Ahahahah, good ol’ ESPN.

Via Rotoworld (and originally found on TexansTalk) ESPN’s Chris Mortensen reports that once the Chargers inevitably cut LaDanian Tomlinson, that the Texans will be interested in his services.

Here’s how this works. Do the Texans have interest in LaDanian Tomlinson? Sure. Does EVERY TEAM IN THE NFL have some level of interest in LaDanian Tomlinson, even at this advanced stage of his career? Sure they do!

But, do the Texans have any interest in LaDanian Tomlinson at the price he will command? A price that someone else in the league will surely offer him? Hell no.

All it takes is a broad and general statement like “the Texans have interest in” and you’ve got yourself an NFL insider.

Whatever. Another Super Bowl Sunday that doesn’t include the only team I actually care about.

I don’t want Johnny-come-lately fandom to be rewarded, so I’m sure as hell not rooting for the Saints and their GIGANTIC BANDWAGON. As a Texans fan, sure I am no kind of Colts fan - but I do respect Peyton Manning. I don’t have a healthy disdain for the Colts like I do for the Titans and Cowboys… and Saints.

Let’s just say, I’m not “hoping” for either team to win… but I most definitely want the Saints to lose.

I suppose I should throw a prediction out there. The Colts pull out a close one, as neither team plays any defense in the second half. Colts win 38-31, Peyton Manning wins his second title, and appears in 3819 TV commercials in the next calendar year instead of 2327.

Yep, it’s that time! If you weren’t around these parts last offseason, you missed the Mock Draft Tracker. Luckily, it’s back for more. Here’s how it works - the first table shows which players have been chosen the most as the Texans’ first-rounder. Presently I’ve got 32 mocks on the list. Last year at it’s highest, I think I had it up around 80. I may or may not take it that high this year once more mocks come out.

The second table is simply every mock draft I’m pulling from, in order of the most recently updated.

Right now, Earl Thomas is the guy. Just for some historical perspective, last year there was an overwhelming early favorite as well. His name was Aaron Maybin. He was by far the most-often picked Texan early in the process… yet, after the Combine and all the way up until draft day - Brian Cushing was #1. So last year, it actually turned out to be accurate.

As always, I’m open to suggestions, criticisms, etc about the Tracker. I’m always looking to improve it without it becoming a monster that I won’t have enough time to keep up with.

I will also be re-launching “Offseason Central” at some point. Probably once we get closer to free agency. For a taste of what that’s like, check out last year’s version of Offseason Central.

MOCK DRAFT TRACKER STATS

2010 TEXANS MOCK DRAFT TRACKER

As expected, Gary Kubiak is getting a contract extension.

Despite being a huge Gary Kubiak guy, I’m kind of back and forth about this business of giving him a contract extension.

Extension’s effect on free agency and coaching hires is a bit overblown.
I suppose it does make sense that having your coach under contract for more than one season is more attractive for free agents - but I think this is way overblown. Money talks in NFL free agency - louder than anything. Much louder than continuity. Do you think if Albert Haynesworth would have known that the Redskins were going to switch from a 4-3 to a 3-4 that he would say “thanks but no thanks” to his $40 million guaranteed? Not likely. Maybe it could have been a tiebreaker, but I’m guessing Tampa Bay didn’t have the same amount on the table. The same concept applies to mid-level free agents as well.

As far as coaches, having only one year left on Kubiak’s contract didn’t preclude the Texans from being able to hire Rick Dennison as their offensive coordinator. It didn’t stop them from getting a new QB coach. Sure, Kubiak might have told both guys that he was about to be extended, but I’m guessing these guys didn’t sign with a “if Kubiak doesn’t get extended, our contract is voided” clause.

Sure, the extension is factor in free agency and coaching hires, but I don’t think it’s nearly as big a deal as it’s made out to be.

Kubiak’s win/loss record in the AFC South.
Gary Kubiak’s coaching record against his own division 7-17. Personally, I look at division record as a good indicator of how good a coach is. You’re facing the same teams every year, and if you’re as good as the other coaches - you find a way to at least keep it CLOSE to .500 in that time. Let’s not forget that the Texans haven’t been awful during Kubiak’s tenure. They’ve only had one losing season in four years, and a boatload of mediocrity.

I know it has been a strong division during this stretch, but the coaches and systems have all been the same. Jim Caldwell is the new coach in Indy, but they’re not doing THAT much different than they were during the Tony Dungy era. If you’re a good coach, and you’re preparing against the same systems and same coaches every season - you do better than 7-17.

That really gives me pause when I think about Kubiak getting an extension, and Kubiak’s ability as a coach overall. I support the guy and always have his back, but… 7-17.

It’s not like an extension means McNair won’t drop the hammer.
Bob McNair is sick of losing. A lot of people will be surprised by this extension, but they shouldn’t be. If the Texans bottom-out next year, I don’t think McNair will hesitate. He’s got the money to buy Kubiak out or just pay him what he’s owed according to the extension. That said - if the Texans once again finish in the 7-9 to 9-7 range next year, Kubes will be back and a lot of us won’t be happy.

Next season, we will find out a lot about Kubiak and the team’s future as a whole. 2009 was a perfect storm… Matt Schaub stayed healthy, Andre Johnson was once again a monster, and the defense improved after a rough start. On top of that, they had a fairly easy schedule on paper, and suddenly figured out how to win on the road. But they couldn’t win the big games, they couldn’t beat the top teams, they couldn’t finish, and once again they were garbage in their own division.

When the Texans go into next season, there will be uneasiness and uncertainty about the running game, and they will have what looks to be one hell of a tough schedule on paper.

We’ll see what they’re made of. We’ll see what Gary Kubiak is made of.

What a night for Matt Schaub in Miami. He ran away with the Pro Bowl MVP award, and with his two sacks, I would expect that Mario Williams was not far from being the runner-up.

Obviously the Pro Bowl is meaningless, but you have to say that for whatever possible good could come out of it, the Texans players maximized the opportunities they had.

On top of Mario’s two sacks, he also had two tackles for loss, several QB hurries (including one that forced an interception) and one play where he spared the life of Aaron Rodgers. That play should have been Mario’s first of three sacks, but instead he showed some mercy in a game that wasn’t important. To my delight, he wasn’t so kind to Tony Romo.

I’ll have another entry up later. I’ve tapped this one out on my phone so I’m not able to go as deep a I’d like. Until then I’m left to wonder what Brian Cushing would have done last night.

I’ve seen some names mentioned in the comments here and there, and at this very early stage - I thought we would put some of our early favorites for the first round pick up. This list of course doesn’t include guys who will no doubt be off the board, like Suh and Berry.

Right now, the guys I like in no particular order, and with minimal (to this point) research (and yes, very good chance that all or most of these will also be off the board):
Dan Williams, DT, Tennessee
Earl Thomas, S, Texas
Jonathan Dwyer, RB, Georgia Tech
Mike Iupati, OG, Idaho
Joe Haden, CB, Florida
Dez Bryant, WR, Oklahoma State (I know it’s not a need, but if he’s there you MUST think about it.)

I guess you can throw Clemson RB C.J. Spiller and Florida State CB Patrick Robinson into the mix, but I don’t feel as strongly about them at this point.

Right now, if you put a gun to my head - I think my top choice is Dan Williams… but it’s just way too early to lock that in.

If you’re inclined to care about such things, I encourage you to add me. I did the Twitter thing a long time ago, but never got around to making a Facebook page for the site. Not sure why.

Anyway, just go to your Facebook page and search Houston Diehards (with the space). I’ll use it like a regular FB page, so it’s not going to just be me posting links to articles. There will be that too, but I’ll talk about anything, really. Uh, except maybe politics, because that always ends in tears.

Okay, back to tweaking the Mock Draft Tracker. It’s giving me problems. I’ve clearly forgotten how to run it on the technical side. Last year it was so easy…

As we gear up for endless months of draft talk, mock drafts, and the like - it would be nice to know if Dunta Robinson is going to be a Texan in 2010. That would clear up a few things… like who the Texans will take in the first round of the draft.

Dunta has publicly stated that he wants to return to the Texans. He says his issues are behind him and there’s no lingering animosity. Well, to that I say - OF COURSE you want to return to the Texans. Who else is going to pay you 10 million dollars for one season of mediocre-at-best play? The things that we thought we could count on Robinson for regardless of his limitations - great run support and emotional on-field leadership - were still there, but it’s not like it used to be.

Obviously a lot of people are dogging on Dunta these days. Once a player becomes a malcontent, he can often do no right, and if he was already only an above-average player, he suddenly becomes terrible. There’s a little bit of that going on with Dunta, but he did regress this year, no doubt.

So now that Dunta has not come close to justifying his franchise salary, I think it’s safe to assume that he’s not going to be a Texan in 2010 unless he’s willing to take a pay cut. Really - why WOULD he take a pay cut? The ONLY reason he would do that would be if he desperately wanted to stay in Houston. There will of course be someone out there who will throw big money at Dunta counting on him improving with a change of scenery.

Rumor had it that Dunta was dying to sign with the Falcons last offseason. He’s from that area, and at the time the Falcons had a need at his position.

My opinion is that even though he went backwards last season, he’s still a serviceable player at his position. But there’s just no way he comes back at anything similar to what he made last year. Not with all the other players this team needs to sign. Dunta will make some good money in the free agent market, and cornerback is one of those positions that no team can have too many of.

Unfortunately though, we won’t know for sure until we know for sure. I’m going to operate under the assumption that Dunta is leaving… but it says here I’ve been wrong before.

Last week’s record: 3-1
Overall playoff record: 4-4

Colts over Jets
I was ready to pick the playoff-choking Chargers to beat the playoff-mediocre Colts, but the Jets took care of that. With how average and unintimidating the Colts always seem to be in the playoffs, I’m tempted to say the Jets continue their streak - but I just don’t see it. The Jets love to blitz like mad, and nobody is better at beating the blitz than Peyton Manning. Plus, even with the great defense and running game of the Jets, I just can’t imagine that having a rookie quarterback won’t catch up with them this week against a somewhat underrated Colts defense.

Vikings over Saints
I’m old school on a lot of things, often times to a fault. I am too stubborn to move off of the “a great defense will always beat a great offense” block. I’m very impressed by the Vikings’ defense, especially their pass rush. I know Drew Brees has a quick release and the Saints offense is often times designed to get receivers open quickly, but as much as I don’t care about his “plight,” I don’t see Brett Favre coming this far without cashing it in. Plus, Adrian Peterson has kind of been held in check lately. How can he not bust out? Also, admittedly - I’m not the biggest Saints fan in the world. They’re pretty much right there behind the Titans and the Cowboys for me.

I’m working out the kinks and assembling my list of mocks to relaunch the Draft Tracker. If you remember it from last year, I’m open to suggestions and changes/criticisms. Last year I was constantly struggling with one big question: Quantity or Quality? There sure was a ton of quantity… but not a whole lot of quality.

That said - the Tracker did end up accurately predicting the Texans’ selection of Brian Cushing. It’s about that time again… so be on the lookout for the Draft Tracker, coming soon. This is the first entry of the year where I use the 2010 Draft tag. Yep, it’s about that time.