Post KC Thoughts

[Bigtinylittle]

The constant rain made it difficult really evaluate much, but here are some of my thoughts:

1. Beat me up for this, but I think Slaton is a bit overrated. Yes, he is the best we have had under Kubiak, but to me a RB should be judged primarily on how much sucess he has when everyone in the building knows it's going to be a running play. Slaton is not the kind of back to go to in that situation. Brown showed that he IS that kind of back. I think it is going to be very important for Brown to stay healthy if we are going to have a strong red zone attack.

2. I was disappointed in our pressure on the KC quarterbacks. Yes, there were some good plays, like Barwin's, but too many times the QB was in his comfort zone, and that would have been much more obvious if we we had been up against better quarterbacks. I'm really anxious to see whether Cushing can add to our pressure. I know we ran a vanilla defense, but I still expected a better pass rush.

3. At long last, I am starting to wonder whether JJ makes this team.

4. The play where Deljuan got his stinger was a thing of beauty. He surprised me with his burst. If he really does weigh 320 and has that kind of quickness, he may be a really solid player for us for a long time. It would be ironic after all the money we have spent and high draft picks we have spent, that we find someone essentially off the street.

5. I have heard that Moats has gained a little bit of weight. Is that true? If so that's great because he sure hasn't lost any quickness.

6. Orlovsky didn't look as good as I thought he would. Too many of his passes were either underthrown or else they sailed. And he threw one sideline pass that almost went for a pick-six. The physical ability is there, though, so maybe Kubiak can bring him along.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Bigtinylittle

The constant rain made it difficult really evaluate much, but here are some of my thoughts:

1. Beat me up for this, but I think Slaton is a bit overrated. Yes, he is the best we have had under Kubiak, but to me a RB should be judged primarily on how much sucess he has when everyone in the building knows it's going to be a running play. Slaton is not the kind of back to go to in that situation. Brown showed that he IS that kind of back. I think it is going to be very important for Brown to stay healthy if we are going to have a strong red zone attack.

There are many types of RBs. There isn't one mold, and to use one criteria to judge them is foolish. If all you want is a RB who gets a yard when "everyone in the building knows it's going to be a running play", then nobody would want a guy like Brian Westbrook or Marshall Faulk. But thankfully they give you 50+ roster spots and you are allowed to use multiple RBs.

In other words, league rules allow us to use Slaton just like last year. We run him in the space created by our great passing attack. We run him in the middle of the field for tough yards out of 3 WR sets where the defense is spread. We let him help in the passing game by catching screens and flares. We even split him out wide to create mismatches on LBs and Safeties and then watch him catch 40 yard TDs.

And then league rules allow us to use a different RB in the red zone when things get crowded. There is no reason why one should not support the other. And no reason why we should try to shoe horn a guy into every role when we don't have to. So I agree that it would be big for us if Brown is healthy (or if Foster can be that guy), but I don't see how this downgrades Slaton in any way outside of Fantasy Football.

[Big Texas]

Originally Posted by barrett

There are many types of RBs. There isn't one mold, and to use one criteria to judge them is foolish. If all you want is a RB who gets a yard when "everyone in the building knows it's going to be a running play", then nobody would want a guy like Brian Westbrook or Marshall Faulk. But thankfully they give you 50+ roster spots and you are allowed to use multiple RBs.

In other words, league rules allow us to use Slaton just like last year. We run him in the space created by our great passing attack. We run him in the middle of the field for tough yards out of 3 WR sets where the defense is spread. We let him help in the passing game by catching screens and flares. We even split him out wide to create mismatches on LBs and Safeties and then watch him catch 40 yard TDs.

And then league rules allow us to use a different RB in the red zone when things get crowded. There is no reason why one should not support the other. And no reason why we should try to shoe horn a guy into every role when we don't have to. So I agree that it would be big for us if Brown is healthy (or if Foster can be that guy), but I don't see how this downgrades Slaton in any way outside of Fantasy Football.

totally agreed. Slaton possesses something that all good backs in the league have: big play and break away potential.

I don't think anyone expects slaton to be a 30 carry back.

He just possesses that quality to hit a home-run on any given play. That's why we have been looking for that complimentary back to go along with him. But in no way does C. Brown's brief success demean the potential of Slaton. He was a vital piece to our 3rd ranked offense last year. With a healthy C. Brown we can be that much greater.

[coloradodude]

Did we try to run any version of the sweep? If so, how'd we do?

Thanks

The reason I ask is because when the Broncos were really good Terrell Davis ran that regularly and I'm wondering if we're going in that direction yet.

[Arky]

Originally Posted by coloradodude

Did we try to run any version of the sweep? If so, how'd we do?

There was a play where Moats ran for about 12 yards and got knocked out of bounds refusing to go down after several hits.

Moats, IMO, is a very good RB if utilized properly. I think he could handle 6-8 quality carries/game and give max effort to take the load off Slaton and Brown. More carries than that, I think you get diminishing returns.... Moats' problem is that he's physically a Slaton copy. Sort of "Slaton Lite".

I think the Texans really need to keep 4 RB's on the 53-man roster due to Brown's track record. Slaton, Brown, Moats and Foster. Casey could be the emergency back-up for Leech....

[papabear]

-I saw Caldwell make a a couple of nice cut blocks

-Run Blocking was VERY sloppy on that first series. I know someone thought Slaton looked sluggish, but to me he didn't have anything to work with. On one play Brown (who looked good otherwise) completely wiffed and a LB came unblocked to meet Slaton in the backfield. The key for running backs is slow to, and then fast through the hole...that can't happen if the O-line is getting pushed into the backfield or letting guys come completely free at the RB. Slaton runs much tougher than I ever would have thought, but he is what he is. Which is fine with me.

-Studdard is much improved since last year. Not a pro bowler, or even starter, by any means, but he has shown improvement.

-Barwin is getting some good experience,and you can see why he has so many people excited. (He's already proven himself in the new Madden ). He left the chiefs starting LT in the dust on that sack. If I remember correctly Albert was a guy that plenty of people around here wanted.

-Okam had some really nice moments. He might be a guy that can only handle 10-15 snaps a game...but he could huge force in those plays.

-Okoye got some good penetration at times. No sacks or even really heavy pressure....but enough to keep the QB from being to step up in the pocket away from Mario. Which is all you really need.

-I've heard conflicting theories on the sack Schaub took. Wrong protection was called(White's fault), Slaton missed his assignemnet, and that Schaub was waiting for DA to break off his route like he was supposed to.. Could be some truth to all three, but the angry little cherokee will get it straightened out. Other than that I thought the pass blocking looked fine.

-Pre-season football is sloppy. I should know that, but for some reason I'm shocked every year at how much different it is in the pre-season. It is what it is and I still don't have a solid grasp on what this team is going to look like this year.

[NBT]

Pretty good assesments from all of you. CB Matteral Richardson has to go, prefferably this week. I was impressed with CB's Glover (with a hard O) Quin, and McCain. You can see coach Gibbs stamp on the secondary already - much better.