Showing posts with label Jacksonville. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Jacksonville. Show all posts

Saturday, April 25, 2009

Texans Draft 2009 Preview

The Texans had a good draft in 2008, trading down and still got their guy in Duane Brown. He started all 16 games at LT as a rookie, and I didn't notice him getting worked over. The other obvious home run was 3rd round pick Steve Slaton who finished with 1282 yards rushing and 377 receiving.

2009 Needs
CB, OLB, RB

CB - Dunta Robinson came back from major injury and wasn't the same as he had been. Jacques Reeves and Fred Bennett are serviceable backups but can't match up with the premier WR in the league, especially if the front seven isn't getting pressure on the QB.

OLB - The Texans could use a pass-rush OLB to compliment Mario Williams. They could put them on different sides or they could overload and bring them both from one side. It would be nice if their pick could stuff the run as well. The Jags have a good running game and the Titans will be leaning heavily on their two back system as well.

RB - The Texans DO NOT need a running back in the first round. I'd like to see them get a goal-line bruiser type latter in the rounds. Rd3 worked well for them last year, maybe they could get lucky there again.

Other needs - anything on defense. The offense is pretty set and I wouldn't be surprised to see them go defense with all 7 picks. In addition to OLB and CB, they might be looking for a DT, FS, SS. If they could find a CB with some size maybe they could try them at CB and move them to safety. For offense, they could be looking for another WR, third string QB, OL help.

Sunday, November 11, 2007

Thoughts from Week 10

The Packers are the real deal. They seem to have found a running back in Ryan Grant. Donald Lee looks like a fine replacement for Bubba Franks. Brett Favre still has something left. His wide receivers look pretty good and spreading the ball around makes it tough for the defense to defend the pass.

The Vikings are terrible. Brooks Bollinger is not a NFL quarterback. He looks tentative in the backfield, can't complete a pass when necessary. They'd be better off lining up two left tackles and Peterson in the backfield. I understand now why Peterson doesn't get the ball as many times as he should. Minnesota can not convert third downs and their offense can't stay on the field. On the flip side, it looks like the way to keep AD from dropping 300 on you is to keep him off the field. The Packers have been running the ball, converting third downs, chewing the clock.

Fox just switched to a different game! We're now watching the Eagles play the Redskins. Washington missed a PAT: bad. They then chased the points after their second TD and missed the two point conversion: worse. Philly just scored, and what do they do? Chase the points. Of course they missed it. This wasn't as bad of a call as the Redskins, but I'd take the free point in the third quarter.

After ups (win vs. Colts) and downs (2 losses vs. Texans) last year, Jacksonville seems to have figured it out this year. Garrard seems comfortable with his position as starting QB, Gray has played well with Garrard hurt. The RB tandem of Taylor and Jones-Drew seems to keep both fresh and effective. Maybe most of all, the mood on the sidelines seems to be positive. Garrard congratulating Taylor on a TD run, Taylor congratulating Jones-Drew on a big run. Playing as a team is what it will take to win in the AFC.

The Vikings got the ball 1st and 10 inside the redzone. Sounds like AD time, right? I guess not. 1st down: B. Bollinger pass to TE, 7 yards. 2nd and 3rd: AD? nope, B. Bollinger pass to C. Woodson. Charles Woodson plays for the Packers. Who is calling these plays!?! You have three yards to gain and three plays to gain them. Perhaps you should give it to the NFL leading rusher / offensive ROY / best rookie RB of all time. Just a thought. (Editors note: Editor just read that Peterson was hurt in the third quarter and didn't return to the game. Editor still thinks Vikings should have run the ball instead of letting Bollinger pass.)

Eagles just missed another 2 point try. They now lead by 1 point, instead of three, with a little over 3 minutes left. The Redskins let Philadelphia score after giving them the ball back. The Redskins get the ball back with a little over 2 minutes to play and it's still a one possession game. If Philly kicks in the third, they could have kicked in the fourth to go up three and now they'd be up 10 with two minutes left. Take the free points early in the game!

Brian Westbrook accounted for 183 of the Eagles 379 total yards (48%) and 18 of the Eagles 33 points (54%). My guess is that he accounts for more total offense than any RB in the NFL. Andy Reid is probably overrated as a coach, but one thing he knows: giving his best player, Westbrook, the ball a whole bunch gives him the best chance to win the game. Coming into today's game, Westbrook had 1036 of the team's 2950 total yards (35%) and 36 of the team's 156 points (23%). That's a pretty sizable chunk of the offense.

A quick look showed that Adrian Peterson had 44% of the Vikings total yards and 32% of their points. Brad Childress should attend the Andy Reid school of coaching.

This just in ... Childress was the offensive coordinator for the Eagles before taking the Minnesota job! 2003 through 2005, while Childress was the offensive coordinator, Westbrook averaged 15.5 touches per game. The last season and a half? 22.3. Maybe it isn't so surprising that Peterson is only averaging 18 touches a game.

Does anyone suck the life out of a telecast quite like Joe Buck? He's got an uncanny way of making even the most exciting games nearly unwatchable.

I just noticed that every article on espn.com has a comment section except for Bill Simmons. Here's the comment I just submitted to Page 2.
Why is there a comments section on every other article on espn.com except for Bill Simmons'? Jemele Hill gets constant harassment, TMQ gets railed for his articles but Simmons gets a free pass? I think readers would appreciate the chance to let other espn.com readers know how they feel about The Sports Guy.

We'll see what they have to say.

21 Tags! A very productive Sunday.