USA Today Makes Me...Confused?

USA Today has updated their team report on the beloved Houston Texans. They have a unit-by-unit breakdown of the team that is very interesting to read. By interesting, I mean better than ANYTHING I've seen from the media (yes, that's a low bar, but still). You still need more enticing to click the link? They call Frank Okam "a waste of space on the roster." They also like one CB more than the other.


Below the jump is some bigger "news" about the team from the news and notes section of the team report.

 

—G Chester Pitts, WR Kevin Walter and CB Dunta Robinson will be unrestricted free agents with or without a new collective bargaining agreement. Two players can be protected by the team if they choose to use franchise and transition tags. Robinson was the franchise player this season. Pitts, who is coming off major knee surgery, is the most likely to leave. The coaches love the player who replaced him, Kasey Studdard.

—K Kris Brown, an 11-year veteran, is coming off his worst season. For the first time, the Texans are expected to bring in a kicker to challenge him. Brown was 21 of 32 on field goals. Misses against Tennessee and Indianapolis on the last play of the game could have forced overtime, and the Texans lost both of them.

"Obviously, we didn't kick well enough to win and play at the level we need to play at to be a champion," Kubiak said. "Kris knows that. We've got to get better."

—Running back is a priority in the draft. There's going to be a lot of competition in training camp. Don't expect Chris Brown to return; his contract expires. The competition should be between a rookie drafted in the first two rounds and returnees Steve Slaton, Ryan Moats, Arian Foster and Jeremiah Johnson, who spent his rookie season on injured reserve after undergoing shoulder surgery.

—The Texans signed free-agent quarterback John David Booty, who spent this past season on the Tennessee Titans' practice squad. Signing Booty could mean they don't plan to re-sign Rex Grossman, whose one-year contract expires. Even though Grossman was the backup behind starter Matt Schaub, the coaches still like Dan Orlovsky in that role. They signed him to a $3 million-a-year deal last year.

—Next season, coach Gary Kubiak wants more balance on offense. He wants to run more and throw less even though the passing game is the strength of the team.

 

 Yay for kicker competition, a sad (maybe) good-bye for Chester Pitts, and an enraged whattheheckissmithiakthinkingwedontneedarbthatearly for the running back position. I haven't seen anything about RB from anyone, but is it really *that* much of a need?