Why would we need Leftwich? Carr is going to be our cornerstone.... I think they should go after Brett Williams, Vince Manuwai, or Derrick Dockery on that list. It says that Williams protects the BLINDSIDE of his QB. I think we needed that against SD when Herndon couldn't do his job.....
Charles Rogers should be our pick, the guy is a future super-star. Charles Rogers, Jabar Gaffney, and Corey Bradford give Carr some good weapons to throw to. I realy like Kevin Jones, RB at Virgina Tech, but he is not coming out yet I don't think. If we end up with the #1 pick we should trade it and move down to like #6 and pick Charles Rogers.
Does anyone remember Tony Mandarich--considered about the highest rated OT to ever enter the draft. Bustola. There is no such thing as a sure thing even in the OL. If an offensive lineman is clearly the most talented player, sure take him. But the skill players or a DE/OLB just can have more impact as a single player. There are no offensive linemen who have ever played who I would have taken ahead of any of the following: Marino, Elway, Jim Brown, Earl Campbell, Jerry Rice, LT, Walter Payton, OJ, or Reggie White. Just the nature of the positions. If the Texans have the first pick or the highest rated player on the board is a QB (very probable) I would say trade down. But if they have say a 4-5-6 pick I would not have a problem if they picked the best of the 6'3"+ wrs--there seems to be quite a crop. I'd include RBs too, but I don't see any RBs the level of Rogers, the Williams's, Johnson or Washington (E. James, R. Williams, or Faulk type prospects). Though I am a UT fan honestly the player that so far impressed me the most of these is Rogers. He is doing it without a lot of other weapons around him, being doubled all the time, and not much of a QB. None of the others seem quite as complete (deep, quick short, and over the middle routes), nor can say those other things I mentioned.
If you mean Kevin Jones, it would have to be in the 2004 draft, as he's not draft eligible. I'm a big Jones fan, but what would prevent him from going #1 is the ? mark if he can run between the tackles. Right now, he's primarily a perimeter runner. In the NFL, the LBs are too fast to run sweeps all day long. If he can prove that he can succeed with up the gut running, then he has a very good shot at #1.
Maybe I need to watch him more but to me he doesn't even look to be the best tailback on his team. Suggs seems to be more effective between the tackles (what made Emitt Smith special) and on cut backs (how Terrel Davis excelled)--kind of skills pro tailbacks need more so than strait line speed. Again I haven't seen any tailbacks prospects I put in the league with Rogers or Roy Williams as receivers. Smith, Griffin, Graham and Greg Jones look overated to me. While Clarett certainly looks very promising, Benson is very good, certainly Suggs is good, Clarence Farmer is good (even if he hasn't go any blocking yet), to bad I missed Marty Johnson last week (injured), even so none of these guys look Ricky Williams-E. James-Thomlinson (sp?)- Marshall Faulk good. Maybe Clarett will but I need to see him dominante a good defense geared to stop him first plus do things that his back-ups obviously can't do before I am convinced.
They don't run Jones inside because Suggs is such a good inside runner. When Jones gets most of the carries, with Marcus Vick next year....it'll be crazy. Suggs himself is pretty damn good, he's a definite top 15 pick.
Suggs' draft status is iffy IMO. I could see him being a late 1st or an early 2nd rounder. It's iffy because of his ACL tear. Fair or not, it will hurt his draft stock. IMO, Clarence Farmer is the best pure draft eligible runner at RB. He will definitely need to improve blocking (or at least start blocking), as well as catching passes out of the backfield, with all the WC offenses that are so popular now. Farmer does a great job lowering his shoulders. When Jones turns the corner, he looks amazing. The problem is getting past that corner. He needs to polish up on some of his running skills. Physically, he has as much raw athleticism as any RB in the nation.
Scar-What do you not like about Greg Jones? He has trouble turning the corners, but he's a hoss b/t the tackles imo.
I think that the Texans should go with best available player in the first round or possibly trade their first round pick. Next years draft is loaded with QB's and lots of teams will be slobbering to move up in the draft. I think our biggest weaknesses are RB, Safety, and TE. I then think we should start adding depth to our roster. OL is going to be ok after we get our stud tackles back because the guys starting now will be good backups. DL, LB, and WR needs some depth. I am hoping that we can use our high draft pick to possibly pick up a stub RB.
it's not been casserly's style to use a high pick on a running back; he traded away what would've been the ricky williams pick and i don't think he's ever drafted a RB higher than the 3rd or 4th round. i get the feeling casserly views RB as the final piece of the puzzle because of their relatively short shelf life. no need to find a back at this point, wear him down behind a suspect line and watch him turn ineffective when the team's finally ready to win. get your QB ready, establish your OL, find playmakers on the corner... and then go get your back. unless one of them either makes the leap or the texans trade down, i'd be shocked if he took a RB with his (likely) top 5 pick. in fact, i'd be shocked if it were a playmaker at all... if i were a betting man, right now, at this very instant? i'd put my money on william joseph. loooooooooong way to go, but....
Actually Farmer is doing a monster job of picking up blitzes and a good job running routes and catching short passes this year. The main reason he hasn't been seen much of is his line is doing nothing as far as run blocking. Wisconsin will be an interesting test this week for him--I think he will be ready to strap it on. My main two (relatively minor) issues with him right now is he is too ready to try to outrun everyone by breaking it outside (when he can finish runs very well between the tackles when we wants to--picking up the steady positive gains) and perhaps overall conditioning. Great physical tools though, what what I have seen I like him better than K Jones as a pro back. I'll have to watch G. Jones some more, I'll be open.
Scar- Greg Jones is a YAC machine. He won't make an 80 yd run, untouched, but he can get you the 5-7 yard gains consistently. However, he does have very good speed for a guy who weighs 235-240.
Corey Redding, that is who we should be getting,DE out of UT. Although I am a Aggie and hate UT, you can't say that don't have some good players. And there best player is Redding, and we should grab him if we don't trade down in the draft. I also like Charles Rogers, but you could trade down to pick 8 or so to get him. If we don't get Rogers in the first round, then in the 2nd we should get the best one still there, like Lee Evans or Andre Johnson or if he still there Roy Williams.
We don't even know if we'll get the #1 pick. In fact, I doubt we will. Redding or Joseph would be brilliant picks. I think Redding will be better in the pros. What a physical specimen he is.
I'm a UT alum, and I wanted to get some opinions on Redding's future in the NFL. No doubt he is truly gifted physically, but I don't think he's what Capers would be looking for in the 3-4, unless they think he could play on the outside as a pass rusher. In a 4-3, I could definitely see him as a Jevon Kearse type. Good post, Ric...I wouldn't want to see them draft a RB this early on in the process. I would love to get a stud lineman on either side of the ball. I love Roy Williams, too -- provided he stays healthy I think he might be hard to pass up if he comes out...
