2012 Draft Needs?

[Nconroe]

You may be right. We have apparently got 54 players under contract including Cody.

I guess that includes RFA Adrian Foster and Quentin Demps.

Texans seem to have 15 FA , several on Oline, so keeping that consistency may be high priority.

Unrestricted Free Agents )

QB Jake Delhomme
QB Jeff Garcia
RB Derrick Ward
WR Bryant Johnson
TE Joel Dreessen
OG Mike Brisiel
OC Chris Myers
OG Kasey Studdard
DT Tim Bulman
LB Tim Dobbins
LB Mario Williams
CB Jason Allen
S Dominique Barber
K Neil Rackers
P Matt Turk

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

You may be right. We have apparently got 54 players under contract including Cody.

I guess that includes RFA Adrian Foster and Quentin Demps.

Texans seem to have 15 FA , several on Oline, so keeping that consistency may be high priority.

Unrestricted Free Agents )

QB Jake Delhomme
QB Jeff Garcia
RB Derrick Ward
WR Bryant Johnson
TE Joel Dreessen
OG Mike Brisiel
OC Chris Myers
OG Kasey Studdard
DT Tim Bulman
LB Tim Dobbins
LB Mario Williams
CB Jason Allen
S Dominique Barber
K Neil Rackers
P Matt Turk

Delhomme just retired. Garcia, Johnson and Turk can be scratched off the list. Ward, Dreesen, Studdard, Bulman, Dobbins, Allen and Barber are back-ups and thus non-essential. I'm ambivalent about Rackers, So that really leaves Brisiel, Myers and Mario as the key players. I want Mario re-signed but mostly as a trade chip we can hopefully barter for draft choices or upgrades but if he stays with the Texans, I'm good with that too.

Deep down, I still think Mario is a 4-3 DE and has major trade value as such.

[chuck]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Deep down, I still think Mario is a 4-3 DE and has major trade value as such.

Deep down I think Mario had five sacks in five games playing a brand new position in a defense he didn't understand very well. A rotation of Mario, Connor and Brooks would be outrageous. Tom Brady can't throw a first down pass to Wes Welker if he's on his ass.

[HPF Bob]

Originally Posted by chuck

A rotation of Mario, Connor and Brooks would be outrageous.

But you can only play two of them at a time. I understand, this adds depth and perhaps you can move Mario down to DE in obvious pass situations.

To me, this is like the Cardinals and Albert Pujols. No question Pujols is a great player and his absence leaves a hole in the Cardinals lineup but the cost to keep Pujols would keep them from upgrading other positions for a decade. They were smart to lose him, just as the Rangers were smart to get rid of A-Rod.

Likewise, the Texans will miss Mario's abilities if he goes elsewhere but his absence - if done right - allows us the freedom to upgrade elsewhere and, as we could see from Mario's injury the second half of this season, the Texans can still play very well without him.

Dealing Mario is not like dealing Hunter Pence where it is done just to dump salary. Dealing Mario is to upgrade the entire roster because of the talent we can get back and the cap flexibility it gives us.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

But you can only play two of them at a time. I understand, this adds depth and perhaps you can move Mario down to DE in obvious pass situations.

To me, this is like the Cardinals and Albert Pujols. No question Pujols is a great player and his absence leaves a hole in the Cardinals lineup but the cost to keep Pujols would keep them from upgrading other positions for a decade. They were smart to lose him, just as the Rangers were smart to get rid of A-Rod.

Likewise, the Texans will miss Mario's abilities if he goes elsewhere but his absence - if done right - allows us the freedom to upgrade elsewhere and, as we could see from Mario's injury the second half of this season, the Texans can still play very well without him.

Dealing Mario is not like dealing Hunter Pence where it is done just to dump salary. Dealing Mario is to upgrade the entire roster because of the talent we can get back and the cap flexibility it gives us.

Look at the Giants. They have now beaten two unbeatable teams with unstoppable passing offenses in the last 4 years. There are only so many Bradys, Brees and Rodgers in the NFL. So you either have one of those guys, or you have the ability to stop one of those guys or you go home sad at the end of the year. And we don't have one of those guys and won't anytime soon. So unless we can stop those guys we won't sniff a title. And there is only one way to stop them and that is the pass rush.

The Giants this year have Kiawanuka, Unemiyora, Tuck, and Pierre-Paul and they have no problems with having too many to play at once even though all are basically DEs. In fact they didn't turn the corner defensively until Tuck came back.

There is no #2WR, LT, #2CB, #2MLB, NT, PR, or any other non-essential postion that will push us past a team like GB next year (or NE who should be much better than this year). Only an upgrade at QB or in the pass rush will do it. I don't think we have the guts to change our QB, so that leaves pass rush. It is the 2nd most important piece of a football team. When we had it in the 2nd half Sunday we neutered Flacco. When we didn't hit him for the first 25 minutes they scored 17 points.

If we are looking to make a trade because we have 3 pass rushers than we are the dumbest team in football. And if we look at our 3 pass rushers and say, "Lets get rid of the hands down best of the 3." Then the closest we'll get to a superbowl is the next time we host.

[HPF Bob]

Okay, let's throw out a hypothetical here. Suppose we franchise Mario and then trade him for a first and second rounder. Just so I'm not stacking the deck for myself, let's say the deal is with Seattle for #11 and #44.

Let's say that at #11 we take a Mario replacement just so we don't here whining about trading him and we select Quinton Coples of North Carolina or Courtney Upshaw of Alabama. Coples has the size to play at DE as well. Pass rush addressed.

With our own #27, we select WR Kendall Wright of Baylor to give us a legit deep threat. If Wright is gone, we take SS Mark Barron of Alabama to help with the secondary.

At #44, we go get the WR of DB we didn't get at 27 or possibly upgrade at DT or OL.

Then, with the additional cap space from not signing Mario, we go after a free agent wide receiver from the list provided on another thread (maybe a Colston or a Vincent Jackson).

Now you've addressed the #2 WR problem, possibly twice, replaced Mario as a pass rusher and helped out our secondary, all for the money we would have spent on just Mario and our own #1.

This is just one possibility and I wasn't even talking about "best case".

Are you going to tell me that's not an upgrade?

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by HPF Bob

Okay, let's throw out a hypothetical here. Suppose we franchise Mario and then trade him for a first and second rounder. Just so I'm not stacking the deck for myself, let's say the deal is with Seattle for #11 and #44.

Let's say that at #11 we take a Mario replacement just so we don't here whining about trading him and we select Quinton Coples of North Carolina or Courtney Upshaw of Alabama. Coples has the size to play at DE as well. Pass rush addressed.

With our own #27, we select WR Kendall Wright of Baylor to give us a legit deep threat. If Wright is gone, we take SS Mark Barron of Alabama to help with the secondary.

At #44, we go get the WR of DB we didn't get at 27 or possibly upgrade at DT or OL.

Then, with the additional cap space from not signing Mario, we go after a free agent wide receiver from the list provided on another thread (maybe a Colston or a Vincent Jackson).

Now you've addressed the #2 WR problem, possibly twice, replaced Mario as a pass rusher and helped out our secondary, all for the money we would have spent on just Mario and our own #1.

This is just one possibility and I wasn't even talking about "best case".

Are you going to tell me that's not an upgrade?

You sure you're not talking "best case?" For one, why would anyone trade a 1st and a 2nd for Mario if that same team could just draft someone who is his equal with their mid-1st round pick (which is what your hypothetical suggests should be easy to do)?

[NBT]

Correct me if I am wrong, but since Arian was an undrafted FA back when, and he has played out his 3 year initial contract, by the CBA, isn't he an URFA?

[WMH]

Originally Posted by NBT

Correct me if I am wrong, but since Arian was an undrafted FA back when, and he has played out his 3 year initial contract, by the CBA, isn't he an URFA?

Nope, he is a RFA.