WIDE RECEIVERS
Andre Johnson – Andre is one of the best things about being a Texans fan. I can never say enough about the guy. I can’t wait to see him treat Cortland Finnegan like the petulant little freckle-faced child that he is.
Kevin Walter – I’m not surprised that the Texans kept him. I know Walter has a lot of value to this team – I am surprised they paid him as much as they did, though. He wasn’t grossly overpaid, but I thought the Texans would opt for Jacoby Jones as the #2 rather than spend more than they should on Walter. K-Dub’s route running, sure hands, and excellent blocking skills are one of the quietest, yet most important cogs in the offense.
Jacoby Jones – Walter’s new contract has to at least make you think about the idea that the Texans simply aren’t comfortable enough with Jacoby yet to hand over the full-time #2 WR position to him. JJ is an explosive playmaker, a dynamic personality, and a guy who can literally be a gamechanger – it’s just that he’s inconsistent, and has shown several instances of poor on and off-the-field judgment. Still, his numbers last year show that he is steadily improving as a receiver, and I expect they will have him concentrating almost exclusively on that role in 2010.
David Anderson – I was definitely surprised at this time last year when the Texans matched Denver’s offer sheet for Anderson. He’s another great hands guy, and smart receiver who can get lost in the shuffle with all the offensive weapons the Texans have. He’s also a great locker room guy, and is clearly well-liked by his teammates. Good guy to have on the team, but his value would be more obvious if someone in front of him got hurt. Similar to…
André Davis – Davis is flat-out overpaid. The Texans gave up a nice chunk to keep him after the 2007 season, when he established himself as an invaluable backup to Andre Johnson, and one of the most dangerous kickoff return men in the game. Problem is, when you have Mr. Universe playing in front of you, you can’t get that guy off the field unless he’s hurt badly. With AJ staying healthy for two straight years, it’s hard to tell exactly what Davis’s worth is.
Can you really afford to pay him as much as he’s being paid just in case AJ goes down again? Even if the worst happened, can we count on Davis, who turns 31 in June, to perform in AJ’s stead as well as he did in 2007? In addition to all of that, whether it be because of the blocking or Davis’s ability – he’s nowhere near the dynamic kick returner that he appeared to be in 2007. I honestly think he’s played his last game in a Texans’ uniform.
Glenn Martinez – A solid veteran presence. Last year, Martinez forced the Texans to keep one more WR than they usually do. That’s due either to his great performance leading up to the regular season, or due to their discomfort with Jacoby Jones before JJ made his move. Probably a little bit of both.
Trindon Holliday – I’m excited about Holliday. I hate that specialists take up an entire roster spot, but if a team is going to do that, I’d rather it be for a return man than a guy who only long-snaps or a kicker who does kickoffs only. Holliday is a burner, and if the special teams guys can get their teeth in him and make him a bona fide NFL returner, he’ll be worth every bit of that roster spot – because I estimate his chances of making headway as an NFL receiver are right around 1%.
Dorin Dickerson – We all know that Dickerson was originally a TE who will now be an understudy to Andre Johnson. Dickerson is another reason why I think André Davis might get sent packing before the season starts. Dickerson is very similar in stature to AJ, and by all accounts he was a 3-4th round talent who slipped to the 7th round. He might be a guy who the Texans will have a hard time sneaking on to their practice squad, so he needs to do everything possible to somehow make the final 53-man in a VERY competitive position group.
*London Crawford
*Trey Stross
I’m not up on either Crawford or Stross. The best they can hope for is a shot at the practice squad, but even that will be very, very difficult for them.
What I expect
André Davis will be cut or traded for a late-round pick. Andre Johnson and Kevin Walter will remain cemented in as the top-two guys, and Jacoby Jones will be in a dogfight with David Anderson for the #3 spot. Jacoby proved he is more than adequate as a #3 receiver, but if you ask me who I think is going to come into camp more prepared and focused – I’m betting it will be Anderson. After those four, I expect the final spot to be down to Martinez and Dickerson. Youth and potential could win out if Dickerson shows flashes – and he should have every opportunity to do so because the team clearly thinks he has a lot to offer.
*Denotes a reported Undrafted Free Agent signing. These players are only reported to have signed with the Texans but as of this entry none of the signings have been confirmed by the team.
May 4, 2010 at 21:38:40
I’m liking these roster rundowns. I disagree with you on a couple of points here. Walter is more valuable to us than Jacoby Jones. Jacoby has more talent as a WR and could someday make an awesome outside option to pair with Andre (fingers crossed that day starts in September ’10). But I think a reliable yards after catch machine who is willing to do the dirty work in run blocking is more valuable to the offense we run, mostly for the blocking work. Not to take away from Walter’s skill as a WR. He is one of the best free agent pick ups Smithiak has had and I couldn’t be happier that they managed to hang on to him. I also think that Anderson is a clear number four on our squad, mostly due to size. At the same time, I would hate to be the dime CB that has to cover him when he’s on the field with Andre, Walter, and Jacoby.
May 5, 2010 at 07:49:26
Another great rundown, Chris. I’ve been in the camp for Jacoby being the #2 for the past year and a half. Sure, he is immature and does some really stupid stuff, but he does some really incredible stuff when the ball gets in his hands. He had Cris Carter-like catch to TD’s ratio last season and I expect if he follows the rules and does what Kubiak tells him to, the opportunities will be there for him this year. I think Martinez is gone because there is no way Dickerson makes it through waivers to get to the practice squad. Davis is long past due to receive his walking papers.
May 5, 2010 at 08:55:41
I’m with you for the most part. I don’t see how Martinez and Andre Davis make the roster without an injury or two ahead of them.
I expect that Dickerson and Holliday will make the roster.
May 5, 2010 at 09:46:31
My treatise on Jones/Walter has yet to be written, but my hypothesis: Jones need 60% of the total snaps for this offense to transform from good to explosive. He only had 25% last year.
May 5, 2010 at 10:08:45
I looked back at AJ’s combine numbers and found he and Dickerson performed almost like mirror images of each other. AJ: 6-2, 225 lbs., 4.43 40 time. Dickerson: 6-2, 230 lbs, 4.40 40 time. Obviously, there’s a lot more to a player than just those triangle measurements, but I’m still amazed that one (AJ) could go with the fourth overall pick and the other guy goes in the 7th round. There are many obvious reasons why this happened, but Dickerson’s size and speed, at least on the surface, makes him almost a physical clone of AJ.
May 5, 2010 at 10:55:41
I see Walter and Jones as a similar situation to Chris Brown vs. Steve Slaton. Now, before I continue, I think Walter is a LOT better than CB, but stick with me. Brown was not as explosive or as dangerous as Slaton, but his other-than-running skills (mainly blocking in this case) proved so invaluable that he contitnued to get playing time.
Jones is technically our #4 wideout going in because his best use is to occasionally sub in for K-Dubz and Anderson (or in 4-WR packages, but I doubt we use those very often as full as we are on TE’s). Walter is excellent at those other-than-receiving skills, and he’s certainly no slouch when it comes to making teams pay for those over-attentiveness to AJ. Anderson, from what I have surmised, is everything we could ask for from a slot receiver.
Jones is a change-of-pace guy, and I disagree with Rivers McCown on the number of snaps he needs. He only needs 25% of the snaps, as a guy who can sub in for Walter and burn the CB that is used to Walter’s physical skill set and isn’t ready for a downfield sprint-and-catch. Also, since I whole-heartedly agree that we will part ways with half of the Andre duo, Jones is still going to be part of the return game, so we can’t overload him with snaps, especially since we don’t need to.
I also think Martinez won’t make it. Dickerson wouldn’t survive the P-squad in a Texans uniform, so, like Chris said, he will need to be on the 53-man roster, and his specific value as the new backup AJ is more valuable than the high-effort low-talent that Martinez brings. Remember, as a playoff team, we’re supposed to have enough high-talent players to start unfortunately send some of those guys who work hard to play in the NFL to other teams.
Bottom line, we can’t keep being The Little Engine That Could, and we need to become the Freight Train.
Looking forward to the offensive line analysis. I think besides Brown, Myers, and Winston starting, it’s a total toss-up whose starting and who’s getting cut.
May 5, 2010 at 11:06:00
I see AJ, K-Dub, JJ, DA, Double D, & Mighty Mouse. making the cut. And the Texans again keeping 6 WR’s if that is where we classify Mighty Mouse.
Rivers, I agree and hope JJ can make the jump to #2 because of his explosiveness. K-Dub is steady but not explosive.
Chris, like the breakdowns too. Keep them coming if there is room on the platter.
May 5, 2010 at 13:55:27
Nice writeup, and I agree on the final roster picks. Sucks for Martinez, though. I liked him, but he’ll catch on somewhere else.
As for Jacoby v. Walter for the #2 spot, I’m sure it comes mainly down to trust. I would wager that Kubes just flat out trusts Kevin more with the responsibilities of the position. That’s not meant as racial at all. It’s just that JJ is a knucklehead.
May 6, 2010 at 10:01:28
@kyle
You realize you’re arguing here for the side that Chris Brown was on, right?
If we’re going to become the freight train, we need a second receiver who stretches the field. Jacoby might be immature, he might have mental gaffes, but he also had an excellent season last year and is the closest thing to that we have on our roster. Holliday will absorb the loss of Jacoby to the special teams.
Walter is an excellent possession receiver, and good at what he does, but his skillset precludes him from making the offense explosive. Great blocker for a receiver? Sure, and I’m not saying the Texans won’t measure that. But I think they are overvaluing the intangibles here compared to what happens when you have 2 receivers on the field who can get wherever they want to go. No more Andre triple teams once Jacoby starts burning people deep.
May 6, 2010 at 14:00:37
AJ
Apologies to larry fitgerald but by far the best wide receiver in the league.
Kevin Walter and jacoby
he is the token whiteguy #2 receiver in kubiak’s system.If Jacoby can fill the #2 role and put walter in the slot, we will be in great shape. Jacoby’s speed will also help the running game by getting the safety out of the box. the difference between the speed is important because one of our biggest problem is scoring from the one and having jacoby gives us somebody that can take it to the house on any play and thus decreasing the ammount of times we are in the redzone. Jacoby needs a bigger role if this offense wants to take the next step.
Andre Davis and Martinez
bye bye
Holiday
I do not see him making the field on the offensive side of the ball unless there is an injury. I see him more as a 3rd down back. I do not think he will make it as a wide receiver because of who is in front of him and their relative lack of injuries. As i mentioned before, I am worried about slaton’s injury and I could see them going Holiday in that role.
Dorin Dickerson
I am most pumped about this guy. This guy will be great in the red zone. I hope he sees the field as a rookie because then we can do the fade route more often and we can pick on the weaker defender.