Official 2013 NFL Draft - Rounds 4-7 Thread

[barrett]

Originally Posted by painekiller

IMO this is Wade Smith's last season with the Texans, and for that matter Antonio Smith is in his last years here also. That is a lot of cap room to resign Cushing next year.

I think the team is reacting to how hard the injury to Newton is to come back from. It's not the same old ACL or MCL tear here. And they are being proactive and not allowing any of the young linemen rest on their resumes.

I like the idea of 2014 having nunusguy projection. It should be interesting to watch.

I would say that last year taught us you shouldn't mess with a good OL if possible. Our OL plays on the philosophy of the whole being greater than the parts, and continuity is a big part of that. I don't think Smith has begun to decline in performance at all, and I don't think he has a prohibitive salary that would have me rushing to replace him. I think keeping him should be a priority (relatively speaking). The change on the right side of our line was the only difference between 2011's very effective offense (pre-Schaub injury), and 2012's very inconsistent offense. Arian and Tate carved up everybody behind that 2011 OL, and even though neither of the players replaced were stars individually, the loss of cohesion and continuity killed our offense.

If Smith is not in serious decline I hope he is the starter and that the 2014 OL is identical to the 2013 OL.