I dunno.... I remember when we had Ryans flying all over the place making plays when no other Texan would come through. It probably wont happen, but I wouldn't mind seeing the Texans retire his jersey some day. He belongs in this humble forum.
Emjohn, Demeco barely played over half the snaps last season. I know none of us like it, and he was a great player, but that's what good teams do. They shed unproductive contracts. What we were paying him wasn't worth it considering how much or rather how little he was playing. I in no way think that James is a better fit then Demeco will be, but Demeco thrives in a 4-3. 3-4's just aren't meant for the traditional big hard hitting linebackers, it requires speedy players with pass rushing skills and also pass coverage skills.
It really was the system, DeMeco fits better in a 4-3 defense, and Demeco played below 50% snaps during the regular season. He is a great player, and its too bad that the texans let him go, but the defense isnt a lot worse without him.
Another Bradie James fan? I guess you haven't noticed the drop in run defense. Too bad the Texans didn't find a player to fill that requirement...or even the things Ryan's did well. Oh and pass coverage you say? Ryan's could cover better that James with a broken leg.
Nobody is trying to argue that James if filling the gap. The front office moved Demeco to give Sharpton the starting reigns, as Sharpton was playing about half the snaps last years anyways. This is about productivity relative to paycheck. Sharpton may not be as great as Demeco in your eyes, but he is being payed a tenth of what Demeco makes, and he played more the Demeco did last year. Obviously they didn't gain what they lost and then some with Bradie James based on his on-field production this far, but when you have a tight cap and are trying to keep other pieces intact you have to make tough decisions. I loved Demeco. I loved his heart and he was a beast. But he regressed after the injury, and his smaller role in a 3-4 offense just wasn't worth his contract.
Like others have said, Demeco's position on this defense plays less than 50% of snaps. You can't pay a guy as much as demeco was getting paid for how few of snaps he took. James is certainly not on demeco's level, but the dropoff is not gonna affect the defense much considering its probably the least important position on the field. Also, you are kidding yourself if you think Demeco was some kind of all-pro last season. Until the playoffs, he was arguably the worst starter on the defense
I never said James was the answer, they tried to find a filler for Demeco, but also had to think in the cap situation, so they had to bring a less expensive backup, but didnt work out now, also Bradie James is only playing because Sharpton is injured. drop in run defense? Reggie Bush 69 yds 0 tds, and got 172 yards and 2 tds against the raiders MJD, 64 yds 0 rushing TDs. DeMeco was great, and played amazing during the bad years: 06-10, also was the soul of the defense, and heart of the team, but he got injured, and the texans had to cut some salaries, and picked him because his production last year wasnt worth his contract. and even the texans knew deMeco had talent because instead of just cutting him, they wanted to get something in return, like they should have done with winston, I think someone would have wanted to trade some 5 or 6th round pick for winston.
If you were paying attention during camp/preseason, you would know that James got placed on first team immediately. Sharpton was better but wasn't given a crack at the starting job. There was zero open competition It wasn't Sharpton's injury that put Bradie out there. It was Wade and Herring installing their teachers pet.
Wasn't Sharpton hurt the whole offseason? And I think Phillips has earned the right to have one teachers pet. He knows what he is doing. If you didn't notice last week, Tim Dobbins actually started the game. Dobbins isn't nothing special but he is a good run stopper.
Sharpton hasnt been training with the team since late July, he had a hip injury, he is in the PUP list, so he can only be back till week 6, Sharpton and James were expected to compete for the starting job, during camp. When Sharpton is healthy again, he and Dobbins will take most of the plays, and only playing James for some plays. But again Sharpton was the starter, last year he played more than DeMeco, and thats was one of the reasons that DeMeco was traded.
