Quote:
Originally Posted by nunusguy
But what if the Texans sincerely don't think he is or will ever return to his former self ? Do you think he is, I know I've got my doubts ?
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I'm probably more sure that he will never again be the same than I am the other way around. I still think he can be a very good player, but I don't think he will ever be an elite or top corner back in this league. After his outstanding rookie year every one got carried away and assumed he was going to be the next great corner. I don't think that ever happened before the injury, and even without the injury I didn't see him as ever being a top 5 CB. Scheme and talent around him played a part, but I think my opinion of his play was definitely lower than the standard consensus was among fans.
Now with the injury I kind of doubt he will ever be more than an above average/good CB. He was flat out bad at times last season, but there's no way that a good part of that wasn't just getting the rust out. I broke my leg once, and it was a looooong time before I felt completely normal, and I had a much less severe injury than Dunta did...and pick-up basketball and Rec level soccer is a long way from strapping on pads in the NFL.
That being said, CB's are so sought after that those above average guys usually end up getting top dollar from somebody. I think Dunta does bring a lot of leadership and drive to the defense and I hope he gets signed for a couple of reasons:
1. CB's are hard to find...decent ones at least. Robinson should be fully healed ( as much as he ever will be) this year and will likely be a player that could start for the majority of the teams in the league. We could get lucky in the draft, but you never want to enter a draft where your MUST find a starter at a certain position. Any Free agent CB capable of locking down a starting job is going to be expensive (look at Reeves). I would rather go with a more known quantity with D-Rob...even with the question marks.
2. Last time this team thought it was good enough to get rid of some of it's veteran leaders it was a disaster. I think Dunta's important enough in the locker room that he needs to be back. With some of our early draft picks (Andre, Pitts, D-Rob) it's sometimes hard to believe that these guys are the veterans on the team. They have already lasted longer than the average NFL career.
I'm not sure how comfortable I am giving him a big long term deal. I think Franchising him might be the best option, but if he has a great year his price could skyrocket. My guess is that the Texans and Robinsion split the difference sometime in the next couple of days. If they don't I see no reason why not to franchise him. We don't need the tag for someone else, and with the space cleared up from releasing Green and Greenwood we should have enough space.
For the record I consider getting Owen Daniels and Demeco Ryans locked up long term as much as a priority as Robinson. Ryans still has a year or two left , and Daniels is just an RFA. Either way I would like to know that we've got that done as well.