I love what the Texans have done the past 2yrs, in the way of player evaluations. However, don't present me with an orange and tell me its an apple. A career backup in Fatukasi and a 35yr old Autry and tell me we're good! Ive said it before, you have to make sure you're good up the MIDDLE; Center, DT and S. If you look at the better teams, especially Super Bowl teams, they all have/had, dawgs up the middle.
Saw Madibuke get tagged; Jones re-signed Saw Raiders overpay for their target (Wilkins) Saw their own Sheldon Rankins take a slightly better off with Cincy Thought they were getting Arik Armstead (either through the trade with Collins or his impending release) Saw 4 DTs go in the 9 picks before theirs (another 3 between 43 and 58; 5 between 79-122); Took a flier on Marcus Harris in the 7th Lost: Greenard(MIN), Collins(SF), Rankins(CIN), Tart(MIA), Jerry Hughes(FA), Ridgeway(FA), Myjai Sanders(FA) (Re-)Signed: Hunter, Autry, Fatukasi, Tim Settle, Mario Edwards, Barnett, Khalil Davis, Marcus Harris(draft)
Listening to Sports 610am this morning and Seth is excited about seeing Marcus Harris and a UDFA. I can hear him, John Harris, and Vandemeer pumping them up now; they are quick, they have good balance, they can stop the run, they have good pass rush moves, sort of remind us of a young Aaron Donald. Then the season starts and we can see the truth. On the brightside, Nick has 3.5 mos to adress the situation. Im hoping for a good veteran to be traded or waived.
Autry is still a dawg. I think Settle is going to play well. This is his 1st chance to get real playing time. I also liked Davis game last yr and thought he was as good as M. Collins. Fatukasi is a good run stopper and this doesn't even take into account Edwards and Harris. Apparently Ryans didn't like this yrs IDL draft class, so they chose to attack this with numbers.
I remember literally absolutely nothing about him in college, but an All-SEC DT getting picked in the 7th round makes me wonder. Could be a steal, could be a nobody, but at least you know the guy has some level of skills against other good players.
I still think they wanted a DT at #42 but trading up was too expensive and the 3-4 players they targeted were taken in the mid/late 30s. My guess is they will snag someone when roster cuts happen.
You can’t have pro bowlers at every single position.. Yes the chiefs had Chris Jones. But did they have WAJ and Hunter on the outsides? Yes the ravens had madabuike, but who were they throwing the ball to? Texans are elite on the outside of the offensive and defensive lines. They are elite at wideout, RB, QB, they have an elite CB and at least 2 great linebackers.. what did the dolphins do with Wilson in the middle? is having an elite player in the middle of the line great? Yes. Is it as important as QB/WR/LB/DE/OT/RB? Meh… we used to have depth players at starting positions all over the field, now we are complaining that Autry might have to start for us on a DLine where he is the 3rd best player?! we are getting greedy.
Not greedy, just sensible. Every other player we signed for DT has been career backups. And Autry is 35yrs old. Im not saying we need Chris Jones but I look at the DT position, the same way I look at the center position.....you need a starting caliber player at that position. You can get away with backups at LB, CB, even DE but the heart if the defense is the middle.
What makes you think this? Looks looks like they wanted to fix the secondary to me. There won't be a difference maker to snag on the WW that will be better than what they currently have on the roster.
So everybody we signed is a backup except for the starter that we signed who you don't like because he's too old to be a starter and is thus just a backup? Do I have this right?
Without considering contract amounts, would you take Chris Jones instead of Hunter and WAJ? Would you take Christian Wilkins over Hunter and Autry? Would you rather have Arik Armstead instead of Hunter? Since the middle is more important?
Going into the draft, I think Caserio was focused on DT, CB, S and OL and would draft the best player available of those 4 positions at 42 and 59. I can't read his mind, but my belief is his priority was a DT at 42. Again, it's just my opinion he isn't satisfied at DT and another move is coming prior to the season.
