2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

In 2002, the National Football League brought back professional football to the city of Houston by giving them the Houston Texans. With Dom Capers as the head coach, and with #1 draft pick David Carr, the people of Houston were optimistic that their new franchise would be successful in the near future.

The Capers era would end quickly, however. After Carr struggled at QB, and a 2-14 season, Capers was canned after 4 years in 2005. Replacing him was Gary Kubiak, a man who had great success as a coordinator in Denver. In his second year, Kubiak got the team to 8-8, it’s highest mark. Fans thought it was a matter of time before a playoff appearance.

One year later in 2008, the Texans were one win better at 9-7, the first winning season. Being in a division with 3 playoff teams, the Texans still had optimism. In 2009, they would go 8-8, still on the cusp of success.

Then, in 2010, they would fall to 6-10. Their 1st rounder that year, HB Cyrus Jones, turned out to be a disappointment. But the ownership kept faith that Kubiak was the man to get the job done. They drafted a better HB in Tanard Mathis, and the next season, the Texans returned to .500. The year after that, they came even close, going 9-7 in 2012.

But from there, things would go down south. 2012 first round LB Hunter Harline would end up a bust, 2013 first round HB Spud Westbrook would flop. They would pick another running back the next year in Larry Brewington, despite still having Tanard Mathis. Brewington’s talent was never utilized.

2013 and 2014 would both end in a 6-10 record for the Texans. 2015 would be the final straw, as the team fell to 3-13. Kubiak was fired, and the team didn’t know where to go for answers. They hired Lovie Smith, who had been very unsuccessful in recent endeavors. The team went 4-12, and Smith decided to retire from coaching.

16 years had passed from the founding of the team, and they were nowhere close to their first playoff appearance. Going 63-97in the past 10 seasons, the teams’ roster was unimpressive. The city of Houston had lost interest in this franchise, and many rumors began to circulate about the Texans being relocated.

It appeared that football in Houston, Texas, was in danger of leaving again...

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

"I guarantee that I will bring a Super Bowl to this team in 5 years or I'll retire"

The Texans fans had reason to cheer for the first time in years. Jordan Slocum had joined up to become their Head Coach. Slocum took the 49ers to 3 Super Bowls in 5 seasons, and was fresh off of 3 straight Super Bowl wins with the Miami Dolphins previously.

If anyone could save the franchise and make them a winner, it was Slocum.

"When I joined the 49ers and Dolphins, I saw two former great and successful franchises that had fallen off. And I helped return them to prominence. Here, I find a franchise that has never had success. I want to change that.

The people of Houston deserve a winner. Unfortunately, you have to go back to the Run and Shoot and Warren Moon days to find winning football in this city. I plan on changing this.

A lot of work needs to be done with this team. Frankly, there are a lot of issues on this roster. There are a lot of bad contracts. But I am confident that I can bring a Super Bowl to this city.

It will be the biggest challenge of my career. But I plan on finally giving the city of Houston the NFL success that it deserves.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Since it's been a while, for those new, I am on my 11th year on my NFL Head Coach franchise. Here is what the first 10 seasons have looked like.

	2008	2009	2010	2011	2012	2013	2014	2015	2016	2017			Record	Playoff App	Playoff Rec	Div Titles	S Bowl	Conf Champ
Seahawks	11-5	8-8	9-7	9-7	4-12	7-9	9-7	10-5-1	8-8	4-12			79-80-1	3	0-3	2
Rams	8-8	6-10	7-9	5-11	5-11	7-9	7-9	3-13	0-16	3-13			51-109	0		0
Cardinals	2-14	7-9	7-9	4-12	11-5	9-7	8-8	9-7	7-9	12-4			76-84	3	3-3	2		0-1
Bears	1-15	3-13	2-14	7-9	8-8	3-13	7-9	10-6	2-14	5-11			48-112	1	0-1	0
Packers	4-12	9-6-1	7-9	8-8	3-13	7-9	6-10	6-10	9-7	11-5			70-89-1	5	1-5	3
Lions	7-9	5-10-1	5-11	6-10	8-8	9-7	7-9	7-8-1	8-8	11-5			73-85-2	1	0-1	0
Vikings	12-4	10-6	6-10	7-9	10-6	12-4	11-5	10-6	12-4	6-10			96-64	7	2-7	7
Buccaneers	15-1	15-1	13-3	15-1	12-4	12-4	12-4	11-5	8-8	6-10			119-41	8	11-6	7	2-2	4-1
Saints	10-6	6-10	7-9	7-9	7-9	12-4	11-5	10-6	10-6	10-6			90-70	5	3-5	3		0-1
Falcons	5-11	4-12	1-15	5-11	1-15	6-10	7-9	3-13	5-11	5-11			42-118	0		0
Panthers	5-11	5-11	4-12	2-14	3-13	1-15	5-11	1-15	8-8	3-13			37-123	0		0
Eagles	13-3	13-3	10-6	10-6	10-6	12-4	5-11	7-9	6-10	5-11			91-69	6	7-6	4	0-1	1-2
Cowboys	10-6	7-9	12-4	6-10	9-7	9-7	8-8	7-9	12-4	8-8			88-72	2	2-2	2		0-1
Giants	11-5	8-8	11-5	10-6	12-4	9-7	12-4	10-6	10-6	11-5			104-56	9	13-9	4	0-2	2-3
Redskins	3-13	4-12	5-11	9-7	5-11	6-10	2-14	8-8	3-13	9-7			54-106	1	0-1	0
Steelers	8-8	9-7	6-10	6-10	6-10	3-13	10-6	5-11	5-11	5-11			63-97	2	1-2	2
Ravens	3-13	6-10	5-11	5-11	10-6	7-9	3-13	11-5	11-5	11-5			72-88	3	2-3	3
Bengals	9-7	7-9	13-3	8-8	12-4	10-6	9-7	4-12	3-13	6-10			81-79	4	1-4	4
Browns	4-12	8-8	9-7	9-7	2-14	4-12	8-8	5-11	7-9	8-8			64-96	1	0-1	1
Colts	12-4	12-4	8-8	11-4-1	11-5	13-3	10-6	12-4	13-3	15-1			117-42-1	9	13-8	6	1-2	3-3
Titans	11-5	9-7	13-3	8-7-1	12-4	7-9	11-5	8-8	9-6-1	7-9			95-63-2	4	3-4	3	0-1	1-1
Jaguars	11-5	9-7	12-4	8-8	8-8	9-7	7-9	14-2	8-8	6-10			92-68	4	5-4	1	0-1	1-1
Texans	9-7	8-8	6-10	8-8	9-7	6-10	6-10	3-13	4-12	4-12			63-97	0		0
Patriots	14-2	13-3	13-3	13-3	12-4	12-4	11-5	6-10	10-6	9-7			113-47	8	4-8	5	0-1	1-0
Bills	8-8	11-5	12-4	5-11	6-10	8-8	11-5	8-8	10-6	11-5			90-70	5	5-5	1		0-2
Jets	6-10	2-14	5-11	7-9	7-9	4-12	2-14	5-11	4-12	5-11			47-113	0		0
Dolphins	2-14	6-10	6-10	5-11	1-15	15-1	9-7	14-2	15-1	16-0			89-71	4	10-1	4	3-0	3-1
Chargers	9-7	9-7	3-13	5-11	10-6	3-13	6-10	9-7	9-7	8-8			71-89	3	1-3	1
Broncos	10-6	11-5	13-3	11-5	9-7	8-8	12-4	10-6	8-7-1	9-7			101-58-1	7	7-7	4	1-0	1-2
Chiefs	8-8	6-10	8-8	9-7	10-6	6-10	7-9	8-8	9-7	4-12			75-85	2	0-2	1
Raiders	5-11	7-9	4-12	13-3	7-9	11-5	6-10	13-3	8-8	12-4			86-74	4	3-4	4

	Super Bowls
	Winner	Loser	Score
XLIII	49ers	Patriots	23-21
XLIV	Broncos	Buccaneers	24-14
XLV	49ers	Jaguars	27-3
XLVI	Buccaneers	Colts	30-27 (OT)
XLVII	49ers	Colts	22-3
XLVIII	Colts	Eagles	28-17
XLIX	Buccaneers	Titans	24-17
L	Dolphins	Buccaneers	20-17 (OT)
LI	Dolphins	Giants	24-14
LII	Dolphins	Giants	20-7
	NFC Championship
	Winner	Loser	Score
2008	49ers	Eagles	31-14
2009	Buccaneers	49ers	38-17
2010	49ers	Buccaneers	17-13
2011	Buccaneers	Eagles	31-14
2012	49ers	Giants	35-10
2013	Eagles	Cardinals	23-20
2014	Buccaneers	Giants	14-13
2015	Buccaneers	Giants	28-7
2016	Giants	Cowboys	30-7
2017	Giants	Saints	38-19
	AFC Championship
	Winner	Loser	Score
2008	Patriots	Colts	19-16 (OT)
2009	Broncos	Bills	34-14
2010	Jaguars	Bills	20-17
2011	Colts	Broncos	28-14
2012	Colts	Titans	23-17
2013	Colts	Dolphins	20-17
2014	Titans	Broncos	26-7
2015	Dolphins	Jaguars	17-13
2016	Dolphins	Colts	31-17
2017	Dolphins	Colts	38-14

Head coaches going into 2018:

49ers	Mike Singletary
Seahawks	Mike Holmgren
Rams	Norv Turner
Cardinals	Jerry Gray
Bears	Eric Mangini
Packers	Mike McCarthy
Lions	John Mitchell
Vikings	Brad Childress
Buccaneers	Bill Muir
Saints	Sean Payton
Falcons	Tony Sparano
Panthers	Danny Crossman
Eagles	Rex Ryan
Cowboys	Wade Phillips
Giants	Tom Coughlin
Redskins	Ron Rivera
Steelers	Mike Tomlin
Ravens	Andy Reid
Bengals	Marvin Lewis
Browns	Al Saunders
Colts	Tony Dungy
Titans	Jeff Fisher
Jaguars	Gary Kubiak
Texans	Jordan Slocum
Patriots	Bill Belichick
Bills	Dick Jauron
Jets	Jack Del Rio
Dolphins	Jon Gruden
Chargers	Mike Martz
Broncos	Mike Shanahan
Chiefs	Jim Caldwell
Raiders	Gary Hammermill

[Mike3207]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

NFL Fan, what's Jordan Slocum overall as HC? Do you put more points into special skills or regular skills?

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

NFL Fan, what's Jordan Slocum overall as HC? Do you put more points into special skills or regular skills?

99 overall, a lot of both actually. Performance is a 5, All physical development at 4 minus TE/K/P, All intangibles at 4 minus P, all learning at 3 minus K/P. I also have basically all of the level 1 special skills plus a few others that are position specific.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

A lot of work is to be done with this team. Many bad contracts, just about everyone has a much larger bonus than deserved. First, here's the staff.

OC: Jerry Sullivan: Ironically, my old SF OC, he's above average, 68 OVR
DC: Wayne Nunnely 67 OVR, only level one performance (can go to 2) but good development
ST: Ivan Fears: 4 OVR, the guy really sucks
QB: Tony Dyal: 39 OVR...not great but could be worse
RB: Jon Runyan: 31 OVR...Why in the world is he a RB coach? A shame, he'd probably actually make sense as a OL coach, no RB development skills
WR: Todd Mauck: 11 OVR...not much positive here.
OL: Bobby McLee: 8 OVR, no development skills
LB: Matt Boelter: 30 OVR, good development, terrible performance but can be raised. He's usable.
DL: Frank Durwood: 23 OVR, max performance 1. Boo.
DB: Mike Mustard: 9 OVR, Bad at everything.
GM: Jim Andrews: 66 OVR...Above Avg defensive scout, meh offensive.
Trainer...who cares? They're all the same.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Roster and thoughts..

POS	Name	OVR	Salary	Yrs left	Age	Season	Penalty
QB	Justin Bericap	81	1.1 M	3	25	1	1.1 M
QB	John Kramer	74	1.1 M	2	26	2	1.0 M
QB
HB	Tanard Mathis	89	8.8 M	1	28	7	1.3 M
HB	Zach Bailey	77	3.0 M	2	27	7	1.4 M
HB	Wayne Snider	74	1.1 M	1	29	5	750 K
HB
FB
WR	Marco Chambers	77	4.1 M	1	29	8	1.3 M
WR	Brent Smiley	74	630 K	1	24	2	180 K
WR	Jordan Miles	68	410 K	1	29	6	250 K
WR
TE	Torrin Warrick	77	1.9 M	5	24	2	4.2 M
TE	Brock Whitmore	70	720 K	1	26	2	None
TE	Bo Scaife	65	640 K	1	36	14	250 K
TE
T	Jeromey Clary	85	2.2 M	1	33	12	1.3 M
T	Tony Pape	88	3.7 M	2	35	11	2.7 M
T	Kedrick Shaw	81	1.6 M	3	32	9	600 K
T	Rick Coles	76	690 K	2	24	1	340 K
G	Ben Noll	88	3.3 M	2	33	11	3.3 M
G	Emmanuel Gibson	81	1.6 M	5	24	1	4.2 M
G	Ray Abrams	69	250 K	1	25	1	None
G
C
DE	Bennie Quinn	84	3.6 M	3	25	2	4.5 M
DE	Mario Williams	91	7.2 M	4	32	12	14.7 M
DE	Jay Jay Easley	71	250 K	1	25	2	180 K
DE
DE
DT	Vontae Hall	87	6.8 M	4	23	1	14.4 M
DT	Donald Worthy	82	1.3 M	2	25	2	500 K
DT	Orien Williams	79	1.6 M	2	30	7	1.7 M
OLB	Chase Beck	89	6.5 M	1	33	9	2.3 M
OLB	Nate Branch	87	4.1 M	2	26	3	3.0 M
OLB	Jarius Curtis	80	1.9 M	4	28	5	3.3 M
OLB	Pat Kingston	72	280 K	1	25	2	180 K
OLB	Johnnie Plue	65	460 K	2	24	1	170 K
MLB
MLB	Eric Buckley	78	510 K	3	25	3	520 K
OLB
OLB
CB	Brandon Biggs	87	6.2 M	4	30	8	11.2 M
CB	Dunta Robinson	84	5,4 M	1	35	14	1.8 M
CB	Zack Bowman	79	2.9 M	4	32	10	3.7 M
CB	Jeremiah Cox	78	1.8 M	4	25	2	1.7 M
CB
FS	Sanrick Raines	86	4.6 M	3	32	9	6.5 M
FS
SS	Dawan Landry	85	3.9 M	2	33	12	2.2 M
SS
K	Alexis Serna	88	1.4 M	1	32	10	750 K
P	DeAngelo McFarland	75	520 K	1	28	4	130 K

QB: Neither guy is overly impressive. Bericap has capped out his arm basically, 95 THP, but a crappy 86 THA. Awareness can improve, but he'll never be more than "meh." Kramer has a weaker arm (92), slightly better accuracy (87, top at 89) and can get to decent awareness. But still, "meh" at best.

HB: Mathis is a speedster in the last year of his deal. I'd imagine he'd be good, but he has a very tradeable deal and I might be able to sell high on him. Other backs are suck.

WR: All awful. Chambers will be cut for sure, Smiley will never have much for hands. Miles is suck. Definite need of an overhaul here.

TE: Warrick was a guy I signed UDFA a while back. Decent hands, but slow. Unfortunately, he has an albatross new deal so he'll stay. Scaife is retiring, Whitmore is meh.

T: Pape is much worse than his OVR. Great learning and durability but mediocre OL skills. Shaw isn't much either, both have bad contracts. Clary has decent skills and could stick. Coles is meh.

G: Noll fits the same mold as Pape, but does actually have decent blocking skills. It costs the same to cut and keep, so he's hard to move. Gibson has decent potential to stay for a bit.

DE: One of the solid positions. Quinn is fairly good all around and has upside, and Mario Williams still is very good. Neither will be moved just based on contract.

DT: Vontae Hall was their last 1st rounder, he's very good, he'll be a great rock. Worthy will probably stick as his backup. Williams unfortunately has a crap contract and is injury prone. Sad face.

LB: Beck lacks speed, so he'd fit better inside. I could sell high on him though, so he's a trade option. Buckley is meh. Branch is fairly solid...not flashy but pretty good overall. The other 3 are meh.

CB: Biggs is pretty solid. Robinson may be a sell guy, movable contract plus his speed has dropped. I don't think he's strong enough to switch to safety like I did Samuel before. Bowman and Cox are both grossly overpaid and hard to move.

S: Raines has a good skill set and is probably a keeper. Landry's speed is significantly down (67) so he'll need to be moved.

K/P: Oh Serna, we meet again. Great leg, no accuracy. I like leg though, and no replacements are around. McFarland may stay just because punter is fairly unimportant.

Overall, the offense is a much bigger concern. Question at QB, terrible WRs, mediocre OL. Defensively, the line is very strong, with some decent playmakers in the back 7. Still, changes need to be made.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

I have about $31 million in cap, not counting any potential moves. Not a huge amount of money, but enough to make a big move if desired.

Draft Options:

QB: Pretty good looking QB Draft, the stud is Trent Rakestraw (Palmer), with Whithers (Bulger), Suvak (Dilfer, noodle arm but decent otherwise, may have low potential) and Antrelle Lynch (McNair, great arm and speed, bad accuracy and a dunce)

HB: Darius Stallworth (Alexander) is the stud, power back. Rest of the RB class looks pretty useless.

WR: Dominc Jordan (Calvin Johnson) is the stud WR. Tammrick Ford (Horn, solid possession guy) and Anthony Revis (Housh) are the two possession guys looking good. But there is an unknown in Dargan (Chad 85), Haddix (Ginn...maybe this is an allusion to Wayne Haddix a la Tecmo Super Bowl?) Either way, strong WR class.

TE: Markeith Jacobs (Vernon Davis) gets my attention with blazing speed, if only I didn't have Warrick to that big deal. Also McCooley (Shockey) is a good option.

T: Carpenter (Staley) is unknown, while McMichael (Clifton) is a good run blocker, bad pass blocker. Kent (Joe Thomas) is good all around, Ray Martin (Walter Jones) looks decent for a later pick. None of the right tackles get my attention.

G: Rob Freeland (Steinbach) is very good and balanced. Other than Freeland, the guards all suck.

C: Feely (O'Hara) might be alright, but an unimpressive group of centers.

DE and DT: Good thing I'm set at these spots, TERRIBLE Draft for defensive line.

LB: Also very unimpressive, Haley (Sims) and Ramsey (T. Davis) might be worth a look, but that's it.

CB: Some decent prospects, Jefferson (D. Hall) and some unknowns at the top. Not bad at the top but not special either.

S: Jones (Hamlin) is the best, Gamble (M. Griffin) is a solid coverage option as well. Ward (Huff) could be something.

K: I like Jason Duncan (Elam, 97 KPW) but he's not likely needed.

Overall looking at the Draft, it is very weak overall. WR and QB are only strengths, along with maybe LT. Luckily the defense is already decent. Free agency may be the way to go. That and a LOT of trading.

Picks:
1st (4)
2nd (36)
3rd (68)
4th (100)
5th (132)
6th (164)
7th (196)

Next season
1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 7th.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Here are the options in free agency.

QB: Eli Manning is the stud (95 OVR) Next up is Andrew Goodson (88) who has 99 potentials with his arm and is at 99 learning, but will never have good awareness. Jason Campbell (87), Logan Axelrod (86, former 1st rounder, but he's peaked with low accuracy) Derek Anderson (85), Will Swecker (84, potential to be slightly above avg), my old buddy Cole Cameron (82) and a few others, plus Chris Essex (75) who was my old backup with Miami.

HB: Stevie Dunlap (90), Brian Leonard (87...really?) Reggie Bush (84), my old buddy Tank Watkins (83), Marcus Mercer (81), Frank Gore (80) and others

WR: Donovan Campbell (85, eh.) Bernard Berrian (84, still decent), Elmore Carter (80 decent possession guy) DeSean Jackson (78, low CIT, but strong otherwise), plus Donnie Avery lol, Greg Jennings (75?) and Santonio Holmes.

TE: Jason Witten (90), Dallas Clark (89), my old friend Vernon Davis among others

T: Jason Peters (92, still a beast), my former RT Rondell Owens (90), Eric Winston (90), Andrew Scheffey (88), Brent Burton (88), Trent Dobbins (86), Rico Douglas (85), Twan Hastings (84), Jared Gaither (83)

G: Matt Hoover (88), Justin Smiley (87), Marshall Yanda (86), Reggie Morrison (85), Fred Fielder (84), Walt Simon (84)

C: Ryan Kalil (89), Darick Higgins (87), Richie Kingston (86)

(A LOT of those OL were on my team at one time.)

DE: Cameron Carter (86..heh, this guy was a camp invite that I cut, turned out to burn me every time I played the Giants), Jay Nedney (85), Haloti Ngata (85) and others.

DT: DeMarco Tribble (90), Cliff Ryan (85), Duane Russel (84...never reached that 96 potential), Amobi Okoye (84), Frank Okam (83...Mr. Injury himself), Lorenzo Spragan (82, I believe first 1st overall pick) and the immortal Ted Washington at age 49.

OLB: Shaun Phillips (86), Andy Richardson (85), Trey McNamara (84, RFA), Ernie Sims (87)

MLB: Travis Stockton (88...just noticed...Stockton is from Utah...heh), Donta Henry (85), Lamont Oden (80...was REALLY good one year I had him)

CB: DeMario Waddell (93, man, myth, legend) and a bunch of others

FS: Brandon Flowers (85)
SS: Nedu Ndukwe (88)

K: Meh
P: Brenden Long (79)

[rdnk]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Hey it's good to see this back. Maybe it'll motivate me to get my chise going again.

Here comes Vernon Davis! Although he'd be a good complement to Warrick.

Ted Washington

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Heh, random little funny moment, I got fired. For cutting a 66 OVR LB. The team already had a ton of penalties going in, and it yelled at me, and then fired me.

Note to self, can't cut anyone else. Sad face lol.

[rdnk]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Heh, random little funny moment, I got fired. For cutting a 66 OVR LB. The team already had a ton of penalties going in, and it yelled at me, and then fired me.

Note to self, can't cut anyone else. Sad face lol.

You just gonna reload? I hate when you can't cut the guys without getting canned. The sad thing is, you have cap space so you could take some hits.

[Mike3207]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Heh, random little funny moment, I got fired. For cutting a 66 OVR LB. The team already had a ton of penalties going in, and it yelled at me, and then fired me.

Note to self, can't cut anyone else. Sad face lol.

With 31 million in cap space, it's strange you got fired for excessive cap penalties. I can usually incur 20 million in cap penalties for 1 year without being fired. How many cap penalties did you have before you cut the 66 overall OLB?

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

With 31 million in cap space, it's strange you got fired for excessive cap penalties. I can usually incur 20 million in cap penalties for 1 year without being fired. How many cap penalties did you have before you cut the 66 overall OLB?

There was about $20 million in penalties when I took over and its' up to about $32 now. (With about $17 million free)

I had saved very recently so I just reloaded. I know to save if I'm going to try to cut someone. I traded people even after the warning, so at least then it didn't seem to care about penalties.

[MrNFL_FanIQ]

Re: 2018 Onward: Turning the Houston Texans Into a Winner

Free Agency

In the past, trades were the way to success often times, but with only the basic draft picks available, it becomes tougher. Not to mention many players with high cap penalties. However, the Texans were quick to move.

The first big moved involved a man named Kortlin King. King was the 1st overall pick by the Carolina Panthers in the 2016 Draft. King proved to be a force, but demanded a trade as he was tired of the ineptitude of the Panthers.

With that, the Texans found a way to try to solidify the line. King was traded to the Texans in exchange for kicker Alexis Serna, RG Ben Noll, the 5th rounder in this years' draft.

But fixing the line was not done there. Rondell Owens, my right tackle in Miami, was signed out of free agency. Also signed was Twan Hastings, a 5th round pick of mine in San Fran back in 2009 who never could find a spot. Drafted at guard and moved to tackle, the plan is to play him at center.

This makes the tackles and center solid, with Clary and Gibson looking to fill the guard spots for the time being.

But this was not the end of the trades. On the same day, the Jets offered up LB Dan Connor at a low price, and traded were backup HB Zach Bailey and backup CB Jeremiah Cox, giving the Texans another solid LB.

Also signed to strengthen the LB corp was another former player of mine, LB Lamont Oden, who played one random year as the 4th LB with the Dolphins and did very well.

One last trade would be made a month later. The Redskins 1st rounder from 2016, WR Bryant Holyfield, a solid all around WR, was acquired. The price was SS Dawan Landry (Who I wanted to move) a 4th rounder in 2019, and QB Justin Bericap.

This would leave a gap at quarterback, as only QB John Kramer was left on the roster. With the high prices of other QBs, the Texans opted to pass on most free agents. But did sign one guy.

Drew Thompson was the 1st overall pick in 2010 by the Jets. Despite a good deal of talent, the Jets never played him, and to this day, Thompson has not had an attempt. However, Thompson, at age 31, still has above average skill with the ability to progress into at least a good stop gap QB.

Roster heading into the Draft

POS	Name	OVR	Salary	Yrs left	Age	Season	Penalty	Notes
QB	Drew Thompson	79	5.1 M	2	31	8	2.0 M	Starting QB for time being
QB	John Kramer	74	1.1 M	2	26	2	1.0 M	Backup/Roster Fill
QB
HB	Tanard Mathis	89	8.8 M	1	28	7	1.3 M	Starting HB
HB
HB	Wayne Snider	74	1.1 M	1	29	5	750 K	Roster Fill
HB
FB
WR	Bryant Holyfield	85	1.7 M	3	24	2	None	Starting WR
WR	Brent Smiley	74	630 K	1	24	2	180 K	Roster Fill
WR	Jordan Miles	68	410 K	1	29	6	250 K	Roster Fill
WR
TE	Torrin Warrick	77	1.9 M	5	24	2	4.2 M	Bad Contract TE
TE	Brock Whitmore	70	720 K	1	26	2	None	Roster Fill
TE	Bo Scaife	65	640 K	1	36	14	250 K	Roster Fill
TE
T	Kortlin King	95	5.2 M	3	25	2	None	Starting LT
T	Rondell Owens	90	5.6 M	5	29	9	5.0 M	Starting RT
T	Tony Pape	88	3.7 M	2	35	11	2.7 M	Backup T (Over-rated)
T	Kedrick Shaw	81	1.6 M	3	32	9	600 K	Backup OL
T	Rick Coles	76	690 K	2	24	1	340 K	Roster Fill
G	Jeromey Clary	85	2.2 M	1	33	12	1.3 M	Probably starting guard
G	Emmanuel Gibson	81	1.6 M	5	24	1	4.2 M	Probably starting guard
G	Ray Abrams	69	250 K	1	25	1	None	Roster Fill
C	Twan Hastings	86	2.0 M	1	32	9	None	Starting C
DE	Bennie Quinn	84	3.6 M	3	25	2	4.5 M	Starting DE
DE	Mario Williams	91	7.2 M	4	32	12	14.7 M	Starting DE
DE	Jay Jay Easley	71	250 K	1	25	2	180 K	Backup DE
DE
DE
DT	Vontae Hall	87	6.8 M	4	23	1	14.4 M	Starting DT
DT	Donald Worthy	82	1.3 M	2	25	2	500 K	#2 4-3 DT
DT	Orien Williams	79	1.6 M	2	30	7	1.7 M	Bad Contract
OLB	Nate Branch	87	4.1 M	2	26	3	3.0 M	Starting OLB
OLB	Jarius Curtis	80	1.9 M	4	28	5	3.3 M	TERRIBLE contract
OLB	Pat Kingston	72	280 K	1	25	2	180 K	Roster Fill
OLB	Johnnie Plue	65	460 K	2	24	1	170 K	Roster Fill
OLB	Dan Connor	83	870 K	1	32	10	None	Starting OLB
MLB	Eric Buckley	78	510 K	3	25	3	520 K	Backup
MLB	Chase Beck	89	6.5 M	1	33	9	2.3 M	Starting MLB
MLB	Lamont Oden	80	1.0 M	5	30	6	1.0 M	Starting MLB
CB	Brandon Biggs	87	6.2 M	4	30	8	11.2 M	Starting CB
CB	Zack Bowman	79	2.9 M	4	32	10	3.7 M	Bad Contract/Nickel DB?
CB
CB
CB/S	Dunta Robinson	84	5.4 M	1	35	14	1.8 M	Maybe FS, Maybe CB?
FS
SS	Sanrick Raines	86	4.6 M	3	32	9	6.5 M	Starting S
SS
K
P	DeAngelo McFarland	75	520 K	1	28	4	130 K	Oh yeah…I have this guy