Texans Down 'N Dirty: Chris' Boy Edition

by Jake on Jul 28, 2009 7:09 AM CDT in News

After everyone and their mother at the Chronicle had something (and by that I mean very little) to say about the Texans yesterday, it's back to the regular faces today. Stephanie Stradley breaks down the Texans offense. One point of note, everybody keeps freaking out about the lack of a backup running back for Steve Slaton. I will admit that if the season started tomorrow, I'd be freaking out too, but it's not starting tomorrow. NFL teams have a lot of trimming to do. I think that Smithiak chose not to draft a RB in the later rounds because they felt what was left was not going to be as good as backs that would eventually be cut before the season (please, someone like Ryan Torain). Remember that Kubiak came from a system that turned RB discards into studs regularly.

The official site did some previewing as well, but this time the defensive line was the subject. If you're a regular reader you're savvy on most of what they brought up, but one thing was interesting. Under position battles, not only did they note NT as the closest competition, but they insinuated that the job was DelJuan Robinson's to lose, not Travis Johnson.

Chris at HDH put a video of Brian Cushing lifting a lot of weight a lot of times on his site. Tim, I want you to quit calling Cushing my boy. He's now officially Chris' until further notice.

I have a guy I work with who is an obnoxious Colts fan. Last night ESPN posted their power rankings which had the Colts at 5 and the Texans at 16, and I heard all about it first thing this morning. Paul Kuharsky is soliciting advice and input for the rankings on his site, please let him know what you think. Man, I can't wait for the Texans to beat the Colts this year...

Tweet Comment 10 comments | 0 recs |

Do you like this story?

Comments

Im a nerd for saying this

but I love watching camps/practices/preseason games. I would LOVE to watch dline drills in training camp and starting figuring out the rotation in my head. I really want Okam or Deljuan to win the starting spot, and it looks like Deljuan will do it.
If he wont start, I would love to see Okam get time at 1 or 0 in goal line sets, where his size is a fantastic asset. TJ sucks, but I think he would be better than trash if he was rotating in, preferably at 3, but that’s entirely speculation. Changing positions from college to the NFL is hard, and that’s what they forced him to do – I bet he would feel significantly better at around 285 or so, rather than trying to play above 300, at 3 instead of 1. Same with Sean Cody. Training camp will be fun.

Question for anyone going to training camp – is it ever possible to record video and post it? I won’t be able to get to Houston to go, and would love to watch camp. If not, one of you better blog it.

I agree with the consensus that if the season started today, I would be worried about RB depth. However, I bet Slaton will get maybe 18 carries all of preseason, and JJ, Foster, Moats, Chris Brown, and hopefully a RB to be named ( Torian? Fargas? ) will all split time to see who comes out on top.

by Riott on Jul 28, 2009 8:30 AM CDT reply actions

Tim should know

The Cushing video was sent to me from a generic email address I didn’t recognize, but it was signed off by someone named “Drake Dragenkamp.”

So let’s cool our jets on calling Cush my boy.

Chris - www.HoustonDiehards.com

by HoustonDiehards on Jul 28, 2009 8:41 AM CDT reply actions

Jake's Not Fooling Me

I’d bet money he filmed the video of his boy.

Looking forward to a day when being a Texans fan doesn't mean that April is the highlight of my season...

by Tim on Jul 28, 2009 10:13 AM CDT up reply actions

I think he was the spotter

Did you see him try to spank Cush on the ass when he got up from the bench?

Chris - www.HoustonDiehards.com

by HoustonDiehards on Jul 28, 2009 10:49 AM CDT up reply actions

These allegations are completely sensational and false

But I haven’t washed my hand fr months…

You know... for kids.

by Jake on Jul 28, 2009 2:27 PM CDT up reply actions

D-Line and pressuring the passer

Texans had a total of 25 sacks in 2008. The league high was 59 and league low was 10, making the median 30. The Texans, with their new 4-3 Under and a greater emphasis on first stopping the run and then pressuring the passer more, should expect their sack production to go up. If they can get 12 from Mario, 6 from Smith, another 6 from the rest of the D-Line, 6 from the LB’s and 4 from the DB’s; that gives them a respectable 34. I think that has to be the reasonable goal they have to shoot for and try to exceed. Anything over 35 sacks would be a huge positive and it would go a long way in helping the most deficient part of the defense, the DB’s, perform respectable, also.

I’m thinking we can pencil 34 sacks in right now as the goal to get to. That calculates to just over 2 sacks per game average. Something to keep an eye on as the season progresses.

It will happen

by Rip Jersey on Jul 28, 2009 12:13 PM CDT reply actions

I like this thinking

Because if we’re better at getting to the passer, our dbs are going to play better. Also, I should point out that sacks are indicative of general pressure on the qb. If we can pressure the qb consistently, our d is going to play better even if we don’t register a high number of sacks.

For example, Bennet’s interception of Vodka last year came entirely because of pressure from Amobi. Even though Amobi didn’t get the sack, he essentially caused a turnover.

When I'm on the mic, I'm like global warming, you can't ignore me.

by tehGrindCrusher on Jul 29, 2009 4:43 AM CDT up reply actions

I can't wait for the Texans to beat the Colts this year...

Right there with you, Jake. I didn’t like Manning (Peyton) when he was in college, and I don’t like him more since we got stuck in the same division. Worst of all, that game two years ago when he USED us to set his new TD record still just sticks in my tubes like a wrecked subway train.

I want us not only to beat those guys, I want them destroyed, over and over, again and again. I will record it, and watch it repeatedly, laughing like Reinfeld as I do. I wanna see Mario’s cleet-prints all over Peyton’s helmet and the back of his jersey unreadable.

Did I say I don’t like the Colts?

by SBond on Jul 28, 2009 12:45 PM CDT reply actions

The Colts can cry into their pillows . . .

As far as I’m concerned. They’re getting older, and they no longer have the steady hand of Tony Dungy to guide them through the tough times. Oh, they’re still good, and as long as giraffe-boy is their QB they’ll be that way. It’s just that Marvin Harrison is gone. I don’t care how good Anthony Gonzalez is, he will never be Marvin Harrison. I don’t care how good Caldwell is, he’ll never be Dungy. Tony Ugoh is good, but he doesn’t look like he’ll be Tarik Glenn. Fact is, we got them right where we want them. We should split the season series with them. No excuses for anything less.

by carsonwayne on Jul 28, 2009 3:54 PM CDT reply actions