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I like the Shiloh Keo pick. The kid is fat and slow for a safety but he has INTANGIBLES!!
Nice draft. Let's get this thing back to 8-8.
I like the Shiloh Keo pick. The kid is fat and slow for a safety but he has INTANGIBLES!!
yeah, time to get crackalackin es. I am entering this year just like every year with high hopes. Expect the worst, hope for the best, thus is the life of a Texans fan.
We have to get a veteren corner in FA this year or its gonna be the same .
Indeed. With Watt and Reed the pass rush should improve, but somethings got to give at CB. Harris could wind up being a nice wingman, but they need a go to guy.
I hope we can get Joseph, and maybe another wide reciever. I know we arent getting Namdi even though we are one of the four teams listed.
Barwin being back should also improve what can very well be a very potent pass rush. I think with an intense pass rush, the secondary will be better by default. QBs won't have 10 -15 seconds to find the open WR like they did last season.
I have somewhat reasonable expectations that that our defense will get on track, the thing is though it seems like every year when one wheel gets put back on, another one pops off. Last year it was defense, the year before that was special teams and our running game.
Back on track? The defense has never been on track to have to get back on track.
on track != back on track
Watt could be the key to Texans' scheme change
Clearly, the Houston Texans had to do something different. After sporting one of the most explosive offenses in the NFL over the past few seasons and having no playoff appearances to show for it, not to mention putting a catastrophically bad secondary on the field in 2010, the Texans brought in Wade Phillips, the ex-Dallas Cowboys head coach who has always had a great knack for turning defenses around.
One of the first things Phillips decided was to switch the Texans’ vanilla 4-3 defense to concepts more to his liking. Phillips’ defenses are often referred to as 3-4, but there’s as much alternating between offset four-man fronts (where linemen will occupy 4-3 gaps in 3-4 looks) and 5-2 fronts in which all five linemen are eligible and possible pass-rushers and run-stoppers. One of the most controversial decisions Phillips made was to take the 6-foot-6, 290-pound end Mario Williams and designate him as an “outside linebacker” in the new scheme. Again, that’s a bit of a misnomer – what Williams would do in a traditional 3-4 and what he’ll do for Phillips will likely be very different, and you could see him with his hand down more than you think.
The Texans’ total commitment to a diverse defensive concept was certainly evident in the first round of the 2011 NFL draft, when the team took Wisconsin defensive lineman J.J. Watt with the 11th overall pick. With Auburn’s Nick Fairley and North Carolina’s Robert Quinn still on the board, Houston went with the 6-5, 290-pound Watt, who projects best as an inside defender in a 3-4 or 5-2 front, with some four-man front versatility thrown in for good measure.
Williams played outside of tackle Amobi Okoye a lot of the time in 2010 – on the left and right sides – and he looked better with his hand down off the edge than he did in those rare instances when the Texans rushed three and he was the “endbacker” off the edge. What Williams will need to help him in this transition is an inside end who can draw double teams with his inside moves, thus freeing the edge for Williams to make his move to the quarterback. From that perspective, it’s easier to understand the selection of Watt, because his best move may be the inside step to gain leverage when he’s playing over the offensive guard or tackle.
Watt provided one of the better examples of his movement early in the second half of the Badgers’ Week 7 win over Ohio State last season. Lining up between the left tackle and tight end, Watt benefitted from the tackle’s reach block to the second level, juked the tight end, and forced the running back to abandon his route to block Watt instead. Watt brings this advantage whether he’s lined up inside or on the edge, which makes him a good hybrid player.
There are still reasons to be concerned about Watt’s NFL potential – at Wisconsin, he tended to get blown out looking for the splash play, and he was disconcertingly easy to block out of a play for a guy his size. But with some additional muscle and discipline, and in the right scheme, Watt could be one of the better inside ends in the league. It’s just a matter of how, where, and with whom he’s used.
The thing that is going to benefit this defense more than any draft pick is their ability to coach up the defensive players. I think that was the biggest reason none of their defensive draft picks, with the exception of DeMeco and that got roid boy Cushing, never panned out. Wade may have been a horrible head coach but the one thing he can do is coach up defensive players. This alone can make this laughably bad defense a slightly below average defense, which is all that is needed to turn this team into a playoff team.
The player that will stand out most in this draft is Shiloh Keo. I think he has the potential to be a top safety in the league.
Texans have a lot of potential..could be a great team this year. They need help in the secondary...major help, and they'll be in the playoffs...they are really dangerous.
You really think Keo will stand out more than JJ Watt, Brooks Reed, and Brandon Harris? I'd be happy if he even became a serviceable safety that excels in Special Teams play.
Johnson trying to sell free-agent CB Asomugha on Texans
After the NFL labor situation is settled, free agency will begin, and cornerback Nnamdi Asomugha will be on many teams' wish list.
Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson has been lobbying Asomugha to join his team, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle.
"Andre Johnson said he's talked to Nnamdi Asomugha on more than one occasion and told the cornerback he should sign with the Texans," McClain wrote Sunday on his Twitter page.
NFL.com senior writer Steve Wyche recently suggested that Asomugha could land with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, as the team might part ways with Aqib Talib after his recent legal trouble.
Wyche also said that being on a winning team could mean more to Asomugha than money, so the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and Baltimore Ravens also are believe to be front-runners to sign the three-time Pro Bowl and two-time All-Pro pick.
Asomugha has spent all eight of his NFL seasons with the Oakland Raiders, becoming one of the league's premier shutdown cornerbacks. He has just three interceptions since 2007, but that's because opposing quarterbacks typically avoid throwing his way.
Last edited by Kai; 05-23-2011 at 08:04 PM.
It won't happen...but props to AJ for putting in the work.
Assface going to the Texans makes them a legit playoff contender, their front 7 is already great on paper if it ever plays up to its ability. Is Mario Williams gonna be moved to OLB or kept as a 3-4 DE? IMO he should be moved to OLB with Reed on the other end.
Preliminary reports are that Son of Bum is planning on moving him to OLB.
Phillips clarifies plans for Williams in “5-2” front
The Texans' decision to move Mario Williams to outside linebacker has sparked plenty of hoopla and debate. Williams has been one of the most productive pass rushers in the NFL as a 4-3 defensive end, and he'll be an unconventionally large linebacker at 6-6, 290 pounds. On Monday, defensive coordinator Wade Phillips said that Williams essentially will still be an end in his defense – he'll just be on his feet more.
"They say '3-4', '4-3', all that," Phillips said at the Texans' annual Charity Golf Classic. "We really play a 5-2. We play five defensive linemen that can rush the passer and two inside 'backers who can tackle people. And we think Mario certainly fits in there."
In that 5-2 front, Williams will often be standing up on the right edge of the defensive line as the Will (weakside outside) linebacker.
Along the line to Williams' left will likely be Antonio Smith at right end, Earl Mitc or Shaun Cody at nose tackle, J.J. Watt at left end and Connor Barwin or Brooks Reed at Sam (strongside outside) linebacker. Standing behind them will be inside linebackers DeMeco Ryans and Brian Cushing.
"We have a lot of versatility," Texans head coach Gary Kubiak said. "Cushing gives us a lot of versatility. Connor Barwin gives us a lot of versatility. If Mark Anderson… ends up being ours throughout this (free agency) process, he gives us versatility.
"So we've got a lot of good athletes on the defensive side of the ball, and the combinations we just added to it (in the draft) with J.J. and Brooks and those guys give Wade a great a lot of great talent to work with. We'll have to see how it all fits, but there's a couple of guys that can play multiple positions."
Phillips often says that he fits his defense to the players, not the other way around.
"The more you can do with players scheme-wise helps you," he said. "We're going to put Mario down some, but we're not going to tell them when. And same thing with Cushing: We're going to play him inside most of the time, but sometimes he's going to be rushing outside."
Asked how much concern he has about Williams dropping into coverage, Phillips replied, "None."
"We're not going to drop him," Phillips said. "We're going to rush him. That's why I say we're more of a 5-2, in that those five guys are coming a lot of the time, especially the position Mario plays. DeMarcus Ware played that position, Bryce Paup – on and on, guys that have led the league. They didn't lead the league in sacks by dropping a whole lot."
Williams has 43.5 sacks since 2007, but he hasn't finished a season in the top-10 in sacks since 2008. Phillips said that he has coached outside linebackers who have led the league in sacks from both the Sam and Will positions.
"We put (Williams) in the premier position," Phillips said. "You're rushing the passer more at Will, and so that's where we put him. We were looking in the draft for the best pass rusher. Well, we had him on our team, and so we just moved him to that position rather than going the other way around."
Good thing they are only going with 2 LBs. That's about as deep as that group is. Outside of the d-line, there is no depth at all to any of this defense.
Their D-line is pretty deep tho. This might be old news, but whatever happened to that African DT they used a top 10 pick on years ago?
he was last seen chucking spears in Zimbabwe i teenk
oh! a phong is ringin!
Get down Stooooooops!!!!
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