Hair of the Dog (Special Edition) - Demaryius Thomas

The deal is done. Demaryius Thomas is a Houston Texan. All that’s left is to see what he can bring to the Houston Texans’ offense. Since I need to write a post, lest I not feel productive, and because we have thoughts about such things, here’s a brief interlude of the BRB masthead opining and researching things about our newest receiver.

Enjoy!

All swear words, assuming there are any, have been replaced with [kitten] for maximum freshness.

Diehard Chris:

Hmm. Really not sure how to feel about this. Hopefully nothing higher than a 5th rounder. Maybe a 4th. I dunno. Maybe I’m not seeing the deal for what it really is and I’m looking too much through the lens of what Will Fuller gives this offense.

Luke:

He’s got an out in his contract at the end of this season. His game is kinda similar to Fuller in that he’s really good at generating YAC and getting deep quick.

I’m cool with giving up a 4th if this is nothing more than a rental. Anything more and you’re paying a [kitten] ton of money to someone who will be eating into the available snaps and touches for Fuller and Keke Coutee.

Capt Ron:

It looks to me like instead of getting a speed replacement for Fuller, like DeSean Jackson (as it appears that Tampa won’t trade), the Texans are going for a larger target to bridge the gap of rookie TEs and the duo of Hopkins & Coutee.

BFD:

Is there a site with drop counts? I cannot find one that’s historical.

I know Thomas has a long history of them, so I was curious. That said, [kitten] and yes for this trade. Well done, Gaine.

UT:

Per Ian Rapoport, Thomas and a seventh to Houston for a fourth and a seventh.

Capt Ron:

...and Houston had to add a year’s worth of pumpkin spice latte because Denver wouldn’t consider taking Ryan Griffin.

Luke:

[BFD], plenty of sites do. Thomas is currently tied for sixth in the NFL with 4 drops.

Although if you want better context, I’d look at this: https://www.sportingcharts.com/stats/nfl/all-time/active-career-receptions-to-drops-leaders/

Weston:

I didn’t know sporting charts had drop numbers like that. I usually just open FOA PDFs to figure it out.

Sure, I’d rather have Golden Tate III for a third than Thomas, but you aren’t going to be able to replace Fuller V at the trade deadline, Houston needed an outside receiver, and this keeps Coutee in the slot. A fourth to not have to play Sammie Coates and Vyncint Smith is worth it.

Weston:

I just really hope Thomas can play this week. I feel like the previous version of myself hated John Elway and took it into the next life, this life, in the form of Peyton Manning, and then had the two coalesce together into a gagging Super Bowl.

UT:

The Texans Twitter feed is saying getting Demaryius Thomas is the biggest mid-season acquisition in franchise history.

It makes me wonder, is there another mid-season acquisition/trade in franchise history? And so far I count four, five with Demaryius, so...yay?

Diehard Chris:

It’s all relative, right? I don’t think this move will amount to much, personally - but I’m very much hoping to be so, so wrong.

Capt Ron:

It’s interesting that Houston gets him right before facing the Broncos. I don’t think there’s any real advantage, as the Texans’ defense won’t benefit greatly from learning playbook or insider details, but it’s possibly the first time Houston has had a key player addition before facing that opponent in a given season.

I meant to suggest that it wouldn’t replace effective film study of the opponent.

Kenneth:

So how much of Thomas’ contact do we absorb? He had a pretty big deal with the Broncos and that may be the reason for the relatively friendly trade?

UT:

According to Spotrac, around 4 million this year and if he’s here through next year we’re on the hook for $14 million.

But I doubt he’s here through next year.

Diehard Chris:

I saw the same - the $14 million next year is completely non-guaranteed. So this looks like a true rental.

So that’s kind of it, y’all. We got a shiny, new (well, new to us) receiver for our offense. Frankly, I’m looking forward to seeing what he can bring to the rising Texans juggernaut.