Was that during his Ox in a ditch speech or the one that said we're on the right track?

Just sayin......

I think ultimately we are going to regret taking Hopkins this year with our 1st round pick, and that's just among other WRs that were available in the draft this year including several receivers who went in later rounds.
Anybody else catch the Fresno - San Jose State game yesterday ? I watched Derrick Carr on a couple drives and he's an impressive passer, had excellent accuracy atleast on several short and medium length passes, didn't really watch enough of the game to see him throw it downfield. And San Jose has a slinger named David Fales who might be another interesting QB prospect.

Who do you like more than Hopkins from the later rounds?

Keenan Allen (SD/CAL) & Terrance Willimans (Dal/Baylor) are a couple and both were 3rd rounders in April.
As more time passes the less I like our Draft, and it's not just the player we took with our top pick. Swearington for example is a good player, I like him and he will most likely be a success in the NFL over the long-term, but I don't think we should have used a second round pick on him, or any safety for that matter. And then there's the third round where we had 2 picks and it was clearly a disaster for us.

I don't like our 3rds at this point either, but I like rounds 1 and 2 a lot. I'd rather have Hopkins than any WR in the draft. I think he has a much higher ceiling than any of those guys. He has clearly struggled since our QB play took a nose dive, but he is still the guy from the 4th quarter and OT of Tennessee in week 2. In fact, I think WR might be the best position group on the team going forward. AJ is still near the top, Hopkins looks like he could be a true #1, and I really like Posey.

Swearinger has been our best Safety this year (I know that is like being the favorite prison guard, but still). We needed a safety at the time and he filled the need nicely. I would say he is the only sure piece of our Secondary going forward.

I hope you are right about Hopkins.
Re our secondary, Keo has shown a lot of improvement this year, but don't know if it's enough for him to viewed as a starter over the long-term here in our secondary ? Sounds like you don't think Keo has a future beyond a reserve/ST type, atleast here in Houston ?

Re: Hopkins. Not sure about his downfield speed or ability to get open but he can win jump balls and seems to have good ball skills. I think he has suffered withour QB woes and clearly Andre is still the receiver of choice. I'm not down on Hopkins. Sometimes receivers need a year or two to flourish.

Re: Swearingen. He's just as advertised. Tough guy. Big hitter. Not a polished product and sometimes takes bad angles. Smith obviously knew all that when he was drafted so how can anyone complain with what we got? He was meant to be insurance in case Ed Reed was not ready and, boy, did we need that.

Re: Keo. I've never thought of him as more than backup/special teams and I'm really surprised he has lasted this long. Somebody obviously sees more in this guy than I have been.

Walter 12.3.2013

1 Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville33 James Hurst, OT, North Carolina65 Jeremiah Attaochu, DE/OLB, Georgia Tech

Just how good is this Jadeveon Clowney ? Has his reputation, image, whatever been blown totally out of all proportion because of this one hit, this one play he made on the RB across the los that got so much pub, or is he really that rare of a talent as a pass-rusher that comes along once just ever so often ? Maybe another Jevon "the freak" Kearse, or even the potential to be the second coming of Lawrence Taylor ? I've not seen any of his games and I'd like to know
since it's looking like he ours if we want him in the 2014 draft. So thoughts, comments anybody ?

I'm not the expert on this either, but,

Jadeveon Clowney , 6',6", 268 lbs South Carolina seems to be top choice some draft boards recommending for Texans

http://fansided.com/2013/12/02/2014-...-takes-1-spot/

The Freshman QB from Florida St might be worth waiting a year for, although not sure he would pass Texans ethics background check..

Right now, my opinion for top three draft picks is all defense, two pass rushers, DE and OLB, then a tall playmaking CB like Seattle has who can cover the tall Wr and TE.

There are a few other top pass rushers in this draft such as Barr from UCLA.

Just a thought, if Zach Mettenberger is available at top of third would we take him. Good size, arm strength, injured now. Had been rated late first or early second round.

http://www.nfldraftscout.com/ratings...2014&genpos=qb

WalterFootball 12.11.13

1 Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville 33 James Hurst, OT, North Carolina 65 Jeremiah Attaochu, DE/OLB, Georgia Tech I want so bad to offer another alternative, but I promised not to. :(

don't like Bridgewater, like Bortles

Have you followed Bortles? All I saw was the one game against UH and he was pretty bad. Strangely, Bridgewater was pretty average against them too. And obviously UH is not Alabama on defense. They turn people over at an awesome rate but don't really stop people (but did against Bortles and Bridgewater).

I keep seeing his name and wondered if anyone else had seen him play more. What are his strengths? Weaknesses? How has he climbed to a potentially high draft pick? etc?

Never heard of him, but then I never heard of OT Eric Fisher of Central Michigan this time last year and he ended up being the #1 pick in the 2013 NFL Draft.
So whoever goes #1 in the 2014 Draft may also be a complete unknown to many NFL fans at this point in time.

Did a search on Bortles, quite a few recent articles on him. Underclassmen who hasn't decided yet to enter draft. Found a Raiders blog where they had analysis and quoted ESPN Todd McShay-

In fact, it wouldn't shock me if he ends up going ahead of Bridgewater.

Bortles has good size, arm strength and accuracy, and has proved he can win from inside the pocket. He also possesses good character and a strong football IQ. A nice bonus is that he's built to last in the NFL because he's big and mobile enough to move around. He isn't Cam Newton, but more of a cross between Joe Flacco and Ben Roethlisberger.

I did see the end of the Louisville game, but didn't see the UH game. Heard an analyst on either espn radio or nfl radio saying he was probably the most "clutch" along with Stanford qb. He also mentioned smarts or IQ. Since that point Ive tried to research (draft sites, youtube, etc). I seem to remember liking his pocket presence and the fact that he throws the ball well with pressure around him. I can't name specifics but that is what I came away with. But there is still a long time and Im sure the Texans won't be asking for my opinion.

Walter Football 1.16.14 (their watch must be fast)
 

It's a been awhile and they've made some changes with the lower rounds:

1. 1. Teddy Bridgewater, QB, Louisville

2. 33. Kyle Van Noy, DE/OLB, BYU

3. 65. Joel Bitonio, OT/G, Nevada

4. 97. E.J. Gaines, CB, Missouri

The 1-1 choice will be picked apart so no point rehashing it here. Van Noy is an interesting choice as he is an impact player but a tad undersized for the next level. He can defenitely rush the QB and we need that and, as a bonus, has some pass coverage skills so he can definitely be a three-down player. He makes plays. As with anybody from BYU, check the birth certificate.

Drafting OL in the third round makes sense except we seem to do that every year and mostly have wound up with crap. Help at RT is definitely needed but I'm leaning towards finding a veteran in free agency rather than fooling around with more rookies. CB in the 4th round is another smart get. I wonder if/when we might look for a RB to give us depth and insurance in case Foster/Tate aren't ready. Your thoughts?

I think we all need to(or have already come to) realize this team needs more than a new QB and new HC to get to the SB. We have needs at almost every position due to some bad draft picks and FA signings in recent years. With that said, this is a scenario I would do, although I know it's been over 10 years since a First overall pick has been traded.

Trade the 1 to the Browns for the 4, 26, and 35.
Trade the 26 to the 49ers for their 30 and 94.


1-1. Browns - J. Manziel. QB
1-2. Rams - G. Robinson. OT
1-3. Jags - J. Clowney. DE

1-4. Blake Bortles. QB, B.O.B. makes out like a bandit in his first draft as HC. He gets the proto type signal caller he most desires and many assumed he'd take 1st overall, and a hand full of additional picks to help reload the team. (Anthony Barr also gets a long look here)

1-30. Stephan Tuitt. 3-4DE, 1st Team All-American. A. Smith is not resigned.
2-33. David Yankey. OG, 1st Team All-American. W. Smith is not resigned.
2-35. Ed Reynolds. S, 1st Team All-American. Keo becomes expendable.
3-65. Bryan Stork. C, Consensus All-American. Ben Jones moves to the PS.
3-94. Jeremy Hill. RB, 1st Team All-SEC. Tate is all but gone.
4-97. Christian Jones. OLB, Brooks Reed is not resigned.
5.129. Stanley Jean-Baptiste. CB, Offers much needed depth.
6-161. JaWuan James. OT, Newton becomes the swing OT.
7-193. Spencer Shuey. ILB, Trevardo Williams and Shuey battle for the other ILB.

The old trade chart from the 1990s is probably outdated now that there's a rookie salary cap but I seriously doubt the Browns would give up #4, #26 and #35 just to move up three spots. We'll be lucky to get #4 and #26 but your choice at #35 can be eliminated from the exercise without much impact in the overall design.

Then swapping #26 for #30 and #94 is very plausible if the 49ers target someone they want. The Niners have two picks in the second and third with #94 the lowest of them.

Bortles and Tuitt would seem like wasted opportunities to me. Yankey ought to be an anchor for the line. Stork I don't see as upgrade from Jones who was just as highly praised coming out of Georgia.

I'm not expecting Christian Jones or JaWaun Jones to be there where you have us choosing them. I do like the trade down ideas and if you can talk Cleveland into giving up their top three picks, give Rick Smith a call.