Which RB emerges as "The Man" this year?

[KJ3]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

A RB that doesn't push for the touchdown or first down on every play will NOT make any team.

fixed

[Keith]

Added some thoughts to the main page of the site last night on this.

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2008/20080629.html

If I'm Green, I make priority #1 making it all the way through camp healthy.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by Keith

Added some thoughts to the main page of the site last night on this.

http://www.inthebullseye.com/archive/2008/20080629.html

If I'm Green, I make priority #1 making it all the way through camp healthy.

Nice article.

I think whoever survives camp and can block will be The Man.

At least in the Denver system, there have been many times where it has been unclear who the man was going to be. And often it ended up whoever was healthiest and sort of lucky.

Terrell Davis went from a back who was lucky to make the Broncos...to a guy who impressed people with his intense special team play...to one of the best out of nowhere stories ever in the NFL. He and Rod Smith are examples of how Kubiak doesn't care how you go to the team but only how you prepare and produce.

[Bigtinylittle]

Hey, Steph. Love your board, though for some reason I never post over there. I always enjoy hearing what you have to say because you clearly have a really good understanding of pro football. You can run circles around a lot of the local radio hosts. Keep up the good work.

For the record, I have no idea who will step up and be the man. I don't see Slaton getting a lot of carries, though.

[kravix]

Kieth,

I havent been able to find anything that says the Texans have spoken to Benson.

With the woes that our team has had at running the ball, bringing in a RB that has character issues, may miss 2-6 games because of it, on top of lackluster performances and health issues, is a bad idea to me.

[KJ3]

Originally Posted by kravix

With the woes that our team has had at running the ball, bringing in a RB that has character issues, may miss 2-6 games because of it, on top of lackluster performances and health issues, is a bad idea to me.

well when you put it like that.....

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

Nice article.

Thanks, and I just stopped by FanHouse and saw the linkage. Thanks again!

Saw Benson's mug shot in your post... not a pretty picture, but (in my non-professional opinion) I don't think any of these charges will stick to Benson.

Originally Posted by kravix

Kieth,

I havent been able to find anything that says the Texans have spoken to Benson.

Me neither, which is why I wrote of any mention of Benson and the Texans as a rumor at this point.

It actually would not surprise me either if the Texans had some informal conversations with Shaun Alexander's agent -- just speculation here. The Texans have not been talked about in conjunction with Kevin Jones since his release, but I don't think Jones fits the same profile of what they'd be looking for like they might find in either Benson or Alexander.

Just something to keep an eye on here for now. No need for any of these guys to sign this far out from the start of camp. I would expect the music to stop by around the first of August though with all three of these guys under some sort of NFL contract.

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Keith

Thanks, and I just stopped by FanHouse and saw the linkage. Thanks again!

Looks like Florio picked up your blog. The couple of times HPF had a rumormill link from PFT, our site traffic went through the roof for a day or two.

CEDRIC TO TEXANS?

Posted by Mike Florio on June 30, 2008, 3:47 p.m. EDT

There are rumors on the grapevine, courtesy of AOL’s FanHouse, that the Houston Texans might eventually take a chance on former Texas tailback Cedric Benson.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by Keith

Thanks, and I just stopped by FanHouse and saw the linkage. Thanks again!

Saw Benson's mug shot in your post... not a pretty picture, but (in my non-professional opinion) I don't think any of these charges will stick to Benson.



Me neither, which is why I wrote of any mention of Benson and the Texans as a rumor at this point.

It actually would not surprise me either if the Texans had some informal conversations with Shaun Alexander's agent -- just speculation here. The Texans have not been talked about in conjunction with Kevin Jones since his release, but I don't think Jones fits the same profile of what they'd be looking for like they might find in either Benson or Alexander.

Just something to keep an eye on here for now. No need for any of these guys to sign this far out from the start of camp. I would expect the music to stop by around the first of August though with all three of these guys under some sort of NFL contract.

In my professional opinion, if Benson's lawyer is worth anything and the public facts are roughly correct, those cases against him would be hard to make.

I'm not sure that Alexander fits the profile of what the Texans are looking for--I think the old, injured back spot is taken already. I mean, if you look on the outside of Ahman Green, he looks like a specimen. And he certainly has vision, like an Alexander has.

Its the parts of 30+ year old backs that you can't see that is the concern. I put Green in the gravy category for the Texans--I'm not counting on him to do anything, and if he sticks around and stays healthy, then that's gravy.

The comments at PFT are the funny part to me.

[NBT]

Kevin Jones is coming off ACL surgery, but he did the cone drill for several teams in 4.3 recently! Says he will be ready by TC. He is only what, 27?

Although we weren't one of the interested teams in attendance, it seems from the posts above, that we should at least be looking at a video of him. Any comments?

[jaimeg]

This is probably the where someone took it to the next level, assuming the Texans were talking to Benson

Solomon Wilcox on Sirius Radio mentioned (and has mentioned several times) that one of the better situations for Benson would be Houston because of what he called one the better up and coming teams, great offensive line coach and a comittment to run the ball.

He cited Benson could be in the same mold as Thomas Jones from the Jets who it took a few years and the right situation to be a solid back in the NFl.

[cadams]

Benson doesnt seem to be all that committed to his career, and seems to have a tendency to get himself into bad situations. that said, he would likely be cheap, and i wouldnt be upset if the texans took a flyer on him to check him out.

[KJ3]

i come to the conclusion that i think the Texans should leave benson alone. i've swayed back and forth on it but the reason that put me over the top for a "no" is i wouldn't want benson's (or while we're at it ahman green's, or chris brown's) contract to get in the way of drafting a guy next year.

benson is going to have to take a deal that shows he wants to play football for football. not for money, or intoxicants, or bitches, or anything but football.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Keith

Thanks, and I just stopped by FanHouse and saw the linkage. Thanks again!

Saw Benson's mug shot in your post... not a pretty picture, but (in my non-professional opinion) I don't think any of these charges will stick to Benson.



Me neither, which is why I wrote of any mention of Benson and the Texans as a rumor at this point.

It actually would not surprise me either if the Texans had some informal conversations with Shaun Alexander's agent -- just speculation here. The Texans have not been talked about in conjunction with Kevin Jones since his release, but I don't think Jones fits the same profile of what they'd be looking for like they might find in either Benson or Alexander.

Just something to keep an eye on here for now. No need for any of these guys to sign this far out from the start of camp. I would expect the music to stop by around the first of August though with all three of these guys under some sort of NFL contract.

I didn't want to start a new thread but wanted to ask the obvious question, who will the Texans pick up? Kubiak is on record yesterday saying they will pick up a RB for practice reps. Of course John McClain asked about Benson and if he was being considered. Kubiak stared at him for a moment and then said "No". That should answer that one.

Now who do you think it will be?

[Keith]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Now who do you think it will be?

Well, when Mike Bell worked out a couple weeks ago, there were like two or three others invited with him, including Denzel Washington's son (NFLe alum, btw). Maybe it'll be one of those three.

Unless it is Bell that returns (or if Kubiak was bluffing about bringing in a bigger "name"), it probably won't matter. Even if it is Bell, this guy will be the 79th man on the roster (assuming Dunta is 80th at the moment), so chances are it will be a UDFA type that they could maybe try to develop on the practice squad.

A lot of us, even in this thread, were touting some of these younger guys - Taylor, Walker, and Slaton - to get a shot... now we need to see them step to the plate. There will be opportunities in the next three preseason games.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by Texans_Chick

In my professional opinion, if Benson's lawyer is worth anything and the public facts are roughly correct, those cases against him would be hard to make.

For what it's worth, LZ gave his two cents on Benson's pending charges this morning on 1560. He's hearing through his grapevine that Benson should easily beat the boating charges but that the other case is much stronger and he will have a much tougher time beating the rap.

[cadams]

i was very disappointed with the running game saturday night.

[Joshua]

Eric Winston's take on the running game Saturday -

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/...un-scheme.html

[Keith]

Originally Posted by Joshua

Eric Winston's take on the running game Saturday -

http://myespn.go.com/blogs/afcsouth/...un-scheme.html

Shame we can't get this kind of insight from our local media.

You know, a trade with another team isn't out of the question. Remember when the Texans sent Morency for Gado?

Off the top of my head, I think the Eagles have some depth at RB. Westbrook is the starter there of course, and they just traded for Lorenzo Booker, so both of them are going nowhere. That leaves Correll Buckhalter ('01 4th), Tony Hunt ('07 3rd), and Ryan Moats ('05 3rd). CBuck is 30 this year, so maybe he's cut, but Moats has had injury problems, and Hunt just doesn't seem to be liked by the coaches there for some reason.

Maybe a trade is really far-fetched, but I'd love to see Hunt acquired by the Texans. I liked his game out of college.

[NBT]

Pretty hard for a first game to try to run the ZBS against the team that wrote the book on it. So saying, I think I will wait to see how we do against the Saints.

As for Benson, I saw the same interview that PK did. It seemed that Kubiak had a pretty definite NO!