What Should Be Done with Dunta Robinson in the Offseason? [F-Tagged on 2/19!]

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by popanot

This may gives us an idea of what Dunta may be seeking. Perhaps a little less, but I doubt by much in today's market.

With a relatively young (2004 Draft like D-Rob) starting CB who was going to be a FA in 2009 already going off the market, this is certainly good news for D-Rob as the supply for corners like him has already contracted but the demand remains strong & constant. And not such good news for the Texans.
I dunno, how far back is D-Rob to his pre 2007 injury status and skills ? Is his maneuvrability, back-peddle skills, pure foot speed, etc. back or nearly back where it was ?

[NBT]

It woud be pure dumb to let Dunta walk without even trying to get him to reup. And then drafting a rookie who hasn't done squat to replace him. Just don't do it! Conserve what we have and try to build on it for next year for goodness sake.

[Nconroe]

I agree, do our best to re-up D-Rob, with new deal or franchise tag. He seems to be a great vocal, fiery, team leader.

I think he's recovering well, not yet his old self, but getting there.

I think still keep getting Dline and LBs stronger should be draft priority, for today, DB's are still young and may develop pretty good, well, maybe draft a safety pretty high.

[popanot]

There's no way McNair lets DRob walk. McNair's proven over the years, regretfully in some cases (*ahem* Carr, DDavis...), that he'll take care of the guys who he feels are good for the franchise. I will not be surprised to see them make a deal without having to use the F-Tag.

[superbowlbound]

Dunta has been coming into my restaurant semi-regularly since the summer, and i've had the privilege of talking with him a couple times. Nice guy, solid tipper. He loves this city, and he really likes his head coach. Richard Smith is a different matter entirely. I think, if we get ourselves even a decent D-coordinator, he sticks around. I've heard a lot of talk about the franchise tag, which i'm all for if we can't lock him up long-term. The guy brings fire, which is something this D absolutely needs, especially since mario and demeco are pretty soft-spoken guys to begin with.

I'm with most of you that don't think Dunta is an elite, as in top 5, corner in this league, but he is solid in coverage, and is one of the best in the league in run support among corners. Letting him walk with zero compensation would be a titanic blunder. F-tag him if we have to, for sure.

[jppaul]

He is a great zone coverage corner, a good man coverage corner. As much as they are paying corners these days he might be hard to keep, but he is definitely one of my favorite players. I love the way that guy lays the wood on 230 pounders.

He is also a leader and I think our team would take a big step back if we lost him.

[Keith]

I usually despise bumping up an old thread, but it probably makes sense to revisit this conversation.

Steph did a Q&A with KC Joyner on her Chron blog, and talk of Dunta surfaced.

Me: The Texans are going to have to make a decision with Dunta Robinson who is a unrestricted free agent going into this offseason. They have the option to franchise him for a year if they want more time to assess how his damaged hamstring/knee heals up more this offseason. When Robinson was in the lineup in 2008, the Texans were 7-4 and with him in the starting lineup, they were 5-1. Any thoughts about Robinson's play?

KC: "I've had good and bad things to say about Robinson over the years but in the case of a franchise tag, all I can say is look at his YPA metrics over the past five seasons:

2008 - 7.5
2007 - 8.0
2006 - 7.4
2005 - 9.3
2004 - 6.6

To put these into perspective, consider that a YPA of 7.5 or better will typically rank a cornerback in the upper half of the league. Robinson's YPA has been at or near the 7.5 mark twice, has been below it once and has been above it twice. If that's a franchise level cornerback, I'm a Pulitzer prize winner. He's worth re-signing at the right price but I wouldn't break the bank on him."

There's plenty of other discussable topics in that link (like Joyner's thoughts on Fred Bennett and Jacques Reeves), so click it if you haven't read it already.

Anyhoo, my comment was that stats are awesome, but YPA alone (including in combo with other stats) fails to account for Dunta's intangibles. I'm sure Joyner realizes this, but he's been rough on Dunta in the past, too. Good read (thanks again, Steph) and interesting info nonetheless.