DeMeco Be Gone - Purge of 2006 Class Continues

Eric Winston
Mario Williams
DeMeco Ryans

Owen Daniels watch your ass.

Once the serious side concerning DeMeco Ryans, the Texans had three options: 1. Restructure 2. Trade 3. Outright Release.

Considering the Texans options, that they found a trade partner entails a minor miracle.  To wit, the Texan are up against the cap.  Further, other teams are well aware of the Texans cap situation.  Given the facts, why would any team offer the Texans trade value?

So another option is for Ryans to restructure his current contract.  The Texans may have approached Ryans with,"Well, you're a former NFL Defensive Rookie of the Year.........but injuries, part time player, $7 million on the cap...wanna renegotiate?"  Ryans' agent,"NO!"

Finally Texans GM Rick Smith has no choice.  He hits the speed dial  Ferris, Ferris, Ferris..any takers for DeMeco?  Oh we have the Eagles..LMAO, you guys had Vince Young as the back up QB.

The Texans lost Eric Winston to outright release.  Mario Williams gone to free agency was a foregone conclusion.  Another 20% of the offensive line was lost when Mike Brisiel left to Oakland. 

On the plus side, Arian Foster and Chris Myers re-upped with the club.

Given the options, the Texans made the right moves.  Foster is probably the best running back in the NFL. Myers is probably the best center to run the zone block scheme.

Williams, under the best circumstances, wouldn't be retained.  Ryans' injury made him expendable.

The mission remains the same: Win A Super Bowl.

Next posts:  I can justify all the moves and even do a draft projection!

Free Agency Edition - Sigh of Relief....A Small One

Panic attacks, anxiety, worries, bed wetting and chronic masturbation.  I have issues.  That's besides the point.  My bed wetting and masturbation were cruelly interrupted by lack of Texans movement on the free agency market.  Call it masturbari interruptus.

Setting my issues aside, I worried (see the theme here?) about the Texans issues.  I won't rehash my thoughts on Arian Foster and the other moves.  At this point the losses and lack of re-signings were beat more than a red headed step rented mule child.

Mario Williams signed with Buffalo.  Mike Brisiel signed with Oakland.  Joel Dreessen is still out there.  Lawrence Vickers signed with Dallas.

So what?  My panic was at rebuilding 60% of the offensive line.  The alleged best line in football.  Uh oh.

Football is a team sport.  A team definitely needs players at the so called skills positions to be successful.  QB, WR and RB are the perceived skill positions.  In my opinion, the maulers and protectors upfront are just as skilled and important.

An offensive line needs time to jell and grow together.  Many teams build from the outside in and make the left tackle a priority.  While protecting the quarterback's blindside is crucial, protecting his field of vision is just as important.  The hit from the blindside can kill him...the potential hit he sees barreling down on him is just as nasty.  He can see that and panic.  A quarterback needs a line he can trust from left to right. 

Just as important, the center is the captain of the line.  He calls out the blocking assignments.  The quarterback and coaches call the plays.  The center looks the defense over and tells his line mates what to do.  All these calls happen in under the time allotted on the play clock.  It's not easy.

So I was panicked when center Chris Myers hit the open market.  A couple of years ago, most fans were critical of Myers' play.  He had trouble handling big 3-4 nose tackles.  I was among those critics.  Two years later, he played well enough to earn a Pro Bowl berth.  In my book, he went from a must replace to a must keep. 


At one point, I resigned to the fact that Myers was gone to the Packers or Titans.  With a collective sigh of relief in Texans fandom,. Myers agreed to a new contract with the Texans.

From left to right the new line is Duane Brown, Wade Smith, Myers, Caldwell and Rashad Butler.  Butler filled in for during Brown's suspension in 2010 adequately.  I trust him more on the right than the left.  I have zero confidence in Caldwell.  I was scratching my head when the Texans drafted him out of Alabama.  I was even less impressed with his scouting reports that said he had no lateral movement...which is critical in the zone blocking scheme.  After watching him start ten games, I don't believe he is starter material.  A couple of years ago, the Texans brain trust handed him the starting job in camp.  He couldn't win it...enough said.

I'm not sure what's left out there in terms of guards.  The position might have to be addressed in the draft.

So have the dynamics of the Texans draft changed?  That's a post for another day.

Near Hysterics, Denial, Acceptance...Whatever

I received a minor in psychology only because a minor was required to graduate. As a Texans fan, I've been able to use my easy B minor to various degrees.

Usually I apply my psychology knowledge to myself as I got through mental anguish, pain, joy, bed wetting, chronic masturbation and occasional enjoyment of the Texans.

Allow me to reach into my bag of self analysis again as it pertains to the Houston Texans and free agency. In the last entry, I talked myself out of a mental breakdown.  This entry I move on to the next stages.

Hysterics
I worked the graveyard shift last night.  When I woke up this afternoon, I eagerly jumped on the internet in hopes of reading that Chris Myers and/or Mike Brisiel re-signed. NO! They hadn't. Worse news that Myers scheduled a visit with the hated Titans and Brisiel with the inept Raiders.


Denial 
Next came denial. It's a negotiation ploy. Myers thinks highly of himself and will return with tail between his legs. Brisiel has connections to the Raiders staff. I'm came up with reasons to justify the visits. I wanted to deny they would dare leave. I wanted to justify my feelings of near panic. I didn't want to face reality.

In psychology that is called a defense mechanism. Basically it's a technical way to say I'm burying my head in the sand.

Acceptance
Finally, it started to set in that three fifths of maybe the best offensive line in football was breaking up. I further tried to convince myself that Rashard Butler and Antoine Caldwell will be adequate replacements. I have to believe that because right now it's the reality of the situation.

I'm finally starting to accept the fact that I'm going to be a chronic masturbating, bed wetting Houston Texans.

Off Season Edition - Not Surprised and Surprised

I'm not in panic mode yet. Breathing unevenly and on set of irregular heart beat is evident though.

I was happy when Arian Foster re-upped.
I was not surprised that Mario Williams didn't re-sign. In fact before off season, I was resigned to the fact he was leaving.

Eric Winston's release caught me off guard but really didn't surprise me. I criticized he play often.

That both Chris Myers and Mike Brisiel hit the open market surprised me. 

Matt Leinhart released didn't surprise me.

Lawrence Vickers release kind of surprised me.

How the hell is Jacoby Jones still employed by my beloved Texans? Now I'm very f**king surprised. Add to the fact the Texans might have a few cap issues....why for the love of God is Jones still under contract?

Damn, I feel that panic attack coming on after all.

Off Season Edition - Arian Foster Signed, Williams, Brisiel, Meyers Remain Unsigned

Yesterday, the Houston Texans announced Arian Foster agreed to a new contract.  The signing removes the possibility of Foster becoming a restricted free agent or the club franchise tagging him.  The value of the contract is $43.5 million over five years.  The terms guarantee $20.75 million and include $12.5 million signing bonus.  The linked article breaks down the contract in more detail.

The Remaining Free Agents 
Mario Williams, Chris Meyers, Mike Brisiel and Joel Dreessen remain potential free agents.

The Texans previously stated that signing Williams was the priority.  I didn't believe that for a second.  I figured that Arian Foster was the priority.  Today's signing only bolsters my line of thinking.

What I think they have in mind for Williams is a very basic negotiations with him.  The Texans brain trust already has a max number in mind they can pay Williams without blowing up the cap or hurting the ability to re-sign the others.  In the end, the Texans will tell Williams is a best, last and final offer. 

The ball will be in Williams court.  Williams knows what is at stake here.  It is not just the money.  The Texans are building something special and took a giant step last season toward it.  The emergence of Brooks Reed made Williams somewhat expendable.  Despite Reed's play, Williams allows a quality rotation of himself, Connor Barwin and Reed at the outside linebacker spot. 

That leaves Meyers, Brisiel and Dreessen still to sign.  To make more moves, some contracts will need restructuring along with cutting some players.  Candidates for restructured deals are DeMeco Ryan, Andre Johnson and Kevin Walters. Recovering from injury, Ryan played 58% of the time so I can see management approaching him to restructure.  Johnson just recently signed a big deal.  The Texans might ask him to restructure also and maybe shift some of the money to a later year.  Kevin Walters also might be asked to take a smaller deal or risk being cut.  Jacoby Jones is a prime candidate to hit the street.  He's not living up to the potential Gary Kubiak has for him.  Last year's playoff gaff doesn't help his case.  Back up quarterbak Matt Leinart probably is on the cutting block too.  TJ Yate's play vaulted him over Leinart.  Maybe Leinart comes back at reduced pay.

Williams aside, Meyers and Brisiel should be high priorities.  They are the strength of the interior line.  Paul Kuharsky writes the AFC South Blog for ESPN.com.  In an article, he gives his opinion on what he'd do if running the Texans.  On Meyers and Brisiel, Kuharsky states that he'd sign Meyers and that Antonio Caldwell can take over for Brisiel.  Unfortunately I don't agree with that assessment.  In his four starts last year, Caldwell did nothing to impress.  He can't simply replace Brisiel.  Caldwell isn't good enough to be a full time starter.  A good swing guard/center for spot starts only.  Early in his career Kubiak practically handed him the guard starting spot and Caldwell was never able to keep it.

Dreessen is a #2 tight end but I believe he is expendable if it came down to losing him.  James Casey can play tight end and is much more gifted athletically.  As for Casey, I'd like to see the coaches use him more creatively.

Final Thoughts
With success comes difficult decisions.  Success also means there are quality players up and down the roster.  The salary cap forces those difficult decisions.  Sometimes the cap numbers force a team to part ways with a player that was a foundation of the team.  If the Texans can't get Williams to agree to a cap friendly deal, he's gone.

Getting Meyers and Brisiel signed remains the two highest priorities.  The line is crucial to the success of teams and the Texans have one of the best.  No need to break it up and try to work in a new lineman cause I don't think Caldwell can get the job done.

With the Texans busy signing their own potential free agents, don't expect them to be active like last year.  They might be able to get some quality back ups in free agency. However I don't see any Daniel Manning or Johnathan Joseph caliber starters signing with Texans this off season.

Next issue: A look at what the Texans draft needs.

Texans Playoff Edition - First Win Ever

The atmosphere at Reliant Stadium was electric to say the least. Houston fans celebrated the city's return to playoff football with vigor. Texans fans are notoriously late entering the stadium despite pleas from Texans mothership to be in place before kick off. On Saturday, Texans heeded the pleas and the place was rocking.

The Bengals elected to defer at the coin toss giving the Texans the ball first.  Jitters seemed bother both teams early on.  On the first play, Arian Foster almost lost the ball and then he followed it up with a false start.  Coach Kubiak replaced Foster with Ben Tate on the third play apparently to calm him down.  Foster would reenter the game shortly there after.  TJ Yates also appeared to have the jitters as his first passes were off target.  The Texans ended up punting on the first possession.

When the Texans went over on defense, the crowd went to work too.  The Bengals and Andy Dalton appeared to have some jitters too and ended up punting.  On their second possession, aided by a 52 yard pass interference call on Grover Quin, the Bengals put up the first points to make it 7-0.

At this point I a little uneasy feeling.  The Texans put a quick end to my uneasiness though.  The Texans answered the touchdown on the ensuing possession.  The key play was an Owen Daniels catch for 21 yard and a 15 yard roughing penalty added to end of the play.  Set up at the Bengals 20, Arian Foster went to work.  Three consecutive rushing plays for yards of 8, 4 and 8 for the TD. Foster definitely settled down by now.

The teams exchanged field goals and it appeared the half may end tied at 10.  The Bengals still had time to move the ball and at least try to get into field goal range.  In one instant the game changed in favor of the Texans.  Dalton dropped back to pass and rookie JJ Watt snagged the ball right out of the air and returned it 29 yards for a TD.  All I can remember is seeing him running the opposite direction and thinking "Please don't fall, please don't fall....touchdown!"  As if the crowd needed nothing more to howl about, the play sent Reliant Stadium into complete pandemonium.  For good measure, Watt sacked Dalton to end the half on an extremely high note.

From then on it was pretty much all Texans.  The defense held star rookie AJ Green in check with 47 yards receiving.  1000 rusher Cedric Benson ran only for 14 yards on 7 carries.  As the Bengals were throwing more to catch up, Benson sat on the bench for the other two backs which are considered better pass blockers.  The Texans forced three Dalton interceptions.  Offensively the Bengals were stuck in mud.

The Texans put up TDs in each quarter to make it a final of 31-10.  In the third, it was a beautiful 40 TD pass to All Universe WR Andre Johnson.  Johnson did a double move that faked Adam Jones out of his jock to get wide open for the reception.  Foster finished off the scoring, with a 42 yard scamper down the sideline.  The Bengals had an opportunity to knock him out of bounds but they didn't make much of an effort to.

Man of the Match
Arian Foster - 153 yards, 24 carries, 2 TDs
Without a doubt, Foster carried the team to victory.  Having Andre Johnson back definitely took some defenders out of the box.  Johnson proved a dangerous weapon with his 90 yards and a TD.  But Foster was the work horse with 182 yards total offense.

Key Play of the Game
Obviously, JJ Watt's INT returned for a touchdown.  With the score tied at 10 going into the half, Watt swung the momentum to the Texans in one quick play.

Next up the Ravens in a divisional round match up.  Go Texans!  Bring on the Ravens!

First Ever Playoff Edition

I fell down on the blog. In the midst of the greatest season ever, I failed in my goal to weekly chronicle my opinions and happenings of my beloved Houston Texans.

There is just not enough time in the day to do what I want in addition to working. I used to work graveyard shift and that's where I did most my writing. Now I work almost exclusively on the day shift and to many eyes watching what I do.

So this is my first entry in a while.

The Houston Texans limped through the season losing player after player to injury. None bigger than losing Matt Schaub for the season to a Lisfranc broken bone. Schaub isn't the vocal leader of the team. For the most part though, as Schaub's play goes so do the Texans chances. Schaub was having a fine season as a ball control specialist. We already knew Schaub could put up big numbers. Most of the time, due to the defense, he had to. This year he didn't and the Texans still put up big points in some games.

The big losses besides, Schaub, were to Mario Williams, Andre Johnson and Arian Foster. Ask any casual fan to name a Texans and odds are at least two of the previously mention is one. For good reason, they are the top Texans guns.

Injury be damned. Here we are with the first ever Texans playoff game and in hours hopefully the first Texans playoff victory.

My expectations are Texans are going to not deviate from running the ball as they have been all season. With Andre Johnson healthy, look for the occasional shots down field. Remember that Johnson was putting up big numbers with rookie TJ Yates throwing to him against the Falcons. I think more of the same happens here along with the tight ends hitting the seams in zone coverage.

Defensively, I expect mass chaos thrown at the Bengals and Andy Dalton. I hope for a couple of early turnovers lead to short fields for Yates. Nothing can get a team up in a hurry and the crowd into it like turnovers.

I also hope the crowd is loud and proud from before kickoff. Make it loud to keep Dalton having to use more time to call plays and difficult for the line and WRs to hear the count.

I could go into more detail but I'm keeping in generic. There are better websites out there for pregame analysis. I like to do post game analysis.

Here we go, Texans! (Yuck that's the steeler chant)

Bring on the Bengals! Bring on the first playoff victory.