Before I get to the game, I have to make a confession. My allergies were acting up, so I took some Nyquil and slept through all but the first quarter of the game. That said, I've read the write-ups on DGDB&D and BRB, and I'm underwhelmed by the Texans.
At some point, Kubiak has to bear the blame for the Texans as a whole but I don't think that we've reached that point yet. I think that the blame for this season lands squarely on Richard Smith's shoulders. Kubiak's done well on the offensive side of the ball, but as the head coach, he has to make sure that the Defensive Coordinator is doing his job.
Not to pile onto Sage, but he's clearly not the answer. That said, I think that at some point he'll rebound and play a good game or two. It's just the nature of the beast. Sage is going to have a good game before Matt gets back. It might be against the Colts, but more likely against the Browns. I think the important thing in this adventure is to keep an even keel. Sage is not the worst QB in the history of ever. He's also not the savior of the franchise. Last season, I think he played over his head some, but I expect that Kubiak will put him in a position to succeed this coming week. If our defense could play at a respectable level, I'd be willing to think that we had a shot at beating any team in the league.
Just like Christmas decorations seem to come earlier every year, the time for talking about the draft seems to have arrived. The rest of the season should be spent evaluating our young talent; Specifically Frank Okam, Xavier Adibi and Antwaun Molden. If Okam can produce and be a big body in the middle of our D-line, we won't have to spend a high draft pick on a big Defensive Tackle. Between Earl Cochran, Mario Williams, Tim Bulman, Amobi Okoye and hopefully Frank Okam, we should have a good D-line.
Our Linebacking Corps seems pretty solid. In DeMeco Ryans, we have one of the best Middle Linebackers in the NFL. With Zac Diles, we have an undersized, but tenacious Strongside Linebacker. On the Weakside, Xavier Adibi seems ideal. He's relatively small, but he's quick. I think we can manage with Diles at SLB, but if we could get a prototypical SLB, I'd be happier.
Our secondary is a joke. Everyone knows this. Well, everyone but Richard Smith that is. Dunta Robinson is back, and by next season, he should be back to his old self. If Antwaun Molden shows that he is a capable Cornerback, then we can focus on finding a starting CB to match up with Dunta. Ideally, I'd like to see us drop an armored truck filled with money off at Nnamdi Asomugha's house. With Asomugha, Dunta would become the second best CB on the team and Bennet and Molden could play as Nickel backs until they're ready for the primetime. At Safety, I'm happy with Eugene Wilson and any of our many Strong Safeties.
On offense, I think we're very close to having all the pieces. Wide Receiver is our deepest position, and this is not a position that we need to address in the offseason. For purposes of this discussion, I'm including the Tight End with the Wide Receivers, especially as we don't need to address it in the offseason. With Wide Receiver and Tight End taken care of, we only need to discuss Quarterback, Runningback and the Offensive Line.
Matt Schaub is a good Quarterback. I don't think that he's a great Quarterback though, and I'm no longer willing to wager that he'll be healthy for an entire season. I'm also convinced that even though I think Sage will rebound and play a decent game or two, he's not the answer either. I think that while we still have both of these Quarterbacks on the roster we need to draft a QB high in the draft and then sit him for a year while he learns the system. The ideal situation would be if Graham Harrell fell to our draft spot in the second round. He seems to have all the physical and mental tools, with the only handicap being that he's used to playing in the gun.
At Runningback, Slaton has been a breath of fresh air. In order to get the maximum value out of him though, a big bruising runningback is needed. Preferably a runningback without horrific injury problems. I've been thinking about Jorvorskie Lane as a late round draft pick or an undrafted free agent pick up. His problem, as far as I can tell, is that he doesn't have the top end speed to succeed. He's got good acceleration, he's got good hands, and he likes contact. He's sort of like Ron Dayne, except that he's a power back, not just a slow back.
On the O-line, I think we're very close. I think that Winston is still a solid Right Tackle, I think that Brisiel/Studdard can make it as a Right Guard. I think that Pitts is a good Left Guard and I think that Duane Brown is pretty good for a rookie, and will continue to get better. This just leaves the Center. Last year when Steve McKinney was playing, we had a running game. When Flanagan stepped in, our running game dissappeared. Based partially on this, I think that the Center is the key to the whole O-line. What I'd like to see is a Center that's big enough to hold his own agaisnt some of the Defensive Tackles that we face, while still being quick enough to run the Zone Blocking Scheme. I think if we take care of Center, our running game will improve, especially in short yardage/goal line situations, and as a result our Play Action passing game will improve.
So, to wrap up, we'll win a few more games, and I may end up looking foolish for starting to talk about the Draft so early, but I think that we're just a few pieces away from being really good, and there's not anything that we can do about it until the offseason. I figure that we'll pick somewhere between 10-15, which is plenty high enough to get game changers.
Here's what I'd like to see:
- 1st Round: Defense (Either Terrence Cody or a Strong Safety)
- 2nd Round: Quarterback (Graham Harrell would be ideal if he somehow managed to fall this far)
- 3rd Round: Center
- 4th Round: Defensive End (to be converted into a Strongside Linebacker)
- 5th Round: Best value available
- 6th Round: Best value available
- 7th Round: Best value available
Original Story:
http://texanstailgate.blogspot.com/20...
