Brian Cushing will wear #56 as a Texan (Getty Images)
Draft grades are about to come upon on us like a swarm of mosquitos after a six-inch rain, but I generally see such efforts as futile, because there's not a soul on earth who knows how this year's crop of draft picks will pan out, on any team.
That's why you won't see a C-minus from me attached to this Texans draft simply to show my displeasure that they didn't select a running back.
Instead, I'll enumerate the Texans picks here and add some commentary, since this is only the introduction to the draft book of '09, not the conclusion.
After this season we should finally be able to close the book on the Texans 2007 draft class which included Amobi Okoye, Jacoby Jones, Fred Bennett, Brandon Harrison, and Zac Diles.
But this year's class needs time to show what they can do, and what they can't.
So here's a summary of my initial thoughts on the Texans 2009 Draft class:
|
Round (overall) |
Player | Position | School | Comments |
| Round 1, (15) | Brian Cushing | Linebacker | USC | If he can stay healthy, he could be a dynamic impact player at a high need position |
| Round 2, (47) | Connor Barwin | Defensive End | Cincinnati | A surprise pick and raw as a defensive end, but has the tools to develop into the situational edge rusher the Texans need. |
| Round 3, (77) | Antoine Caldwell | Center/Guard | Alabama | Another surprise at first, but I love this pick. The Texans needed to fortify depth on the interior line and Caldwell fits the bill |
| Round 4, (112) | Glover Quin | Cornerback | New Mexico | A big corner who fills a depth need. Fourth round corners usually make it. |
| Round 4, (122) | Anthony Hill | Tight End | North Carolina State | A head scratcher at first, but Mark Bruener retired and the Texans don't have another established blocking TE on their roster. This was the pick the Texans got for Sage Rosenfels. Running back Andre Brown went seven picks later at 129 to the Giants. |
| Round 5, (152) | James Casey | Tight End/H-back/Fullback | Rice | Great value in the 5th round. Versatile athlete that can play a number of positions and long snap. Could end up being Owen Daniels' replacement unit if Owen demands crazy money. If the Texans ever form a decathalon team, Barwin and Casey could be co-captains. |
| Round 6, (188) | Brice McCain | Cornerback | Utah | Small but great speed. Can also return kicks. |
| Round 7, (223) | Troy Nolan | Safety | Arizona State | A big safety who dropped because of a slow 40 time. |
You can check out post-draft comments by GM Rick Smith and Head Coach Gary Kubiak here.
Here's how Rick Smith answered the question about not selecting a running back:
“Yes, we did [consider drafting a running back]. Another thing that we said is that we’re going to let the process run itself. If there are players that are available when we have opportunities to select, we’re going to take them. That opportunity at that position never really materialized for us today, and we didn’t (draft a running back)."
"...there [are] a number of ways to add players to our team, and certainly free agency and the draft are the two major ways to do that. We had hoped that we could have gotten a back out of the draft this weekend. But I also said the other day that we didn’t really feel like we had to come out of this draft with anything, because I think there are other ways that we can solve that issue."
I still don't know what to think about Smith's comments about "not having to come out of this draft with anything." It's not like the Texans are one player away.
The Texans' worst kept secret was that they needed a complementary running back for Steve Slaton as much as they needed that backup offensive lineman in the 3rd round. I think it's a glaring need despite what Smith says.
Why else would they try to sign Ced Benson and say that they were looking at Shonn Greene and Glen Coffee in the 3rd, only to get aced out.
What now, Rudi Johnson or Ruben Droughns? Might as well re-sign Ahman Green. I'm kidding, but if you scan the free agent wire, that's the kind of stuff out there.
Comments
How's the draft grade now?
Jeremiah Johnson RB
Arian Foster RB
C+ ?
Johnson might have a shot. Foster is hurt a lot. I'll give them an incomplete, but the Texans RB corps right now is a Slaton injury away from disaster.
I would have gone Andre Brown instead of Hill in the 4th, and took a blocking TE later. But what do I know...
I think the waiver wire will bring us a good back mewelde moore should be a target if the steelers decide to go with 2 backs also my guess is the broncos will cut 3 backs
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