Texans Conspicously Absent from USC ProDay

papabear · #1 04-03-2009, 08:46 AM

Even though I don't think you can read much into any of this who attended the workout or the soundbite the coach gives this time of year, IF Cushing and Mathews tested positive then you would think McNair has crossed them off the board based on his past stances about "character". Even then I would bet that the Texans had someone at that workout...even if it was just in some informal capacity. They had several players working out and if they don't get a LB early then the "other" USC LB might be an option later. Even if there's no one there they can still bring those guys to visit. Most NFL staffs like to control the workout anyway where they can get the player out of his comfort zone.

gunn · #2 04-03-2009, 02:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by papabear

.....IF Cushing and Mathews tested positive then you would think McNair has crossed them off the board based on his past stances about "character".

Maybe I'm in the dark here, but what "stances about character" are you talking about?

I don't think they are the Bengals who are okay with bringing in grease fires but at the same time I don't think they are looking to bring in all choir boys. I do think they have an emphasis on high character players but I don't think a positive steriod test would steer them away from a player like Matthews who by all other accounts is high character.

papabear · #3 04-03-2009, 02:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gunn

Maybe I'm in the dark here, but what "stances about character" are you talking about?

I don't think they are the Bengals who are okay with bringing in grease fires but at the same time I don't think they are looking to bring in all choir boys. I do think they have an emphasis on high character players but I don't think a positive steriod test would steer them away from a player like Matthews who by all other accounts is high character.

I could still see them taking any of the guys rumored to have tested positive. McNair made a lot of noise about wanting high character guys, admittedly mostly when the franchise was still new. I think it's been generally accepted that McNair doesn't want guys with character issues. Crossing them off the list was probably pretty strong wording, but IF there's any truth to this it wouldn't surprise me if the Texans adjusted their rankings on these guys slightly.

They took Okoye who openly admitted to smoking pot in the past, but I bet they looked into it pretty hard.

gunn · #4 04-03-2009, 02:43 PM

Gotcha. Yeah the are only a few teams in the league that are okay with taking on the Odel Thurmonds and Chris Henrys of the league, and the Texans aren't one of them. To me, those are the players along with your Pacman Jones' and Michael Vicks that are lacking in the character department.... players like Luis Castillo or Matthews who may have tested positive for steriods in prep for the combine don't belong in that catagory.

Heck, most people around here had no problem with the thought of adding Julius Peppers to the defensive line and he was suspended by the league for steriod use.

edo783 · #5 04-03-2009, 04:43 PM

Posted this in another thread on this topic:

So far, NFL draft bible.com (IIRC) seems to be the only site reporting anything. The site seems more than a little suspect. Only 6 pages that were created in 07 and most are blank. Mathews via his lawyer has denied it and the lawyer has sent some sort of letter to the site. Looks more than tad suspicious that 3 weeks before the draft, suddenly 5-6 1st round pick are being talked about as flunking a drug test when the teams haven't even received the results. I'm not saying it isn't true, but at this pint doesn't seem to pass the sniff test.