[EDITOR'S NOTE] Originally, the headline was “…who is untouchable on the Texans’ defense.” After getting some feedback on Twitter, I was in agreement that there’s a big distinction between “untouchable” and “keeper,” so I made the change accordingly. Thanks to those who helped me see that.
Many of us (self included) are still convinced that despite the massive, MASSIVE failure of the 2010 season, Gary Kubiak will be back next season, especially after the vote of confidence owner Bob McNair gave him last week.
I do question the effort level in the loss at Tennessee, though I think the Texans are a far cry from “quitting” on Kubiak. But, I did see a difference. A “worse” kind of loss, if that’s possible. Most likely the Texans will rally and have a strong showing in Denver next week, but if what we saw Sunday becomes a trend, I would hope (but doubt) that McNair will also notice the difference and allow that to turn the tide of his thinking on Kubiak.
So, let’s talk fantasy for a moment, without speculating on a new coach. With any new coach would come new assistants, and inevitably, a ton of player turnover. Contracts and CBA issues complicate things, so obviously this isn’t as cut and dry as I’d like it to be for this entry – but humor me. We’re 5-9. *sniffle*
I used to bristle at talk of the Texans bringing in a defensive coordinator who would install the 3-4. Not anymore. It’s not that I’d prefer one (I wouldn’t, necessarily) but if they have a proven guru in their crosshairs, bring him on. Bring any guru on, 3-4, 4-3, 46, whatever. Do you really think this defense could get any worse than it is now if they had a WEEK to install the 3-4, much less an entire offseason? I understand that Mario Williams isn’t a good fit for the 3-4… but I’m starting to wonder what we’re going to get from him going forward. He’s dominant at times, but he’s also played hurt the majority of his career. Is a 70% Mario Williams better than a healthy (insert name here)? Of course, it depends on the name, but as devoid of talent as parts of this defense are, the scheme is just as culpable. Plus, I’m a firm believer that a great football player is a great football player. Mario Williams can adapt, at least I hope so.
Now, a piece of human garbage like Jason Babin, who complains and cries about how the only reason he wasn’t A HUGE STAR IN THE NFL prior to this season is because he was in bad schemes/fits for his talents? Not so much. Piece of crap.
Um, so anyway. On defense, you have a core of Williams, Antonio Smith, Brian Cushing, Bernard Pollard, Connor Barwin, Darryl Sharpton, and… who else? Amobi Okoye has certainly played better this year. Earl Mitchell surely has a ton of potential. DeMeco Ryans will sadly probably never be the same after his injury, but you probably have to include his name. After that, who? Glover Quin? I guess you have to keep Kareem Jackson since he’s only a rookie AND WILL SOMEDAY BE A GREAT PRO!! (WHAT? WHY?)
Some might object to including Bernard Pollard. Yeah, he has NOT been good this season, but I would think he’d be much more effective if he had ANY kind of talent/help around him in the secondary, especially at the free safety position. I could be wrong about that. I invite you to tell me so.
On offense, things are more complicated. I’m going to save that for an entirely different entry.
Dec 21, 2010 at 02:20:58
a transition to the 34 would be a nightmare! it would take a massive overhaul of personnel not to mention adjustment to the new scheme by players kept. what would bring immediate improvement? improvement of our current 43 by way of bringing in yet another new coordinator, or 34 overhaul? i say the former. but maybe thats just wishful thinking.
Dec 21, 2010 at 10:03:49
I can kind of see 3-4 happening, but it will require players to accept it. We would have to have Mario and Antonio Smith at the DEs with Damione Lewis at NT, Okoye and Mitchell would come in on Nickel and Dime situations. For Nickel and Dime the DEs would be Mario and Barwin. Barwin can play Will LB with DeMeco and Sharpton at the inside LB positions. Cushing stays at Sam LB. Our first round pick in the next draft has got to be a stud FS (please don’t blow it on this pick)
Dec 21, 2010 at 10:14:21
I guess I could see a 3-4 working, but they’d have to draft a nose tackle with their first round pick. I could see Amobi Okoye, Williams, Smith and Mitchell at the ends and they would form a good rotation, especially if Okoye and Mitchell were able to drop a little more weight. You have your two middle backers in Cushing and Ryans with Barwin as the rush linebacker. You would need better Will linebackers who could cover though. Perhaps better coverage by linebackers – if they add the right Will personnel and a good free safety – could help hide Pollard’s weaknesses in coverage because you can better disguise coverages in a 3-4, so it’s possible a move to the 3-4 could help him. Of course, there’s no depth here, so it would take 2-3 years to get a good defense that could withstand injuries (not that the defense was able to withstand injuries this year, but…). But, hey, we’ve waited 9 years for a good defense, so what’s a few more? The most crucial thing is the defensive coordinator and whether they have all the requisite skills to build a defense from the ground up. If you have that, things should work out over time.
Dec 21, 2010 at 10:17:21
It seems like the current teams that have a good defense are all 3-4 defenses. I would argue that pass defense is much more important in this league than run defense. Especially with an awesome offense like ours. Look at the Patriots. They have the best offense in the league and a marginally bad defense. The secondary makes some plays and so when they build big leads they can hold off the other team and force turnovers in the passing game. The 3-4 allows you to be more creative with the pass rush. I don’t think the 3-4 is necessarily better. The Eagles run a 4-3. The Ravens run a 4-3 I think. If we are going to keep running a 4-3 we need to address the problems with the defense that have been holding us back for years (in order: playmaking free safety, space-eating disruptive defensive tackle) and the new problems that arose this year (cornerback). We also need to get over our fear of building through free agency. Building through the draft is important but free agency is needed to fill holes and might be necessary to help us fill the final gaps and get something out of the second half of Andre Johnson’s career.
Dec 21, 2010 at 12:50:03
Plus, despite all the talk about all the changes to the personnel on the field to switch to a 3-4, we don’t actually have any on-field evidence that the Texans have the personnel to play a 4-3 either. Sure, they’ve tried to design the defensive roster for a 4-3, but they clearly haven’t succeeded. Other than having no true NT, I can’t look at the Texans defenders and say with conviction that they definitely play a 4-3 a lot better than they’d play a 3-4. Pollard could probably blitz more in a 3-4. Who says Mario Williams wouldn’t do just as well in a 3-4 at DE? I certainly can’t base an opinion on what’s happened with these last two coordinators. That’s like trying to make sense out of nonsense. GIGO: Garbage In = Garbage Out.
Dec 21, 2010 at 14:10:26
I think we’d probably have to pick up another big NT, either in the draft, or in FA, to move to the 3-4, but I think we’ve got a lot of people that could do the job.
Mario Williams and Antonio Smith are both DE/DT tweeners that fit the 3-4 End. Think about Richard Seymour. Amobi and Earl Mitchell can also do the job, a little bigger, but still not big NT size.
D. Lewis is the only player we have that fits the 3-4 NT profile, but like I said, that’s someone to draft.
at OLB, Barwin and Mark Anderson would both be great standup pass rushers off the edge
at ILB, DeMeco and Cushing, with Sharpton and Diles/Bentley as backups
Secondary
CB – Jason Allen and KJackson plus another free agent vet
Strong Safety – Pollard
Free Safety – GQ. Yes, he’s come on strong at CB the last few games, but I think that he’s the guy at FS. Ball skills, can cover one on one, and smart. Could give our CB’s a little protection, and he can hit.
I think, get Wade Phillips as DC. 1. He’s coached both the 3-4 and 4-3, and been successful, so we could transition either way. 2. Possible head coach if Kubiak doesn’t work out. 3. He’s Bum’s boy, so Houston will love him.
Texans plan: Keep Kubiak one more year. Make him turnover Offensive playcalling duties to his OC and focus on game management and motivation. Hire Wade to be DC, let him decide which defensive coaches/players to hire or fire. Give Kubes a short leash with his replacement waiting in the wings.
Dec 21, 2010 at 14:25:35
I couldn’t give to sh*ts about what kind of D we run, just as long as, ya know, we actually run something……
What we have isn’t good enough.
FIX IT. Please.
Dec 21, 2010 at 19:47:26
amobi will get eaten alive if we swith him to 34 end. 34 ends HAVE to eat up the run and that is not what amobi does. mario at 34 end is intresting though, but placing him there would neutralize his best ability which is the outside rush. furthermore, mario would struggle in pass coverage if we place him at the 34 olb (34olb’s do drop into coverage from time to time).
i think the only players who will be able to cleanly transfer to the 34 are Cush (34 olb), demeco (34 ilb), sharpton (34ilb), maybe anderson (34olb).
Are robaire smith and seth payne still availible through FA??
Dec 21, 2010 at 21:23:40
Bernard Pollard would be a better fit for a 3-4… 4-3 cover 2 def. we currently employ means that only the front 4 apply pressure and Pollard has to be in coverage more oft then not. By him being in a pressure 3-4 defense, we can utilize his box safety skills and bring him in on a rush.
Connor Barwin is athletic enough to play outside 3-4 LB… DeMeco Ryans & Sharpton would be effective playing the Middle and Brian Cushing playing opposite of Barwin.
Mario, I’ve always felt has the ability to play in a 3-4 hybrid defense. He really only bull rushes anyway… and i think he would be REAL effective playing both LE/RE and having Cushing/Barwin/Pollard blitzing/rushing too. I think they would give O-lineman fits.
We would definitely need to draft AND pick up via FA effective NT’s.
Who would play opposite of Mario on the end? hmmm… I think Antonio Smith is the KEY, because if he can’t make the transition then we would have one more spot to fill. Maybe Earl Mitchell has enough athleticism to play D-end.
I would like to see us run more of a Hybrid 3-4 defense.
I would line-up in a 46 or 4-3 in base and run the 3-4 in passing situations.
Which would be perfect because if anything we are in a transitional period and our players are 4-3 type of players (front 4 speaking, besides Barwin)
I think this would work. In fact i made a huge detailed thread about running some sort of a 3-4/43/46 defense back when F. Bush 1st took over as Defensive Coordinator
Dec 21, 2010 at 21:31:36
SS- Bernard Pollard
SS- Dominique Barber
FS- XXXXXX (3-4 or not Eugene has got to go)
FS- Troy Nolan (better than Wilson, but not starter material)
CB- Glover Quinn
CB- Jason Allen
CB- Kareem Jackson (gotta give him another shot i guess)
CB- Sherrick McManis
ROLB- Connor Barwin\ Mark Anderson
ILB- Demeco Ryans\Kevin Bentley
ILB- Darryl Sharpton\XXXXXXX
LOLB- Brian Cushing\XXXXXXX
DE- Mario Williams
DE- DRAFT PICK AND FREE AGENCY SIGNING
DE- Antonio Smith (transitional period player/hybrid)
DE- Earl Mitchell
NT- HIGH DRAFT PICK AND FREE AGENCY AND TRADE
NT- DRAFT PICK AND FREE AGENCY
NT- FREE AGENCY
Dec 21, 2010 at 23:55:08
They started to run kind of a hybrid at the end of last year with barwin. Bush and Kubiak both said that they had a lot of different pakages made up for him before he got hurt. He did pretty decent the few times he dropped in coverage last year, I think it hurt the team pretty bad when he went down.
Dec 21, 2010 at 23:57:45
I would also like to see McManis get some real playing time the last to games to see what he’s got.
Dec 22, 2010 at 09:24:56
A 3-4 transition would be easy if we hire Wade Phillips. His version of the scheme does not use the traditional nose tackle. (his current nose tackle, jay Ratliff, is 303) in his scheme, the nose is NOT responsible for a 0-technique assignment, so Amobi Okoye could fit there.
That would put Mario (who has the size to play the 5; that’s why he was #1 pick material, his size/speed combo) and Antonio on the 5′s (he played 3-4 in Arizona, back when Frank Bush actually knew how to coordinate a defense).
DeMeco and Sharpton would be solid ILBs. Cushing would be a great OLB in a 3-4 (“you mean, ALL I have to do is rush the passer?!?”) and Connor Barwin (remember him) was considered a great fit at rush linebacker coming out of college.
As for the secondary, well, who cares? Any comments about “it can’t get worse” directly apply to the secondary.
There’s just one problem: Kubiak + Wade = TWO “player’s coaches” (see under “pushover”) so the hiring of Wade would hopefully include a head coach who will actually demand accountability of the players, which Kubiak has never publicly done.
Dec 22, 2010 at 10:10:29
def gotta draft a NG and also a man eater Haloti Ngata type 34 end to play that 4 tech.
Dec 22, 2010 at 17:39:44
I am in the same boat. If we get the right coordinator, I would be ok with a move. As much as I love Mario, he would be of more value as a trade piece. I promise there is a 4-3 team that would be interested us top dollar for him. Then we can draft the DL peices we needed. The CBA could have some say on this though. If there is no CBA there will be no free agency. That means we will have to rely on draft picks to meet our needs and those rookies will likely have never played in a 3-4 system. That is even more scary than starting a rookie and a guy with one year of experience in the secondary.
Dec 23, 2010 at 03:15:19
You named all the players on the defense team but 1
#95 DT Shaun Cody. Is he still on the time or did you
just over look he. Shaun is the big plug up front ageist the run.This may be he’s last year with the Texans and that why you may have over looked he, but that’s OK because maybe he can hook up with he’s old teammate Lofa Tatupu and Pete Carroll. Shaun played with the #1 defense in the nation 2 years in a roll and won 2 national title with USC. He may knot be that important to you but he is to us. (ROCK ON SHAUN).
Dec 23, 2010 at 14:27:35
I know college football is a different situation but Texas A&M changed to a 3-4 this season. No players were recruited to play that style of defense.
Dec 23, 2010 at 18:30:39
BIG RAY… you’re… saying Shaun Cody is a keeper? Did you go to USC or something? haha
Dec 24, 2010 at 10:28:51
I think he did Chris.
This side of the ball just neds more playmakers at any positions. Speed Rushers, Ball Hawk Safety, Collapsing DTs. 3-4, 4-3? Get playmakers (and a better DC) and we can do more things with this defense. The Coach and players now make it too vanilla. The DC calls it too vanilla. The players dont take it upon themselves to take chances or make plays or even give different looks (diguise blitzes of coverage) to make it tough on the other team. But I guess to give the defense SOME credit: The have played 7 of the top 10 Offenses this year (Indy twice).