Your 2008 NFL Draft LIVE Thread! [Day One]

[Roy P]

The positives: We needed a LT to protect Schaub from Freeney, Van DenBosch, and Harvey. We were able to trade down and get more picks.

The negatives: This was a reach. Antoine Cason was selected right after us. Carl Nicks and Jeremy Zuttah are still on the board when the 3rd round starts tomorrow. What good is it to have Gibbs as a coach if we have to reach on a guy in the 1st round that he thinks he can work with? The selling point on Gibbs was that he could make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Branden Frye was my player to benefit the most out of this.

[OldManBernie]

Originally Posted by Roy P

...The selling point on Gibbs was that he could make chicken salad out of chicken shit. Branden Frye was my player to benefit the most out of this.

That's one way of looking at it, but the way I see it... Gibbs probably won't be with the Texans for the long term, and we are looking at a 1 or 2 year window where Gibbs can solve the LT issue. If Gibbs feels comfortable with the guy, and thinks he can groom him as our long term LT starter, I am all for it.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Branden Frye was my player to benefit the most out of this.

Who was of course was this guys teammate last year when he played LT and Brown played on the other side at RT. And Frye was our 5th rounder in 2006 which leads to the obvious conclusion that the price for VA-Tech LTs
is inflating exponentially.

[ArlingtonTexan]

For most of us, this is too much a trust that we know what we are looking at type pick. At least there was an extra couple of picks added before we seemingly reached (according to the draftsperts). The highest I saw Brown rated outside of "the General's" column was the mid 2nd. Does the mean the the Texans are wrong? No, but really outside of the Ryans and Okoye picks, which ones have really had the agreement of the masses?

[Keith]

Originally Posted by ArlingtonTexan

No, but really outside of the Ryans and Okoye picks, which ones have really had the agreement of the masses?

Excellent point, but I would add Eric Winston to this list.

Personally, I am pretty excited about this. Draftniks scout for a general, middle-of-the-road system, and the Texans O-line scheme does not fall into this category. So, because of that, I take a lot of this pre-draft internet scouting with a grain of salt.

Everyone- Use your eyes and watch this guy. This is arguably the fastest and most athletic left tackle available in the draft. The Texans finally selected a LT in the first round, and they traded down to get him to boot. Definition of a win-win.

Will he start from Day One? Probably not, but I'm not sure I want any rookie LT protecting Schaub, at least to start the season. Salaam (and Pitts?) can play caretaker for just a little bit longer, maybe even just a half season, as Brown learns the ropes.

[texan]

Originally Posted by Keith

Draftniks scout for a general, middle-of-the-road system, and the Texans O-line scheme does not fall into this category. So, because of that, I take a lot of this pre-draft internet scouting with a grain of salt.

Exactly, and a lot of the internet sites I've seen have even mentioned that he's perfect for the zone blocking scheme, but still list him as a 2nd or 3rd rounder. As I've said before, Gibbs knows this system better than anyone, and Kubiak and Smith have proven they deserve the benefit of the doubt.

[RunninRaven]

Interesting pick. I hope it doesn't take more than a season to get Brown ready to take the reigns. Because I doubt we can get much more than one more season out of Salaam. And if we can't consistently protect Schaub, who knows if what happened to Carr's potential happens to Matt's.

[Wolf]

Just curious

I know the "draftniks" said Brown was a 2nd 3rd or 4th rounder (and maybe we reached) but I wonder if they knew 7 OTs would go before 26?

positive side from what I have read.. the negatives seem to be coachable (lazy hands, stands too far up etc)

I don't expect him to start so we can groom him,but if he starts that would be a bonus (obviously)
Gibbs coaching him should help

TC with time against Mario should help him too

but I am just blurting out my thoughts with no real evidence

maybe vinny or some of y'all can correct me or give me some thoughts (maybe I am speaking out of my piehole)

[OldManBernie]

Originally Posted by Wolf

...

TC with time against Mario should help him too

...

Hmmm... this brings up a good point. I hope Gibbs won't be practicing cut blocking on Mario or the other DLs.

[ArlingtonTexan]

Originally Posted by Wolf

Just curious

I know the "draftniks" said Brown was a 2nd 3rd or 4th rounder (and maybe we reached) but I wonder if they knew 7 OTs would go before 26?

positive side from what I have read.. the negatives seem to be coachable (lazy hands, stands too far up etc)

I don't expect him to start so we can groom him,but if he starts that would be a bonus (obviously)
Gibbs coaching him should help

TC with time against Mario should help him too

but I am just blurting out my thoughts with no real evidence

maybe vinny or some of y'all can correct me or give me some thoughts (maybe I am speaking out of my piehole)

I saw Va Tech play 3 or 4 times and he did not stand out to me either way. From various sources that I have read he has first round physical talent, but played LT only one year and probably played at level of mid-rounder. This makes him a developmental guy which could mean a couple of years before the Texans actually have any idea of what they have.

Your observation on the early run on OLmen is accuarate imo. The guy rom BC and Sam Backer were also both thought of by the draft community as 2nd rounders, but went in the first also. If the Texans were going address OT, they were going to have to "reach" to do it.

Also, we tend to put too much stock in the general boards that draftniks produce. The draft board of a specific team is generally only about 100-150 players who are very specific to schemes and needs of a particular team. On top of that go figure, all 32 teams don't rate players the same way.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by Wolf

Just curious

I know the "draftniks" said Brown was a 2nd 3rd or 4th rounder (and maybe we reached) but I wonder if they knew 7 OTs would go before 26?

positive side from what I have read.. the negatives seem to be coachable (lazy hands, stands too far up etc)

I don't expect him to start so we can groom him,but if he starts that would be a bonus (obviously)
Gibbs coaching him should help

TC with time against Mario should help him too

but I am just blurting out my thoughts with no real evidence

maybe vinny or some of y'all can correct me or give me some thoughts (maybe I am speaking out of my piehole)

he isn't a reach if he plays up to the expectations of the team that picked him. One thing that stands out to me is that he was considered one of the best athletes on his team. You don't find offensive linemen with that tag very often when you consider what kind of athletes the linebackers, corners, and backs are on on every team.

[dadmg]

Originally Posted by Keith

Personally, I am pretty excited about this. Draftniks scout for a general, middle-of-the-road system, and the Texans O-line scheme does not fall into this category. So, because of that, I take a lot of this pre-draft internet scouting with a grain of salt.

Everyone- Use your eyes and watch this guy. This is arguably the fastest and most athletic left tackle available in the draft. The Texans finally selected a LT in the first round, and they traded down to get him to boot. Definition of a win-win.

Sums up my thoughts pretty well. Didn't have cable and was away from the internet for the weekend, but when I heard the Texans dealt down to 26 and picked Brown I was definitely alright with it. I think he would have been gone by mid 2nd round at the latest and, with the run on OTs, probably wouldn't have lasted that long. Very good fit. Would've been #2 on my board behind Kenny Phillips, but I think there's just as good a chance I'd have taken Brown.