I think it was McClain who asked Kubes about that....he said he's in good shape this year and that he just thinks Walker is one of those guys who is just a little thick in the mid-section. In other words he doesn't have ripped abs, but he's worked hard and he's in good shape.

Yep, good eye. I think he does that better than anybody on the team (backfield).

I think it was attitude mainly. The whispers I heard were that he came in with a I'm-from-Notre-Dame-and-my-caca-don't-stink attitude. I think Kubiak gave him an attitude adjustment by cutting him and then either before or after the recall, finally convinced him that he was going to have to put in lots of work to make it in this league.

I think a lot of whether he stays or goes will depend on what Mr. Gibbs thinks of him.....

Mid 4.6's might be closer, but in paid in the open he was gone, just like Jerry Rice another "slow" player.

That kinda sets up my point. Whether he ran a 4.65 or a 4.73 makes a big difference in some peoples opinion (not saying you PK), even though if two guys ran a 40 yard race that would be damn close....close enough to not matter 99% of the time on the football field.

People point to Walker's 4.55 forty time as someone who will have a hard time in the NFL at RB, but if he had run a 4.48 you might not here it quite as much. In either case the difference is only a step or two. Granted, that might be the difference in a 12 yd gain vs. taking one to the house, but that difference in the 40 time can come down to who spent the most time with a good track coach working on technique.....and have absolutely nothing to do with how fast they they play with pads on when its gametime.

I'm not trying to pick a fight with bigtiny. Guys like Walker slide every year apparently because of their forty time so it appears to be a big deal to NFL teams as well...it just doesn't make sense to me in a lot of cases. Teams do need some kind of baseline to judge these guys on. I think a lot of it is they want to see how committed the kids are. In other words, who put the work in to get ready and how they handle themselves in that environment.

Day 5 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...AMP_DAY_5.html

100% agree

What's with all the love for Darius Walker?????

When I said he would emerge as the man at running back (thread a couple months back) there was no love.:p

i don't think anybody expects darius walker to be "the man" for us but i think everybody can see what he did in a limited role last year was fairly decent even though the expectation of him was...just about nothing. really though, the only reason he got a shot was injuries to green, dayne and taylor. also because echemandu couldn't hold onto the ball 10 times in a row haha...but as a 3rd down type i wouldn't mind hanging on to him.

Regarding Walker, in all the positives mentioned I have not even heard the one thing that set him apart from our backs last year...he can catch the ball.

We are running a west coast offense after all. Because of this I think a lot of his chances rest more on whether Slaton can pass block and help in the passing game rather than on whether Brown is healthy. We have a coach who loves the screen pass so much we were throwing it to Ron Dayne last year. We have a number of decent runners if they are healthy, but I think the back who can contribute the most on 3rd down could be the safest back on the roster.

You where right and my opinion was wrong. I miscalculated the young mans heart. He wants to be here and play. And he is proving it everyday in practice.

i have liked the kid since he came out of college. i was really glad the texans signed him out of college, and was disappointed he didnt get more playing time last year. that said, he is probably going to always play a reserve role if everyone is healthy. i think slayton can be special, and can be an everydown back at some point.

That's correct and he entered the league at 206. I'm thinking Walker's in good company especially if he's picking up the nuances of the ZB scheme. Also, I like his game speed.

Just a quick note from practice today. Eric Winston, who has had a heck of a camp BTW, walk the gauntlet today and signed every kids and adults balls ..., whatever they had to be signed. He was hot tired and sweaty yet he never once acted like he was in hurry. That is the kind of thing that I have seen from him the last two years. I am proud he is a Texan.

He's just trying to prove that cavemen really do know how to read and write :D


It's good to hear stuff like this. I have never been a big autograph hound, but for a kid it can be a huge deal.

re: Winston

He does the Hustle just like we do...

:p

Day 6 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...AMP_DAY_6.html

Watch the video recap of today on the mainsite. Early in the video it show Brisiel man handling Weaver. The next part shows him holging up against a LB I think, he was rocked back on his heels a bit but didnt give much ground.

Just an interesting tidbit. I have my doubts that anyone is going to take that spot from him, he is also taking reps a C as the backup. He makes the team regardless I think, but I really believe his is our starter on day 1.

How does Duane Brown look? I imagine confused at times but is holding his own? Has he stood out yet?

How about Slayton? Same questions and one more. How does he look physically? Solid or fragile?


Thanks

I haven't been to camp this year, so I will just tell you what I have read elaswhere.

1. Brown has been doing best against the speed rush. He seems to handle it well. He has struggled, though, against the bull rush. Also, for some reason unknown to me, he came to camp somewhat pudgy. I imagine he has probably lost some of that weight already. I also read that as expected he has been outstanding at getting to the second level, something I'm sure is making Gibbs very happy.

2. Slaton is definately the best back the Texans have for widening the field, something which is even more important in a Gibbs type scheme than it is in a power scheme. He's not even close to being the best back in camp, though. That would be Green. IF Green stays healthy, he should be every bit as good as he was at the beginning of last year. As for Slaton, I am expecting him to get on the field as a change of pace back even at the beginning of the season. I really think he will fulfill the Reggie Bush role for us, for a lower round cost and a heck of a lot less money. It's not even inconceivable that he could be more effective than Bush-- almost as fast, with a lot less dancing. I think Bush's biggest problem is that all his life he has gone for the homerun on every play. I'm really hopeful that Slaton won't have that problem.

In the 11 on 11 drills it is sometimes hard to watch him due to the confusion of bodies and speed those men move at.

But the other day Walker had a huge cutback run where he started to the right, one or two steps and planted hard and cut back to an open backside that was sealed off perfectly by young Mr. Brown.

Now during 1 on 1 drills, he does well on some plays and he gets blown up on some others. But I do not remember anyone going through him, to his inside yes, not as much to his outside, and never over the top.

He is learning, and they are pushing his body and his mind hard. And Ephram has been helping the youngster.

I dont have much to add about Brown.

Green is definatly the best back on the roster, and with they way things have been going I would have to say Walker is the second best right now. The kid has just looked pretty good.

Slaton is fast. From what I understand he is larger than he was in college. He hasnt had any problems getting outside and turning the corner and after he gets the motor running he is defiantey fast. I am not sure about how he is doing during blocking. I think that is what will make or break his play time this year. 3rd down back has to be able to cover the blitz and catch out of the backfield.

I wouldnt compare Slaton to Bush. I think Slaton will probably be better. His size is right at the bottom of where you would expect an everydown back to be but he has speed. I havnt watched any film of Slaton and dont know how well he ran between the tackles in college but I expect he will be able to, whereas Bush probably wont be. I dont want to turn this into that kind of thread, but "poor mans Reggie Bush" is kinda funny. Most teams wouldnt draft an obvious 3rd down gimmick back in the top three. Besides, I hope like hell he isnt a "poor mans Reggie Bush" cause I would feel like we got screwed with a wasted pick.

i think i would be satisfied if he turned out to be "reggie bush". that's gotta be hard though...reggie bush didn't even turn into "reggie bush".....

Day 7 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...AMP_DAY_7.html

Made it out to practice Thursday night only to find the team working out sans pads and helmets. Undeterred, I still file a report.

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2008/20080801.html

PK - Nice to finally meet you.

Eheh, good stuff. Those amusing articles from the old site (HPF) live on.....

Just a FYI, Mark Knopfler was the lead singer/guitarist for Dire Straits...

You too, sorry we did not connect earlier. Well maybe it was better for you.....:D

I have been an Owen Daniels fan for a while.....but if he is really rocking the porn stash I might have to buy his jersey.

Have not seen it here, and only can comment on one play, but Mike Bell was able to get to the outside on one sweep I was able to see from the end zone. Not sure how many yards he would have gotten, but he made the corner, so he showed a little bit of speed.

Also they had Molden return a kick, and he made a very good run. He can fly and is shifty when he runs at high speed. He looked very good at the job.

Jacoby Jones made a great move to get past a defensive play designed to stop the slant at the goal line. Colvin lined up in the lane that Jacoby was supposed to use, he had some CB on top of him in tight coverage, so a double team on the slant. But he dropped the ball.

Bennett was working the slot WR in nickle packages and he blitzed the QB when they where in Goal line drills. I believe he got to the QB before the ball left. 1st time I have seen the Texans do a good CB blitz since Dunta's rookie year.

Lastly Salaam was being told to go in after the horn sounded to end the autographs, he refused and stayed until every one that wanted one got one, a couple of interns came over and he ignored them and keep signing. Then Kubiak walked over to the other end of the bleachers, and he started signing. These guys went above and beyond and I want everyone to know. Great job!

on bell-cool. clearly anything is going to help.

on molden-cool. adds to his seemingly growing value.

on jones-cool....until the last sentence. i've read a couple things now about him making highlight type plays...and then dropping the ball. i remember that being a problem for him last year too. hopefully my perception of him being a little butterfinger-ed isn't correct. we need him to step it up this year.

on bennett-double cool. blitzes? in august? i'm all about 'em.

Day 9 pics (full pads):

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...AMP_DAY_9.html

I was fascinated by Kubiak's comments on Okam. It seemed to me that he was calling him out in the media. As I've said before, I think Kubiak does that from time to time.

I think the idea that the main reason Okam dropped in the draft was his coming to the combine overweight and his taking the LSAT, has been laid to rest. Kubiak basically said that Okam took off way too many plays in college, and didn't work hard enough on technique. In other words, he's on the lazy side.

A lot of DTs in college have Okam's problem and never get drafted. Okam got drafted because even though he slacks off, he has shown that he's a magnificent physical talent.

When Kubiak took over the Texans, I think TJ was a lot like Okam in the discipline department and Kubiak has straightened him out somewhat, so I am optimistic that Okam will improve his work habits now that he is a Texan. Even if he doesn't I'm pretty sure he'll be a good short yardage addition, so using a fifth round pick on him wasn't too much of a gamble to take.

Call me cautiously optimistic.

I too, have secret hopes that Okam will become a beast.Keeping my fingers crossed.

This is a week old, but I just found it and didn't see it elsewhere in the forums, so I figured I'd toss it in here. From ESPN.com's AFC South blog, here's Paul Kuharsky's impressions of an early day in Texans' camp that focuses most of its attention on the backs:


http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/...ervations.html

Interesting that the only things he said of Walker were negative plays. Everything else coming from camp so far has been glowing with regards to Walker's progress.

Well I have seen the calls for intensity, fire, attitude, and a bit o nasty from our linemen on both sides. Looks like they may have heard the call and are stepping up.

http://houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4463

Kubes kinda liked it

ND Kalu liked it too.

I have seen a lot of posts, but no one has specifically mentioned how the team was picking up on Gibbs version of the ZBS. Is Gibbs yelling at everybody, or just some specific players? How is it looking? How well is Brown taking to it?

I dont know how well they are picking up the scheme. The run game looked so so the practice i was at and in videos.

Gibbs is high energy though. He yells at the linemen, RB's, TE, QB, DL just about anyone close enough to get unloaded on. He does smile and give encouragement though, its not all dressing down.

Day 10 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...MP_DAY_10.html

Day 11 pics:

http://www.chron.com/sports/photogal...MP_DAY_11.html

I haven't been, but it's going to be hard to see much of a difference in practice. It always is, but since we're not cut blocking in practice it's going to be pretty tough to see much difference from the zone we ran before. Other than the cutblocks....my guess is that the changes, while they could be significant, will be hard for the average person to see, myself included.