Texans Offseason Thread

[TaylorMays]

So the seasons not technically over but our team seems to think it is so I guess we will start talking about the offseason. Our draft pick will either be #24 if we lose next week or 27-28 if we win next week, depending on what Atlanta does. I'm just going to start off by posting my thoughts on each position.

QB- Matt Schaub is clearly never going to win games for us but there arent any free agents worth looking into and people that will be available wont be worth giving anything up for (Vick, Alex Smith, Matt Flynn). Those guys might be better than Schaub but I dont think they're that much better. TJ Yates deserves a chance but Kubiak probably wont even let him try to battle to be a starter. I'd like to see us draft a QB in the 4th round or later if we can find a high upside guy. MAybe someone like Tajh Boyd if he comes out.

RB- We're pretty set here. Ben Tate is in his last year so if we can get a 1st rounder from someone picking late like the Packers or a second and like a 5th from someone picking high, I'd take it. He's still valuable to us but I think Justin Forsett can be the backup effectively.

WR- It's ridiculous that we still dont have any opposite Andre. I wouldnt be sad if Walter got cut but we dont have anyone to replace him. Jean Posey and Martin were all underwhelming at receiver although Posey is coming on late. Dont know our cap situation and we wont make a splash anyway but Jennings, Wallace or Bowe would help us alot. Getting a guy like Corrdele Patterson or Cobu Hamilton wouldnt hurt but is unlikely

TE- Just need to resign Casey and we'll be fine

OL- LT, LG and center are good but we need a RG and RT pretty bad. We just drafted two guys to play Guard last year so a tackle is much more likely. A guy like Erik Fisher from Central Michigan could easily be our 1st round pick and I wouldnt complain

DL- Our ends are set with Antonio Smith Jared Crick and of course JJ Watt but a nose tackle HAS to be found. I dont think I've ever seen a push up front from a nt on our team. There seems to be a fair amount of NT in this draft from John Jenkins in the 1st to Jesse Williams in the second or Daniel McCluller s in the third. Regardless, we need to draft one as Cody and Mitchell dont seem to do anything.

LB- If Barwin resigns cheap, we will be good at OLB, if not we need help there. It's hard to think we'd draft one in the first again but we very well could and Anthony Barr would be a nice pick. If Cushing is back, we dont need much help inside but I'd spend a late pick on an ILB

S- Wouldnt mind bringing back Quin for cheap but this is another position I'd be fine with drafting early. Guys like Kenny Vaccaro, Eric Reid and Baccari Rambo are some solid playmakers in rounds 1-3

CB- Alan Ball can retire and if we resig Brice McCain, Not too much attention needs to be paid here. Maybe a 7th round pick or undrafted free agent

K- Randy Bullock will get his chance

P- Donnie Jones seemed to be decent but I'm not sure and he's like 74 so we'll probably need to get an undrafted one somewhere

Coaches- Fire the special teams coach now

Short Version: This is early so we arent completely sure who is declaring for the draft or where we're picking but whatever. I think our biggest needs are at RT, NT and safety. If Barwin leaves we need an OLB and I would also draft a WR but dont expect anything from our front office on that.

[Big_T]

if baltimore and flacco don't work something out (franchise tag is possible) would anyone be interested in bringing in flacco? he reminds me of a schaub with a deep ball.

Glen Dorsey from the chiefs and mauluga from the bengals both intrigue me. As does terrance knighton from the jaguars.

The cap number needs work. The texans have 18 million (next season) wrapped up in Wade Smith(3,750,00), Antonio Smith(9,800,000), and Kevin Walter(4,500,000). I could see Walter maybe taking another paycut but Wade could be cut and use his new pro-bowl status to get just as much or more else where, and I don't think antonio is worth 10 million. I like him, but I think a guy like glen dorsey could be had for less and in wade's system could be just as effective. Sean Cody is a free agent, and I would like to replace him with Knighton. Knighton is more of a stout run guy, and would obviously come of the field in passing situations, but if you were to sign Mauluga (run stopper, passionate player), Knighton (run stopper, he always stood out to me in jag's games), Dorsey, and pair them with cushing and watt we would immediately free our safeties up and be one of the harder teams to run on. Let Barwin walk, re-sign mccain and glover quinn and I think we're back in business for a top 5 defense.

We'll be getting a few compensation picks for mario, briesel, and dreeson...i'm thinking a 3rd, a 5th, and a 6th. We could get a seventh for jason allen too....

[TaylorMays]

I have always hated Flacco. I dont pay a whole lot of attention to him so this could be way off but it seems to me he is complete trash against top 15 defenses and lights up bottom 10 defenses. This year his best games are against Oakland, San Diego, New England, Cleveland and the Giants, who seemed to have been susceptible to the long ball this year. Against the Eagles he had 42 pass attempts but only 232 yards and 1 td to 1 int and has a couple more games like that. And I know it's different teams and styles but Schaub had a higher completion percentage, Higher yards per attempt, better QBR and better passer rating. I'm not sure if Schuab is better but, bringing in Flacco and taking the time to learn Kubiaks offense and get acquainted with our players would probably be a step back for our passing game next year. Also, he's probably the one guy as slow as Schaub.
I almost said something about Terrance Knighton but, I felt like there was something wrong with him. Like he's lazy or something. He'd still be a huge upgrade imo.
I have always loved Mauluga since USC. That year on Madden I always had him, Clay Matthews, Brian Cushing and of course, Taylor Mays on the same team. He would be the perfect player for us.
I actually dont think we need Dorsey. He was drafted highly but I dont think he's done anything to justify that. Antonio Smith just needs to take a paycut down to about $6m and if Dorsey wants to sign for the extra $2-3m since he's been hurt then fine.
Kevin Walter either needs to be cut or take a huge paycut. $4.5m is ridiculous for him.
Assuming Wade Smith doesnt whine about a pay raise, I'd keep him. He may not be all pro, but he is not complete trash and we are already having trouble with 40% of our line, we dont need to cause more problems right now.
Last thing, I'm curious on how you would go about replacing Barwin and your thoughts on trading Tate.

[tripleplay2007]

Give Yates a chance to battle it out in the off season.

I really liked the idea of bringing in Mauluga or another NT through FA.

I think Brian Cushing is going to fix a ton of problems when he returns. Bradie James is too slow to be the premier ILB in a 3-4 set but I still think he can be the #2 ILB.

Safties need to be a priority in the draft... Kareem has played some good football in my book.

Wide receivers like Posey and Jean will break out next season, I like these kids. They just needed a season to grow and get used to the NFL game. Walter's needs a pay cut this dude ****ing sucks.

I like the idea of moving Ben Tate as well, I believe Forsett can be a strong #2 in our zone blocking set. If we were able to move Ben Tate for an upgrade in the secondary or NT I would be extremely happy.

[TaylorMays]

How/when are compensation picks awarded?

[H-town Mastodon]

Ok I have a few things to speak on about the off season concerning this team based off positions
QB- Whether we like it or not, Schaub will be the guy going into the year,sure we can hope Yates impresses so well but with that extension in place Matt will be the starting QB for the 2013 season barring something crazy

RB- we are set here with Foster as the featured guy and while I'm hearing of trading Tate since he will be a free agent after next year lets not think we will get a 1st for him unless its a Peterson or Foster type nobody is getting a 1st rounder for a running back seeing how they are pretty expendable

WR- we all have wanted the Texans to get a number 2 across from Andre from years and hopefully they will look into a a free agent(unlikely but wishful thinking) or a top pick(we haven't spent a 1st or 2nd rounder on a WR since Andre in 03) I would like that Patterson kid from Tennessee

OL-With 3 Pro Bowlers it doesn't seem too bad except on the right side more specifically Right Tackle(I'm ok with the rookies Jones and Brooks for now unless that Warmick kid fell to us) but Newton hasn't sold me and Butler is a injury hazard we shouldn't have dumped Winston in a salary move also if Brooks and Jones or Caldwell look good I wouldn't be opposed to trading Smith for cap relief

DL- opposed to NT I love it Smith and Watt are straight beasts and can cause havoc as they have shown now I know Wades hybrid 3-4 uses a smaller NT in this case Cody and Mitchell I would feel a real NT would work so many wonders for our front 7 it's not even funny

LB's-First things first,Cush needs to come back we miss him dearly, secondly I agree that ether Connor resigns cheap or let him loose he clearly wasn't as good as last year stats wise but I still love his energy but if he leaves Mercilus comes up immediately and don't be surprised if 3-4 olb comes up again cuz it seems Houston wants at least 3 main olb's to help attack and switch as it was shown when Mercilus was drafted to replace Mario in the 3 man rotation and as for Bradie James I just don't know he didn't seem to great this year heck Tim Dobbins was better imo

CBs- despite us getting burned lately in the pass our top 2 corners are set with Joseph and Jackson, and must I say Jackson hasn't been inept as much as he used to be sure he has been called for bad pass interference plays but they seem lower than it used to be.also I feel McCain is alright but could be upgraded also seriously wtf happened to Brandon Harris being a 2nd rounder he has been ether bad or non existent that's a shame really

S's- Along with NT and WR this needs work I still frankly like Manning and how he plays so this basically means get a replacement for Quin who likely will bolt in FA now idk who is out there in FA but as long as I don't ever have to see Keo try to cover anything else is a upgrade

K-simply kick Graham out of here nothing hit right outside of 51 it just wasn't good gave me (insert you know who) remission luckily Bullock is still around coming off IR so he will likely be our Kicker next year hopefully

P-Jones has been pretty solid way better that Turk was,if we can keep him around please

[Big_T]

tate would fetch us something around 3rd or 4th. he's now dealt with injuries two out of his three years in the nfl so maybe that's still hoping for too much.

A third from green bay would satisfy me. a 4th from the cardinals...a 3rd from the cardinals and i'd feel pretty good about that trade... and they would still be winning the trade...

[astrosmaniac]

there's really not alot of good QB talent in theis draft IMO. i think next year will be much deeper and would be a better time to try and get someone to develop. like mentioned earlier, it'll be schaub starting next year

we would have been lucky to get a 2nd for tate last year. now we'd be lucky to get a mid to late 3rd imo. just hold on to him unless someone falls in the draft we absolutely love or we can get top half of the 3rd

Posey has really impressed once he got playing time. that said with walter's cap numbers i say hes gone and we need someone else. not sold on jean or martin stepping up. would love a WR in the 1st. there is a ton of depth this year at WR. justin hunter, robert woods, terrance williams, keenan allen, deandre hopkins, tavon austin are all guys i would love to have. andre-draftee-posey should be a good WR trio if schaub will learn to share the ball

RT is the glaring and obvious need. given an offseason to bulkup and with some experience under their belt, i think both brooks and jones will be good guards. i do think its possible (but not likely) that wade smith gets cut cause of his cap number. and frankly, he's been just bad this year. i think RT in the late 2nd would be perfect since you dont usually go o-line round 1 unless its a LT. then again if matthews is there from A&M, i'd grab him round 1

Smith might be expensive, but hopefully he'll take a pay cut. dude is the only person constantly getting to the QB besides watt and cush. i'm more of a fan of cody than most. if the price is right for an upgrade, then do it, but imo it's not a pressing need.

we need to fix ILB. cush helps a ton but we need better talent for depth and at the second ILB spot. i think barwin walks and we take an OLB with one of our to 4 picks.

CBs are pretty set. bring back mcclain if the price is right. if not, i think they just fly with harris. i'd love to bring quin back. hopefully not for too much. get a more reliable 3rd safety since we run 3 S dime so much. i think improved ILB play will help the safeties.

punter and kicker we're set. fire marciano. please.

ideally i see us going WR-RT-LB-LB with our picks 1 through 3 and the comp pick for mario. that is unless we get a guy like malaluga in FA. then i'd say WR-RT-OLB-DB

[TaylorMays]

As far as the draft goes I'd go wr rt s olb nt. But it's the Texans so we will probably go rt/olb in the first then the other in the second then a te then an ilb then some random people

[Big_T]

i think RT in the late 2nd would be perfect since you dont usually go o-line round 1 unless its a LT. then again if matthews is there from A&M, i'd grab him round 1

I think he's going to be a top 15 pick.

[astrosmaniac]

Oh I do too. That's why I think round 2 would be better value. But if he r jones out of Alabama last to us, I'd jump on either of them (especially since WR is so ridiculously deep this year)

[TaylorMays]

What are the chances we actually take a receiver in round 1-3?

[tripleplay2007]

What are the chances we actually take a receiver in round 1-3?

We don't need one... Posey and Jean are going to be good, trust me.

[TaylorMays]

Ya ok. I've heard that every year I've been a Texans fan and nothing has changed. Until someone shows something besides potential I'm going to assume we need a wide receiver

[tripleplay2007]

Ya ok. I've heard that every year I've been a Texans fan and nothing has changed. Until someone shows something besides potential I'm going to assume we need a wide receiver

It's Schaub whose not giving Posey and Jean an opportunity to make plays.

I get what your saying but have you forgot about Graham? Ge's been out a few weeks with a concussion. When he gets back we should be pretty at receivers/tight ends. With him back and the improvement of Posey and Jean we will be fine there. At the beginning of the season Graham was one of Schaub's best redzone targets.