Long time no post because really no news to post about. I avoided commenting on the Wade Phillips hire or the draft on purpose. Besides working ton of overtime and looking for a new house, I viewed any commentary an exercise in futility. With a labor dispute and season in jeopardy, I decided not to spend precious time on the NFL and Texans until things were settled. I kept my comments on the NFL labor dispute over on the Untitled Sports Blog.
Barring major meltdown, according to multiple reports, a tentative agreement on most major issues had been reached. Player reps will vote on Wednesday to approve a deal and owners are expected to ratify their end of it on Thursday.
According to same reports, free agency will be a mad dash to the finish. Teams will have the initial 72 hours to negotiate exclusively with their own free agents (Vonta Leach and Jacoby Jones?). I'll comment more on the specifics of the labor agreement once it becomes public and the details are verifiable.
In preparation for the labor dispute ending, I did a little bit of research into the Wade Phillips 3-4. I'll present my research in a future post. After reading on how Phillips runs a 3-4, I'm a bit more comfortable with Mario Williams move to outside linebacker and drafting J.J. Watt. I knew the role of nose tackle wasn't the same as that of a space eater like in the Steelers/Ravens style of 3-4.
The secondary and linebacking corp remain the glaring question marks. Brian Cushing is coming off a subpar year after a four game PED suspension. DeMeco Ryans is returning from a nasty season ending injury. Kareem Jackson is still smoldering from the scorching he received all season long. Bernard Pollard is gone. Grover Quin is moving to safety leaving Jackson as the the most experienced starting corner (crap). Connor Barwin is supposedly penciled in at linebacker spot opposite Williams. Never mind that Barwin never played linebacker and is coming off a season ending injury nastier than Ryans.
Hopefully a deal will be in place by Thursday. The two biggest questions going forward for me at this time is when is the damn underwriter going to let me close on the house and where to go for lunch today?
Coming soon: Why Nmandi Asomugha won't be a Texan and my understanding (or lack thereof) of a Wade Phillips 3-4 scheme.
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