Battle Red Newswire: It's Unsexy Time!

Houston Texans News

GM Speaks Before the Draft

Outside of the generic answer of drafting the "best player available" player on the board, Rick Smith did hit a few key points leading into Thursday's start to the draft. The Texans' draft board is set; any final changes have been already made after the medical evaluations. The board will hopefully help fill a few key positions including wide receiver, offensive tackle, defensive tackle, inside linebacker, outside linebacker, and safety. Smith said about the wide receiver position, "I think we could use could use some help at the wide receiver position... I think we can add a player there." A bit of an understatement, no matter what you think of DeVier Posey and Keshawn Martin. At the moment, the Texans' wide receiver corps is Andre Johnson and that's about it.

Another topic of discussion during Smith's press conference was University of Houston corner D.J. Hayden. Hayden has come a long way from a life-threatening injury to skyrocketing up draft boards. Of Hayden, Smith said, "I'm almost in awe of D.J. Hayden. We had him over here for a visit, and I told him that he was my hero."

Around the League

It's Unsexy Time

Times are a changing in Jacksonville. Jaguars' owner Shad Khan stated the second pick is "not about sexy or unsexy. To me, we want to get the best player that is going to help us win." My guess is Khan put a picture of Blaine Gabbert with giant letters on it "NEVER AGAIN" on Jaguars G.M. Dave Caldwell's wall.

I know you'll are dying for more Jaguars news. The Jags all introduced new Arena League uniforms. I have to admit I'm kind of crazy about uniforms; I love every detail about them. I'm a fan of many of the "new school things" Nike is doing on the college level. Though I may not like the current Seahawks uniform, at the very least the uniforms aren't painful to look at. That cannot be said of the new Jaguars uniforms.

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Dollars and Cents of the Draft

Forbes' Patrick Rishe breaks down the disruption of salary over the first round of picks. No more holdouts or demands when your money is now slotted.

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Bro-Hug

The NFL draft day experience has evolved from a handshake and a jersey to full-on embraces. To hell with civility, this is your crowning moment as a football player. Scott Cacciloa of the New York Times talks about how Roger Goodell's draft days were forever changed by Gerald McCoy. This video feels like a perfect addition to this article.

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Fool Me Once...

When he is not busy trying to D.J. in Austin, former Longhorn Cedric Benson may get a second chance with the Packers. While the Packers are in desperate need of a running attack, Benson didn't look like the answer in the few games he played in. In the Packers are going to after an aging, injury prone running back, why not Ahmad Bradshaw instead?

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D.C. Talking Infrastructure

After the injury to RGIII at the end of the 2012 season, there was talk about the field being the possible cause for the strain on RGIII's knees. The Redskins this offseason are attempting to address any concerns about the field. Washington will replace the sod after the November 4th game against the Chargers. Why not change to FieldTurf when you have such a fast-paced offense? Beats me.

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Losing is Coming

This is just out of far left field. One of my favorite writers and creator of the Game of Thrones, George R.R. Martin, is a fan of football, the Jets specifically. Martin is raving mad about Darrelle Revis trade. In his words - the Jets "give away our best player for a bag of old jockstraps." I would not be surprised to see a character named Rex get beheaded in his next book.