Texans to the Pro Bowl

[Keith]

Originally Posted by papabear

Dunta's a perfect example. I hear lots of people talk about Dunta's turned the defense around since he came back. He may be better than Petey, but he hasn't played all that well. That's not a knock on him. I was as fired up as anyone when he came back, and I think he'll be fine next year.

Agreed, but have you noticed how little teams have thrown Dunta's direction since he's been back though?

With so many players and moving parts in the game itself, I'm glad the fans have no more than 1/3 of the Pro Bowl vote. We're among the most interested and knowledgeable fans in forums like these, yet even we are having a hard time differentiating a player's "reputation" from his actual 2008 on-field performance.

If the political-ness of it could be removed, I think the players, coaches, scouts, and GMs should be allowed to pick their all-star rosters....but at the end of the day, it is a game for the fans, to sell tickets and build up more revenue for the business, which is why I don't get worked up over Pro Bowl rosters anyway.

I'll chip in my votes - Andre, Owen, Mario need to go. Slaton and Winston have cases, but probably won't make it. It'd be nice for Winston if right tackles and left tackles were chosen independent of each other.

Also, Kris Brown was money until his miss in Cleveland. I still think he should be considered. Jacoby's had some nice returns this year, but I'm not sure it will be enough to get him in. Leach has done well, but with the whole running game starting so slow, I'm not sure if their success of late will be enough to get Leach to Honolulu.

[papabear]

Originally Posted by Keith

Agreed, but have you noticed how little teams have thrown Dunta's direction since he's been back though?

With so many players and moving parts in the game itself, I'm glad the fans have no more than 1/3 of the Pro Bowl vote. We're among the most interested and knowledgeable fans in forums like these, yet even we are having a hard time differentiating a player's "reputation" from his actual 2008 on-field performance.

I agree that Dunta immediately became the most feared player in our secondary...although I'm not quite on board with the idea that teams have been avoiding him all that much. Maybe a little, but I don't think teams avoided Dunta all that much to begin with before the injury. They might have picked on weaker players, but I never felt like they were scared to throw at him.

I'm fascinated by how quickly guys get labeled by fans and/or media, and how hard it is for them to shake a label once it's stuck on them. It's like when ESPN anoints the"next" Gayle Sayers (Reggie) and then it takes three years of sub par play for them to admit that maybe Mario was a better choice. I made a comment in a bar during a Texans game earlier this year that Demeco wasn't having his usual good game...he'd wiffed on a couple of tackles, seemed slow to react to the run, and had gotten beat in coverage. I had to listen to how crazy I was for next thirty minutes because he's the "best player on our whole team". That might be true, but he still wasn't playing that well that day.

Why aren't we bombarded with news about the investigation into the investigation where Marvin Harrison might have shot someone the way we are with Burress shooting himself....because Burress has been labeled a trouble maker and Harrison's supposed to be a nice guy? I guess media market size can play into that one, but it still proves my point.

Sorry for the completely off topic rant.

[barrett]

Dunta's never really been a great coverage corner. He is a great Zone corner. He tackles great, hits hard, reads the QB, closes well, and breaks on the ball. But in man he is just ok. He is a great CB when facing the QB and is average when he has to turn and run. In a cover 2 system he's as good as they come.

As for this year I don't think teams have a chance to avoid him because he hasn't been outside much. He has played primarily in the slot and has done well there the last few weeks. Guys who get avoided are outside guys who shutdown a side of the field. There are probably 2 or 3 in the whole NFL.