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Deepi Sidhu and Drew Dougherty provided a slew of great insight from Bill O'Brien's closed doors Q&A today. Let us get right to the meat, shall we?
O'Brien says his system will allow QB to make decision at line of scrimmage. Will use "formation indicators" to help him make that decision.
O'Brien likes accuracy over a cannon of an arm for starting QB in NFL. Wants him to be hardest working guy on team. Texans&src=hash">#Texans
O'Brien (on DBs): Clemons and Lewis would compete for FS. Swearinger will be the strong safety. #Texans
O'Brien (on Manning's release): Danieal is testing the market right now. May not be the last time you see him in a #Texans uniform.
O'Brien says if Clowney is drafted he'll be used in more than one position. #Texans.
O'Brien: We've signed some guys but what we're really trying to do is build the team through the draft. #Texans
O'Brien: slot WR is important in our offense. We don't really have one right now. #Texans
O'Brien: J.J. Watt will be moved around a lot in Romeo Crennel's 3-4. But #Texans will be in nickel 70% of time.
In particular, I found it interesting that O'Brien thinks that there is no slot receiver on the roster. That certainly spells trouble for Keshawn Martin, who was drafted specifically to fill that role. Perhaps my mock drafting of Jalen Saunders to be the Texans' slot receiver of the future was not so far off. I also think that O'Brien's prediction/proclamation of the defense being in nickel 70% of the time should be noted, considering that could play an important role in whether or not a nose tackle is drafted in May. If the team is content to let Jerrell Powe take those 30% of the snaps in base packages, perhaps a versatile defensive tackle/defensive end hybrid like DaQuan Jones or Kelcy Quarles that can play in both base and sub packages becomes even more important.
One final note: Keep an eye on Danieal Manning in free agency. If O'Brien truly believes that Manning could reunite with the team after testing the market, perhaps we might be one step closer to a Shiloh Keo-free world after all.