Houston Texans: Absences Giving Rookies a Chance To Impress Management

The Houston Texans have something of a tradition of younger players drafted down in the order stepping up to make a big impact early in their careers.

 

Few rookies have an immediate impact in the NFL, even No.1 choices. It normally takes a season or two for a player to adapt his game to the NFL.

 

A couple of years back, a rookie linebacker named DeMeco Ryans proved so impressive from the day he stepped into the locker room that he started the season as the team’s defensive captain. An unheralded tight end named Owen Daniels won a starting job in his rookie year, and followed that with a Pro Bowl in his second season.

 

To hear head coach Gary Kubiak gushing about the performance of this year’s crop of draft picks, you get the feeling this year’s group of youngsters could have the same kind of impact.

 

“You don’t have to look any further than Glover Quin and the reps he’s gotten in this camp and the way he’s played for this football team,” Kubiak said Tuesday after the second day of the team’s mini-camp. “It looks like he will be a contributor to this team very early in his career.

 

“Sometimes the difference in a guy being a great player and a starter in this league is just getting an opportunity,” Kubiak is quoted in the team’s daily media circular. “When you get one, you take advantage of it and you don’t let something go. That’s how some of those guys have gotten to that spot. A lot of guys are getting more opportunities.”

 

In Quin’s case, it’s the absence of cornerback Dunta Robinson, who’s been working out on his own, which has given the fourth-round pick from New Mexico a chance to get some face time in front of the coaching staff.

 

That absence has also given the Texans the chance to take a good long look at another rookie cornerback, sixth-round pick Brice McCain of Utah.

 

“He’s very fast, taking advantage of a great deal of reps,” Kubiak said. “He needs to get more physical, but we’ll find out about that when we put the pads on. But he has a lot of speed to work with.”

 

For tight ends James Casey and Anthony Hill, Daniels’ boycott of mini-camp is giving them a chance to showcase skills they might not have had the chance to display for a while.

 

“He’s gotten a great deal of reps, that’s the biggest thing,” Kubiak said of Casey, the fifth-round pick out of Rice. “He and Anthony look like players who should help this team this year and can be good special teams players for (special teams coach) Joe (Marciano). The thing that is impressive about him, as you can imagine, is that he is very bright. He catches on very, very quickly.”

 

While some observers have rated Casey’s versatility on a par with that of Daniels, Hill has been a pleasant surprise.

 

““He’s caught the ball really well. I think that’s kind of been a surprise for us,” Kubiak said. “He knows what he is doing route wise. He’ll get better just through repetitions and understanding exactly the pro game and that type of thing.

 

“We knew we were getting a physical player, but I think it’s been a bonus that he can run routes pretty good.”

 

The team’s second-round draft pick, defensive end Connor Barwin, was expected to impress no matter who’s in camp…and he hasn’t disappointed.

 

“I love his work habits. He fits right in with our team,” Kubiak said. “…he’s faster than everybody right now. He’s very strong for his frame, being a 265-pound guy.”

 

Barwin didn’t become a DE until his senior year at college, but Kubiak said he’s catching on to the position, even given the huge difference between college ball and the NFL.

 

“To sit here and say that he has all the knowledge he needs to move forward, I think that he’s got a long way to go from that standpoint, but he’s got a hell of a teacher,” Kubiak said. “We know he can rush the passer. I think we know what his strength is right now, and it’s athleticism and going to get the quarterback.”

Expect Texans’ Owen Daniels To Get a Glamorous Contract

Having done a little glamour photography as a hobby, I can well understand what the Houston Texans went through Monday.

 

It’s kind of like shelling out the bucks to shoot a Playmate, then having her no-call/no-show you.

 

Unlike Houston’s punctuality-challenged modeling community, however, Owen Daniels has a solid work ethic. He’s just trying to make a little point, and he’ll be there on the cover when the edition’s ready to go to press.

 

Texans general manager Rick Smith isn’t happy about newly-signed Daniels missing the first day of the team’s mandatory mini-camp Monday, but said the team is counting on having its Pro Bowler for a long time, come hell or high water.

 

“This is a mandatory mini-camp, so there are ramifications for him not being here today,” Smith is quoted in the team’s daily media circular.

 

Daniels on Monday signed the team’s $2.79 million restricted free agency tender offer, but failed to show up for the first day of the mandatory three-day mini-camp and sat out the final workouts of last week’s organized team activities as well to protest what his agent considers to be foot-dragging by the team.

 

A report by FOX 26 Sports on Monday quoted one of Daniels’ agents, Alan Herman, saying that although Daniels expects to be fined for missing the workout, he is confident a deal will be made—but also said the deal was not as close to being done as had been reported in the Houston Chronicle over the weekend.

 

A story by John McClain in Sunday’s Chronicle indicated the Texans had made an offer which could make Daniels possibly the second-highest-paid tight end in the NFL. An offer in that vicinity would be a six-year deal in the neighborhood of $30 million.

 

“I feel confident that we can get a deal done,” Herman told FOX 26 Sports. “The reports in the media about these negotiations are not accurate. We are not at a point where we are about to conclude this. There are proposals that have to be presented by both sides.”

Smith also indicated that while the team is dedicated to keeping Daniels, he intends to keep contract talks private until they’re done.

“I believe, and I have said this before, that there really is nothing positive to gain by negotiating publicly,” Smith said. “I don’t think that anything positive comes from it. You open yourself up to misinterpretations.”

 

“Yes, our situation is that Owen is a big part of what we want to do. I want to get a long-term deal done. I am very motivated to get that done. That has not changed.”

 

Smith said Daniels is a key element for the team, and the Texans both recognize his value and plan to reward him appropriately—and hinted the team’s offer could well be in the vicinity reported by the Chronicle.

 

“We think that Owen Daniels is one of the top tight ends in football,” he said. “We think he is a very, very important piece to our football team and our organization and we are going to try to put a deal together that is reflective of that.”

 

There are ample reasons for Daniels and his negotiating team to want a lucrative long-term deal—and ample reasons for the Texans to want the same.

 

In just two seasons, Daniels has become the all-time receptions leader for Texans tight ends, and earned a Pro Bowl spot in 2008 after catching 70 balls for 762 yards.

 

Prior to drafting Daniels in the seventh round in 2007, Houston’s tight ends were primarily blockers. Daniels is a threat as a pass-catcher, and that spreads out defenses already running thin because of Andre Johnson, Kevin Walter, Andre Davis, Steve Slaton and the Texans’ other talented receivers.

 

The team this year drafted two more talented youngsters, James Casey and Anthony Hill, to join Daniels and Joel Dreesen, another third-year man as part of the tight end corps.

 

Some observers are already comparing Casey in particular to Daniels for his ability to act as a wide receiver—he often lined up at that position during his college years at Rice—but he’s probably at least a year or two away from being on the same level.

 

The call here is that Daniels will get a deal very close to that of Tampa Bay’s Kellen Winslow and Indianapolis’ Dallas Clark. His numbers rate it, he’s been consistent, and he’s been relatively injury-free on a franchise that seems to always be without at least one of its bell-cows.

Second Fiddle or Not, Grossman’s Happy to Be with Texans

Rex Grossman says he doesn’t mind playing second fiddle.

 

He’s just happy to be back in the band.

 

“Actually, the last time I even was on a team was in Reliant Stadium there (in the season finale last Dec. 28, a 31-24 Texans win over the Bears),” said Grossman, who led the Chicago Bears to Super Bowl XLI in 2006, but was released by the team at the end of 2008.

 

“But it was fun to get out here. Everything was moving real fast for me, so hopefully it’ll slow down in training camp.

 

“It’s another opportunity for me to be in this league and get to where I want to be. I’m going to work as hard as I can and let the chips fall where they may.”

 

Which fiddle Grossman will actually be playing with the Texans remains to be seen.

 

The team picked up former Detroit Lions QB Dan Orlovsky in the offseason and also has talented youngster Alex Brink, who spent much of 2008 on the practice squad, to back up starter Matt Schaub.

 

Coach Gary Kubiak says he likes carrying only two quarterbacks on the roster, but leaves room for a third because of the depth he suddenly has.

 

“Right now, I have three guys that have taken a lot of snaps in this league,” said Kubiak in the team’s daily media circular.

 

“As a coach, that makes you very comfortable. We just need to get (Grossman) to a point where he is legitimately competitive with those guys mentally as well as physically, and we’ll do that.

 

“It’s like I told Rex. I have carried two; I’ve been a product of a two-quarterback system,” Kubiak added.

 

“After what I have been through the last two years, that might be the way that I would lean today. I am going to keep them because they can all play. I am not going to keep them just to have three quarterbacks.”

 

For his part, Grossman says he’s just happy to be back under center no matter what role the team wants him to take.

 

“They brought me in and obviously they’ve got some quarterbacks here, but I’m just here to work as hard as I can and see what happens.” 

 

Kubiak said Grossman’s starting experience would only be a plus no matter the role.

 

“He and I had a great conversation on Friday. A lot of times in this game, you are drafted as a high draft choice, you get your opportunity somewhere—and some things went great for him,” he said.

 

“This kid started a Super Bowl.

 

“And then all of a sudden, you don’t have a good year or the team starts going a different direction. It’s a struggle. I think that guys who keep their head up and fall in the right place have an excellent chance to revive their careers.”

 

Kubiak admitted he’s been interested in Grossman for some time.

 

“I studied him really hard maybe three or four years ago. Mike (Shanahan) and I studied him really hard when we did the (Jake) Plummer deal when we were back in Denver,” Kubiak said.

 

“I see a guy who is a playmaker; he does a lot of things off schedule. I think if we can get him within our system and calmed down with the ball, as far as consistency and those types of things, I think he fits well with what we do.”

 

Grossman has also done his scouting and welcomes the wide-open approach that Kubiak and offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan have engineered.

 

“Watching tape, they get guys open and that’s what quarterbacks want to see,” he said. “The head coach is an offensive-minded guy, played quarterback in this league, and has a great system. Kyle Shanahan seems like a great coach, a real smart guy.

 

“I mean I’m 28-years-old. I got a lot left,” Grossman said.

 

“I’m hungry to get back up, to start at some point in my career and get back to the Super Bowl. So I’m extremely motivated.”

Kubiak Plans To Take the Kids Out for a Spin

Modern NFL roster rules and shortened preseasons don’t make it easy for young players looking for their big break.

 

All too often coaches are forced by necessity to concentrate on veterans to make sure their team is ready come opening day, and the kids never get enough reps in practice to show their stuff.

 

Gary Kubiak of the Houston Texans is feeling confident enough in his veterans that he’s sending them to the training room when mini-camp starts Monday, and plans to spend the mini-camp getting a better look at some of the youngsters.

 

“Again, I told the players the other day, the game’s changed so much,” Kubiak is quoted as saying in the team’s daily news release at the Texans’ official web site. “When I played, the rosters were so big—120. Training camp was so long.”

 

“You came to camp to get in shape. Nowadays, your numbers are down, you’re expected to be ready to go the day you walk in the door and camp’s a lot shorter.”

 

Kubiak said the Texans’ veterans will be going back to college, in a roundabout way.

 

“There are about 30 veteran players that are going to be here working out with (head strength and conditioning coach) Ray (Wright) and not practice,” he said. “We’re going to get them more teaching and more classroom time.”

 

The altered mini-camp format will give the team more time to work with the younger players, including defensive end Connor Barwin, the team’s second-round draft pick, who wasn’t allowed to work out during the three weeks of organized team workouts (OTAs) because of a quirky NFL rule that prohibits draft choices from working out with their team until their college class has finished its end-of-term testing.

 

Even though he hasn’t been in school all spring, Barwin’s alma mater, Cincinnati, is on a quarter system and its final test wasn’t administered until Thursday.

 

“We are going to go back and start over from day one when we came out here and really catch these young men up—catch Barwin up; catch (running back Jeremiah) Johnson up,” Kubiak said.

 

Barwin has been working on his own and has been in constant contact with defensive line coach Bill Kollar, studying film, and trying to learn the Texans’ line stunts, NFL pass-rushing moves, and the like.

 

“I’m just trying to get him squared away on the defenses that we have and stuff so that when he comes in here on the 12th, he’s ready to end up going and he’s not unsure what to do,” Kollar said. “We’ve gone over it and I’ve talked to him, and he’s pretty much up to date on what we’re doing right now. The biggest thing for him is he just needs a ton of technique work because he’s only played defensive end for one year, so he’s got a lot of catching up to do that way.”

 

“(Not being with the Texans) has been a little bit frustrating, but the way that I’ve been able to deal with it is to stay busy,” Barwin said. “It’s kind of been nice because instead of going to the draft and rookies having to jump into going to OTAs, I got a minute there to take a break, take a deep breath, and then really stay busy and really prepare myself as best I can.”

 

While Barwin is expected to eventually earn a starting job, Kubiak & Co. didn’t take any chances in the offseason, getting DE Antonio Smith. Kubiak says he’s quite pleased with the acquisition so far.

 

“Well first off, I love his personality. He brings a lot of personality to our group,” the head coach said. “But he’s a physical player, and one of the things we’ve got to do is continue to get more physical as a football team so the defense has got their part of the bargain to uphold from that standpoint.”

My NFL Baptism of Fire

What’s the most hazardous job in the NFL?

 

That one’s easy.

 

Ask the question in most sports bars and you’ll immediately hear “quarterback” or “wide receiver.” And yeah, if you limit the discussion to the players, that’s probably pretty accurate.

 

However, the most dangerous job in professional football is that of photographer.

 

One crisp Sunday back in 1980, I found out about that the hard way.

 

I was the sports editor of the Bayshore Sun, a little suburban newspaper on Galveston Bay outside Houston, and had wangled credentials to cover the Oilers. This was in the days before the Internet, of course, so people actually read newspapers back then.

 

It was actually kind of cool, being a 20-year-old who could strut around town like I was a big-shot because I got to cover the Oilers.

 

I’d previously done a couple of games in the press box and had enjoyed the experience immensely. You got free food before the game, free food at halftime, and—best of all for a 20-year-old with testosterone—free beverages.

 

That included beer, and I’m a beer man.

 

(The free beer thing went out the window a couple of years later when another suburban paper’s sports editor whose name will go unmentioned gave his press pass to an unlettered fellow who got up to the press box, drank himself into a frenzy, then began screaming obscenities and hopping around like a fan, in clear violation of the “no cheering in the press box” rules. It never fails—someone always spoils it for the rest of us.)

 

On this particular Sunday, however, I figured on doing the first half of the game against the Bengals shooting photos, then the second half up in the press box. I grabbed my old Nikon F2 and 10 rolls of 800 ASA film and headed down from the venerable Astrodome’s black press-box level.

 

If you’ve never been on the field at the Astrodome (or any other stadium, for that matter) during an NFL game, it is quite a trip. You suddenly realize that you are in the thick of it. You are surrounded by 50,000 people—at least one-third of whom are women, and at least one-third of those, statistically, are single.

 

By virtue of statistical extrapolation, that means about 3,000 of the people in the stands who might actually see you on the field are good-looking single women, which is extremely important to a 20-year-old.

 

I therefore made sure my bell-bottom pants were seated properly to best display my taut backside, opened my shirt quite a bit in true Saturday Night Fever fashion, and reversed my baseball cap to make it easier to shoot. I figured cutting a dashing figure was as important as getting a good shot.

 

Of course, I wasn’t the only photographer on the field. And I got a lesson about that right off the bat.

 

The first time the teams lined up near where I’d stationed myself, I got a good spot on the sideline and knelt down to catch the action. Just as I was about to snap, a huge blue came in front of my lens and I got jostled from four different directions.

 

I looked around me to see the guys from the Chronicle and the Post leaning every which way, and one of them had even stepped in front of me.

 

“Hey!” I exclaimed to the offender. His response was extremely rude, and had we been elsewhere I’d have gladly put my 140-pound body into action against his 300-pound bulk. But I had to think of proprieties, of course.

 

After this happened several times, I finally learned that either I had to throw elbows like Hakeem Olajuwon to get and hold my spot or I had to hang at the peripheries of the crowd of shutter-bugs and hope something came my way.

 

I opted for the latter, since it led to fewer confrontations.

 

The digital age has made things so much better for photographers for one reason more than any other: you don’t have to change film any more. If you’re using a motorized camera, as I was, you could burn an entire roll of film in one sequence; now, you can get almost an entire game’s worth of shots on one memory card.

 

I’d just finished reloading when I learned about the real peril of sideline photography, however. I’d stepped back a bit from the crowd to feed the next roll into the camera, and had just finished snapping the cover back when several of the photogs stepped back hurriedly.

 

Sensing my chance, I stepped forward and put my eye to the viewfinder.

 

All I saw was a white No. 32 with red edges on a field of Columbia Blue flying through the air directly toward me. Then I saw lots of stars and learned that AstroTurf isn’t as bouncy as they said it was. My fancy camera went flying through the air in pieces.

 

As he levered himself off me, Oilers’ strong safety Vernon Perry—we knew him as “The Hit Man”—mumbled, “Y’all right, kid?”

 

I’m sure I mumbled something polite in return, even if I couldn’t remember what it was.

 

I lay there a moment, stunned, before a hand reached down to help me up. It was the chunky guy who’d earlier jumped in front of my shot.

 

“Welcome to the NFL, kid,” he said with a broad grin.

Similarities Cement Houston Texans’ Signal-Calling Braintrust

In other circumstances, Matt Schaub and Kyle Shanahan might be a couple of guys you’d see hanging out together a lot—they share reasonably similar backgrounds, they’re about the same age, and have many of the same outlooks on life.

 

They wouldn’t look out of place mowing neighboring lawns, swapping stories about the wife and kids, or popping a cold one while barbequing in the backyard on some lazy Saturday afternoon.

 

The similarities help to cement a solid working relationship between Schaub, the starting quarterback of the Houston Texans, and Shanahan, the team’s offensive coordinator.

 

“We are the same age, so you can relate well to one another as far as life goes,” Schaub said on the team’s official website following the conclusion of Day 12 of mini-camp Tuesday.

 

“That helps us bond and be able to talk to one another one on one, and not like coach to player but like man to man, and be able to understand things and what we want out of the offense.”

 

Shanahan is the youngest offensive coordinator in the league, but showed in his first season he’s got the genius: He called the plays which helped the Texans boast the NFL’s third-best offense in 2008.

 

“It’s a little more fun being in my second year; not everything’s my first time,” he told the team website. “I’ve done it before, I know what to expect.”

 

It’s the third year together for the pair (Shanahan was the quarterbacks coach during Schaub’s first year with the team in 2007), and with Shanahan calling the plays, Schaub and Sage Rosenfels set records in both seasons for completions, passing yards, and touchdowns.

 

That part of the offensive combination isn’t going to change any time soon.

 

“(Calling plays is) what I expect my job to be,” Shanahan said.

 

For his part, Schaub’s content to follow Shanahan’s signals and rack up yards.

 

“I’d like to say (we’ll do) more quarterback runs, but I don’t know if that’s going to happen. No,” Schaub joked.

 

“You know, we know what we do well. We’re not going to try and deviate, we’re not going to try and reinvent the wheel. Our offense is what made us successful last year, so we’re just going to keep doing those things.”

 

Both say that as the team nears the end of organized team workouts, they’re enthusiastic about the prospects for the 2009 season. Schaub said the team is much further along at this point than it was a year ago, and that could make a huge difference.

 

“So much further. You mention coming in healthy off last season, whereas last year I had that shoulder surgery and I was rehabbing that. I just feel more comfortable and confident in what I’m doing and what the coaches expect since last year,” Schaub said.

 

“I just understand the offense that much more. We know what we want to do; we know what we’re good at.”

 

While the team’s starting offense remains much the same as it was a year ago, Shanahan said small adjustments here and there to fine-tune things are always ongoing.

 

“You’ve got to stay on top of football; you’ve got to keep adjusting,” Shanahan said. “But we get to return our starters, all eleven guys. We had a pretty good year last year, so we’re just trying to get better and a little more detailed.” 

 

“Every day, we’re getting better and we’re coming together,” Schaub said.

 

“We have a lot of you guys that are coming on board and they’re picking things up. We taught at a pretty slow pace this year—one install for every two days—but it helps us really. Everyone gets on the same page and we didn’t have the mental errors that you usually see early in OTAs, especially from young guys. It’s a way to come out and shake the rust off and get back in the swing of football.”

 

Of prime concern for the Texans this year, with Rosenfels now plying his trade in Minnesota, will be keeping Schaub healthy—he’s missed 10 games over the last two seasons because of injuries. The QB says he’s worked hard in the off-season to lessen the chance of that happening.

 

“You don’t know; it’s hard to tell until you get hit, but I feel strong in there and that was one thing I wanted to build up was my strength, getting stronger, and I think I did that,” he said. “…internally, you just feel that much more comfortable to stand in there an extra half-second to deliver that pass down the field and not be so quick to try and get out of the pocket.”

 

Consistency: Five Key Players For The 2009 Texans

For the Texans to make the playoffs this season, a lot of things have to come together and click.

 

The Texans had a disastrous 0-4 start to the 2008 season, then had another three-game skid to open November before winning five of their last six to finish 8-8. Among those losses were several games the team should have won handily, and among the wins were some the Texans probably shouldn’t have won.

 

The difference was turnovers: when Houston turned the ball over, it lost. When the Texans forced turnovers, they won. Consistency is what will make Houston a playoff team.

 

While every position will play an important role, the contributions of five players will make or break things for the Texans in 2009:

 

Matt Schaub, Quarterback. Consistency at the quarterback position is the key to winning in the NFL, and with Schaub, the key to consistency will be staying healthy. He’s missed big hunks of the last two seasons—a total of 10 games—because of injury and although Sage Rosenfels stepped in and played heroically the last two years, Rosenfels didn’t have Schaub’s on-field presence.

 

Dan Orlovsky is the backup now, a clear signal from head coach Gary Kubiak to Schaub that it’s all on his shoulders. Schaub passed for 3,043 yards, 15 TDs and a 92.7 passer efficiency rating last season, and his 276 yards a game was fourth-best in the league. Few teams moved the ball as well as the Texans, but turnovers in key situations proved to be devastating.

 

Kubiak told the team’s official website that Schaub has the makings of a Pro Bowler.

 

”His numbers, had he played the whole season, I think he would have been right in the mix of being a Pro Bowl player,” Kubiak said. “I think that’s what he’s capable of. But for him to take that next step and for our team to take that next step, that turnover margin at that position for this team has got to go down.”

 

Nick Ferguson, Free Safety. The Texans’ most gaping hole defensively is in the backfield, and while Kubiak & Co.have gotten depth at cornerback, the safety spots remain a major concern. Ferguson, one of the team’s elder statemen entering his ninth year as a pro, will have to step up and provide leadership.

 

“As far as calendar-wise, I’m up in age, but as far as body-wise and how I feel, I mean, I don’t feel a day over 25,” Ferguson told the media last week.

 

He said new DB coach David Gibbs, combined with new defensive coordinator Frank Bush and improvements in the line and at linebacker will make it easier for the secondary to step up and make the big plays they need to make.

 

“Hopefully, the quarterbacks throw some balls off the wrong foot and people and give us an opportunity to get interceptions,” he said. “Possibly, I mean, I don’t know if we’re going to do this, but this personnel allows you to do 4-3 or 3-4 types and really keep the offense guessing. It’d be great for the defensive backfield.”

 

Steve Slaton, Running Back.The 5-9, 210-pounder out of West Virginia, a third-round pick last season, made things happen in 2008—a team-record 1,282 rushing yards and nine TDs as well as 50 receptions out of the backfield for 377 yards and another TD. He was a nominee for Rookie of the Year and arguably, had he played on a playoff team he might have won the honor.

 

If Slaton can continue to give the Texans the running game they’ve so desperately needed, as well as the receiving threat out of the backfield, everything else falls into place offensively.

 

Slaton’s biggest challenge entering the 2009 season will be avoiding the sophomore jinx. He doesn’t have to put up the same kind of numbers as he did a year ago–but he has to remain a threat to do that. And for that to happen, the team has to develop someone who can give Slaton the rest he needs. Ryan Moats and Chris Brown each looked good in spots last year, and the team acquired rookie free agents Jeremiah Johnson and Arian Foster in the off-season.

 

Armed with a season of experience, Slaton told the team’s Brooke Bentley he wants to correct the mistakes he made as a rookie.

 

“I know more of what the coaches want and what the coaches need and what I need to do to get the yards that I left on the field last year and get them back,” Slaton said.

“The first year is the biggest learning year you are going to have. I think I learned a lot from the veterans being on me and the coaches being on me. (Now), I can step my game up more.”

 

 

Amobi Okoye, Defensive Tackle. The No.1 pick for the Texans in 2007 hasn’t looked bad his first two seasons—but it also hasn’t been what he’d hoped to bring to the field.

 

Okoye set the team rookie record with five and a half sacks in 2007, but found himself confounded at times by blocking schemes as opposing teams were able to establish control on the ground in several contests during the 2008 campaign. The Texans ranked 23rd in the league against the run.

 

“He’s had his flashes as a player,” Kubiak said of Okoye. “We’re looking for a consistency in the long haul.

 

“I’ve got a lot of expectations for myself this year,” Okoye said. “Being the kind of guy I am, the kind of season I had last year—it’s not what I wanted, definitely not what I expected. But all I can do is work, do my best and work. I leave the rest up to God and my coaches and whatever other factors.”

 

Okoye said the new, more aggressive defense being preached by Bush plays to his strengths as a pass rusher, and he welcomes that.

 

“(Rushing the passer) is what got me here,” he said. “My hope is that this is exactly what my game needs.” 

 

Fred Bennett, Cornerback.Thrust into a starting role in only his second season when his mentor and good friend Dunta Robinson went down with an injury, Bennett has had his ups and downs.

 

Bennett had three interceptions as a rookie but his statistical performance slid in almost every category in 2008. He told the Texans’ Bentley he has something to prove this season.

 

“Most definitely, I have a lot to prove,” he said. “But it’s not a thing that I’m focused on right now. In the back of my mind, I know that I have something to prove, but it’s not a big issue to me. I know I can get it done, and I know I will.”

 

Gibbs admits Bennett suffered from inconsistency a year ago, but said he marvels at the tools the third-year man brings to the field.

 

“He’s a long-legged guy and he’s got really long arms, so he might not be the quickest-twitch guy that plays the corner position, but he can take advantage of his length by getting his hands on receivers,” Gibbs said. “That’s something I think he’s figuring out the older he gets and the more he develops.”

The Houston Texans Draft: Some Head-Scratching, but That’s Not Unusual

Many sports fans around the country have started various traditions to observe NFL Draft Day. Some meet up at the local sports bar and hoot and howl the day long as the picks are revealed. Others plan a day-long cookout at the house, inviting their buds over to check out the new big-screen TV. And then there are those who tell their wives they’re going to the stadium to join the other fans, then sneak out to the gentleman’s club.

Houstonians have developed their own tradition: the head-scratching party. Earl Campbell spoiled us, to be sure, because despite an overwhelming number of high draft picks since that fabled 1979 draft, Houston—neither the Oilers nor the Texans—has ever managed to snag the big prize on Draft Day since Earl graced the Astrodome.

This year’s draft by the Texans certainly didn’t force any of us to change our dandruff shampoo, because we’re still scratching our heads. By all rights and appearances, the Texans needed at least one top-of-the-line defensive back, preferably a corner.

Instead, they went with a linebacker and defensive lineman in the first two rounds before grabbing New Mexico’s Glover Quin in the third. Houston added Utah corner Brice McCain in the sixth round and safety Troy Nolan of Arizona State in the seventh—but none of the three were rated in the Top 10 prospects lists put out by anyone save possibly for head coach Gary Kubiak and GM Rick Smith.

That’s not disparaging the picks: the Texans have actually had a fair amount of luck with down-in-the-order picks like Steve Slaton, Owen Daniel and others. For the got-to-have-it-today fans, however, a Texans draft is something like shopping at Wal-Mart—you never know if that bargain-priced item is gonna work ‘til you get it home and plug it in.

The emergence of Slaton last season came as an extremely pleasant surprise, and he’s certainly won over a lot of Texans fans—but as we saw in the season finale, Slaton is not the second coming of Earl. He’s extremely good at what he does, but he’s not the bullish back that can squeeze out that one yard on fourth and inches. “Overall, it would probably have been a more sexy draft for everybody had we corralled a running back, which was a priority for us,” Texans Director of College Scouting Dale Strahm noted on the Texans’ official website.

By all reports, first-round pick LB Brian Cushing of USC and second-round pick DE Connor Barwin of Cinncinnati are solid prospects. The Texans could certainly use some extra punch at linebacker to complement Demeco Ryans and I hate to make this kind of prediction, but the Texans defensive line could be—in this fourth year of the Mario Williams era—one of the best in the game.

Cushing, of course, was an All-American, a finalist for the Butkus Award and a semifinalist for the Lombardi Trophy. He has the kind of blue-collar attitude the Texans staff—and their fans—like, and could have an immediate impact. Barwin is a converted tight end/H-back who in his first season as a defender registered 12 sacks.

Quin is known as a lock-down cover man who is a big hitter—something Houston has been sadly lacking from the defensive backfield for some time. McCain doesn’t have the size (he’s just 5-9) but does have some versatility as a kick returner.

On the offensive side of the ball, the Texans made one pick I like and two that put nail-marks on my bald pate. Center Antoine Caldwell of Alabama is a tank, the kind no Houston team has had since Carl Mauck. And all the early reports we’re seeing on the youngster indicates that he has that same kind of spirit. The Texans have been quietly building a half-decent offensive line—a couple of years too late for David Carr, sadly, but no doubt Matt Schaub and Sage Rosenfels will be happy with him, especially if new line coach and certain Hall of Famer Bruce Matthews can help develop him quickly.

Now, the Texans have the league’s best receiving tight end in Daniel, and with Andre Johnson, Andre Hill, Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones, they have possibly the most explosive aerial corps in the league. So why, we head-scratchers wonder, did they expend two draft picks on tight ends?

Kubiak and Smith have both indicated they were drafted for versatility and athleticism. Both NC State’s Anthony Hill, taken in the fourth round, and James Casey of Rice, taken in the fifth, have Houston connections. Both also have NFL-caliber credentials: Hill is a strapping 6’6″ and 265 pounds and was widely recognized as the most versatile tight end in the Atlantic Coast Conference. Casey was an All-America as a tight end, but started in all three receiver spots in Rice’s wacky offense.

So what might at first seem puzzling to some observers could well end up making Kubiak and Smith look like geniuses, if either or both have the same kind of impact that a Daniels or Slaton have had.

The Texans’ best choices, however, weren’t on Draft Day. The team signed a couple of pedigreed players as non-drafted free agents who could have as much or more impact than any of those drafted.

Matt Turk has been consistently solid as the Texans’ punter since signing as a free agent—but he’s also entering his 13th year. So Houston picked up Texas A&M’s Justin Brantly—whose 44.3 yards per punt in his Aggie career bested that of future Hall of Famer Shane Lechler. Just in case you might think that coincidence—Shane used to babysit for Brantly’s family when both lived in East Bernard, southwest of Houston.

(This is sad for me, noting that Shane is headed to the Hall of Fame—I covered him when he was a 17-year-old high schooler, which means I’m now officially “old!”)

The other free-agent signing I think that could fit the bill could be that of RB Arian Foster of Tennessee. Foster was a thousand-yard rusher as a junior and looked to be among the nation’s best last year, but knee surgery and a lackluster supporting cast halved his production in 2008. At 6’1″ and 215 pounds, he has a reputation as that straight-ahead, between-the-tackles runner the Texans need to complement Slaton.

It’s unfair of all these youngsters to expect any of them to have the same kind of immediate impact that Ryans or some of the other gems the Texans have had; in all truth, it’s usually their third year before a player comes into his own in the NFL, if he’s going to be a star. The Texans staff appears confident it will have the time to accomplish that development.

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