text: TEXANS: a look in the mirror. - Houston Texans Message Board & Forum - TexansTalk.com
  TEXANS: a look in the mirror.
  Rep Power: 150780 TEXANS: a look in the mirror.
  one of the more important things teams regularly do is evaluate themselves. where can we improve?..whos a corner stone player, whos solid, who can be upgraded, and whos a liability? as the newest team in the league i think an honest evaluation of ourselves is more crucial then it is for other teams. needless to say, when we watch players in a game we dont always know what their exact responsibilities are so its tough to say with some players how often they actually blow their assignments. that applies to practice as well. what we do know is what happens on the field (player performance-often objective), the investment a team has made in a player (draft value = relative expectation) , player impact on the cap, and statistically we have some indication of the teams strong suits and weak points (ofcourse this can be scheme related etc...rather the indicative of player performance). other issues to consider include a players injury and durability status as well as where a player is in his carreer (is he young and expected to improve vs. "hes reached his ceiling and his performance will decline from this point in his carreer".)
  all in all there is no exact science to evaluating a team ,but my goal in this thread is to get consensus opinions on particular players. ive choosen a format similar to kiper's rather then some kind of number system (to damn indepth and time consumeing). my focus is mainly on starters and "key reserves" rather than players who never get playing time. as i said a lot of this is objective and i dont expect anyone to agree with all of it...
  david carr - on the rise- potential to be one of the top tier qbs in the league with more help and consistent line play. he's not close to his ceiling yet.
  tony banks - status quo- quality backup whos been solid when given playing time. he's a keeper until we get a better feel for ragone as long as he dosent want outrageous money. he's reached his ceiling.
  dave ragone - status quo- didnt perform well when given an oppurtunity ,but he has a ceiling he hasnt reached. he was a 3rd round selection but is currently cheap against the cap. this is a player at a postion that will require another year or 2 for an honest evaluation. running backs
  domanick davis - on the rise- currently cheap against the cap, with a quality ceiling. should only get better ,but he does have durability issues. great value for the team so far.
  tony hollings - falling - cheap against the cap and he has a high ceiling ,but he hasnt performed up to his 2nd round selection. he also has durability issues. he could change his status fast but up to this point in his carreer hes not been a good value for the team.
  jonathan wells - falling - solid special teams player who is cheap against the cap. he showed drastic improvment last year...if he can duplicate that improvment this year he'll be a good value. still needs to prove he can be that bruiser capers wants to secure his postion on this team. i list him as falling because i think he showed improvment to late in his carreer with us. i expect him to compete with a draftee for a spot on the team.
  andre johnson -on the rise - superstar and a corner stone player.
  jabar gaffney - on the rise- performance improved last year, high ceiling, and not a bad value for the team. i think this will be a good year for him though he'll never be a superstar.
  derrick armstrong - on the rise- the upcomming season should be a good one for him.
  corey bradford - fallen - lameduck player.overpaid under performer. wont be on the roster next season.
  billy miller -falling- he needs to reemerge as a downfield threat.
  mark bruner -falling- overpaid. well past his prime.
  bennie joppru -falling- horrible value so far and has to prove his worth this season.
  seth wand - status quo- cheap against the cap. high ceiling despite "occasional" pass protection issues. good value for a 3rd rounder so far.
  chester pitts -status quo- cheap agaist the cap. he hasnt reached his ceiling ,and i expect him to get better considering he played a new postion last year (disagree, i know you want to)
  steve mckinney - falling fast- overpaid, under performer who reached his ceiling long ago. cancer on the line whos made the guards look worse then what i think they are.
  zach weigert - falling- overpaid. durability issues. i think he'll perform much better this season but so far hes been a bad value for the team.
  todd wade -status quo- overpaid. had some nagging injuries. when hes healthy he did played well. should perform better this season. should be solid for years to come.
  milford brown - on the rise- played poorly in the cleveland game because of injury. played ok previous to that. hes cheap against the cap...high ceiling considering he was a 6th round pick. i expect him to get better and maybe break into the starting lineup soon. good value so far. (disagree)
  fred weary -falling- bust and a carreer back up. ok against the cap but he hasnt played up to his 3rd round selection.
  gary walker -falling- critical of the team, durability issues, overpaid ,and hes reached his ceiling. bad value for the team since signing his contract. he may play better then last season this season ,but his best years are behind him. (disagree i know you want to)
  seth payne - status quo- durrability issues. bad value for the team in the last 2 seasons but i expect him to rebound. he's reached his ceiling.
  robarie smith -on the rise- expensive but he should play better with a year under his belt in this system. he may have reached his ceiling but i expect him to be solid for years to come.
  jerry deloach -status quo- not flashy, just solid enough. ok value for the team.
  linebackers jason babin - on the rise- i expect big things from him. should become a corner stone.
  morlon greenwood -on the rise- i expect big things from him and his coverage abilities should enable us to blitz a bit more often. not cheap however.
  kaliee wong -on the rise- comming off his best season with us. probably reached his ceiling and not cheap however.
  antwan peek -on the rise- monsterous ceiling. if only he could round out his game he could be a beast-----HAS TO FOCUS. cheap against the cap. i would like to see him become a corner stone player. wont be cheap for much longer.
  jay foreman -fallen- lameduck player. bad against the cap. dosent fit into our future.
  jaime sharper -falling fast- lameduck player. evidently he priced himself out of the texans plans. the team had to have assurances he would be here ,and sharper couldnt provide that. if he has to be replaced do it now instead of next year.
  charlie anderson -on the rise- good speed. good ceiling. good value. i expect him to emerge by his 3rd season.
  deshon polk -status quo- what other depth do we have in the middle. has a bigger role in special teams but performed well enough with regular playing time.
  dunta robinson -on the rise- superstar. corner stone player for years to come.
  arron glenn -status quo- recent injury troubles. tough on the cap if he dosent play a little better this season. his best years are behind him. consumate profesional however and one of the "faces of the franchise".
  glen earl - on the rise- high ceiling. good value. im hopefull he'll become a cornerstone player.
  marcus coleman - on the rise- not cheap and he wont become a better athlete then what he has been. what he will do is become a better safety then what he was. i think he'll have a great upcomming season ,and i want to consider him a cornerstone player.
  demarcus faggins -on the rise- not bad against the cap. improving player who hasnt reached his ceiling just yet. solid value for the team.
  jason simmons -status quo- not bad against the cap. solid value. will probably never emerge from his role now but i liked what he did last season.
  lewis sanders -on the rise? -will he become the next kenny wright or take the role of nickleback from faggins? evidently managment likes him and every browns fan i know has good things to say about him.
  well there you have it. i know i missed a lot of names and my opinions may be misguided on a lot of players BUT as i said this is all objective. my aim is to get your opinons. perhaps after we have a consensus we can use this as a measuring