1st Round DL

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Roy P

JMac is the combo of Devin Hester and Torry Holt. He's a homerun threat anytime he touches the ball. If Walter could put up numbers in this offense, JMac would make defenses think twice before double covering AJ.

If you want a TE, Bear Pascoe is your guy and we don't have to spend #15 to get him.

I don't necessarily want a TE, I just think a TE helps this offense more than a Deep threat WR. We have no problem moving the ball between the 20s (what guys like Hester and Holt do). We do it as well as anyone in the NFL. We need someone who helps us in the red zone and Maclin does not have the size to do that.

Not to mention Walter had more TDs then Hester and Holt combined.

[Roy P]

Originally Posted by barrett

Not to mention Walter had more TDs then Hester and Holt combined.

So, I suppose you wouldn't want to trade Walter for Steve Smith, either. Smitty only had 6 TDs compared to Walter's 8. It's amazing Walter didn't make the Pro-Bowl.

While I concede that the offense did a good job moving the ball, and had difficulty in the red zone, they are not above adding a playmaker with the #15 pick. Ideally, it would be nice to have a player like Ed Reed sitting there for us on draft day, but it is not likely to happen in this draft. Therefore, it is important to get the best available player who is most likely to have a successful career for the Texans and make a pretty immediate impact.

The latest Drafttek simulator has the Jaguars selecting JMac at #8. That's the last thing I'd hope for. There is nobody in our Secondary who can cover him. I suppose we might be inclined to select D.J. Moore or Alphonso Smith to play CB if that were the case. Then we had better hope that we could fill even more needs later.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by Roy P

The latest Drafttek simulator has the Jaguars selecting JMac at #8. That's the last thing I'd hope for. There is nobody in our Secondary who can cover him.

You're probably right Roy. That's why we need another stud edge-rusher at the other DE to help Mario knock Garrard on his azz before he can throw the ball downfield.

[James]

I'm not sure how enamored with Raji the rest of you are, but at this point, he is my #1 target in round one, lets say he slips out of the top 10 for some odd reason, maybe there's a run on the OT's and 4 go in the top 10. Would you swap spots with Buffalo for a 3rd? Think they would do it considering they could probably still get their man at 15 if it is indeed Pettigrew or an edge rusher? Or do we stick with Deljuan and Okoye, stay at 15 and grab an edge rusher?

[TexanJedi]

Originally Posted by James

I'm not sure how enamored with Raji the rest of you are, but at this point, he is my #1 target in round one, lets say he slips out of the top 10 for some odd reason, maybe there's a run on the OT's and 4 go in the top 10. Would you swap spots with Buffalo for a 3rd? Think they would do it considering they could probably still get their man at 15 if it is indeed Pettigrew or an edge rusher? Or do we stick with Deljuan and Okoye, stay at 15 and grab an edge rusher?

I vote option 2. Raji's nice, but Perry will be there if the Texans are set on a tackle. He's not as highly rated as Raji, but I would be hesitant to trade up for anyone at this point. Check back in a couple of months and maybe I change my mind. I do think as fans of the draft we become a little stingy when it comes to our team trading picks since after following the process we get enamored with certain players and always want more picks for our team to draft them. However, if a team is convinced that a player is the guy they want and need then they have to do what they can, in reason, to get him.

[James]

Jerry and Raji are very different players. Jerry is a 3 technique one gap tackle, whereas Raji is a 2 gap run stuffer. That is why I am so enamored with the guy, because he is different than any other DT in the draft, if we want another 3 technique, I think we can trade down from 15 and grab Moala or Hood, but Raji fills a need that we haven't been able to fill since Walker/Payne were here.

[danger6]

I wonder what type of defensive tackle the new coordinator and d-line coach might want. That will probably be a secret until after the draft.

[mussop]

Originally Posted by James

Jerry and Raji are very different players. Jerry is a 3 technique one gap tackle, whereas Raji is a 2 gap run stuffer. That is why I am so enamored with the guy, because he is different than any other DT in the draft, if we want another 3 technique, I think we can trade down from 15 and grab Moala or Hood, but Raji fills a need that we haven't been able to fill since Walker/Payne were here.

actually Raji is both. He can do either which is why I think it would be insane to pass him up at 15 should he fall.

[James]

True, which is why I would advocate us moving up for the man.

[Roy P]

While I like what Raji can do, I'm not 100% sure of what he will do once he has guaranteed money in his bank account. During the Senior Bowl practices he looked like Shaun Rogers. On Tuesday he was good, on Wednesday he was there, then on Thursday after Mayock got on him the day before he was great. If you watched the game on Saturday, there were plays where he was pretty average. While I've never heard him talk, his body language is somewhat disappointing. Is this a guy who has to have a boot in his ass in order to perform? What motivates him to perform to his highest ability is something that our team is going to have to determine before it thinks about using its #15 pick, much less mortgaging the future with extra picks to move up to get him.

None of us will be in the room when Raji is interviewed. We will not know how he will explain his academic problems at BC. Hopefully, we'll get to see what he scores on the Wunderlich to determine a little insight into his mental capacity. However, even that isn't proof positive if he'll be a risky pick to play NT in the NFL or not. We can only hope that coach Kollar and coach Bush will be able to get a feel for how lazy Raji is or is not and how dedicated he will be at the Pro level. If we draft him, we'll have to hope that the staff has done their homework.

If Raji didn't have unique skills at a position of need for us, we might not be willing to take the risk. Perhaps we would look for a player who has a better probability of making an impact for the team. I would guess that Peria Jerry has a better work ethic based upon how I saw him play consistently when he was on the field. His "downside" is the fact that most people see him as a player who would fill the same need as Amobi Okoye and would we see his strengths utilized if he was asked to simply stop the run and hold the point of attack. Perhaps Jerry's ability would keep OLs off guard not knowing which DT would attack and which would have the "stop the run" responsibility on any given down. This is a similar aproach of keeping the offense guessing which LB or which S is going to Blitz. Something to keep in mind.