Caldwell says call from Texans was totally unexpected

Antoine Caldwell (nfl.com)

Houston's SportsRadio610 morning show hosts Marc Vandermeer and Andre Ware visited with Texans 3rd round draft pick Antoine Caldwell earlier today.

One of the first things Caldwell said was that the call from the Texas was 'totally unexpected.'

You can listen to the entire interview here.

I was surprised too, as you can tell by the entry I published immediately after the pick late Sunday morning.

But like I said in my draft summary entry on Monday, I love this pick.

I floated an idea a while back that the Texans should consider a backup center if one was available in the second round.  Unger was the name I put out there.

Of course those picks are not popular or sexy, but seasons are made or lost by the big men in the trenches and the Texans are (were) a bit thin behind Chester Pitts, Chris Myers, and Mike Brisiel.

The Texans were extremely lucky last season with the lack of injuries on the offensive line - and you can't be that lucky all the time.

A few takeaways from the interview:

• Caldwell is familiar with zone blocking concepts, having done "a lot of it" during his first two years at Alabama under Mike Shula - and less of it under Saban.
• He sees his role as backup center and swing guard.  With the Crimson Tide, Caldwell said he played about 15 games at both guard positions and the rest at center.  He even played tackle for a couple games to fill in for other players who were injured.  [A key point to his versatility is that it allows the Texans to dress seven offensive linemen instead of eight on game days.  Fred Weary was similar in his ability to play all interior line positions.]
• His passion outside football is real estate.  He has two degrees, one being in finance, and Antoine said that he has worked for a real estate company in the past and would like to continue pursuits in the field of real estate development at some point in his future.
• Caldwell, from Montgomery Alabama, was a Miami Dolphins fan growing up.
• He's tight with DeMeco which is a good thing

In addition to his versatility, and not to be overlooked is that Caldwell is a high achiever academically.

Here's what Texans Director of College Scouting Dale Strahm had to say about Caldwell (thanks to Nick Scurfield at houstontexans.com):

"“...another captain. Four-year starter in the SEC. And he’s a combo player, which means he can play offensive guard, offensive center. So he’s versatile right there. He gives you a two-way guy at the position. What’s amazing to us is that your center better be a bright guy because he’s got to make the calls at the line of scrimmage – over front, even front, odd front, whatever – and he went to a major university and got two degrees in five years. At the same time, what he brings to the table is a tremendous work ethic. He’s very bright and his toughness is exceptional, so he’s a big-time player.”

Welcome to Houston, Antoine.  We already have a street named after you.