I like the Texans to be this season's dark horse to not only make the playoffs but possibly even go deep in the playoffs. Here is why:
At quarterback you have the unquestioned starter Matt Schaub and behind him you have Rosenfels, and Quinn Grey both of which have starting experience. There will be a battle for the back-up qb. If Schaub stays healthy this season the offense will go great places. Behind them they have Shane Boyd, and Alex Brink, the 7th round pick from Washington State.
At runningback they have Ahman Green, Chris Brown, Darius Walker, and Chris Taylor. Green has shown he can be a 1000 yard back in this league but is coming off 2 straight injury marred seasons. Chris Brown is a powerful runner who should spell Green and be a good change of pace and goal line back. Darius Walker last season showed he can be a contributor, he has good hands and quickness. Chris Taylor is a bruiser and a guy who can add depth at fullback as well.
At Fullback they have Vonta Leach who is a good lead blocker, and also has good hands. Behind him is Jameel Cook a guy who has started for Tampa before and another person who is a good lead blocker and special teams performer.
At reciever the Texans are deeper in talent than ever before. Of course the top guy is Andre Johnson who should put up probowl numbers again this season. behind him I expect there to be a battle between Kevin Walter and Andre Davis for the number 2 spot. Walter led the team in receptions last season with 65 and Davis showed again he is a deep threat and a guy who can catch a screen pass and take it the distance. Behind him they have the former 2nd round pick Jacoby Jones who should improve on last season in which he had only 17 receptions. I also like David Anderson he is a solid 5th reciever and a guy who will perform on special teams as well.
Tight end is a solid position for this team with Owen Daniels catching 60+ passes this season. Bruener was resigned this season and is a good blocker. Behind them there is Joel Dreesen who saw some action in 2 tight end sets last season and is more athletic than Bruener but not as solid as a blocker, he is also the back-up long snapper.
Offensive Line is solid as well. They added Chris Myers a guy who will compete at center and left guard for this team he started 16 games for the Broncos last season. Chester Pitts is the unquestioned starter at right guard and is solid at that. Flanagan and Weary will try and hold onto their positions with the newcomer Myers chomping at their heals. Erik Winston, and Charles Spencer are slated to start at tackle with Salaam and Black who add experienced depth to this position. Could see a draft pick at left tackle.
Defensive Line. Mario Williams is coming off a 14 sack season, Okoye had 6 sacks. N.D. Kalu was resigned retaining depth at defensive end, Weaver returns for another season, and the rotation at defensive tackle will be a little stronger with another year under Johnson, and Maddox's belts. Zgonia will try to fight his way into the line-up at tackle.
Linebacker. Ryans is coming off another impressive season and could be looking at a Tatupu type deal if he should repeat that this season, Greenwood was solid on the outside yet again and Diles is expected to start opposite Greenwood. Thompson was signed to add depth but we could still see a late pick used to add depth.
Corner is fairly solid but could use another first round talent opposite of the stud Dunta Robinson. Faggins, Bennett and Fletcher will return to add depth at the position and Reeves was signed for more talent.
At safety C.C. Brown returns to the starting lineup after another solid season but will have some competition in I like the Texans to be this season's dark horse to not only make the playoffs but possibly even go deep in the playoffs. Here is why:
At quarterback you have the unquestioned starter Matt Schaub and behind him you have Rosenfels, and Quinn Grey both of which haev starting experience. There will be a battle for the back-up qb. If Schaub stays healthy this season the offense will go great places.
At runningback they have Ahman Green, Chris Brown, Darius Walker, and Chris Taylor. Green has shown he can be a 1000 yard back in this league but is coming off 2 straight injury marred seasons. Chris Brown is a powerful runner who should spell Green and be a good change of pace and goal line back. Darius Walker last season showed he can be a contributor, he has good hands and quickness. Chris Taylor is a bruiser and a guy who can add depth at fullback as well.
At Fullback they have Vonta Leach who is a good lead blocker, and also has good hands. Behind him is Jameel Cook a guy who has started for Tampa before and another person who is a good lead blocker and special teams performer.
At reciever the Texans are deeper in talent than ever before. Of course the top guy is Andre Johnson who should put up probowl numbers again this season. behind him I expect there to be a battle between Kevin Walter and Andre Davis for the number 2 spot. Walter led the team in receptions last season with 65 and Davis showed again he is a deep threat and a guy who can catch a screen pass and take it the distance. Behind him they have the former 2nd round pick Jacoby Jones who should improve on last season in which he had only 17 receptions. I also like David Anderson he is a solid 5th reciever and a guy who will perform on special teams as well.
Tight end is a solid position for this team with Owen Daniels catching 60+ passes this season. Bruener was resigned this season and is a good blocker. Behind them there is Joel Dreesen who saw some action in 2 tight end sets last season and is more athletic than Bruener but not as solid as a blocker, he is also the back-up long snapper.
Offensive Line is solid as well. They added Chris Myers a guy who will compete at center and left guard for this team he started 16 games for the Broncos last season. Chester Pitts is the unquestioned starter at right guard and is solid at that. Flanagan and Weary will try and hold onto their positions with the newcomer Myers chomping at their heals. Erik Winston, and Charles Spencer are slated to start at tackle with Salaam and Black who add experienced depth to this position. Could see a draft pick at left tackle.
Defensive Line. Mario Williams is coming off a 14 sack season, Okoye had 6 sacks. N.D. Kalu was resigned retaining depth at defensive end, Weaver returns for another season, and the rotation at defensive tackle will be a little stronger with another year under Johnson, and Maddox's belts. Zgonia will try to fight his way into the line-up at tackle.
Linebacker. Ryans is coming off another impressive season and could be looking at a Tatupu type deal if he should repeat that this season, Greenwood was solid on the outside yet again and Diles is expected to start opposite Greenwood. Thompson was signed to add depth but we could still see a late pick used to add depth.
Corner is fairly solid but could use another first round talent opposite of the stud Dunta Robinson. Faggins, Bennett and Fletcher will return to add depth at the position and Reeves was signed for more talent.
At safety C.C. Brown returns to the starting lineup after another solid season but will have some competition from midseason pick-up Curome Cox. They lost Boulware, and Hutchins in free agency, but resigned Demps and Earl. Earl will again compete with Demps for the starting job at free safety.
Kicker and Punter is solid as well with Kris Brown only missing 4 attempts last season....there is nothing more valuable to a team than a clutch kicker. Ask the Pats. Matt Turk was resigned to punt and hold on kicks.
Special teams were solid not allowing any touchdown returns while popping 4 off themselves. Andre Davis returns to the team after having 3 of those touchdown returns last season but could see less time on special teams due to an increasing role on offense, Jerome Mathis, and Dexter Wynn were let go but LeRon McCoy was signed to try and help out. Jacoby Jones averaged 9.0 yards per punt return but had no touchdowns. He could also compete for the kick return job.
After seeing the draft this April the Texans cemented themselves as contenders this season. Here are a couple things I loved about their draft.
Adding Duane Brown gives the Texans a guy who will start at left tackle and increase depth a lot. Salaam can now go back to his back-up duties. Spencer is now healthy again and could potentially move inside to guard and compete with Fred Weary who was injured last season. This could create a very interesting situation with 4 guys starting on the line with 3 seasons or less of experience. But that could be an assett as the line grows as a whole.
In the third round with the first of their two selections they selected Antwuan Molden a good corner who ran a 4.39 at the combine. He will compete with Fred Bennett last season's suprise, and Demarcus Faggins for time at corner. Bennett, Dunta Robinson, and Molden will be a good young cornerback trio that will gel over a couple seasons and become one of the best secondarys in the league.
In the third round they added a guy by the name of Steve Slaton. He is by far one of the most intriguing picks. At 5'9 197 he isn't exactly a bruising back which means Ahman Green's days are now numbered. They signed Chris Brown in the offseason who is a bruiser who would compliment Slaton's skillset well.
In the 4th round they added yet another guy who had a ton of talent but slipped because he doesn't have ideal speed. He is fluid in pass coverage, has good hands, and had great production in his 40 starts in college. He will add depth and special teams help right away while he learns the system and starts to earn time in the starting line-up.
Frank Okam is an intriguing pick he was a defensive tackle in college and a pretty good one at that, but when it comes down to it, he also has the potential to play guard for this team. It is up to the Texans to decide where they want him to play. Personally I think he is better off playing d-tackle rather than guard because they have good depth on the o-line. At 6'5 320 he adds a run stopping force to the middle. He will rotate at nose tackle with Travis Johnson yet another young player on this d-line.
Dominique Barber is a guy who will come in and help on special teams and add depth to safety. He has good instincts, and has a great football mind so to speak. He is a mature guy who was one of his team leaders, and a solid hitter something the Texans need at free safety after letting Michael Boulware, Von Hutchins, and Jason Simmons go in free agency. He will compete with Will Demps, and Glenn Earl for the starting spot at free safety. He probably won't start right away but will be a solid special teams performer.
They drafted a Quarterback in the 7th round a guy by the name of Alex Brink from Washington State. He has raw talent and put up good numbers in college. He is a guy who will most likely end up on the practice squad if he doesn't sign somewhere else but should he end up on the practice squad he will be a guy Gary Kubiak can develop into the back-up to Matt Schaub after Sage Rosenfels is traded come the 2009 offseason. I personally like the fact that they are deep at quarterback.
True they are expected to be playoff contenders which is not a suprise. However I consider them to be a dark horse mainly because I think they will do a lot better than most people expect. They are slated to maybe be a wild card but I think they have a real chance to maybe even win their division. That is a big thing to say with them being in a division with the Jaguars, Colts, and Titans all three of which are good teams as well. But like I said, Gary Kubiak is a good coach and I think this team quarterbacked by Matt Schaub will suprise a lot of teams this season including your Colts.
I maybe an Eagle's fan but more so I am a fan of any underdog team. I love playing the role of GM when it comes to free agency or the draft. And not to sound cocky but something tells me I could Easily have built the Bears, and Lions better than Jerry Angelo and Matt Millen have.
