The NFL Draft and the Texans 2021

 As I wrote in my last post, the Texans made the decision to start a brand new era altogether for their team with QB Davis Mills being their first draft selection.  Although the Texans got around to making some defensive picks, its clear with their first pick of day three in the 5th round, TE Brevin Jordan of Miami that their priority is to build a team for Davis. The final selections of the Texans second day of actually drafting picks included LB Garret Wallow of TCU also in the 5th round and DT Roy Lopez of Arizona in the 6th round.  No picks were made during the 7th round.  Some outside commentators are seem very baffled at Houston's picks overall.  Here is an analysis from The Athletic.  I think its more through than ESPN's coverage in that its more thoughtful.  But they don't seem to understand at all the mindset and purpose of general manager Nick Caserio.  If you read The Athletic's coverage of the Texans you will notice some confusion at...

  I actually thought the Texans would address their defensive needs in some way, shape, or form.  They made no effort the first night to trade back into the first round.  Who did they get?  A quarterback from Stanford- Davis Mills.  Who the hell is Davis Mills, I wondered?  Here is a quick profile from ESPN about him   from their staff writer Sarah Barshop.   Davis Mills on the move at Stanford. Then guess what?  The Texans still decided to go offense.  Apparently Lovie Smith, their most experienced coach and defensive coordinator doesn't have significant influence over the Texans draft.  An offensive weapon, Nico Collins, a wide receiver from Michigan.  This brief video clip about Collins featuring a couple of highlights and a few comments is from ESPN's draft coverage below.  I'm not saying anything bad about either one of these young men.  Apparently Nice Caserio, Houston's GM, despite saying he isn't at all i...

A few days ago Lovie Smith, the new associate head coach and defensive coordinator of the Texans, held a press conference to reporters.  He made it clear one of his goals and philosophies is generate offensive turnovers.  Last season, the Texans had a league low 9 turnovers.  One of Lovie Smith's teams as head coach of the Chicago Bears had as many as a league high 44 turnovers.  Mr. Smith also mentioned about the importance of the cornerback in his scheme and how they needed to be deep in that specific position.  Fast forward to 12:25 to see him speak about the subject. One can see already how deep the Texans are in defensive personnel.  I wanted to include this  Wikipedia Link because I think best illustrates how deep the Texans already are at specific positions even though it doesn't have the most detailed information.  They have been focused on addressing their defensive issues especially at cornerback. Check out this  Pro Football Refer...

  A key reason for the Texans sudden decline was its lowly performing defense.  The Texans biggest change on defense isn't a change in personnel or coaching, but a wholesale difference in philosophy.  The old coaching staff led by Bill O' Brian used a scheme that was based more on strength as opposed to speed.  That's not to say that both speed or strength should be discounted in any aspect of every sport played. New Texans defensive coordinator, Lovie Smith , is known for helping develop a popular scheme now common in football called the Tampa-2.   From my understanding, it was a style of play actually developed by the Pittsburg Steelers of the 1970s but adapted much later by the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.  Mr. Smith was a position coach over linebackers with Tampa Bay at the time.  The Buccaneer defensive coordinator of the late 1990s and early 2000s, Monte Kiffin , (father of current Old Miss head coach Lane Kiffin) is considered the chief author of the ...

  I have looked at some of the local fan vlogs in the past few weeks.  Clips such as this one below praise the current Texans GM, Nick Caserio , for wheeling and dealing various players.  This gentleman says its the first time the Texans ever had a competent GM!  Which really upsets me!  The Texans original GM already was a multiple Super Bowl winning executive in Charley Casserly who was a key architect of the past Washington Football Team's dynasty of the 1980s and early 1990s.  I'll talk more about that later here.  Looking at these vlogs as well professional media coverage few if any of these players are household names many, if not most casual sports fans I think would immediately recognize.  There are some possible exceptions though.  One signed athlete is Mark Ingram II , a 3-time pro bowler and past winner of the Heisman.  Ingram played his college career and most of his professional career with New Orleans as a running back....

One thing that doesn't seem mentioned in all of this daily coverage (at least recently) toward the Texans is the fact that its original owner, Bob McNair, who passed away from cancer in November 2018.  His family continues to own the organization with his widow assuming ownership.   I write about this in that the Texans, which was arguably among the more successful organizations throughout the NFL, suddenly in the span of just one season went from division champion to its current state as one of the worst teams throughout the league. Did Mr. McNair, although not officially acting like his own general manager like Jerry Jones does with the Cowboys, secretly managed critical elements of that organization?  Were the players and other employees of the Texans organization inspired and motivated to perform at their best by his mere presence?  I know its professional football but like any job I would imagine it would be a huge difference for people if respect was mutu...

I thought it was a bit inappropriate to turn my Linkedin or even Facebook pages into an information gateway on the incoming NFL Draft.  Each year of the NFL Draft is important in its own way.  This year more than ever I personally realize the many resources you can find about following every team from YouTube to the various radio shows on a local level talking about each team.  Heck, for maybe a decade plus now, the NFL has its own radio station on SiriusXM and they have had their own TV network since 2003.  Its incredible.  ESPN and the NFL Network will both televise this event. So here's a list of links that might be helpful to you.  I think they have been helpful to me.  My page will focus mainly but not exclusively on my local-area teams which are the Cowboys and the Texans.  The Texans are having a horrible off-season with the Deshawn Watson media circus and his ever-expanding number of various lawsuits.  With that in that in the backgro...