The Texans to be competitive. By now, everyone's heard all the VY crap so don't worry, I won't rehash it. Instead I'll show you what the Texans need to do to be competitive in 2007. It's a little easier than you may think.
Instruction to all talk show callers-don't worry about the 1st round pick. It's way too early to know who will or won't be there. At this point, our team is not loaded at any one position so we should simply take the best available player, regardless of position.
We have a decent defense under a new scheme with virtually all young players. Next year we should be better simply because of 1 more year playing together. The key will be for Mario Williams to recover from the foot injury. As it is, I wouldn't count on much of a pass rush from our D-line. Look for D-coordinator to blitz a little more next year since everyone will be much more familiar with the system.
GM Rick Smith will need to draft another LB since we're old/overpaid at this position other than Demeco Ryans. Obviously our DB's are horrible. I wouldn't be surprised to see a couple mid-level FA's signed here. Ken Hamlin is a great Safety we could plug in here but I don't see them getting him. But if we sign one FA in the off-season I'd hope it would be a starting corner or safety. It would beef up our coverage skills, the weak link amongst our D. Ideally, a new corner would allow Petey Faggins to return as a nickel back where he belongs. Too often this year he was beat on the deep ball. Just a couple tweaks on defense can turn this possible Top 15 defense into a legit Top 15 defense.
Now, let's look at that classic winning team. They normally have a stout D, which I mentioned we can have next year, and they also bring a good running game. Anyone that knows Coach Kubiak knows he has a good running back(s) each and every year. And almost always different ones every couple years. They've had 6 different RB's rush for 1,000 yards or more in the last 9 years. Impressive, indeed but who's going to be ours next year. Look for Domanick Davis to be cut. He's likely never going to be the same again and he makes way too much money. Instead we'll go to camp with Ron Dayne again the favorite (doing great the last few weeks) along with Wali Lundy the backup. I suggest we draft a RB high (1st or 2nd round) but if we don't we can probably get FA Ahman Green. He's been injured a bit recently but if he holds up would provide a legit RB threat. Green Bay is looking to cut ties with him and with his former Head Coach on our staff he may take a flyer on us. Also we'd give him a good opportunity to not only start next year but possibly excel with Kubiak's track record.
So we now have a solid D and an upgraded RB core. Next, David Carr will be cut. If we can't get a promising rook in the 1st or 2nd round then either go with Sage Rosenfels or pluck a FA. Either way, they aren't going to do much next year. However, they should do better than Carr, who's obviously mentally beaten up. Whomever it is will have a great group of WR's and TE's, arguably the most talented positions on our team. The line will be much improved next year as long as we aren't hit by the injury bug again next year. We'll have our starting OT's back. Look for Charles Spencer to become our best lineman next year (I know it's not saying much) at LT. We drafted him and another OT last year in the 3rd round. Look for us to draft 1-2 G's or C this year and continue our upgrading on the line. Look for these picks to be in the Top 5 rounds of the draft with one amongst the 1st 3 rounds.
I look for our upgrade in QB, albeit no great players himself, should open our O up tremendously. With the threat of the deep/intermediate pass teams won't be able to crowd the line. We'll still be in the bottom half of the league in offense but we should score at least 20 points a few times. More importantly, with our upgrade on the defense we should be much more competitive. I'd urge Kubiak to steal Jeff Fisher of the Tennessee's gameplan. Run the ball 60% of the time and try and control the clock. Keep our young D fresh. It's worked for them this year with the worst passing attack in the league. And if it can work with them, all together now, it can work for us.
