Well that is one of the worst units on the team, if they can finally become even halfway decent then it'll be a bonus.
Feels like this season's success heavily depends on previous draft picks and signees. If those guys don't stay healthy, they're doomed.
Honestly, we had so many injuries last season I forgot a lot of the guys that were on the squad, we were missing some very intangible guys. Covington, Ellington, Griffin, Martin, Will Fuller missed most of the season, Corey Moore who was making strides before getting hurt, Cylan Cole missed some time and was never the same after his hamstring injury, Kev Johnson missed time and was not the same after his knee injury, DJ Reader, Bennan Scarlett. Mercilus hurt the worst (Obviously Watson hurt the worst but you know what I mean), if this team can stay remotely healthy with the last place schedule we play its going to be a fun season being a Texans fan
Then again, it's great that we're putting so much effort into special teams as the league is slowly getting rid of it.
You guys are awfully critical of a draft that didnt start until the 3rd round. If you told me we got: Deshaun Watson: 1st round pick 4 Tyrann Mathieu : 2nd Round pick 4 (We got 10 mil for this pick, Honey badger cost us 7 - or 2 of the Oline guys we signed that add up to 10 mil) Justin Reid: 3rd round pick 4 Then the rest of these guys, it seems like a pretty good draft. I mean we had HORRIBLE special teams, now we get back literally half our defense from injury, add Justin Reid, then add a bunch of guys who might be really good on special teams? Seems pretty good for not picking on the first 1.5 days. Sidenote, I think Coutee will be good on ST as a returner, as well as slot..
Everyone loves Reid. Most of us love Keke (even if we think he was picked kinda high) and Duke. The other draft picks and where they were picked have questionable grades from most reviewing the draft. It is a good draft but based on what we know now, it could have been better. There were players who were ranked higher that would have helped the team. If there weren't players left on the board that most felt would better help the team, then we wouldn't be critical. Akin is the key to this draft. If he becomes a starter (or even 2nd string) then I would say it is a successful draft. Rankin is going to going to compete for the starting spot but there isn't much competition at his position.
The Texans will FINALLY have a good special teams unit only to have special teams reduced to almost nothing lol. Classic.
I agree, there were some people still left on the board when we were picking that I wanted. I also agree that Akin is key because he is the one that was picked ahead of some other really good picks. But arguing about our 7th pick when your pick went undrafted (not saying you personally, just in general) doesn't mean this FO is stupid, no other team grabbed Holton Hill either, lets calm down. As far as "this guy is just for ST" well yea, they were 6th rd picks, we didnt have any in the 1st or 2nd and while the position might not have been most needy, the special teams in general are. Basically, I'm just saying I wasn't expecting too much out of this draft because there wasn't much we could do, was more focused on FA and getting guys back healthy (semi-disappointed with FA so far) and when we have a 1st-3rd pick, ppl argue those instead of focusing on 6-7th, but since we didnt have those picks it just seems like people are really focusing on these really late picks.
All the talk I heard about Hilton Hill was from this board. Can't say much about him to be honest. I don't think the FO is stupid. I do think they fall in love with a particular trait, zone in, and get it while ignoring some other things a player can bring to the team. They wanted faster players, so they got Lamar, Tyler, and Braxton. Now they wanted bigger, stronger, faster and they got athletes who they hope can play (I know I'm exaggerating). It's funny, when people complained about the Texans not being active enough with the higher profile players; we were told "build through the draft". Now that there is dissatisfaction with the draft results, nothing to look forward to lol. My comments aren't necessarily complaining or arguing. When I see a player who I thought has been good and will be good on this team, I get excited when the Texans have a chance to get him. Of course there is a bit of a letdown when they pick someone who I think isn't as good. Last year, I thought they had the best draft in franchise history but I still was bummed they picked Davenport with Kittle still on the board.
I wouldn't say all hope is lost with this draft. It was still a good draft. Not as good as last season but still good.
I feel I have to respond to this because I’ve probably said Holton Hill more than anyone. I’m definitely a fan of Holton but I never think of the Texans don’t draft “my guy” then it’s a waste. I’ve stated I trust Gaine. It HAS to be a reason he chose the guys he drafted. I just don’t like the fact we don’t go after those guys with attitude. We go for more of the yes/no sir guys. Which is ok at times but some of those guys have no attitude. Or we’ll go for guys that are so called “athletic” but like @Bobbythegreat says, they’re not football athletic. Some are supposedly able to play several positions but they end up not being great at a certain position.
The owner wont let Gaine draft guys with character issues like Hill/Harrison etc... Nothing has really changed in how they go about acquiring talent.
I suspected there was a little more to Hill dropping. Need to take what Chip Brown says with a grain of salt but this certainly would explain the biggest fall in the draft IMO.
They do go after guys with "attitude". They will not go after guys who have issues with authority (Marcus Peters), which is a good thing when you have a head coach like O'Brien; or guys with repeated offenses (increases the likelihood of happening again and might turn into a suspension), or guys with domestic abuse issues (that's just a bad look to say the least). Probably about 20 teams do the same thing or something similar. They've had some "attitude" guys like Brian Cushing, Ed Reed, Sam Montgomery, etc. And they've kept one offense guys like Jacoby and Jalean Strong.
I'm against bringing in DV guys, but you're competing agaist teams that do bring those guys in so you have to do the same if you want to compete on a level playing field. (Tyreke Hill) I would sign pot guys and take my chances on suspensions. The Texans dont really do this despite the guys you listed.
How do you say you're against bringing in guys who have had domestic violence cases and then say they should do it because other teams are? Are you against it or not? Just because the Patriots signed Aaron Hernandez doesn't mean Texans should go look for gang-affiliated murder suspects. If you were an employer, you wouldn't do the same. I have given you examples of them signing guys who have had cases with mar1juana and cases where they were arrested as Texans and the team didn't cut them. Name one guy who the Texans would have signed if not for him smoking mar1juana.
I'm against DV (Everybody should be.) But if others in my field were more successful than I was by hiring DV guys, you can bet I would be hired a few DV guys. It's just the unsavory most businesses have to deal with. Plus I believe in giving second chances to people who've made mistakes in their lives. Just like people have given me 2nd chances in my past. Apparently you haven't made any mistakes in your life so you dont believe in 2nd chances.
