Gotta Like What You Hear From Kevin Walter

by Tim on May 29, 2007 10:01 AM CDT in News

Whether he actually becomes a legit No. 2 wideout, I don't know. But I do know that the guy says all the right things:

"I'm a team player," Walter said. "I'll do whatever coach wants me to do. It's frustrating when you're working real hard and things aren't going your way. When you lose, it is frustrating because you put in the work. But I wasn't frustrated at all in not getting the ball. I was frustrated more about us losing as a team."

"Andre is a class-act on and off the field," Walter said. "He works extremely hard, and I'm just working to try to be like him."

So let me get this straight: Kevin Walter is a selfless, team-first guy who wants to emulate Andre Johnson. Uhhhhh...yes. Yes, we'll take him.

I'd be lying if I didn't also admit that a large portion of my optimism is strictly the result of Kubes' unwavering belief in the guy. I mean, Kubes went so far as to say that if he had done a better job utilizing Kevin Walter, the Texans "win a few more games." Now, I realize that's probably just coachspeak. The lack of balls thrown Walter's way last season was not the difference between six and nine wins. Hell, it might not have even been the difference between six and seven wins. But for Kubes to go on record like that, he obviously sees something special in Walter. As such, I may have to hold my water about the lack of a No. 2 WR until further notice.

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RE: More balls to Walter

There is no way this could have realistically happened.....unless they had lined him up in the backfield as the check-down option for DC. After all, there were only ever 2 options to catch the ball....the #1 & the check-down. Everything in-between never had a chance for a ball thrown their way, as it would require reading through progressions, etc.

We can be critical of the draft picks, but in the end we always support the new Texan.

by Shake on May 29, 2007 10:51 AM CDT reply actions

Excellent Point

And by the end of the season, Dre wasn't even an option. The options were (a) the check-down; (b) the other team; and the ever popular catch-all (c) the fetal position.

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

by Tim on May 29, 2007 10:54 AM CDT up reply actions

Well...

I'm glad someone is optimistic about Walter. I can't figure out what it is, but I just can't bring myself to have much faith in the guy. Thankfully, I have been wrong about far more WRs in my life than I have been right about.

by MDC on May 29, 2007 11:47 AM CDT up reply actions

Faith in Walters

I'm with Matt on this one. I just cannot believe that he's that good. I've always been a fan of "overachievers", but don't you have to actually accomplish something to get the label that the Chronicle suggested this morning? Isn't he still be more of a prospect at this point. But here's hoping he proves us wrong, because this is what I'd like to see from him and the rest of the offense.

Between Owen Daniels, KDub and Dre2 we need 135 catches, Dre1 needs 100 and Saint Green needs 50 out of the backfield. And all other Tex-Anns including Jacoby need only 42 to get us into the top ten in the league again in passing completions based on 2006 numbers.

An increase in Yds/Att by ONE would roughly increase our passing yards to 203/game, or about a 13.5% increase. Putting us in the top 20 in the league.
An increase in Yds/Att by TWO would roughly increase our passing yards to 234/game, or about a 27% increase over last year.

So, by throwing the ball to the targets downfield instead of the dude directly to your right or left more consistently, we could conceiveably move into the top ten passing teams in yds/game whereas we finished 27th in the NFL last year.

Tm G Att Att/G Cmp Pct Yds Yds/G TDs Int Sck SckYds
NO 16 580 36.2 372 64.1 4503 281.4 27 13 23 123
Det 16 596 37.2 372 62.4 3820 238.8 21 22 63 388
StL 16 592 37.0 371 62.7 3962 247.6 24 08 49 366
Ind 16 557 34.8 362 65.0 4308 269.2 31 09 15 89
GB 16 630 39.4 350 55.6 3795 237.2 18 18 24 152
Mia 16 591 36.9 342 57.9 3287 205.4 16 19 41 290
Min 16 540 33.8 332 61.5 3123 195.2 13 20 43 279
Hou 16 481 30.1 329 68.4 2778 173.6 14 13 43 254
Bal 16 524 32.8 328 62.6 3435 214.7 21 14 17 100

Can Kevin be the catalyst we need to make this happen? Someone has to be the recipient of those glorious spiraling bullets from the right arm of Schaub. Just two more yards per attempt is the differnce between a top fifteen total offense and a bottom three offense.

Anyone else feel this should be do-able? Upgrades at QB, O-Line, RB and more experience at TE should make it possible.

I think people should have to earn a Superman tattoo, by getting shot in the chest first. You know, just to make sure.

by txnpwrlifter on May 29, 2007 9:37 PM CDT up reply actions

Lunch

You've been eating those Spagetti-O's with numbers again, haven't you?

We can be critical of the draft picks, but in the end we always support the new Texan.

by Shake on May 30, 2007 2:11 PM CDT up reply actions

actually

It was the ones with letters, and it wasn't very good. As a matter of fact, it made me throw up. Then I read a message from my stomach. It said "CC Brown is cat poop." I do not pretend to understand the ways of the universe.

I think people should have to earn a Superman tattoo, by getting shot in the chest first. You know, just to make sure.

by txnpwrlifter on May 30, 2007 8:55 PM CDT up reply actions

Stats

Nice work, TPL. Count me in as someone who thinks a paltry increase in YPA is not only doable; it should be expected.

One thing that many of the national types never discuss is how the passes attempted (and subsequently, YPA) decreased last year as Kubes lost faith in Carr. While the OL incorrectly shoulders most of the blame for the team's paltry passing game numbers, the reality is that Kubes simply didn't throw the ball that much once he figured out Carr couldn't be trusted to make the right reads/decisions.

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

by Tim on May 30, 2007 4:53 PM CDT up reply actions

Re: Walter

Let me be clear about this: I'm not saying Walter will emerge as a legit No. 2. I pray that he does, but Kubes' mancrush on him has to be categorized as a leap of faith based on Walter's career thus far.

Bottom line is that Dre may have to deal with sextuple coverage this season if Walter or Jacoby Jones don't pan out.

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

by Tim on May 30, 2007 4:55 PM CDT up reply actions

If Walter's our #2

Then Ahman Green better run for 3,000 yards. Walter's a nice guy, apparently, and I like him as a #3 and agree that he was utilized (as was everyone outside of David Carr's kneepads), but Andre Johnson will be triple-teamed on every snap if Walter is our alternate threat.

by Scott on May 29, 2007 12:01 PM CDT reply actions