Offensive Line: Once a Weakness, Now a Strength?
By bringing back offensive tackle Ryan Harris, the Houston Texans are showing some of their hand heading into the NFL draft. Throw in the fact they also signed their only restricted free agent in Andrew Gardner, the Texans’ offensive line already looks intact for the 2013 season. The only difference in the offensive line is current free agent Antoine Caldwell, who started the 2012 season as the right guard but was soon passed over by then rookie Ben Jones, will not be back with the team. Entering the 2013 season, the starting offensive line for the Divisional round of the playoffs will be on…
Second Year Players May Light Up Dark Free Agency
Like most of you, we are waiting for the Texans’ first big move in this free agency period and wonder how the Texans can recover from losing 3 starters. To help me, along with you, I have shifted my focus on not what the Texans have lost, but rather what they might gain in 2013. Ladies and gentlemen, I remind you of the Texans’ 2012 draft class. Here’s a look at who needs to step up to fill the voids the Texans are currently staring at. Offense: Solid in the return game, Keshawn Martin did little to help his cause on the…
Grading the 2012 Texans’ Rookies
The season is over and now it is time to look at the Houston Texans rookies and give our grades for them this season. The Draft Picks Jared Crick- A spot player but made the defensive line rotation after Tim Jamison went down for the season with an injury. He showed he can play against the run and played both defensive end and nose tackle this season. Still some learning to do, he was called in to spell Antonio Smith in run situations. Expect a bigger workload for Crick in 2013. Grade: C+ Brandon Brooks- Silent for the majority of the season,…
Mid Season Report Card: Offensive Line
This is the start of our SOTT Mid Season Report card and we will run through every position group for the Houston Texans. We focus on the offensive line in this post and give our thoughts on the position group. The Offensive Line Grades Duane Brown: He gave up his first sack of the season against the Buffalo Bills but he has been as good you can ask an NFL left tackle to be. He provides what the offensive line needs, a force in the run and pass blocking game. His athletic ability really shows when the Texans let him…
Early Surprises for the Texans
Heading into week four, the Houston Texans have been showing a little bit of everything on both sides of the football in their wins. The team has shown running or passing the football they can win and also with timely defense they can turn the tide in an instant. To make things like this happen, it takes certain players to make their mark on the season, and there have been some role players who have been doing their part. Despite being early in the season, the Texans have leaned on some players who are building off of decent 2011 campaigns, and there are…
The Rundown: Broncos Edition
One of the more entertaining games of Sunday, the Houston Texans went into Denver and beat the Broncos 31-25, and beat their old nemesis in Peyton Manning. The Texans once again put points on the board and played opportune defense to push their record to 3-0 for the season. Considered a big test for the Texans, they had flashes of greatness where they had the Broncos all but defeated until a Ben Tate fumble gave the home team some life. Either way, the Texans accomplished their goal for the week going 3-0 for the first time in franchise history. The…
The Rundown: Jaguars Edition
It is hard to imagine that things on the football field could have gone any better for the Houston Texans against the Jacksonville Jaguars. The Texans pretty much played a solid game, except for the three plays that led to the Jaguars only score of the day. There were plenty of questions to be answered from week one and it showed on Sunday with the Texans focused for all four quarters. Look no further than the dominance that both the offense and defense showed over their division foe. The Rundown – There are many fans who complain about Matt Schaub, but he was as efficient…
To the Penny: Brooks and Posey Contract Situations
With rookies reporting to training camp in 5 days, the Houston Texans are working hard to bring in their last two unsigned rookie 3rd round draft picks, DeVier Posey (68th overall) and Brandon Brooks (76th overall). The other Texans rookies are all signed and ready to go for camp, but if there were any two that don’t need to take it to the last hour it would be both Posey and Brooks. It seems like this is a league wide issue when it comes to 3rd round picks. NFL.com’s Brian McIntyre said this. There are 14 unsigned picks from the third round, a…
Texans Rookie Pulse
The Houston Texans landed a solid draft class and now, with mini camp upon us, the team is going to look for the rookies to make an impact on the 2012 season. In this segment we are looking at the Draft Class of the Texans and who will make the biggest impact on the 2012 season. Now we know it is early, but expect some contributions by this class. Last season it was J.J. Watt, Brooks Reed and T.J. Yates who all proved to be big parts of the Texans’ playoff run in 2011, and the Texans are looking for the same from…
Conspiracy Theory: The Offensive Line
In this series we look at the moves the Houston Texans have made since the free agency period and during the draft and let you know what is “really” going on at Reliant and with the team in 2012. One of the more interesting positions to keep an eye on heading into training camp is what is occurring at the offensive line position. Considered one of the best offensive line units in the NFL during the 2011 season with Duane Brown, Wade Smith, Chris Myers, Mike Brisiel and Eric Winston clearing the way on the…
