After reading some good articles on Jacques Reeves on Texans Tailgate & Houston DieHards, I decided to do some digging of my own and see what we could learn about our new CB, Jacques Dimitri Reeves.
Born October 8, 1982 in Lancaster, Texas, he was a local track and football star. As a high school senior he recorded four interceptions, including two for touchdowns, and five fumble recoveries as senior en route to being named to the Dallas Morning-News top 100 all-area team. Recruited by the Purdue Boilmakers, he improved every year in their program until he became a starter as a senior, where he made name for himself as the fearsome "No. 8". That year he had 64 tackles, 1 sack and 2 interceptions. During his college career he also ran track, competing in the 4x100 relay and the 200 meter sprint as well as studying law.
Jacques Reeves entered the 2004 NFL Draft as a late round prospect. He put up respectable numbers at the combine running a 4.45 40 yd dash and benching 14 reps. The Dallas Cowboys took him in the 7th round with the 223rd pick. Von Hutchins was taken one round before him at 6/173 and Derrick Ward was taken shortly after him at 7/235.
Reeves' career as a Cowboy followed an almost identical path as he had at Purdue. He played backup and nickel roles until last year, when he started all 16 games. He put up 60 tackles and 1 interception which, Outlaw on Texans Tailgate points out, is comparable to Fred Bennett's production last year.
A couple of Cowboys bloggers captured the essence of Reeves' season.
Tuna Helper of Blogging the Boys said:
Reeves is a testament to our scouting department and coaching staff. He matriculated through all levels of our organization and then produced. He should be commended for that.
Bob of Bob's Blog said:
Jacques Reeves, Trent Green and the Texans intersected at an interesting point last season. During the Travis Johnson / Trent Green concussion episode, Jacques Reeves was quoted by the New York Times speaking to the South Florida Sun-Sentinel about game film that he'd watched on Trent Green. It's good to know the Texans are getting another hard working cerebral player.
Speaking of being a cerebral player, this seems to be Reeves' main weakness. He thinks too much during each play. He has decent speed, but he gets caught looking into the backfield trying to out-think the quarterback and gets burnt deep. He seemed to handle most everything in front of him.
Then after 3 years the Texans signed Jacques Reeves to a 5 year $20 million dollar deal, with $8 million guaranteed. Texans fans were generally shocked at the investment. PFT reports his cap numbers as $1 million (2008); 2.5 million (2009); $3 million (2010); $3.5 million (2011); $4 million (2012). These are reasonable salaries for a consistent starter, if that is what Jacques Reeves becomes. Jamar Fletcher's 2007 cap number was $1,000,000. If Jacques Reeves contributes nothing more than as a nickel corner, it's still a pretty good deal with elite corners commanding $10 million a year and mediocre guards getting $5 million a year in an ever rising market. So the end result is that Jacques Reeves could be around long enough with the Texans to see them win a Super Bowl. Aaron at Football Outsiders said:
While we wait for Reeves to gel with the team and the Texans to become the dominant force we know they will be, it's nice to know that Jacques Reeves is good in the community.
One last random thought that I have to throw out there...I find it really funny that NFL Players can have their own IMDB listings.