2013 Mocks and Needs

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by painekiller

27 Matt Elam* S Florida 5' 10" 199
57 Quinton Patton WR Louisiana Tech 6' 2" 195
89 Chase Thomas OLB Stanford 6' 4" 240
95 Marquise Goodwin WR Texas 5' 9" 180
124 Christine Michael RB Texas A&M 5' 11" 215
160 Malliciah Goodman DE Clemson 6' 4" 280
195 Josh Evans S Florida 6' 1" 195
201 Quanterus Smith DE Western Kentucky 6' 5" 244
233 Ryan Allen PT Louisiana Tech 6' 2" 215

Looked today and thought about this

WR DeAndre Hopkins Clemson
QB EJ Manuel Fla St
CB DJ Hayden Houston (Don't see him lasting this long)
OT David Quessenberry San Jose St
OLB Devin Taylor S. Carolina
FS Josh Evans Florida (The "other" S from Florida)
NT Josh Boyd Miss St.
CB Darius Slay Miss St. (I'd be very surprised if Slay is not at least a 3rd round pick)

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Roy P

Looked today and thought about this

WR DeAndre Hopkins Clemson
QB EJ Manuel Fla St
CB DJ Hayden Houston (Don't see him lasting this long)
OT David Quessenberry San Jose St
OLB Devin Taylor S. Carolina
FS Josh Evans Florida (The "other" S from Florida)
NT Josh Boyd Miss St.
CB Darius Slay Miss St. (I'd be very surprised if Slay is not at least a 3rd round pick)

Could we be looking at Honeybadger in the 3rd round?

[Roy P]

I would not draft The Honeybadger until the 4th round after everyone else sent him a msg that he needs to clean up his act.

[painekiller]

27 D.J. Fluker* OT Alabama 6' 6" 340
57 Quinton Patton WR Louisiana Tech 6' 2" 195
89 Chase Thomas OLB Stanford 6' 4" 240
95 John Simon DE Ohio State 6' 2" 260
124 Levine Toilolo* TE Stanford 6' 8" 263
160 Duke Williams S Nevada 6' 1" 185
195 Shamarko Thomas S Syracuse 5' 10" 206
201 Mario Benavides OC Louisville 6' 4" 304
233 Michael Buchanan DE Illinois 6' 6" 240


Not exactly a bad mock, nor a great mock. It's solid.

This is my 1st mock since the recent signings.

27 D.J. Fluker* OT Alabama 6' 6" 340
57 Ryan Swope WR Texas A&M 6' 0" 204
89 Landry Jones QB Oklahoma 6' 4" 216
95 Kiko Alonso ILB Oregon 6' 4" 242
124 Shawn Williams S Georgia 6' 1" 220
160 A.J. Klein ILB Iowa State 6' 1" 240
195 Stepfan Taylor RB Stanford 5' 9" 209
201 Joe Kruger* DE Utah 6' 7" 280
233 Aaron Mellette WR Elon 6' 3" 211

Newton's injury is a bugger to recover from and he is not going to be at OTA's, Fluker would give the Texans a huge right side, assuming that Brooks is the RG next season. Fluker will need coaching work, so Ryan Harris maybe a vet stop gap. Swope is a shorter faster version of Walters, IMO.

For the 3rd round pick I wanted to throw a new name into the mix, I like EJ Manuel but he is climbing higher than I am comfortable taking him with all the teams needs. So what do you guys think of Jones as a developmental guy? Might be the type player that would benefit from being on a Kubiak team.

Now it's time for defense, two ILBs and a safety, this is where I believe we see the Ed Reed player/coach really payoff. Reed learned to break down tape from Ray Ray, and now he can pass that onto these three guys. Kruger has the look of a OLB in Wade's system.

As for Taylor, he is compact back that looks like a good fit. Mellette is a why not type pick.

[popanot]

If the Texans feel EJ Manuel has the potential to take over and be a franchise QB then they should pull the trigger at #57 if he's there. I highly doubt he'll be there at #89. There's obviously some risk with any QB prospect, but if EJ can develop and throw with some decent accuracy I think he'd be deadly in Kubiak's scheme. I'd love to see what a QB with some size and speed can do in this offense. I think the threat of tucking and running on those open boots when nothing's available downfield is a huge missing piece of this O.

[Joe Joe]

I've not paid too much attention to college football or scouting reports this past year, but when I did...I thought Jenkins from Georgia was a first rounder even though he needs to lose 20,30 pounds. I know the Texans have gone with smaller NTs in the past and I've generally been happy with the production this way. Last season, the Texans played a lot of dime coverage and the good teams just gashed the Texans defense with interior runs. Cushing back will help, but he works best when he doesn't have to shed too many blocks. Granted, I may be rating Jenkins higher because I think he addresses the biggest need for Texans defense....ability to defend interior running lanes while in dime coverage.

I would love to see Jenkins, Watt, and Mercilus next to each other.

If Jenkins is truly a second round talent, I hope the Texans trade back from first and get an extra pick. Would not be disappointed in getting Williams from Alabama, either.

On the QB front, if there is a guy that is obtainable that fits the system...you get them in the first. Schaub isn't getting younger. TJ is a nice backup.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Joe Joe

I've not paid too much attention to college football or scouting reports this past year, but when I did...I thought Jenkins from Georgia was a first rounder even though he needs to lose 20,30 pounds. I know the Texans have gone with smaller NTs in the past and I've generally been happy with the production this way. Last season, the Texans played a lot of dime coverage and the good teams just gashed the Texans defense with interior runs. Cushing back will help, but he works best when he doesn't have to shed too many blocks. Granted, I may be rating Jenkins higher because I think he addresses the biggest need for Texans defense....ability to defend interior running lanes while in dime coverage.

I would love to see Jenkins, Watt, and Mercilus next to each other.

If Jenkins is truly a second round talent, I hope the Texans trade back from first and get an extra pick. Would not be disappointed in getting Williams from Alabama, either.

On the QB front, if there is a guy that is obtainable that fits the system...you get them in the first. Schaub isn't getting younger. TJ is a nice backup.

What good team gashed us? Every game we lost was to a team that primarily threw the ball.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by popanot

If the Texans feel EJ Manuel has the potential to take over and be a franchise QB then they should pull the trigger at #57 if he's there. I highly doubt he'll be there at #89. There's obviously some risk with any QB prospect, but if EJ can develop and throw with some decent accuracy I think he'd be deadly in Kubiak's scheme. I'd love to see what a QB with some size and speed can do in this offense. I think the threat of tucking and running on those open boots when nothing's available downfield is a huge missing piece of this O.

I'm seeing Manual going as early as the 1st round. And I do not think the Texans can afford to go with him that early. I agree with you, I think EJ would be awesome in this offense.

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by painekiller

27 D.J. Fluker* OT Alabama 6' 6" 340
57 Quinton Patton WR Louisiana Tech 6' 2" 195
89 Chase Thomas OLB Stanford 6' 4" 240
95 John Simon DE Ohio State 6' 2" 260
124 Levine Toilolo* TE Stanford 6' 8" 263
160 Duke Williams S Nevada 6' 1" 185
195 Shamarko Thomas S Syracuse 5' 10" 206
201 Mario Benavides OC Louisville 6' 4" 304
233 Michael Buchanan DE Illinois 6' 6" 240

Thought I would take another shot at this one.

27 Robert Woods* WR USC 6' 1" 185 or DeAndre Hopkins WR Clemson 6' 2" 194
57 Ryan Swope WR Texas A&M 6' 0" 204
89 Kiko Alonso ILB Oregon 6' 4" 242
95 Tyler Bray* QB Tennessee 6' 6" 210
124 Shawn Williams S Georgia 6' 1" 220
160 Menelik Watson* OT Florida State 6' 6" 320
195 Stepfan Taylor RB Stanford 5' 9" 209
201 Joe Kruger* DE Utah 6' 7" 280
233 Darius Slay CB Mississippi State 6' 0" 192

We need WRs, and we cannot count on Posey coming back as the player he was before the injury. So 2 WRs to start this draft. That is a lot of youth at WR, but AJ is not getting younger and we need to start grooming someone.

I changed the QB to Bray, 6'6" with a big arm. 3rd round money is not a huge risk, and he would have two years to develop. If he doesn't work out you let him go, if he does work out then you have a huge steal.

I added Slay to back end of this mock but we all believe Slay will be long gone by pick 233.

[painekiller]

27 Jesse Williams Alabama DT34

Jesse Williams played all over the Defensive Line for the National Champions. At best, the super-strong (600 lb. bench) Williams will supplant Earl Mitchell at Nose Tackle. At worst, he provides quality depth and scheme versatility for the Texans. The team could look at WR, LB, or CB here as well, but Williams provides solid value.

57 DeAndre Hopkins Clemson WRF

HC Gary Kubiak insinuated that the team may go out and try to bring back the recently-cut Kevin Walter. That's an admission of non-confidence with his WR cupboard. Posey, Martin, and Lester Jean caught all of 22 balls last year. Fortunately, some solid WR prospects are dropping down to late R2. Either Robert Woods, Terrance Williams, or this guy, DeAndre Hopkins, could get the nod here.

89 Blidi Wreh-Wilson Connecticut CB
95 Markus Wheaton Oregon State WRS
124 Gavin Escobar San Diego State TE
160 Stansly Maponga TCU OLB34
195 Steve Williams California CB
201 Albert Rosette Nevada SILB
233 Braden Brown BYU LOT

Not sure I see it this way. My outside the box picks:

27 Tyler Eifert Notre Dame TE
57 DeAndre Hopkins Clemson WRF (I think he goes earlier)
89 Nico Johnson Alabama SILB
95 Ryan Swope Texas A&M WRP
124 E.J. Manuel Florida State QB
160 Stansly Maponga TCU OLB34
195 Michael Williams Alabama TE
201 Dennis Johnson Arkansas RBF
233 Braden Brown BYU LOT

McNair wanted speed across from AJ and this draft would add it. Lack of NT could be a problem, and would have liked one more ILB. TE Williams is a luxury. Dennis Johnson can return kicks and would be a nice addition for RB3.

Imagine come the playoffs next years and we can go 4 WR with AJ, Swope, Hopkins, and Posey.

[chuck]

I bet they go DL with their first pick.