Kaspers Korner

The Houston Texans have finally found another weapon to complement wide receiver Andre Johnson.  However, the Texans were fools to not lock him up to a long term contract.

That player would be tight end Owen Daniels who caught 63 passes for 768 yards receiving with three touchdowns in 2007.  Then in 2008 he did even better as he caught 70 passes for 862 yards with two touchdowns.

Daniels was selected in the fourth round of the 2006 draft and signed a three year contract.  That means with only three years accumulated Daniels was a restricted free agent.

The Texans did tender him to the highest level possible, which would be a first and third round draft picks if the Texans choose not to match anyone teams offer to him.

Fortunately for the Texans no team extended an offer sheet to Daniels.

The fact of the matter is that the Texans were stupid not to lockup Daniels to a long term deal.  For tight end that can stretch the field and are that good are hard to find.

The problem for the Texans is that if the National Football League and NFLPA reach a deal by start of the free agency for 2010 then Daniels will be a unrestricted free agent.

Even if the Texans tag Daniels, which is $4.371 million for 2009, it is not going to be close to the top deal in Kellen Winslow contract, which smallest per a year number is $5.17 million.

If a deal cannot be reached by that time then Daniels will be a restricted free agent, but if he has not received a new long term deal by that time Daniels will most likely request to be traded.  The Texans would have to do it, because he would not be under contract, and the Texans have no leverage to bring him in.

If the Texans do not wise up soon then they are going to be without a big weapon.

The Houston Texans for the first time in the history of their franchise had back to back season of .500, or better.  The problem is now the Texans fired two people that will cause them to take a step back.

The Houston Texans fired strength and conditioning coach Dan Riley, and trainer Kevin Bastin.  The reason being that the Texans have suffered a lot of injuries, and that is not tolerable. 

The problem with this thinking is that most of the players that were injured were older free agents the Texans brought in like running back Ahman Green.

Riley is one of the reasons that weight lifting is such an integral part of the National Football League today.  Riley was brought on by then Washington Redskins head coach Joe Gibbs.

According to the Houston Chronicle, Gibbs gave free reign to Riley to install his program.  That resulted in Gibbs giving up practice time, and made weight lifting a part of the regular season. 

This paid immediate dividends, and was one of the main reasons why Gibbs went on to win three Superbowl championships as the head coach of the Redskins.

Riley could get anyone into working out, and that was the case with Texans offensive tackle Ephraim Salaam said this to the Houston Chronicle about Riley, ‘’He helped me revive my career. I couldn’t have done the things I’ve done the last couple of years without him. I never liked lifting weights. He made me look forward to it. I was stronger these last two seasons than I’ve ever been.'’

Strength and conditioning coaches are just as important as any other head coach.  If he cannot get players into the weight room, then the performance of these players on game day is going to suffer.

Simply, the move by head coach Gary Kubiak is going to come back to haunt him.

When the Houston Texans made defensive end Mario Williams the top pick in the 2008 National Football League Draft many people questioned what the Texans were doing.  Looking back at it after three season the Texans knew exactly what they were doing.

Through 14 NFL games Williams has 11 sacks, and still has two more games to add to that total.  Williams last year recorded 14 sacks.

To have back to back season with more than 10 sacks within his first three years is amazing.  That puts him in rarified air amongst defensive ends.  Of the top 11 in sacks only Demarcus Ware, John Abraham, Julius Peppers, Robert Mathis, and Dwight Freeney have had two 10 plus sacks in two of their first three seasons.

The Texans passed on running back Reggie Bush who was thought to be a sure fire thing.  However, all he has proven to be is a excellent pass catcher, and a okay running back. 

The reason that Bush only gets 150 carries a season is that Bush is thought of not being able to carry the ball more than two hundred times without breaking down.

The money at the top of the draft is an extremely large amount of money, especially in up front money.  To make a running back that is not an every down running back the number one pick was simply insane.

The Texans did their homework, and are now being rewarded.  With two games left the Texans are 7-7, and could have a winning season.

Houston Texans cornerback Duanta Robinson is playing for the first time since November 4th, 2007, which in a game he tore his hamstring, and his knee.  The question now is can he return to his old form.

Tearing a ligament in a knee is much better than it was nearly 20 years ago.  Back then athletes that tore a ligament in their knee took anywhere from 12 to 18 months just to fully reconver, and get back on the feild.

Now, it is like routine as recovery time is down to six months.  Cinncinati Bengal quarterback Carson Palmer tore his anterior cruciate ligament in a playoff game in the month of January.  Then by August he was fully recovered, and able to play by the start of training camp in August.

Robinson’s injury is unprecedented in the National Football, and may be even in the history of sports?  The question is how will his body recover from tearing both at the same time.

How he responds will be a question for the Texans down the road.  Right now they are just happy to have him back.

It is good to see good things happen to the Texans, and to the city of Houston, Texas.  After all they still have a long road ahead of them in fixing up the destruction of Hurricane Ike.

A little bit shorter than a week ago Hurricane Ike hit Houston, Texas leaving behind a trail of destruction.  After hearing an interview on the radio the Texans are far from being ready to play.

Houston Astros star pitcher Roy Oswalt was on the Jim Rome show today.   In the interview Oswalt went on to say that MLB did not give them enough time to settle things at home. 

Texans players have a lot of problems at home.  According to the Houston Chronicle, defensive end Mario Williams had a tree fall into his house.  Defensive tackle Travis Johnson had his home destroyed by the hurricane.

They all have problems at home that they are going to have to deal with for the rest of the season.   Also, getting ready for football games is going to be difficult for the rest of their season, because their stadium was heavily damaged.

The Texans were already in bad shape after getting blown out by the Pittsburgh Steelers in week one.  Now, with having to deal with the aftermath of the hurricane the Texans will be lucky to even win five games this season.

What you hope for is that the team can get Reliant Stadium fixed by October 5th, which is their home opener.  That way the city has something for a couple hours a week to take their minds off things.

The Houston Texans traded for Matt Schaub to be the franchise quarterback of the future.  The move looks to be paying off dividends already as Schaub had a monster day in the Texans second preseason game.

Schaub in a half of work completed 14 of 16 passes for 187 yards and two touchdowns.  He even would of had more if wide receiver Andre Davis did not drop a ball on a deep route through the middle of the field.

What makes things even more impressive is that it was against the opponent was the New Orleans Saints.  The Saints made big moves in the trading for middle linebacker Jonathan Vilma, and trading up in the draft to get defensive tackle Sedrick Ellis.

The Saints run defense did its job by allowing 30 yards on 12 carries by Texans running backs Chris Brown and Chris Taylor.  However, Schaub just picked them apart.

If Schaub plays like this the Texans could be the surprise story of the league.

It was only two years ago that the Houston Texans were the worst team in the league.  After two years under general manager Rick Simth, and head coach Gary Kubiak, things are changing.

Last year the Texans finished with an 8-8 record.  That is due in part to a phenomenal job by Smith and Kubiak.

They have all the key pieces in place to become a success.  They traded for a quality young quarterback in Matt Schaub.  They already have a stud wide receiver in Andre Johnson.  Then in this past draft the Texans addressed their offensive tackle position in drafting tackle Duane Brown, and running back Steve Slaton.

Brown will obviously become a starter right away being a first round draft choice, and a offensive lineman.  Slaton was drafted in the third round by the Texans, but he still has a shot at being a starter.  At the least he will be a major contributor off the bench. 

The reasons being for this is that running back is one of the easiest positions to transition to the National Football League.  Also, their starting running back is Ahman Green, who is getting old, and has been prone to injury.

The Texans also grabbed some nice players on the defensive side of the ball.  In the 2006 draft the Texans took Mario Williams with the first pick overall.  Then in he second round of that same draft they took Demarco Ryans.  Then in last years draft they grabbed defensive tackle Amobi Okeye.

They have all the pieces im place to be a good team.  However, they are in the AFC South with the Indianapolis Colts, and the Jacksonville Jaguars.  Getting by them two is a daunting task that may take several years, but only time will tell.

The Houston Texans are coming off thier best season ever with an 8-8 record last year.  However, Texans head coach Gary Kubiak is not satisfied with it.

During the National Football League 2008 Draft someone on ESPN said that the Texans were celebrating their best season ever.  Well that did not go over very well with Kubiak as he brought it up several weks later.

“I promise you we’re not celebrating. Our players aren’t celebrating anything. They’ve been working their tails off, according to Kubiak.  “We’ll celebrate the day we become a playoff team,” he said. “And we’ve got a long way to go. We’re working in the right direction, but we’re not there yet.”

Many people in Houston are actually celebrating the Texans best season.  However, Kubiak is right they accomplished nothiing  The real time to celebrate is like he said when they are in the playoffs.

Audio version:

 http://boomp3.com/listen/d21kaxf/kk-texans-april-thirty

The Houston Texans stunned everyone when they took Mario Williams over Reggie Bush in 2005.  The reason being that there are major concerns that Reggie Bush could be a everydown back.

Kyle Shanahan, son of Denver head coach Mike Shananhan, took a shot at running back Reggie Bush, and at the same time giving insight into why they passed on him. “You look at guys around the league like Kevin Faulk, a guy like Reggie Bush; guys who come in and fill a specific role on third downs,” Shanahan said. ”When you look at a guy that people are projecting as a third down type guy or a change of pace guy I believe a lot of teams have more important needs that go early in the draft.  One exception is Reggie Bush; he is the highest guy that I’ve seen go that is a third-down type player.  The third round is when these guys start popping out.”

Them believing that he is a third down back does not bode well for the New Orleans Saint.  However, many can argue that it was his work ethic that hurt him.  In any case this is the year that makes or breaks Reggie Bush.

What the article also revealed is that the Texans are getting better at identifying players.  Under the previous regime the Texans took quarterback David Carr, and inserted him right away in the lineup.  Ultimately Carr would go on to be nothing more than a huge flop.

Now, the question is how long will it take for them to get to the playoffs.

For yeas everyone in the United States have stated that the Houston Texans biggest need is left tackle.  That could finally become a reality, since this upcoming draft is loaded with talent at the offensive tackle position.

Houston Chronicle’s John McClain said this of the Texan’s needs, “Everyone knows the Texans want a left tackle, cornerback and an end who can rush the passer. They also want a running back who fits the zone scheme they’re using.”

Left tackle has to be the pick there, especially since they are trying to changer their image.  However, they still could choose someone on defense.

“We don’t want to miss on this player.  We want to be right when we make this pick. We’ll be ready when the time comes to make the pick,” said Kubiak

In the end that is that exact thinking the Texans need if they are finally going to make it to the playoffs.