OD vs. Atogwe

[Joshua]

Yesterday, Owen Daniels signed with the Texans and Atogwe signed with the Redskins. According to reports, Daniels signed a 4 year/$22 million deal (with $6 mill. guaranteed) and Atogwe signed a 5 year/$26 million deal (no word on guaranteed amount). As the contracts were relatively similar in terms and reached on the same day, it got me to thinking, which would you rather have?

OD is clearly the younger player and probably has greater upside. But he is coming off his 3rd ACL tear and plays one of the few positions that the Texans have depth at. With the recent cuts, the Texans basically don't have a starting caliber S on their roster (and arguably didn't before the cuts), thus, Atogwe would have filled a position of huge need with an above average player.

So, since not much is going on, I thought I would throw this out. Which would you rather have? While OD is probably the better playeer, the dropoff between Atogwe and Nolan and Barber is much greater than the difference between OD and Dreesen (or Casey or Hill or Graham . . . ).

[Nconroe]

in the whatif world, if you lined up both players and said you can only have one then I would take the safety.

But UFA signing and trades and draft havn't really started, so we don't know what else Texans might do to replace the two experienced safeties they just let go, who were good in 09 but not in 10. Hopefully not repeating their CB mistake of last year, we shall see.

[Arky]

One can probably make an argument either way... I liked the OD signing because I think he makes the offense better. I think Schaub likes to target him, too, I think, moreso than the other TE"s.... Will OD stay healthy and return to making plays like he used to? That is "to be continued".... I think his contract had a bit of we-like-you,-coach-and-the-other-guys-like-you-here's-some-money-for-past-sacrifices-please-don't-get-hurt-again to it.... I think it was a fair contract - perhaps a little more than expected. I think Dreesen is solid and Casey has untapped potential and they really need to figure out a way to get more live reps for Casey. And if they draft another TE this year, they would have a very hard time justifying it to the fanbase...

Atogwe, honestly, I don't know that much about him other than he's supposed to be very good.

So, you're looking at two "very good" players making about the same - one on offense, one on defense. Do the Texans need "very good" on defense? You betcha. ;) Lots of it. But do the Texans have a master plan for the defense this off-season? Whenever they get back to playing games (September? October?) we'll have the answer. In the meantime, it'll be interesting to follow the moves they make for Wade's "new" defense...

[NBT]

If it had been an either-or situation, which it was not, I am glad we went with OD. BUT, I still say we need to get much more aggressive with the FA situation, much earlier in the game, and not waiting for the left overs as we have done in the past.

[Arky]

Found this link (http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2011recap.php) on another forum. It's Walterfootball.com's take on the free agents signings so far. He's got the OD signing as a "good move" and Washington signing Atogwe as a "bad move".... :eek:

Redskins sign FS O.J. Atogwe: 5 years, $26 million - Bad Move

I'm going to be honest. Daniel Snyder is a f***ing moron. Look, O.J. Atogwe is a really good player. But what the hell are the Redskins going to do with him? He turns 30 in June. Washington is a team in rebuilding mode. When they're finally capable of competing for a playoff spot, Atogwe will be old and ineffective.

This signing makes absolutely no sense. But then again, nothing Snyder ever does makes any sense. It's really amazing that year after year, Snyder continuously makes the mistake over and over again.

Here's a thought, Mr. Snyder: How about you build through the draft instead of overpaying for 30-year-old free agents past their prime? I know, it's a crazy concept. But maybe you should start paying attention to how franchises like the Packers, Steelers and Colts operate. Notice how they're always successful despite never signing any free agents? I guess that's just luck, right?

Texans re-sign TE Owen Daniels: 4 years, $22 million; $6 million guaranteed - Good Move

Owen Daniels is one of the top tight ends in the NFL. He's coming off an injury, so the Texans are lucky enough to get him at a discounted rate.

[TheMatrix31]

Well, I agree on OD being a great (re)signing. Critical to our offense.

[Fonz the Boss]

Ive always said that OD's numbers are superb because of the system. If he were to play for another team I don't think he would be as productive as he is with the Texans. But when he's healthy he plays great in our system. He clearly has a connection with Schaub and Im pretty sure Schaubby would have been upset if they would have let him go...... This is why I support the signing of OD.

[painekiller]

Found this link (http://walterfootball.com/freeagents2011recap.php) on another forum. It's Walterfootball.com's take on the free agents signings so far. He's got the OD signing as a "good move" and Washington signing Atogwe as a "bad move".... :eek:

They did not say Atogwe could not play and that he would not be a good signing for a team that is close, just that the Redskins are not close and he would be past his prime before they were a contender again.

[NBT]

Ive always said that OD's numbers are superb because of the system. If he were to play for another team I don't think he would be as productive as he is with the Texans. But when he's healthy he plays great in our system. He clearly has a connection with Schaub and Im pretty sure Schaubby would have been upset if they would have let him go...... This is why I support the signing of OD.

Manning is great because of the system he plays in. But he would be good in any system, and so would OD.

[Nconroe]

Did anyone notice that ESPN currently doesn't have OD in top ten TE's.
I guess they will be wrong on that ranking for this upcoming year.

http://espn.go.com/blog/afcwest/post/_/id/25756/power-rankings-top-10-nfl-tight-ends

[NBT]

It's like what have you done for me lately? OD has not been his old self for the last couple of years, while rehabbing that knee. He will be back on top this year.

[Roy P]

Just looking at the dearth of talent in this draft concerning the FS position, I had Atogwe as our top priority. So, considering the money, yeah, I'd have signed him instead of OD if I wasn't allowed to have both. I just don't know what the plan is for the back-end of our defense. Will we be playing more bump-and-run press coverage or more of a drop back zone coverage? Wade doesn't inspire me and the current defensive roster does not either. So, getting a known commodity for the Secondary should have been a no-brainer. We shall see.

[popanot]

I just don't know what the plan is for the back-end of our defense.I'm not sure what Wade's plan is, but I know what Kubiak/Smith's plan is... Do nothing to very little and hope Wade can work voodoo magic. They've treated both Safety positions like a runt in a puppy mill since they've been in charge. Far more important to have ~4 young TE's than 2 decent S's in this league. :/

[Joshua]

I'm not sure what Wade's plan is, but I know what Kubiak/Smith's plan is... Do nothing to very little and hope Wade can work voodoo magic. They've treated both Safety positions like a runt in a puppy mill since they've been in charge. Far more important to have ~4 young TE's than 2 decent S's in this league. :/

I too have been perplexed by Smithiak's complete disregard of the safety position. I find this even more confounding because we have been such a pass-first offense the last several years. Of all people, Kubiak should understand that the NFL is a pass-first league now and the safety position is much more important than it was in 1985 (or even 1995).

I've experienced the same confusion over the tackle/nose tackle position(s). Every time we have faced a big, mauling NT, he has generally disrupted our offense all by himself (I'm thinking of Jenkins, Hampton, Ngata, etc.). You would think seeing this first hand, the light bulb might go off that having one of those guys might be beneficial. Instead, they keep saying they want tackles that can run sideline to sideline. For the life of me, I have no idea why this is a trait you would look for in a tackle.

You would think that if you are able to expose other teams with your passing game, you might sit down and think to yourself, "Now, how can I make sure that the other team doesn't turn around and do this to my defense?" Same thing with the NT, if several of them keep throwing your center into the backfield, how does Kubiak never think about getting one of those for himself?