Schein on the NFL: Texans' defensive line better than Titans'

July 4, 10:26 AMHouston Texans ExaminerAlan Burge

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Will the Titans be able to overcome the loss of #92?

In his latest installment of Schein's Nine, Fox Sports analyst Adam Schein says if you're talking about defensive lines, take the Texans over the Titans.

Here's what Schein had to say:

"Albert Haynesworth has left the building. And finally, after years of defections on the defensive line where players who left Tennessee were easily replaced, the Titans' unit will dip. Kyle Vanden Bosch is an energizer bunny, but can't do it alone. I'm not sold on the Jason Jones/Tony Brown/Jovan Haye/Sen'Derrick Marks rotation at tackle.

Meanwhile, Mario Williams is my early pick for Defensive Player of the Year. Houston made a tremendous offseason pickup with Cardinals' playoff hero and defensive end Antonio Smith. Travis Johnson has been a bust, but I will take him over what the Titans have to offer.

The Texans finally have a defense that can contend."

I'm not sure if Schein is just trying to spin up his readership in Nashville with that comment, but I don't follow that the Titans (read: Jeff Fisher's system of plug and play into a pretty good scheme) won't be able to overcome the loss of Albert Haynesworth with a combination of the four players he mentioned.

The Titans defense was top ten statistically over the past two seasons.  Was that all due to Haynesworth?  He certainly was a presence, at least while playing under one year deals and hungry for the fat contract that he finally got from Dan Snyder.  I'm just not ready to crown the Texans d-line just because Haynesworth left and Schein "isn't sold" on Jones, Brown, Haye, and Marks. 

Chuck Cecil takes over for Jim Schwartz at defensive coordinator for the Titans and while it's still unknown what effect that will have, I don't expect much to change because Cecil will be implementing Fisher's long established system.  Jim Washburn remains the Titans defensive line coach.

Meanwhile, Schein sings the praises of the Texans' Mario Williams and Antonio Smith and says he'd take a "bust" like Travis Johnson over what the Titans have to offer.  

That's pretty bad considering Travis' biggest claim to fame over his four year career is an expletive filled rant against Trent Green for trying to make a block take out his knees.

On the subject of change, Schein failed to mention that the Texans also have a new defensive coordinator who, unlike Cecil, is probably going to change things up a bit.

The Texans also have a new defensive line coach who's promising a more aggressive style  - in fact, I'm getting sick of hearing about it.  Talk is cheap and I need to see improvement in games (as in Week 1 against the Jets) before I buy in.  Aggressive is one thing.  Shutting opponents down is another.

Then there's the remaining questions of whether Amobi Okoye can shake off his sophomore slump, whether Travis can muster up enough effort to play well in a contract year, whether Frank Okam wants to play professional football, whether Shaun Cody can be re-born (or born) under Kollar, and whether Deljuan Robinson will continue his reign of terror he showed briefly last season.

Also not mentioned by Schein - I'm sure due to space limitations he couldn't conduct a comprehensive analysis - is the unknown effect that Brian Cushing and Connor Barwin will have on the Texans front seven.

I think Cushing and Barwin can be game changers, but I still think the Texans are weak up the middle - so give me the Titans defensive line until proven otherwise.