Dreesen signed with the Bengles...


http://profootballtalk.nbcsports.com...gent-visitors/.


I'm happy because now we might focus on Fleener @ 26. :D

Hasn't signed, just making visits.

I'm with ya. Fleener and OD would give Gronk & Hernandez a run for their money. But Dreesen hasn't signed yet. Still hoping we can find the cap money for him.

TE Joel Dreessen says he will choose between the Texans and Broncos by Friday morning. He's also visited Saints, Bengals and Titans. -- John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL)

Hope he signs with us. I think his importance to our team is severely understated. An unsung hero. But if he goes to Denver, obviously I can't blame him.

Free agent TE Joel Dreessen says he will sign with the Denver Broncos -- Mark Berman (@MarkBermanFox26)

I guess Denver could offer more money. Plus hard to pass up receiving from Peyton.

Probably has more to do with going home than with who the QB is though. Dreessen went to HS in Colorado and of course played for Colorado State.

I would have liked to have kept Dreesen. Briesel really cashed in. Now Rick Smith has to earn his salary and hit on some lower level inexpensive free agents to fill in the holes, and we need to hit on our draft. This offseason has been a bummer. I am dissapointed that Mario all of a sudden becomes a twitter freak, even though I figured he was gone with the amount of $ he cashed in with. I liked Winston, be he was alot of sizzle and no steak, the defense I think has leaders in Cush, Manning, Antonio and JJ.

Darn, I need some Texans sunshine. Good teams find good inexpensive players. We picked up Dreeses and Briesel for nothing. Time to do it again.

The Texans will miss Dreessen's blocking the most since there's not another TE on the roster who looks like he can fill that hole. Graham has a chance to step up but I don't think blocking is considered his strong suit. Like Mike alluded to, though, finding a blocking TE doesn't necessarily require investing a high draft pick or big free agent money.

FWIW, the Broncos also signed TE Jacob Tamme today.

I heard Dreesen was a good blocker, but I guess Casey and Graham should be able to block as well. I think those two are ready to play and play well.

I see the Texans as losing depth but not really in areas where it will be that tough to replace. We were going into the draft with a WR2 as our greatest priority and now we have several others but they aren't major holes, consider:

We lost Mario but we still have Barwin and Reed.
We traded Ryans but we have Sharpton behind him.
We lost Winston but we have Butler behind him.
We lost Briesel but we have Caldwell behind him.
We lost Leinart but we have Yates behind him.
We lost Vickers and Dreesen but we wanted a bigger role for Casey and now he'll get it.

I don't know if we kept or lost Rackers but that's another position we can easily replace. (PK thinks we should draft the A&M kicker late which suits me just fine).

So I think we can draft BPA now and rebuild our depth. We re-signed the two guys we absolutely had to sign (Foster and Meyers), cleared up cap space next year for extensions and we haven't lost anybody that's not replaceable. And if we had to go to war today with only the players we still have, we are still hands-down the best team in our division. And it only gets better once we start filling in the depth with FAs and the draft.

I don't think Sharpton is the answer at ILB. He is 5' 11" and 230 lbs and not nearly as good as Meco was. Plus he is coming back from a quad tear. ILB should be a high priority in the upcoming draft.

Caldwell isn't the answer at guard either. He isn't very good and has been a disappointment for the Texans.

So I believe the Texans will be drafting WR, ILB and OL in the first 4 rounds. Probaly throw OLB and DT in there if bpa for the other priority positions isn't as good.

WR is going to be an absolute need (at least one, if not two). So it doesn't seem we can afford to go BPA this year. Problem: the big 4 of WRs will be gone, so what now? Do we reach for a WR anyway?

Saw somewhere that Dressen got a 3 yr, $8.5MM deal. Didn't see the particulars.

After losing Vickers & Dreesen, I would like to see the Texans sign FB Owen Schmitt. It would be nice to have somebody on the team who could block in the running game. Maybe take a look at UCLA TE Harkey as an undrafted Free Agent. Just sayin' ;)

Hey, they are alive over there on Kirby!

P Donnie Jones signs 1-year deal with Houston -- Jason Cole (@JasonColeYahoo)

Bleacher Report (for what it's worth) claims Arian Foster said Caldwell was playing all during 2010, when Arian had his best year.

The skinny on Donnie Jones:

Hmmm, part-time till Hartmann comes back or bye bye Hartmann?

I'm seriously getting concerned now. A mediocre punter?

Is our depth that competitive in the positions we've lost so as NOT to replace them with free agents? Or, is our scouting team that confident that we can replace most of them in the draft?

I have to admit, the scouting team has been pretty dang good especially last year.

(Side note for grins: I think I'd allow Wade to have a say in the fullback position based on his input for meat eaters on D...big, fast and crazy - that sounds like a good fullback to me)