[Chron.com] LB Colvin to visit Texans
 

Interesting.
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/5817469.html

Stay healthy and it'd be very nice.

i would rather see what we have in zac diles and xavier adibi than signing old players coming off injuries. unless we plan to use him like they were talking about using chaun thompson as a situational pass rusher.

Always love competition if it doesn't put the team in bad cap situation. I doubt the Texans would give him a big signing bonus if they sign him so it shouldn't be bad even if he is only a bandaid.

That's what I thought when I saw it....I can't imagine they would be interested in him for anything other than a situational guy.

well, kubiak and smith have shown a steadfast willingness to build this team up through the draft (and trades i suppose) instead of buying players up. ahman green or chris brown are the two biggest free agents i can think of off the top of my head. i don't think they would ignore two guys who they drafted (diles, adibi) for colvin who is older and coming off a foot injury which is never good. plus i think kubiak has more of a willingness to play talented youth over experienced vets as long as the work ethic is there. plus kubiak already divulged his wish to have played diles more last year. plus we already have chaun thompson who i'm totally fine with as our situational pass rusher. not to mention n.d. kalu doesn't exactly suck at being a situational pass rusher so....plenty of reasons to think this is just blabber.

I know they want a pass rusher on the LDE, but I really figured it was going to be a DE, that could rotate rather than a 3-4 LB that can really only play passing downs. The question then is he a LB or a DE in our def? Who does he beat out, if he gets a chance, Thompson or Bently? I think that he would really have to bring something mroe to the table than pass rusher. He has to be able to backup at least one of the postions.

for info purposes only:
colvin 6'3'' 250 turns 32 during season 9 years played
thompson 6'2'' 250 28 years old 5 years played
weaver 6'3'' 280 27 years old 7 years played
kalu 6'3'' 265 33 years old 10 years played

obviously colvin has the experience and ability to be a situational sacker, but i just don't think he's got the game (or size) at LDE that we don't already have in a weaver/kalu/thompson combo. and since we've already got the combo and don't need to spend money on something we already have.....

i noticed weaver's stats...the denver game he had 8 tackles and a safety? i don't remember the safety but the 8 tackles was about 4 more than he had any other game. so he had a good game and somebody else got 3.5 sacks....related?

KJ3

I think the real question is does Colvin have more ability and talent then Thompson or Kalu. That I dont know.

There are 3 players on the team that I like, which is contrary to what most other people think. Faggins, Greenwood, and Weaver.

Weaver was never advertised as a pass rusher. He is a run stopping DE that is big enough and strong enough to move inside. Weaver and the coaches have both said that he never played close to 100% last year, because he was so behind in conditioning from his two surgeries. I can belive that right now but he better come in and play like a mad man this year since he is supposed to be 100%. Although last year he had 41 tackles, which is a career high.

I dont remember the safety during the Denver game either. I think that the entire DL was lit up that game. Weaver and Amobi played great and MW made me weep in joy the whole night. I dont know if you could contribute their awesomeness to Weaver or Amobi playing better than they had been, or just all three of them really being pumped up.

I do know that just with the indicated improvement from MW and Amobi the line should be better, and wtih a healthy Weaver perhaps even more potent than we may think.

I like Greenwood as well. I don't think he gets enough credit. Overpaid? Yes, but he's been a solid player. I think the timing is right to have a guy like Adibi who can be groomed to replace him though because he is getting older.

I don't really have a problem with Weaver. He never developed into the pass rusher we hoped he would....but those were probably unrealistic expectations anyway. He wasn't healthy last year and it showed. Definitely overpaid though.

I don't get some of the unmitigated hate thrown at Faggins even though we definitely need to improve that spot. I think they tried to force a square peg in a round hole. He's a nickel corner at best and that's it. We were forced into a sitaution where we had nowhere else to turn for a starting corner. He was better than Buchanon, and Fletcher couldn't keep him off of the field either. I think he lost his confidence, and that just made matters worse. By all indications he works as hard or harder than anyone....he has too or he wouldn't have ever made it or still be here. He is spot that we need to upgrade, and with Bennet, Molden, and Reeves we have probably done that. He's the kind of guy who I hope can make it work simply because he's one of those came out of nowhere stories. I know he played very bad last year, but it's interesting how he went from "Petey the Fan favorite" to the worst cornerback in the history of the game...and you get the feeling that nothing he does will ever get some people off of his back.

Kravix-

I don't know what the coaches think, but to me we don't need a LDE, we need a RDE. I think Mario is a perfect LDE. I know most people think the RDE is more valuable, and in general I would agree, but I think Mario is the exception. I don't think he is quite fast enough to beat some right tackles. In other words, he's not a true speed rusher. But the fact that he has enough speed to beat righttackles consistenty at the same time that he can excell against the run makes him a real weapon against any offense.
In other words, we need a true speed rusher at RDE. Maybe we will get one in an early round next year in the draft. At least I'm hoping we will.

But do you want a true speed/pass rusher there every down? Or a beast that locks down the run if it comes and gets sacks on passes?

I think Weaver had his best year to date partly because teams woudl run from MW.

I cant argue that he looks much better against RT's than LT's, but the caveat is LT's are typically better than LT's. I would love to see the stats of how many sacks and pressures came from the RDE vs LDE for MW last year.

The real question for Colvin, other than would he play LB or DE, is what will he demand salary wise? He was making $7.9M this year with the Pats before they cut him loose. Wouldhis sore foot take the pressure? Lots of questions to be answered before we are interested,IMO.

He is barking up the wrong tree if he thinks that this FO is going to pay him close to that as non starter, situational pass rusher.

Looks like the jury is still out:

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...t/5819819.html

if you look at the numbers, there is no question. deal is, do we need a talented pass rusher or do we need a big, quick guy who can come in and explode through every ounce of energy he's got at the moment trying to get to the qb? i say the latter and that we've already got 2 of 'em in kalu and thompson.
32 tackles, 9 assists doesn't sound like a run stopper to me. mario's 43 tackles, 16 assists with 2 forced fumbles and 1 recovery (and a TD hehehe) does though and mario did all that in between 14 sacks. but it's not the numbers that matter, it's his impact. mario can, does, and will dominate...weaver never seems to make plays...but when he did (the denver game) the whole line played out of their minds. probably not totally related but i certainly don't believe it's just coincidence.

Well, they got him.

http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/...s/5839758.html

No contract details and, I think, that is what determines how good a deal this is. I don't think anybody really knows how much he has left and he's GOT to stay healthy. At the very least, they keep him away from Indy. I just read that both Freeny and Bob Sanders may be PUPed. Trouble in Indy?

This guy brings in a Champion mentality because he is coming from the Patriots.

However, I am on a wait n see mode.

This signing is kinda a Keith Mitchell, Charlie Clemons, Danny Clark.,. I'm not going to get too excited.

By the way, I am serious, Darius Walker.

as long as the money isn't crazy i like the signing. (and i think smith has shown he isn't going to waste money, so i feel pretty good about it). if he can stay healthy it should be a tremendous help to the defense, and mario specifically. given the time of year it is i am going with the glass half full. if you can't be high on the team this time of the year, when can you?

As happy as I am that we drafted Mario, I think at the time we drafted him he really wasn't a perfect fit fo us because we already had a player with a high priced long term contract who also played the position that Mario is in my opinion best suited for. I will stand corrected if the future shows me wrong, but I suspect that Mario is will probably always be most effective at STRONGSIDE end. Yes, he can play either end position effectively, but IMO strongside is where he will shine the most.
My feeling is that he doesn't have the speed off the snap to really dominate the best left tackles in the league, though he has the speed to beat the best right tackles. And at 290 pounds, he obviously can handle the strong side run duties. The tremendous thing about Mario is that he allows a team to have TWO great pass rushing ends. Up until now, we haven't had that. I think that with Colvin we may have it. As least if he can stay healthy.
Weaver is redundant if we get another speed rusher in the draft next year, which I expect will happen. I think this year will most likely be Weaver's last year as a Texan.

i'm meh about the signing but like dave said, he won't play against us.

time will tell.

the contract matters a whole lot.

Call me crazy, but I'm a bit more optimistic about the signing than most. I know the downside (injuries: missed five games last year and lost a season five years ago; and age: will be turning 31 early next season) but I think that Colvin still has the potential to be a good player, if not the really good player he was as recently as last season.

When healthy, Colvin was pretty much a guarantee for at seven sacks from the strong-side linebacker position, which is one of our biggest question marks right now. Between 2001 and 2006, Colvin played five complete seasons in six years. In those years, he averaged 8.3 sacks, and thats counting 2004 when he wasn't yet full speed after recovering from a hip injury that wiped out the previous season.

Last year he may have only had four sacks in his eleven games, but I've closely followed Colvin's career and I kept reading things (mostly on Football Outsiders) about how well Colvin was doing on that Pats defense and how he was one of the keys to their defense last season before he went down (and how much they declined after he did).

For any of those who forgot, Colvin also made his reputation in a 4-3 defense, the Bears excellent early 90's D, so he shouldn't have any trouble fitting in. And 30, turning 31, isn't ancient. Barring further injury, he's probably got a few more solid years left in him, and possibly a few more as a role player.

I'm not expecting the Colvin of 2001 to step on the field for us, but I think he's got a lot more potential to contribute than most and could really surprise. Worst case scenario, we've got an experienced player whose achieved a considerable amount that can mentor some of our younger linebackers.

I think there is a good chance that he has an impact for us. It is my understanding though that he will be more of a situational DE than a LB here. His experience should allow the Texans to use him in multiple roles (as well as get creative with blitz packages....hint hint MR. Smith). Is there a chance that he plays as more of an every-down type SLB? Sure there is, that just wasn't what I thought the plan was....correct me if I'm wrong though.

if anyone finds the contract terms please let everyone know! thanks!

Watching video highlights on the NFL site has revealed a critical issue that noone has yet raised...what number is he going to wear???

I'm guessing DeMeco's keeping "59".

95? he'll be a situational DE right?


demeco ain't goin' nowhere!!!

Whatever! Mario got 14 sacks last year. That's what counts, none of that best on this side, no best on that side crap.

On to positives, Rosevelt Colvin signs. All good in my estimation, because it causes even more chaos when opposing coaches try to draw up an offensive gameplan against us. If Weaver plays downs 1 & 2 we have a good run defense. on 3rd down we can either have Colvin or thompson either rush the passer or drop into zone. This sets up the option of blitzing another LB, or even a safety.

What I like most about this signing is it at once makes both the DE and the LB's stronger. And it should ease the burden on the CB's by giving us a heck of a lot better passrush.

I wouldnt be suprised to see Weaver play inside with Amobi when Colvin comes in.

I have a feeling we will see a our pass rush defense as Williams, Bulman, Okoye, Colvin. Very little of Weaver on 3rd and long.

I wouldn't count TJ out of the rotation in the middle on passing downs just yet.

Bulman seems to be the flavor of the day to take over from TJ, but TJ was probably out best interior D-lineman last year. It looks to me that we are going to have a pretty good rotation available at DT and TJ will be an important cog in that rotation.

Well, I think he's (Colvin) a lock for the 53 man roster (barring injury) so it does crowd up the LB position - someone probably just got pushed out. Gonna be a lot of decent players getting cut this year.....

Yeah but it's a nice problem to have instead of scrambling for players.

OK we got Mario & Okoye who are absolute locks and I really think Colvin is next in order with the job security if you watch the 2 videos about his signing on the Texans website. To hear him tell it he is practically guaranteed multiple years here by the FO.
Next most likely would be Weaver & Okam which leaves TJ, Bulman, Cochran,
Zgonia, Kula & Maddox to finish out the DLine roster.
OK we keep 8 or 9 DLinemen for the final roster ? So who's in and who's out if
they were cutting to the final 53 today ?

During OTAs and Mini Camp Bulman had won the pass rush DE job. He was working with the 1st team on passing downs in place of Weaver. He has made the move DE seamlessly it appeared. But now as is being pointed out we are heavy with DL guys. And we do not have the luxury of sitting one of the 4 best pass rusher on the team. Yes I said Bulman is one of the best 4 pass rusher on the team, why? Because, Kubiak and others have said so. This off season Bulman has risen his game to be one of our best stories.

DL that is kept? Williams, Okoye, TJ, Cochran, Bulman, Okam, Maddox? Kalu?, Weaver? Zgonina? Colvin LB/DE

Maddox maybe a numbers game, he plays solid, but is he still in the rotation that has improved. Kalu will be in a numbers game at DE. Weaver seems to have the coaches on his side, but he could be outshined by a younger/cheaper player. Zgonina is Rick Smith's college roommate and that will have some pull, but I hope the team goes with the younger player with upside over the older/backside of the career guys. .

My understanding is that Weaver is a very expensive luxury for the Texans to carry on their roster, i.e., he's too expensive to cut this year because of the potentially onerous cap hit while at the same time he's really a redundant player because Mario is best as the full-time strongside DE where Weaver is playing ? Earlier posts have coverd topic this pretty well.
But Bulman is like only 25 or 26 and still cheap so I hope they find a way to keep him ? Word is he has lost some weight in the offseason which has improved his quickness but he's still playing exclusive on the inside as a DT so far as I know ?

Yes, and I hope he is ready to explode on the scene like some of the quotes about him suggest. John Abbate was also giving glowing reviews last year. He appears to be an afterthought now. Same thing can be said for a lot of late round/undrafted/young guys at the bottom of the depth chart players every year. There always seems to be a few lesser known players who make an apparently huge impression in the summer....only to get cut or barely scratch the active roster all season.

I'm not saying that's the case with Bullman, but I think a lot of the articles/quotes we see this time of year are one part marketing, one part motivation tool, and one part truth.

Over the course of the season last year TJ was our most consistent interior lineman. Okye was strong, but tailed off. I expect that to change this year. In pass rushing downs it might seem obvious to take out our NT, but remember that when TJ was drafted the big complaint was that he was more of a penetrating under-tackle than a 2-gap NT like we needed for the 3-4 we were running then.

They have been playing him at DE some as well.

In fact they had him loose the weight to play the DE exclusively. He work at DE during the OTA not DT. Can he still play DT? Yes.

From the main site

He was getting reps at both spots.

Link

Looks like a no risk/pretty low dollar deal for the potential upside.