Houston Texans Monday Roundup
Dec 1, 2013; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans running back Ben Tate (44) celebrates with injured running back Arian Foster in the second quarter against the New England Patriots at Reliant Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports
Over the weekend, NFL.com had an article about how the Houston Texans’ Arian Foster will be “fine” for the upcoming 2014 season.
In the article, Dan Hanzus quoted Texans GM Rick Smith by writing:
"“‘He’s doing well, he’s working hard,’ Smith said, according to the Houston Chronicle. ‘He’s in the training room consistently … All the reports that I’m getting from (head trainer) Geoff (Kaplan) indicate to me that he’s going to be fine.'”"
That’s good news because the Texans are currently thin at running back with Ben Tate being a free agent and the rest of the backs having very little NFL experience.
Foster missed half of the season with various injuries, including having surgery on his back, which ended his 2013 season at 542 yards and one touchdown in eight games.
I’m still worried about the Texans’ depth at running back, and that starts with Foster. He can be “ready” and “fine” right now, but he has to be able to hold up for the entire season for the Texans to have success on the offensive side of the ball.
He really needs to stay healthy with the Texans most likely having a new QB under center next season. Foster’s offseason is going to be really important for the team the next few months.
• In more comments from the general manager, Smith spoke about the risks with quarterbacks, according to an article by ESPN’s Tania Ganguli.
She quoted Smith by writing:
"“I think the risk is if you take a player that is not reflective of the value … Because what you ultimately do is you miss on another player you should have been taking that has that value. That’s why we don’t rank our board with any type of consideration for need …”"
That quote makes me wonder if the Texans are looking another way or are just trying to keep their cards close to their chest.
I still have no clues what this team is doing. My guess is that as of today, it would be between Teddy Bridgewater, Blake Bortles or Jadeveon Clowney with the No. 1 overall selection.
That, my friends, is just a guess. What are your thoughts on what the Texans will do with the No. 1 selection?
• Bridgewater said, “I feel I’m the best quarterback in this draft,” according to an article by Brian T. Smith on the Houston Chronicle’s Texans blog.
Smith wrote:
"“Bridgewater said Louisville’s pro-style offense prepared him for the NFL, creating a pocket passer whose accuracy is unparalleled among available QBs in the draft.”"
I really like Bridgewater’s football skills and feel he is, in fact, the best QB in this draft, and I have thought that since I started looking at the QBs that were eligible for the draft in December.
I may not be right, but if the Texans want instant help at the QB position, Bridgewater should be the QB selected, but again, I still like Bortles as well. I also want to see how Zach Mettenberger of LSU heals following his ACL surgery, because he has good size for an NFL QB.
After everything, this is a very tough decision by those in charge of the Texans.
In some Reliant Stadium related news, the Houston Rodeo will be coming to town beginning March 4th and running through March 23rd.