I'm good with the pick. I said before the draft that I expected the Texans to start the season with Kalil and Henderson at left and right tackle so they were going to have to improve guard play. Howard plays four positions on the line so he can step in and start at guard opposite Rankin. I fully expect Davenport to receive any and every opportunity to be the left tackle if Kalil sucks or gets injured so I'll be looking for Howard step in at rt if Henderson sucks or gets hurt. Henderson actually had a good camp last season and looked solid in pre-season so I'm expecting a lot from him this season. The line will be improved. I think people are scared of the pick because he's from a small school that barely won any games but so was Derek Newton and that guy was a soldier on the line until his knees gave out, I'm optimistic
Very valid point, and a ton of these projected 1st rounders will never live up to that level of projection. From a lot of the things I have looked out this guy was rated late first round second round all the way to third rounder. So yeah, I think we reached, but at the same time we probably did since we knew we would not have got him in the second where we were at. All speculation since we don't know but at this point we have to live with it and hope they saw the right stuff in this guys.
I agree that no one knows what went on. That’s why we are having this conversation. The teams that traded back also traded out of the first round. If the Texans wanted Howard you’re saying they could have been sure that he would be there in the second? If they wanted Howard as their pick after Dillard, knowing they had to get a left tackle, I have no problem with what they did. It seems like they tried to get cute with Garapollo a few years ago and they got jumped and lost him for it. Trading back is easy in theory but apparently the Texans didn’t think it was worth it or couldn’t accomplish it in this situation. I’m fine with that as long as they got the guy they wanted.
From what I’ve gathered so far(from a somewhat reliable scout source not connected to the Texans)teams had Tytus rated higher than the Kipers/McShays(over Risner, Little, McGary). Someone posted earlier that he wouldn’t have made it past 31 and that seems like the consensus. Tytus is believed to have a higher ceiling than Dillard, but also a lower floor, and Dillard is considered a day one starter, while Tytus needs development on technique and strength. Def a boom or bust guy. Big concern is Texans current OL coach is just flat out not good and could hinder his development. I’m rooting for him to work personally cause I want the Texans to succeed.
EAGLES showed Wentz that they are willing to protect them (with a day one starter).. the Texans showed Watson, that they can live with a project, and hope he eventually turns out to be a starter
Well Wentz can't finish a season anymore and they may be in the market for a qb sooner than they think
I don't know anything about this guy and I'm not going to pretend to know. I don't know anything about college O-Lineman or how to analyze if they are good or bad. What I do know is with the NFL draft, it's nearly impossible to rate a team's pick as being good pick or bad pick on draft night. If Howard turns out to be a good player, it's a good pick. If he sucks, it's a bad pick. But we can't really determine that right now.
As fans we can only hope to have competent folks doing the evaluation.. Facts are he was high on every teams draft boards, per reports noted above in this thread. The commentator on Yahoo Sports loved the pick. Also Seth Payne called it too. He is healthy, he performed really well in his pro day, at the combine.... Reality is he could have been there in the 3rd round, and Texans needed not to use a first round pick in him. But that is speculation... Because we don’t know, heck if the Texans were crazy enough to get him in the first, what’s to say there was not another team that would have snatched him up with their very next pick? I subscribe to the notion that if your target player falls to you, you get him because getting cute for an extra 5th round pick might not afford you the opportunity to get your targeted choice.
No. Nobody does, but there were higher rated OT that are still on the board right now in the 2nd round. Also, if we had traded back out of the 1st, one of our 2nds and a 4th or 5th probably wouldve got us in the early pack of the 2nd. If they wanted Howard, thats fine, but I feel there were avenues to maximize that want/need. We didnt get cute with Jimmy G, we were just too patient, just like this year with Dillard. Youre right, but we will never know.
There were higher rated OT on the board by so called draft experts. That doesn’t mean teams had them rated the same. Obviously they didn’t because the Texans took Howard. There are reports posted in this thread that at least some teams had Howard ranked highly in terms of OT. They may have been able to package some picks to move up early in the second, but what if they didn’t value those lineman the same as Howard and he was gone by then? They would have to settle for someone who they think is a worse lineman. And when I say get cute with Jimmy G. I mean we could have taken him in the second if we thought he was going to be a franchise QB but waited and then the patriots jumped us.
From what I have heard, Howard was not going to make it to pick 30. There were trade ups ready for him to get there. Texans had Dillard higher, got hosed by Philadelphia. Simple as that. Not proactive enough to make it less evident to other teams of their pick. It was going to be Dillard. Just a personal aside: there are more than a few scouts and coaches that think that Howard has the potential to be the best tackle in last two drafts. I as a person that cant stand the current regime and feel they are not very competent am down with this pick. I think itll be a rough start from Howard and then he will blossom.
This is the biggest problem, the "What if?". I feel like he wouldve been there and you dont. Thats okay, we can agree to disagree
Wonder if the Eagles are going to be in the market to trade one of their other tackles now, Vaitai or Mailata?
Yup. XSF, Davenport, Martin showed little, if any, improvement during their time here. Also the fact that Rankin went from LT, to OG, and even had Gaine talking about OC all in one season is concerning.
Why are so many of you so quick to judge Howard what's currently on the team seems to be no better can we see what he can do at this level before calling him a bust and bad pick.
