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sourdoughsam56
Joined: 03 Jul 2012
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 Posted: Thu Jul 05, 2012 8:21 pm Post subject: Jared Crick? |
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Excuse me as this is basically my first post on these boards. But I was curious as to how he's done thus far with OTA's and what you have all heard.
I'm a 49er fan and was hoping for this guy and think he was an absolute steal in the 4th round. I watched a ton of Nebraska during the last few years and he's got a Justin Smith style to his game. I know that pectoral injury is still getting back to strength but he was WELL worth the risk. |
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Grasspike
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 12:14 am Post subject: |
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Haven't heard anything from OTA's, but I think the consensus is that we have high hopes for Crick, he was universally hailed as a great pick, and if all goes to plan, he'll be brought along fairly slowly b/c of his injury and the quality of our starting ends. He'll be Antonio Smith's eventual replacement, hopefully.
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Rosstafarian
Joined: 04 Aug 2011
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 11:26 am Post subject: |
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This is the only thing that's really been said about Crick by Kubiak:
| Quote: | Published June 14, 2012
HOUSTON — The cleats of several Texans rookies squished with every heavy step, but the grass beneath their feet was bone-dry.
“It’s sweat,” undrafted rookie lineman Hebron Fangupo said.
“It’s like I just got out of a bathtub after every practice. Today was hell, but I know it’s only going to get worse.”
For the average rookie not accustomed to Houston’s heat and humidity, Tuesday’s practice at the minicamp was particularly grueling. The coaches pushed the players with a heavy emphasis on conditioning, and the results weren’t pretty.
Rookie defensive end Jared Crick, a fourth-round pick and lifelong Nebraska native, fell victim to the heat. Less than an hour into the workout, Crick began stumbling around like he was dizzy.
Trainers and equipment staff helped him off the field and immediately blanketed him with cold-water towels, bags of ice and gusts of breeze from industrial-sized fans.
They even took his jersey off, but he never seemed to fully recover from his dazed state. When staff loaded him onto a cart to be driven away, Crick seemed to struggle to hold his eyes open.
Texans coach Gary Kubiak said Crick dealt with heat exhaustion and dehydration, but he would be fine. |
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Apollo Stallion
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
Posts: 5094
Location: Battle Red State
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 7:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Grasspike wrote: | | Haven't heard anything from OTA's, but I think the consensus is that we have high hopes for Crick, he was universally hailed as a great pick, and if all goes to plan, he'll be brought along fairly slowly b/c of his injury and the quality of our starting ends. He'll be Antonio Smith's eventual replacement, hopefully. |
Ugh. I'm so sick of the people ready to move on from Antonio Smith because he turned 30, is playing out a 5 year/$35 million deal, and doesn't produce double digit sacks. I don't see the 49ers trying to run Justin Smith out of town because he is 32, but rather ready to offer him a massive renewal because they know he is the engine that makes everything else they do possible. Antonio is not quite at Justin's level, but he is barely a notch behind much like Willis to Cushing. You 3-4 neophytes still don't quite understand that the wrecking ball d-lineman and ILBs are what make things happen for the OLBs who merely finish the job on the QBs (aided by ILBs and DLs shutting down the run game). This defense went from 2nd worst to 2nd best because of coaching change and personnel additions for sure, but there is absolutely zero question that the transition was predicated upon the unique skill, leadership, experience, and attitude Antonio Smith brought to the defense. It is not an accident that Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans don't play here anymore and Antonio Smith does, quite simply because HE and Cushing were the ones deemed worthy of building around, NOT Mario and Ryans despite their much larger paychecks and profile. Don't equate JJ Watt's easy transition to the NFL as evidence of the ability to plug and play DE's but rather his transition as a reflection of Smith's ability to make those around him better by doing the dirty work and being comfortable with the glory going elsewhere. You didn't see anyone crying any tears when they let Mario walk, and the bulk of the sadness about DeMeco was based upon leadership and past contributions rather than on field impact, I suspect you would see a parade of players like Barwin, Watt, Reed, Cushing, and others in near mutiny if Antonio were pushed out the door, not to mention Wade Phillips. There are a few cogs that make everything else happen for a team and Antonio is that cog for this defense in so many ways.
As a fan base, we need to understand that success in a cap world means occassionally having to let people who's value on the open market exceeds their value to the team and watch guys like Mario Williams & Ryans go, as well as not getting sentimental when "bargains" like Brisiel and Dreessen are ready to cash in, but much like we did with Myers, you have to know when losing certain guys threatens the progress you have made and be willing to keep those "keystone vets" that hopefully will bridge the gap for an "up and coming" team to a perennial contender. Teams like the Bengals let guys like Justin Smith and Johnathan Joseph walk and are in perpetual rebuilding mode, while teams like the Ravens, Pats, Steelers, Packers, and Giants are always reloading with equal parts youth mixing with keystone vets. Antonio Smith is one of those keystone guys and in a time where a dline rotation is paramount as you move between 3-4 and 4-3 alignments seamlessly it doesn't even preclude Jared Crick becoming a star on this team either since Smith is so versatile. The Giants seem to have done pretty well keeping the older d-linemen around alongside the young guns despite not always having a defined starting gig for everyone.
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Grasspike
Joined: 07 Jan 2007
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Location: Davidson College
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| Posted: Fri Jul 06, 2012 9:25 pm Post subject: |
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| Apollo Stallion wrote: | | Grasspike wrote: | | Haven't heard anything from OTA's, but I think the consensus is that we have high hopes for Crick, he was universally hailed as a great pick, and if all goes to plan, he'll be brought along fairly slowly b/c of his injury and the quality of our starting ends. He'll be Antonio Smith's eventual replacement, hopefully. |
Ugh. I'm so sick of the people ready to move on from Antonio Smith because he turned 30, is playing out a 5 year/$35 million deal, and doesn't produce double digit sacks. I don't see the 49ers trying to run Justin Smith out of town because he is 32, but rather ready to offer him a massive renewal because they know he is the engine that makes everything else they do possible. Antonio is not quite at Justin's level, but he is barely a notch behind much like Willis to Cushing. You 3-4 neophytes still don't quite understand that the wrecking ball d-lineman and ILBs are what make things happen for the OLBs who merely finish the job on the QBs (aided by ILBs and DLs shutting down the run game). This defense went from 2nd worst to 2nd best because of coaching change and personnel additions for sure, but there is absolutely zero question that the transition was predicated upon the unique skill, leadership, experience, and attitude Antonio Smith brought to the defense. It is not an accident that Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans don't play here anymore and Antonio Smith does, quite simply because HE and Cushing were the ones deemed worthy of building around, NOT Mario and Ryans despite their much larger paychecks and profile. Don't equate JJ Watt's easy transition to the NFL as evidence of the ability to plug and play DE's but rather his transition as a reflection of Smith's ability to make those around him better by doing the dirty work and being comfortable with the glory going elsewhere. You didn't see anyone crying any tears when they let Mario walk, and the bulk of the sadness about DeMeco was based upon leadership and past contributions rather than on field impact, I suspect you would see a parade of players like Barwin, Watt, Reed, Cushing, and others in near mutiny if Antonio were pushed out the door, not to mention Wade Phillips. There are a few cogs that make everything else happen for a team and Antonio is that cog for this defense in so many ways.
As a fan base, we need to understand that success in a cap world means occassionally having to let people who's value on the open market exceeds their value to the team and watch guys like Mario Williams & Ryans go, as well as not getting sentimental when "bargains" like Brisiel and Dreessen are ready to cash in, but much like we did with Myers, you have to know when losing certain guys threatens the progress you have made and be willing to keep those "keystone vets" that hopefully will bridge the gap for an "up and coming" team to a perennial contender. Teams like the Bengals let guys like Justin Smith and Johnathan Joseph walk and are in perpetual rebuilding mode, while teams like the Ravens, Pats, Steelers, Packers, and Giants are always reloading with equal parts youth mixing with keystone vets. Antonio Smith is one of those keystone guys and in a time where a dline rotation is paramount as you move between 3-4 and 4-3 alignments seamlessly it doesn't even preclude Jared Crick becoming a star on this team either since Smith is so versatile. The Giants seem to have done pretty well keeping the older d-linemen around alongside the young guns despite not always having a defined starting gig for everyone. |
Notice that I said "eventual." I'm fully aware of Smith's value to the team and fully aware that his production has not decreased at all (in fact, he had 1/4 of his total career sacks last season--7.5/29.5 including playoffs). But you should always be hopeful that your younger players will replace your vets, because a team that can replace all of its production with younger cheaper players will be a very good team for a long time. I don't know where you got that I want Smith replaced yesterday, as I used several words/phrases that I think reveal my opinion of Smith, such as Crick will be "brought along fairly slowly" b/c of "the quality of our defensive ends" and he'll hopefully be Smith's "eventual replacement".
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SwiftTexan
Joined: 15 Feb 2011
Posts: 2424
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:51 am Post subject: |
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| Grasspike wrote: | | Apollo Stallion wrote: | | Grasspike wrote: | | Haven't heard anything from OTA's, but I think the consensus is that we have high hopes for Crick, he was universally hailed as a great pick, and if all goes to plan, he'll be brought along fairly slowly b/c of his injury and the quality of our starting ends. He'll be Antonio Smith's eventual replacement, hopefully. |
Ugh. I'm so sick of the people ready to move on from Antonio Smith because he turned 30, is playing out a 5 year/$35 million deal, and doesn't produce double digit sacks. I don't see the 49ers trying to run Justin Smith out of town because he is 32, but rather ready to offer him a massive renewal because they know he is the engine that makes everything else they do possible. Antonio is not quite at Justin's level, but he is barely a notch behind much like Willis to Cushing. You 3-4 neophytes still don't quite understand that the wrecking ball d-lineman and ILBs are what make things happen for the OLBs who merely finish the job on the QBs (aided by ILBs and DLs shutting down the run game). This defense went from 2nd worst to 2nd best because of coaching change and personnel additions for sure, but there is absolutely zero question that the transition was predicated upon the unique skill, leadership, experience, and attitude Antonio Smith brought to the defense. It is not an accident that Mario Williams and DeMeco Ryans don't play here anymore and Antonio Smith does, quite simply because HE and Cushing were the ones deemed worthy of building around, NOT Mario and Ryans despite their much larger paychecks and profile. Don't equate JJ Watt's easy transition to the NFL as evidence of the ability to plug and play DE's but rather his transition as a reflection of Smith's ability to make those around him better by doing the dirty work and being comfortable with the glory going elsewhere. You didn't see anyone crying any tears when they let Mario walk, and the bulk of the sadness about DeMeco was based upon leadership and past contributions rather than on field impact, I suspect you would see a parade of players like Barwin, Watt, Reed, Cushing, and others in near mutiny if Antonio were pushed out the door, not to mention Wade Phillips. There are a few cogs that make everything else happen for a team and Antonio is that cog for this defense in so many ways.
As a fan base, we need to understand that success in a cap world means occassionally having to let people who's value on the open market exceeds their value to the team and watch guys like Mario Williams & Ryans go, as well as not getting sentimental when "bargains" like Brisiel and Dreessen are ready to cash in, but much like we did with Myers, you have to know when losing certain guys threatens the progress you have made and be willing to keep those "keystone vets" that hopefully will bridge the gap for an "up and coming" team to a perennial contender. Teams like the Bengals let guys like Justin Smith and Johnathan Joseph walk and are in perpetual rebuilding mode, while teams like the Ravens, Pats, Steelers, Packers, and Giants are always reloading with equal parts youth mixing with keystone vets. Antonio Smith is one of those keystone guys and in a time where a dline rotation is paramount as you move between 3-4 and 4-3 alignments seamlessly it doesn't even preclude Jared Crick becoming a star on this team either since Smith is so versatile. The Giants seem to have done pretty well keeping the older d-linemen around alongside the young guns despite not always having a defined starting gig for everyone. |
Notice that I said "eventual." I'm fully aware of Smith's value to the team and fully aware that his production has not decreased at all (in fact, he had 1/4 of his total career sacks last season--7.5/29.5 including playoffs). But you should always be hopeful that your younger players will replace your vets, because a team that can replace all of its production with younger cheaper players will be a very good team for a long time. I don't know where you got that I want Smith replaced yesterday, as I used several words/phrases that I think reveal my opinion of Smith, such as Crick will be "brought along fairly slowly" b/c of "the quality of our defensive ends" and he'll hopefully be Smith's "eventual replacement". |
I wandered in here to see if anybody was talking about Arian Foster's transition to veganism and stumbled on this topic.
Appollo: It's not that Antonio Smith isn't valuable. I think it's more that JJ Watt is playing on a 4 year - 11.3 million dollar contract. Antonio is on a 5 year 35 million deal. Jared Crick signed a 4 year - 2.5 million dollar contract. In most 3-4 schemes, the least important position are the D-Ends. Spending 9.5 million dollars in 2012 (5.5 for A. Smith, 4mil [avg] for Watt) as opposed to barely 5 million a year (4 for Watt, 625k for Crick) is a much better value considering how little impact they have on the game. If you look at other teams running 3-4 schemes, most of them don't have two highly paid DEs. Wade Phillips mostly had Marcus Spears and a revolving door at DE in Dallas. Money should be spent on edge rushers, an NT that fits the scheme and secondary. If Crick shows enough promise or any other DE. You might see Antonio be a salary cap casualty or have his deal re-structured. It's a lot of money even if he is a great DE in the 3-4 scheme. It's not a plug and play situation but you'd be foolish to think they didn't draft Crick with the possibility in mind that he might take over for Antonio a year or two from now. Plus guys like Jamison can also compete and I still think Earl Mitchell would be better suited at 5-tech than inside. So while Antonio was a great player for the Texans last year - the free agency list for 2013 includes Schaub, Connor Barwin, Duane Brown, Rashad Butler, James Casey, Shaun Cody, Jamison, Troy Nolan, Brice McCain, Glover Quin. So if you can save money on Smith by not paying him his 6 million dollar salary he's due to earn in 2013 and distribute that to signing other players - it might be worth the risk or slight dip in production at a position of relative unimportance.
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Not a Texans fan...just a nickname.
April 7th, 2013
| aceinthehouse wrote: | Don't sweat Seattle.
They're overrated & not making the Playoffs next season.
8-8 or 9-7 best for Seattle. (& No Playoffs) |
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amazingandre
Joined: 16 Dec 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 9:57 am Post subject: |
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How about we let the rookie play before we deem him a replacement for anyone....
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CAS22
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 10:20 am Post subject: |
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| amazingandre wrote: | | How about we let the rookie play before we deem him a replacement for anyone.... |
Well said AA. The DEs are important to Wade's system and the fact is that we have two very good ones. No reason to break that up.
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PAtexansFAN99
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 12:48 pm Post subject: |
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| SwiftTexan wrote: |
I wandered in here to see if anybody was talking about Arian Foster's transition to veganism and stumbled on this topic.
Appollo: It's not that Antonio Smith isn't valuable. I think it's more that JJ Watt is playing on a 4 year - 11.3 million dollar contract. Antonio is on a 5 year 35 million deal. Jared Crick signed a 4 year - 2.5 million dollar contract. In most 3-4 schemes, the least important position are the D-Ends. Spending 9.5 million dollars in 2012 (5.5 for A. Smith, 4mil [avg] for Watt) as opposed to barely 5 million a year (4 for Watt, 625k for Crick) is a much better value considering how little impact they have on the game. If you look at other teams running 3-4 schemes, most of them don't have two highly paid DEs. Wade Phillips mostly had Marcus Spears and a revolving door at DE in Dallas. Money should be spent on edge rushers, an NT that fits the scheme and secondary. If Crick shows enough promise or any other DE. You might see Antonio be a salary cap casualty or have his deal re-structured. It's a lot of money even if he is a great DE in the 3-4 scheme. It's not a plug and play situation but you'd be foolish to think they didn't draft Crick with the possibility in mind that he might take over for Antonio a year or two from now. Plus guys like Jamison can also compete and I still think Earl Mitchell would be better suited at 5-tech than inside. So while Antonio was a great player for the Texans last year - the free agency list for 2013 includes Schaub, Connor Barwin, Duane Brown, Rashad Butler, James Casey, Shaun Cody, Jamison, Troy Nolan, Brice McCain, Glover Quin. So if you can save money on Smith by not paying him his 6 million dollar salary he's due to earn in 2013 and distribute that to signing other players - it might be worth the risk or slight dip in production at a position of relative unimportance. |
I think its more about amassing a rotation at EVERY position on defense with which Philips can dominate opponents for 60 minutes.. (that's how we're gonna beat the NFC representative in the Superbowl).
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SwiftTexan
Joined: 15 Feb 2011
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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| CAS22 wrote: | | amazingandre wrote: | | How about we let the rookie play before we deem him a replacement for anyone.... |
Well said AA. The DEs are important to Wade's system and the fact is that we have two very good ones. No reason to break that up. |
Yup - Wade's system needs to great DEs. That's why Wade only ever drafted ONE DE in his entire tenure in Dallas (Sean Lissemore - 6th round - his last year with the team). And that's why there was a revolving door at the DE position.
2007-2008 - Canty & Spears
2009: Spears & Olshansky
2010: Bowen & Olshansky
Three different starting combinations in four years doesn't exactly speak to the need of having great players and consistency at the position. Believe what you want to believe but don't be shocked is Antonio is not a Texan in 2013 or 2014. In the end - you need that DE mostly to occupy blockers to allow the ILB to make plays or to allow the OLB to rush the passer. The scheme was designed because it allows you to get more athletes on the field and because it was easy to find guys that could play the two DE spots and you only had to find one interior guy. That second point is less true today because more teams are running 3-4 sets but it's still WAY easier to find a 3-4 DE than it is to find a 4-3 DE. It's why some players are upset about the switch - the 5-techs are more replaceable than if they were DTs in a 4-3 set.
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GO SEAHAWKS GO!
Not a Texans fan...just a nickname.
April 7th, 2013
| aceinthehouse wrote: | Don't sweat Seattle.
They're overrated & not making the Playoffs next season.
8-8 or 9-7 best for Seattle. (& No Playoffs) |
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treece300e
Joined: 29 Jul 2011
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Location: Nampa, ID
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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| SwiftTexan wrote: | | CAS22 wrote: | | amazingandre wrote: | | How about we let the rookie play before we deem him a replacement for anyone.... |
Well said AA. The DEs are important to Wade's system and the fact is that we have two very good ones. No reason to break that up. |
Yup - Wade's system needs to great DEs. That's why Wade only ever drafted ONE DE in his entire tenure in Dallas (Sean Lissemore - 6th round - his last year with the team). And that's why there was a revolving door at the DE position.
2007-2008 - Canty & Spears
2009: Spears & Olshansky
2010: Bowen & Olshansky
Three different starting combinations in four years doesn't exactly speak to the need of having great players and consistency at the position. Believe what you want to believe but don't be shocked is Antonio is not a Texan in 2013 or 2014. In the end - you need that DE mostly to occupy blockers to allow the ILB to make plays or to allow the OLB to rush the passer. The scheme was designed because it allows you to get more athletes on the field and because it was easy to find guys that could play the two DE spots and you only had to find one interior guy. That second point is less true today because more teams are running 3-4 sets but it's still WAY easier to find a 3-4 DE than it is to find a 4-3 DE. It's why some players are upset about the switch - the 5-techs are more replaceable than if they were DTs in a 4-3 set. |
I agree that the position isn't the highest priority, in fact one of the lower priorities in the 3-4. However, the level at which our OLBs played last year and having very little drop-off after losing Mario, and the fact that two young, inexperienced OLBs had a great season, is a testament to how important the position CAN be if staffed with such talent. I will be honest in saying I'm not sold on Barwin or Reed being as good as they played last year. By no means do I think they are bad players, but I think the pass rush generated by our DEs makes their job much easier. In Dallas they have Ware, which means you just need a warm body in front of him and he'll make something happen. Neither of our OLBs are in that league (yet) and it's a luxury to have players that can help mask that.
Antonio's price tag is high for a 3-4 DE, no doubt, and I think that's primarily what you're referring to when you say we would get rid of him. I think the Texans will try to re-work his contract as he was originally paid to be a 4-3 DE (right?) which has a much higher price tag. His contract is for a much more valuable position and has moved, it would only make sense that he should be paid less in this scheme. Hopefully he will understand the logic if/when the Texans approach him with such a request. |
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AntiSuperstar
Joined: 07 Oct 2007
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| Posted: Sun Jul 08, 2012 3:46 pm Post subject: |
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What does "occupy blockers" even mean? I feel like people make statements like these without even thinking of them. Antonio Smith's game is to explode off the ball at the snap. If he "occupies blockers", it's because he's a penetrating/pass rushing threat and is forcing offensive blockers to adjust to him, not because he's just vaguely and mysteriously somehow freeing up pass rushers in some unimportant way. That's always been Antonio Smith's game. It was his game in 2010 when he was a Defensive End who moved inside to Tackle on pass plays. It's his game in Wade's "3-4", which is a 4-3 in terms of gap concepts anyway.
What's more I don't think anyone can really argue the Texans Outside Linebackers right now are more important than their Defensive Ends. I mean, Barwin is good but Brooks Reed is a fast hustle guy who most of the time is blocked by Tight Ends. He's effective, but Smith and Watt are both far more important and see much tougher assignments defensively.
Lastly these ideas that Defensive Ends aren't important in 3-4s is laughable. Richard Seymour, Aaron Smith, Haloti Ngata, or Justin Smith for some examples were/are in their primes more important than any of the other players on their respective defenses.
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Apollo Stallion
Joined: 06 Feb 2008
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| Posted: Mon Jul 09, 2012 12:17 pm Post subject: |
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| SwiftTexan wrote: | | CAS22 wrote: | | amazingandre wrote: | | How about we let the rookie play before we deem him a replacement for anyone.... |
Well said AA. The DEs are important to Wade's system and the fact is that we have two very good ones. No reason to break that up. |
Yup - Wade's system needs to great DEs. That's why Wade only ever drafted ONE DE in his entire tenure in Dallas (Sean Lissemore - 6th round - his last year with the team). And that's why there was a revolving door at the DE position.
2007-2008 - Canty & Spears
2009: Spears & Olshansky
2010: Bowen & Olshansky
Three different starting combinations in four years doesn't exactly speak to the need of having great players and consistency at the position. Believe what you want to believe but don't be shocked is Antonio is not a Texan in 2013 or 2014. In the end - you need that DE mostly to occupy blockers to allow the ILB to make plays or to allow the OLB to rush the passer. The scheme was designed because it allows you to get more athletes on the field and because it was easy to find guys that could play the two DE spots and you only had to find one interior guy. That second point is less true today because more teams are running 3-4 sets but it's still WAY easier to find a 3-4 DE than it is to find a 4-3 DE. It's why some players are upset about the switch - the 5-techs are more replaceable than if they were DTs in a 4-3 set. |
Your premise is flawed. You assume that the defense in Dallas was his ideal and that he had personnel control when the reality is that Jerry clearly controls personnel and Wade has never been deeply involved personnel matters at any stop in entire career. You also hold the Dallas version up as the blueprint when it yielded all of 1 playoff victory in 4 years and at least a portion of their failures can be linked to shortcomings on the d-line that you seem to think were a choice rather than Jerry neglecting key defensive positions while chasing WRs and RBs for his fantasy football team.
The Texans version is already better than what he had in Dallas with the exception of replicating the individual production of Ware. If your premise were correct, Mario Williams would still be here in the DeMarcus Ware role and Robert Quinn would have been the pick in 2011 instead of JJ Watt since 3-4 DE's are apparently so easy to find (which goes against every recent draft and personnel trend where 3-4 OLBs have become plug and play - including Barwin here and Antwan Barnes in SD and Aldon Smith in SF). Our system is also far from a carbon copy of what he ran in Dallas as we were in 4-3 sets significantly more than he ever did in Dallas or SD partly because of Antonio's ability to be effective both inside and out. He also figured out that shutting down TE's is an important part of the game so Texans safeties can actually cover unlike the glorified LBs that manned the position for a time in Dallas.
If you go back to his coordinator days in San Diego, you can't argue that Luis Castillo at DE wasn't a vital cog to everything they did there and you couldn't find a more different NT than Jamal Williams and Jay Ratliff so clearly he adapts his system to the personnel vs. the other way around as you suggest.
Remember, like his father, Wade doesn't have any rings and doesn't have much time left to get one. Cutting one of the keystone pieces of this defense to save $6 million because Jamison can occasionally be effective rushing the passer or you think the job can be handed over to a 4th rounder like Crick clearly puts us much farther away from the prize especially when you consider that Antonio picked the Arizona defense on his back to help them to the Super Bowl once before and that's leadership and experience you can't replace. I'm all for being optimistic with Crick, but last year's 4th rounder (Roc Carmichael) is becoming a long-shot to even make the team this year after not playing a down last year, so let's just check the talk about how easy it is to transition from being effective in college to the pro game especially when Crick was last seen getting bullied by average guards before going down with a pec injury and has never shown an ability to hold up against the run with his tweener 280 lb frame.
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Adopt a Texan 2012
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texansfan
Joined: 08 Dec 2004
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| Posted: Sun Jul 22, 2012 11:47 am Post subject: |
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I don't think anyone questions Antonio Smith's value to this defense. But Crick is a great talent who fell due to an injury in his senior season. The Texans can afford to be patient with him and can groom him to at least be a rotational member of the line. As Antonio continues to age, the team may need to limit some of his snaps to keep him fresh late into the game. And if Crick continues to progress, he may eventually win the job from Antonio, allowing the Texans to be younger and cheaper at that spot.
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Bohlmann20
Joined: 22 Mar 2012
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| Posted: Thu Jul 26, 2012 2:07 pm Post subject: |
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I don't know how Crick has done at all in training camp, but as a Nebraska fan, I can say what I know about him.
First off I really like your comparison to Justin Smith. Not because I think they're the same player (though they have many similarities), but like Smith, Crick will probably have a slow start to his career and a very strong finish. What I mean by that is that he's a project. He's very tall, yet somewhat lanky. He needs to fill out his frame to be a force in the nfl. And although he's a high character guy, he's not the smartest, which has made him notorious for being a slow learner.
However, his potential is very high. He can definitely be a great starter if he's brought along slowly, can stay in the same system for many years (so he can understand the scheme), and can put more weight on. |
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