff teams (wins came against soft playoff teams Cinn, Balt, KC, Det, Oak, Tenn).  There is no reason to dwell on the past, but you can't be ignorant to it and IMO spending camp at a resort/casino sets a tone of "comfort" for a coaching staff and players that have not earned the right to be comfortable. 

[ET80]

11 hours ago, Apollo Stallion said:

So am I the only one who thinks the Texans should cancel their contract for training camp at the Greenbrier in West Virginia this year? 

Oh, I was saying that since last season. The Greenbriar is basically an extended vacation for the players and coaches, nobody gets anything accomplished out there. By the time everyone gets back, they're all fat and happy, just ready to get punched in the mouth.

Training camp is supposed to be tough. Old school, "Bear Bryant and the Junction Boys" tough. Resort living such as this has the opposite effect.

[Pastor Dillon]

Why is everyone so down on Miller? I mean the guy hasn't lite the world on fire, but hes literally only costing us 850k this season. Maybe 3rd round was a little high for him, but its still just his 3rd season. I dont see why we wouldnt keep Hopkins/Fuller/Ellington/Miller/Coutee and possibly even Coats if he does well enough in the pre season. After running some games with 1 or 2 healthy WRs, I suspect we keep more than 4, maybe more than 5. It might be tough if we keep 4 TEs, but I think Anderson will get the boot, though if a rookie steps up, Griffin can be cut for a 2 million savings....not that we need that money. 

 

on another note, why arent we giving clowney an extension that is crazy front loaded? We have plenty of money to spend this season. Idk the ins and outs, but there has to be a way for a big hit to take place in year one, and then slowly go down from there. Can you choose to let the bonus all come in one year or do you have to spread it out over the course of the deal?

 

We really need a back up QB. I suspect we only carry 2 QBs, as that seems to be the trend, and why not. I suspect Webb is on the roster so that we can cut him at the end of the pre season, knowing hes probably not going to sign anywhere else and we can basically keep him as our 3rd QB without having to tie up a roster spot. Teams dont have 3 active QBs on game day anyway, so why carry 3 if you dont have 3 that will sign somewhere else?

 

Whats the news on Foreman? I was so excited for him and Watson. This 2017 class was looking like that 2006 class that was so good for us, and then guys started dropping like flies. Its possible we drafted 4 long term starters in that draft, and Watkins might be a long term back up, same with Fuller. Or Watson and Foreman could derail with injuries, Davenport never develop and Cunningham be the only solid guy. 

[ET80]

Marc Vandemeer is talking about Zach Cunningham right now - apparently, he put on about 10-15 lbs of muscle this off-season and looks like a 3-4 ILB now. He might be a good candidate for a guy who takes a big jump in Y2...