NFL and Houston Texans Superthread: Are we ready for some football?

This is my assessment of the Texans prospects for the 2015 season. Barring injury, I believe the Texans should have an outstanding defense. It should once again be the strength of this years team.

The front 7 should be very good. The two caveat's to that would be Cush and Clowney. Even though he has lost a step, Cush is a good Inside Linebacker. But he is injury prone. Each and every time he has left with a season ending injury, our defense suffered without him in the lineup. The bright spot is that we now have a rookie back-up to Cush, should he go down. We've never had anyone with that kind of talent backing up Cush in the past. As for Clowney, we saw enough of him in the 2014 preseason to know that he can be a major force on the D Line. If he can return close to 100% from major micro fracture surgery the front 7 should be exceptional.

The DB's are not as good. I do not believe they can hold their coverages unless the Texans have a good pass rush. Neither KJ or JJ are shutdown corners but they can hold their own if the defensive line and linebackers are getting a push on the quarterback. With Johnson now thrown into the mix as the nickel, our defensive backfield should be improved over last year.

The offense is still a concern. I believe we still need to emphasize the running game. Arian Foster continues to be a key component. But we all know he is injury prone. If he can return to being a major offensive weapon for a full season, we should be able to effectively move the ball. If he is injured again in 2015, I don't have a whole lot of confidence that Blue will be able to carry the heavy lifting.

We should have an improvement this year with Mallett and Hoyer handling the bulk of the Quarterbacking duties. If one is going to kick it up a notch, I suspect it will be Mallett. Let's hope he can take take it to the next level.

Special teams should be as good as, if not slightly better, than last year. Hopefully our Ex Aggie kicker is as consistent in 2015 as he was last year.

My prediction is another 9-7 season with a battle between an improved Titans, Jags teams for 2nd place in the AFC South. If Mallett catches fire there is a decent chance that a 10-6 (or better) Texans season might be a possibility. If so, that would put us in the playoff mix. Hey we can dream, can't we?

Hmmm, does this sound familiar?

I agree, 10-6 because once again their schedule is pretty light. Of course they will not challenge the colts who will once again sweep the division.

I agree, 10-6 because once again their schedule is pretty light. Of course they will not challenge the colts who will once again sweep the division. Originally Posted by spear88

I agree that the Colts will once again win the division, although I believe they will lose a divisional round game somewhere along the way. Hopefully, it will be against the Texans.

Speaking of which, the Colts have to go down as one of the luckiest NFL franchises in recent memory. They went from one franchise QB to another and hardly skipped a beat. Some teams go decades with no franchise QB and the damn Colts gets one after another! Geez, how lucky was that?

I like the McKinney pick. Old school, hard nosed linebackers will always have a place in this league. Mckinney is big, strong and fast enough at 4.66. He'd be a great addition next to Cush but I think he probably has the size and strength to control the edge on the strong side and take over where we lost Brooks Reed at the SOLB. That's where I'm penciling him in.

Jaelen strong has potential. He and D-Hop may look like bookends. Although he's not a speed merchant at 4.45 he looks like he plays faster in pads or at least doesn't lose anything with pads on. He'll be a downfield threat for Mallett to throw to while he's learning the intricacies of running NFL routes and how to use his size and lenght to keep defenders off. Problem is Posey should have been that guy but he never "got it" Let's hop strong does.

As far as the rest of the draft goes it was pretty pedestrian. They may have created some competition at backup positions come training camp but this draft tells us what I've been saying for a while. They like where they are. Most starters were already penciled in. McKinney and Strong will have the best chance of being opening day starters. Them and Johnson will all get starter's snaps. If rounds 4 and on produce a starter it will be gravy. If not hopefully they gained some special teams talent.

Mallett had better beat out Hoyer for the starting spot and keep it. For that matter Savage needs to beat out Hoyer or they need to send him packing.

Projected 1st game lineup
QB - Mallett
RB - Foster
FB _ Prosch or
Slot - Shorts
TE - Fiedorowicz
WR- D-hop, Washington
RT - Newton
RG - Brooks
C - Jones
LG - Su a Filo
LT - Brown

Defense
DE - Watt
NG - Wilfork
DE - Crick
SOLB - Mckinney
ILB - Mohammed or Tuggle
Mike- Cushing
WOLB - Clowney
CB - Jackson and Joseph
FS - Moore
SS - Swag

Johnson will get plenty of snaps, They might even put him outside in nickle and move Jackson inside. Jackson has better run support just because of experience.

Not much change there really.

Notable faces that might be gone
Jonathan Grimes, Demaris Johnson, Keyshawn Martin, Ryan Pickett, Max Bullough, Tyson Clabo

I agree, 10-6 because once again their schedule is pretty light. Of course they will not challenge the colts who will once again sweep the division. Originally Posted by spear88

I agree that the Colts will once again win the division, although I believe they will lose a divisional round game somewhere along the way. Hopefully, it will be against the Texans.

Speaking of which, the Colts have to go down as one of the luckiest NFL franchises in recent memory. They went from one franchise QB to another and hardly skipped a beat. Some teams go decades with no franchise QB and the damn Colts gets one after another! Geez, how lucky was that? Originally Posted by bigtex

The Colts don't concern me as much as some of you. They've got a great QB. Why they took Dorsett instead of Collins or Gregory is beyond me unless it was to keep the Texans from getting him. They've got a ton of WR's with speed. Sure they can score points but they couldn't stop anyone last year. You would think after the schooling the Patriots gave them, twice last year, they would have concentrated on defense. I know 5 of their 8 picks were defensive but they didn't get an impact defensive guy at all.

We almost won the division after 4 qb's. If Mallett can pick up where he left off and stay healthy I think we've got a decent chance of winning with a decent offense and a great defense. Colts can't score if they can't stay on the field.

Dallas Cowboys sign stud free agent OL La'el Collins today. Since no one took a flyer on him this past weekend during the draft, he was open to signing with whomever he chose to and BAM....the Cowboy O-line gets just a little bit better than they were before.

Now....what to do about the running back situation.....?

I figure they took Collins as trade bait.
The risk is low and the cost is negligible. The payoff could be significant. At worst, provided he is innocent, they get a mid round pick for him maybe more.

Collins is lots better than the two guys in front of him for the spot on the line. He is not going anywhere.

Reports are out that Pats expect Brady to be suspended 6 to 8 games but another report says it will be 2 games.

Jerry wants to win. McNuttless just wants to make a profit and be mediocre. Collins would have been a good addition to the sorry Texan OL.

McNair seems to be happy being decent knowing that the majority will be bad so every year the team will be in contention but with no real chance to advance.

Collins is lots better than the two guys in front of him for the spot on the line. He is not going anywhere.

Reports are out that Pats expect Brady to be suspended 6 to 8 games but another report says it will be 2 games. Originally Posted by BigLouie

"Lots better"?
You could be right about him not going anywhere but "lots better"?. Cowboys already have arguably the best O line in football and they're young with chemistry already. Sure, if Collins could somehow earn a starting spot it's an upgrade simply because he won the spot. If he doesn't win a spot I don't think you keep a 1st round talent on the bench waiting for someone to get hurt when you could trade him to fill a spot where you don't have that kind of talent.

Either way it's a great move for the Cowboys for the reasons I gave above. He's a great talent that costs you relatively nothing.

Typical to their style I think the Texans over thought this.

Typical to their style I think the Texans over thought this. Originally Posted by boardman

I was hoping that the Texans would take Collins with their final pick in the 7th round. There would have been not much to lose and everything to gain.

With that said, if the Texans were guilty of over thinking this, they sure as hell had plenty of company.

The Texans would never draft Collins and that is because of McNair. Casserly once told a story about one of the early drafts of the team. McNair nit picked each player they had on their draft board until there was no one left on the board. That should tell you all you need to know about how little McNair knows about football and how he influences who the team picks.

Now as for the current team. I think Bill O'Brien (BoB) is the best football hire McNair has made to date. I think the decision on the draft is fully his right now. Rick may have some input but I feel the scouting reports go to BoB and he makes the decision. Our draft this year was lots better than in years past. I think the middle rounds stick unlike the 5-6 year stretch under Rick where no one past the first round lasted with the team.
I do think the players play harder and smarter under Bob.

As for this year I suspect the passing on a QB last year until Tom Savage will come back to haunt this team. We are now in a division with 3, 4 if you count Zack with the Titans, promising young QBs with a lot of ability. Sure our defense is above average but don't give me that "defense wins championships", BALANCED teams win championships and right now our offense is way behind. If it can't stay on the field the defense will wear down. As I mentioned before I have heard on a couple of radio stations and read on a couple of web pages that the team is iffy on Matt. Not because of his ability but because of his attitude and personality. They feel he is a little too Malibu's Most Wanted for them. If Hoyer wins the starting job this team is in trouble. The league figured him out as the year went on last year and by the end he could not beat out Johnny Manziel. That is not a good sign. That Tom Savage is not even mentioned seems to indicate he is a blown pick but what do you expect from a player that went 1,000 days without playing football before his final year.

As for the rest of the division I feel that the Colts are loading up for a run at the Super Bowl, they will have a great offense and a good enough defense and will win the division.

Jacksonville is my real concern, a little less so as their #1 pick tore his ACL on the first play of the first rookie practice. They have had 3 really good drafts in a row. If Bortles can put together what he learned last year and improve this year the team will be hard to beat. I see Jacksonville as one of those teams that flip from a 2-3 win team to a 9-10 win team.

The Titans have some work to do but they do have a very good QB. They may have 2 good young QBs. Still have work to do in a lot of spots but they could prove difficult.

As for the Texans, last year it was 9-7 but this year could easily be 10-6 which would not surprise me at all or we could drop to 8-8 which also would not surprise me. Some thing in the range from 8-8 to 10-6 is what I expect. This all hings on the QB play. It has to be Ryan and he has to play as he did in the Cleveland game last year. If he does we could be a power, if not, then it is 8-8 and a long hard look at drafting an QB next year.

JD Swearinger posted this morning that he is no longer with Texans. If true then 2013 was a typical Rick Smith train wreck. Only Hopkins from the first round is left I think, just like every draft since 2008.

Gee Louise.....whatta total beatdown it's gotta be for the half-dozen or so Jags fans out there.....their # 1 pick out for the season! I guess you Texans fans can sympathize considering Clowney was basically gone all of last year, too....

Fowler (drafted with the 3rd pick, first round) should recover and be ready for 2016; we'll see I suppose. That said, I thought USC's Leonard Williams was the obvious choice once the two qb's went off the board.....still kinda surprised that Jax didn't go that route.

Worked out well for the Jets though.....getting him with the 6th pick looks like a steal to me (not the same steal Dallas got this last week signing free agent Collins but still......)

Jacksonville.....a little less so as their #1 pick tore his ACL on the first play of the first rookie practice. They have had 3 really good drafts in a row. Originally Posted by BigLouie