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Butler (NFLPA)
The first thing that came to mind while reading about Ephraim Salaam signing with the Lions was, "I hope Butler is ready."
Not that there was much of a chance that Salaam would return to the Texans anyway, but this drove home the fact that Rashad Butler is now a 'heartbeat away.'
Salaam is entering his 12th season and will be 33 years old next month. He was a starter his entire career, until last season when he played behind rookie first round pick Duane Brown.
But even though Salaam didn't start a game for the Texans in 2008, he got plenty of reps relieving Brown whose head was left spinning more than once during his rookie season.
Those days are over as Salaam was released in February in favor of Butler, who has no career starts and only eight game appearances in three seasons. Brown will be expected to play full time in 2009 and Butler is the primary backup.
Butler is an interesting case.
He was a 3rd round draft pick of the Carolina Panthers in 2006 but was released during training camp in 2007 because he couldn't make weight. But it wasn't because he was too heavy - he was too light - dropping as low as 270 lbs which is far too light to play tackle in the NFL.
Butler's weight issue was due to a digestive condition called ulcerative colitis which wasn't being properly treated until he arrived in Houston.
Butler is listed at 6-4, 293 on the Texans and NFLPA websites, but nfl.com lists him at 309. That's a large discrepancy so I'll try to find out what's right. The low 290's is a little light by NFL standards for offensive tackles although Alex Gibbs would prefer an agile 300 pounder over a 330 lb. mauler any day.
Whatever he weighs, he's clearly the #3 tackle for now since the only other tackles on the roster are Cliff Washburn, and two undrafted free agents.
At any rate, the Texans lost experienced depth at tackle with Salaam's departure. So ready or not, Butler's time is now.
Comments
Alan, Thanks for your great addition to my daily Texans news crawl. You, Lance Zierlein and Stephanie Stradley of TexansTalk.com/Chron.com are my favorite fan blogger types! My friend John and I watch the Texans OLine closer than anyone during pre-season and regular season games. We are of the ilk that it all happens in the trenches. I have to say that last pre-season we both agreed that Butler and Frye both looked terrific! I was really disappointed that Frye got picked up off of waivers last y
@Barrett
Thanks. Let's all hope Duane B can handle a full time load this year so we don't have to wonder whether Butler can do the job. Although Butler will see a lot of work in preseason. I'm anxious to see Caldwell push Myers.
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