Texans make Roster moves including releasing Okam
 

The Texans made four roster moves today when they returned to Methodist Training Center to begin preparation for Monday night’s game in Indianapolis.

Defensive tackle Frank Okam was placed on waivers. Replacing him is defensive tackle Damione Lewis, a 6-2, 301-pound native of Sulphur Springs who was released by the Patriots in the preseason. He played for the Panthers the previous four seasons.

The Texans also signed linebacker Stanford Keglar, who played two seasons for the Titans.

Defensive tackle Tim Jamison, who was with the Texans last season and was with the team in preseason, was signed to the practice squad.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/7262705.html

Big Frank just never got it. He has the talent and the skills, he turned it on during training camp this year, but he never took the passion to the games.

My biggest complaint about these moves is they did not make them last Tuesday so these guys could get into the playbooks and try to and be a help this coming Monday.

Also, they're moving Cushing to the middle. No one among Houston's crack media members covering the Texans saw that coming.

I'll be fascinated to see if and how this experiment works. I was hoping to see Sharpton take over on the strong side but it looks like it'll be Bentley.

Does that leave them with one more roster spot to fill?

I thought Frank just couldn't get moving as quick as they were asking him to be quick. I wish Frank well in his future endeavors.

They certainly replace Okam with a smaller DT, Damione Lewis, has 10 years experience.
http://www.nfl.com/players/damionele...e?id=LEW129772

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Damione_Lewis

Stanford Keglar, 25 yrs old, looks like special teams guy, we for sure need help there too.
http://www.nfl.com/players/stanfordk...e?id=KEG360877

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stanford_Keglar

The Texans made several roster moves today when they returned to Methodist Training Center to begin preparation for Monday night’s game in Indianapolis.

Defensive tackle Frank Okam was placed on waivers. Replacing him is defensive tackle Damione Lewis, a 6-2, 301-pound native of Sulphur Springs who was released by the Patriots in the preseason. He played for the Panthers the previous four seasons.

The Texans also signed linebacker Stanford Keglar, who played two seasons for the Titans.

Defensive tackle Tim Jamison, who was with the Texans last season and was with the team in preseason, was signed to the practice squad.

The team also added rookie defensive tackle Malcolm Sheppard from the practice squad to the regular roster. http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/7262705.html
Not sure if I left that last sentence off of the origional entry or John McClain
didn't get it into his origional entry into the Chron ?
No matter, it seems the roster moves also include a promotion for Arkansas rookie DT Malcolm Sheppard.

McClain missed it in his early version of the article. I found out about Shepard from a tweet by Scurlock.

They have really gone small at the DT, but Lewis looks like a solid pickup, he has good experience. The LB is another Purdue guy.

At least the Texans are trying to patch up the defensive holes. Only problem is, they should have forseen this back in training camp. After all Okam had been hanging around for almost 3 years without really contributing squat. Anyway the coaches will be occupied with getting these new guys up to snuff on the playbook instead of getting their position people ready to play a very important game.

I think many of us had Okam cut in the pre-season. IIRC, they gave him a lot of reps to show them something..

Like the Sheppard move - IMO, he's got a sky-high upside. I saw most of his games in college and he was always heard from - every single game. Don't see a reason why he can't continue this in the NFL... He has experience at both DT and DE so he has versatility..... He might have made a good backup/replacement for Barwin but I think they had him put on a few pounds so he is a little heavier now...

You saying you think Sheppard, if trimmed down to a lighter weight, has the potential to play the edge as a 4-3 DE and be an effective NFL
pass-rusher ? I mean I hope he does because we sure need help in that area.

Yes, he was a DE for a time (I think a year, maybe two) at Arkansas. He's a tweener and his strong point is his quickness. I would venture to say he might have more upside than draft pick Mitchell but you'll never hear the coaches admit to that. Not saying this is the case here, but sometimes there's team politics involved that keep the best man from getting the job. He's undrafted so he's (Sheppard) got to pay his dues and work his way up.... Now that they've activated him, I'd like to see them give him some reps.. Perhaps (for his own good) they will work him in slowly...

They have looked for edge rushers for ad nauseum. It's about time they looked to an interior Dlineman, even if he is on the small side. I hope we can finally begin to generate some pressure against the QB. And it will have a beneficial effect on the LBs and secondary too.

Being a DE in college is not the same as being a DE in the NFL. Shepard is quicker than the OGs he will face in the middle, but he is not fast enough to play against the OTs in the NFL, IMO.

DT is the correct position for him in the 4-3 we run.

I just hope it freaking works......if we can at least get into the lower middle of the pack D, we would be able to do some damage.

While I have faith in the O, we can't survive week in and week out coming back in the fourth quarter. It just ain't gonna happen.

I dunno, man. He might have Freeney-like quickness. But the larger point is we won't know till he gets some live reps. Live games always shake out different than practice or preseason. Let's have a look and then we can judge....

let me be clear, I like Shepard a lot. He impressed me at the open practices, no one could block him.

His biggest asset that I saw was his burst of the ball. Maybe he can move outside, time will tell that, but I don't see it.

But as for his potential at DT, I see him and Mitchell as a great combo together in a couple years.

This is just a thought, but it seems like the Texans are trying to copy a page out of the Giants and Eagles play book. With the Texans best blitzing LB in Cushing moving to the middle spot as well as the signing of smaller, gap-penetrating DTs, I am expecting to see a lot more blitzing through the A gap (between the guard and center).

Typically most of the Texans' blitzing has come from the edges allowing a little half-step more time for the QB--even when it is successful. The nice thing about the center blitz is that it's fairly easy to show and pull back without affecting the scheme. When the fake works it can force a mis-alignment that your gap penetrating DTs can get through, or it makes doubling the edge (aka. Mario Williams) much more difficult.

Blitzing will only work if the DB can maintain cover on the WR for 3 to 4 seconds, which means the quick ins, Screens, and flats. So far we haven't seen this from our DBs. frank Bush, I hope you are working the heck out of your guys these past two weeks to improve on this.

I think we're at the point now where we HAVE to blitz anyway. Our guys can't cover when we give them extra help, they're still giving up big plays, and it's not gonna get any better, barring a light bulb coming on. Let's try to get after the quarterback. Clearly we get beat if he has time to throw, so let's get exotic with our blitzes, see if we can't disrupt some rhythm. We're getting beat for big plays anyway, so let's get aggressive, see if we can't create some of our own. Like cland said, I think we're gonna be blitzing a lot up the middle, especially in indy. Okoye was dominant in week 1 getting to that A gap and getting penetration. He was in Manning's lap all day, and that game was never in doubt. Let's maximize the formula. Take away his room to step up into the pocket, and he makes errant throws. Get the pressure by any means necessary, maybe we luck into a couple confidence-inspiring ints by the corners, and we can start getting this D turned around so we can make the push we all know we've got in us!

My gut hunch is Frank Bush would like to do more "exotic" blitzing. It is 'Ol conservative Kubiak that is afraid it will put his offense in a bad position. As I say, just my hunch.

Here are two pretty good in depth analysis of some opinons on what is ailing our defense and recommendations how to fix it, in case you hadn't read them yet.

http://blogs.chron.com/fanblogtexans...the_texan.html

and more on defense, and some optimism for the rest of the year at( me being an optimist as well, I always appreciate seeing more of that)
http://www.texansbullblog.com/

pretty much like everyone is saying, get more aggressive on defense, blitz more, perhaps let Kareem sit and learn a while.