and it's useless because it comes from douchecakes. Apologies because I looked for but could not find the link at chron.com. Yes I still subscribe to the fishwrap...old habits die hard. I'll just highlight the differences between douchecakes and the picks submitted by MDC and TexansDC. Cakes went with no WR5, only 6 DLinemen instead of 7 leaving Bulman out, 9 LB's but no Braman (he did pick Tim Dobbins), Maynard over Hartmann at Punter, and the HUGE difference is he went with 12 DB's as if that position group was our strength. He included Roc Carmichael, Q Demps & Shiloh Keo. I think he's way off base with the 12 DB's. Demps and Keo have been ineffective, and Carmichael (I think) hasn't played much. We need a 7th DLineman much more than a 12th DB, and Bulman has proved his worth the last 2 seasons. Bryan Braman has been excellent this preseason and deserves a spot more than Keo or Demps. The punter competition is still open, but I like Hartmann because he can kick off as well. The picks made by either MDC or TexansDC are more on point than our local beat writer. So much for the mainstream press being a news source.

Astros' fan here, so forgive me if that is a rhetorical question. As you know your former GM is now our GM, and he isn't exactly wowing us with his ingenious personnel decisions. He has improved our farm system, but only moderately, which isn't saying much because it was the worst in baseball when he took over a few years back. As far as the big league club, he is in an impossible situation, but he made the situation worse by overpaying for a series of has-beens and never were's (Kaz Matsui, Mike Hampton, Pedro Feliz, Ivan Rodriguez and Nelson Figuero to name a few). I see here that Phillies' fans aren't thrilled with the Hunter Pence trade. As it turns out, Astros' fans aren't either. Funny because a well crafted trade between a have and have-not team should be a win-win, not a lose-lose. Please leave your comments, and good luck to the Phillies in the post season. Off topic, but congrats on the NFL free agent wizardry. The Eagles are an embarrassment of riches right now. The Texans sure could have used Cullen Jenkins. Maybe we can trade for Asante Samuel. See you in the Super Bowl.

I like checking out mock drafts.  Gives me something to do to fill the "no football to watch" void.  One of the sites I like is Drafttek.  Have no idea if they are any more or less accurate than other sites, but they have a simulator which can be user configured and is fun to play with.  Drafttek also lists a full 7 round draft, which is cool.  As I was scrolling through the rounds today, I got a chuckle when I saw that their R7 Texans' projection is Deunta Williams, SS, North Carolina.  Found this you tube clip at nflmocks.com and the announcer pronounces his name dee-AWN-tay, fairly close to our former star CB's pronunciation.  BTW nflmocks projects him as their 2nd rated safety and should be a lower half 1st rounder.  Drafttek has him as the #10 SS.  We need help at safety, and it would be strangely poetic if the help came named dee-AWN-tay.

In todays presser, Kubiak was asked about what he would tell Wade about the youth of the Texans' secondary.  His response was "I don't know if there is just one move. I don’t think that there’s one player. If I told you right now if we sign this guy will make us better right now."  My jaw bounced off the keyboard when I read this.  His previous statement had to do with why he wouldn't want to invest heavily in free agency. “We got to get better. As I said, we definitely got to get better and that’s across the board. In free agency, if there is a corner or a defensive lineman, if that helps us, we got to look at those options. I think we all agree we go to look right now at what we have and see where we are going to fit those guys before we start talking what our biggest need is.”

 

Translation "We are not going to sign Scrabble because A - Kubiak amazingly does not realize that he would instantly make our joke of a secondary infinitely better, and B - He would cost too much of Mr. McNair's money.

 

I can no longer pretend that Kubiak is a competent NFL executive.  The huge problem is that Bob just can't get himself enough of Gary.  Color me disgusted and disillusioned.  Oh and in the event you are wondering, No the Texans did not make even an automated form letter response to my e-mail plea to make a serious run at Nnamdi.

This is the Texans debut on NFL network (I think) and does anyone know if the game is going to be available on a local non-premium channel?  I haven't yet sprung for the NFL network, so I guess it may be time to either fork over a few dollars to Comcast, or go to a local Hooters, etc. to watch the game.  I can't take Friday off from work cuz' my boss is already on vacation and it will be hard to resist the temptation to drink too much if I go to a sports bar to watch the game.  Thanks in advance for any information.

GO TEXANS!!!!!!!!

ESPN's Adam Schefter is reporting that both Dallas Clark and Austin Collie, 2 of PayTons' top 3 targets will be out for the upcoming rematch with your Houston Texans a week from Monday at the RCA dome.  Collie is expected to miss a few weeks after having hand surgery and Clark is out indefinitely with an "uncommon wrist injury".  While it is in completely bad taste to rejoice over any player getting injured, this is definitely not bad news for the Texans who are due for just a little bit of good luck now.  Most of you remember that the Colts were missing some key personnel in the week one tilt.  Our chances to win the rematch for an unprecedented sweep of the Colts just got a major boost with this report.

I was reading the chron this morning. Yeah I'm an old fart and I like to read the morning paper with a cup of coffee. Old habits die hard. Dale's article was about Kareem and the youthful Texans' cornerback group going up against the mighty Peyton. Towards the end of the article he pointed out that the inexperience of the CB's was offset by the experience of both safeties: Bonecrusher and NICK FERGUSON. My dropping jaw nearly knocked my cup of Joe on the floor. My first thought was WTF did I miss? Did Eugene Wilson get hurt and we brought back Ferguson? What about Troy Nolan? Naturally this was all nonsense because Wilson & Nolan are the safeties opposite Pollard and Dale's brainfart was actually published by the chron.

What a freakin' joke. I know where to get the real scoop on all things Texans....BRB.  Maybe one day I'll cancel my chron subscription.

GO TEXANS!!!!!

Last Monday Mr. McNair went to New York to have a private sit down with the commish of the NFL to present some evidence in the Brian Cushing PED suspension. BRB nation, please correct me if I am wrong, but I haven't heard bupkis about this meeting since. Did I miss something, or has absolutely nothing transpired in the 9 days since the meeting took place?

Frankly I expected a quick dismissal of the new evidence, and that Goodell was just extending professional courtesy to Mr McNair in allowing him to present his case. The window for a quick dismissal, however, has firmly slammed shut. Towards the end of last week, I started thinking that maybe Cushing and the Texans had a decent chance to get a reduction and/or reversal of the original decision. Now I am wondering what the hell is going on. Is Goodell letting Cushing twist in the wind as an added measure of punishment, or is he really torn on which way to go because the "new" and "scientific" evidence is so compelling?

I have made several cursory searches for new information, but keep coming up empty. Does anyone have any idea what is the state of affairs with Cushing's case?

NFL post article saying that The Houston Texans placed tight ends Owen Daniels and Anthony Hill on the active physically unable to perform list. OD says he's on schedule to play week one, but that's just 6 weeks away. Was this expected, or do we need to be concerned that OD will not be ready for the Colts game week #1? What say you BRB nation? Looks like I haven't hit 75 words yet.

Dave Razzano was on the afternoon sportsradio610 show yesterday and his projections for the Texans in 2010 are not nearly as rosy as mine. He says the Texans need more depth at WR, but are fine at CB. Pretty much the opposite of my opinion, but I really like that he is high on both Quin & Kareem. He likes the Texans defensive back end, but says their front 7 is not playoff caliber. He also said that Mario was "barely above average"...Ouch. This dude obviously knows more about football than me or any other average Joe, but I hope he's wrong or we're in for another disappointment this year. Click the link for the podcast.

 

In what the Houston Chronicle rated as front page news yesterday, the Houston Texans were named by Forbes magazine as the 10th most valuable pro sports franchise in the world. Their value is rated in excess of $1.1 billion. Despite their complete lack of substantial achievement on the field, their new stadium, merchandise sales and fan friendly game day experience placed them in the top ten. I found this pleasantly surprising and see it as a great segueway to a playoff spot this year. The article also lists the top individual earners in sports. It is an interesting read.

ESPN is currently airing their Draft review show with Mel, Todd, Herm Edwards and Suzy K. They just finished with the AFC South review. First question (posed to Kiper & McShay) was best and worst (i.e. biggest reach) picks. Todd said that Ben Tate was a reach and "does not fit with what the Texans are doing". He didn't elaborate on that, so I have no idea to what quality or lack therof he was referring. No other panelist backed him up on that. I think Ben looks like money. Next Mel and Todd were asked to rate which teams had the best draft in the division. Both Todd and Mel gave the Texans the #1 slot. Mel gave us a "B", which is fair, with McShay just saying we were the best and Jags were the worst. Last question was who is going to challenge the Colts (7 consecutive years of 12+ wins) next year, and Herm Edwards quickly chimed in with Houston. He qualified that by saying that he had said the same thing last year, but also liked our draft and said that we have the best chance to take them down. It was refreshing to get some positive remarks from the boys in Bristol.

My timing is extremely poor, but after the Texans played by far their best game of the year, I am feeling pumped up once again. Should have posted this when I first heard it which was last Wed or Thursday, but I was too lazy to do so. Sorry. Nineteen teams in the last 10 years have made the playoffs after a 2-3 start. Thats's 19 out of 120, or nearly one in 6. I was surprised to hear this, and maybe you are too. After we lost the heartbreaker in Arizona, trying to come up with a silver lining, all I had was that we still had 2 opportunities to knock off Indianapolis which would go a long way towards winning the division. Yes I know that is wishing for a lot, but desperate times call for desperate measures (or hopes). Then I hear that nearly one in 6 playoff teams in the last 10 years started 2-3 and making the playoffs sounded like not as big a longshot as it did immediately after the Cardinals game. Now we beat the Bengals on the road, and hope springs eternal once again. I do not know what to make of these guys. Bad game, good game, bad game, good game. It's time for the real Houston Texnas to stand up and let us all know who they are; contender or schizophrenic underachieving heartbreaker. Days like today are so sweet. Makes me wonder why we can't play up to our potential more often. GO TEXANS!!!!!!!!!!!!

As if it couldn't get worse ESPN is reporting that Jaques Reeves suffered a compound fracture of one of his fingers. Our secondary play has been so abysmal thus far that Frenchy's return to the field theoretically was going to be a major improvement. Well now it will have to wait because he has suffered his second fracture of the year. Looks like the rookie Brice McCain will get a chance to start because the Fred has been absolutely horrible thus far. I can't imagine what went wrong with Fred, but the right move is to bench him until he can prove he deserves more playing time. Not sure if his coverage or his tackling was worse. Both were unacceptable.

I periodically check some mocks, and Draft Tek is one of them. Sometimes they seem to be on point and then other times it seems they've been talking to the ESPN clown, Todd McShay.

Last week Draft Tek had us going Clay3 at #15 and Sean Smith at #46. Good picks for our need areas. The Clay3 steroid rumor hadn't surfaced yet. Smith would be a sweet pick if he is there at #46. Today's v34 though is completely different. Apparently they think we have a player ticketed for SLB already on the roster, because in their latest version, we are not drafting an OLB in any round. Maybe they think Cato June is slated to be the starting WLB and either Adibi or Bentley will play SLB.

Worse yet they have us taking RB & TE in the 1st and 3rd rounds. Our offense is our weakness? If we draft offense in the 1st 2 rounds, I hope it is a G/C hybrid, not a skill position player.

They currently project: 1) Knowshon Moreno, RB (over Clay3, Maybin, M. Johnson, Vontae Davis, Peria Jerry and Maclin). When did Gibbs or Kubiak last ever draft a RB in the 1st round? 2) Darius Butler, CB - a solid pick, but over Sean Smith who they project to go 51st to the Cowgirls. Chris at Diehards will love that pick. 3) Chase Coffman, TE, Missouri. A nice player but don't we already have a Pro Bowler in OD? What are these guys smokin? Thought you might find this amusing. I did.

The newest member of your Houston Texans is Buster Davis. Unless you are an NFL personnel junkie, your reaction is probably the same as mine: Who??? Yes, I read that he and Mark Berman (not Chris Berman's brother) came in for visits this week, but I didn't pay much attention. Apparently Smithiak liked what they saw because he has been signed to a 1 year deal for the very reasonable price of $445K. Not a headline maker like the signing of Cato June would have been, but it's not a cap buster. We are thin at LB and need depth. He is young and will battle it out in camp for a backup spot.

or as the court jester of ESPN college gameday, Lee Corso would say "Not so fast my friend". Can't find the link at Chron.com, but the paper copy of the Chron today reported that the Shaun Cody deal is NOT final. The Texans web page reported Monday that a deal with Cody had been reported but not yet confirmed. For whatever it's worth, all the Cody discussion may be moot. I was 2 words short, now I am 9 words long.

Add Pat Kirwan, Senior Analyst at NFL.com to the list of know nothings who have us going for an offensive skill position player with our 1st pick. (NOTE: He does start his article with "Mid-March is still too early for a real mock draft") His pick makes no sense to me, and considering Wells injury history, I rate Knowshon Moreno as the best back in the draft. Kirwan's pick is even more puzzling when you consider that his v1.0 had us taking Tyson Jackson, and v2.0 was Peria Jerry. At least those picks were not completely out in left field. Do he and Todd McShay (who has us picking Sanchez) know something the rest of us don't or are they just not bothering to do any research on the Texans' needs? I say it's the latter.

TO has agreed to destroy Buffalo for $6.5 mil. I was really hoping the rumors that had him going to the Titans were true. I thought perhaps Bud Adams had finally gotten a full blown case of Alzheimers, but as it turns out his co-founder of the AFL, Ralph Wilson, has beaten him to the dementia punch. My sympathies to head coach Dick Jauron and Bills' fans everywhere. The circus known as TO has come to town with one mission, to ruin your football team. While it took him several years to destroy Philadelphia, it took him only 2 years to destroy the Cowboys. The only question now is whether he will be able to destroy your team in one year or less.

Really glad to see this because he was asking too much money, wanted to be a starter, is 28 years old with a few injury issues which reminds me too much of Chris Brown and Ahman Green. Yes we need another running back, and although I loved Ced Benson as a Longhorn, I am not sold that he can stay focused on football once he gets back to Texas. Too many friends, too many distractions spells trouble for Cap'n Hazelwood. I prefer that we use a mid-round pick on a guy like Gartrell Johnson.

I always listen to talk radio while commuting; mostly 610 and 790 because the 1560 reception is terrible between Seabrook and Deer Park. Heard an interesting call on the way home yesterday and thought I'd share it with you. The caller, like me, was a close follower of the Texans, Rockets and Astros. The point he was trying to make was "When did you think you would be telling yourself that the Texans are the finest run major pro sports organization in Houston?" (All due respect to the Dynamo, and although I also follow soccer closely, I realize MSL is not at the same level as the NFL, NBA and MLB. USA 2 - Mexico 0. Si se puede. Nice win for the USA last night)

The Rockets are currently in the throes of a mystifying malaise. TMac again did not play last night and says his knee that was operated on last off season is still not right. If he only had Dunta's heart.......co-worker calls him She-Mac. I like the way the GM Morey crafts his roster and Les Alexander is a great owner, always willing to pull the trigger on a major deal, but what has that gotten him? The Rockets are so inconsistent that they have become hard to watch. That meltdown aginst Milwaukee's 2nd string the other night was disgusting. Before the season started, I had high hopes that this would finally be the year that the Rockets made a real playoff run. Right now they look like they are a team in search of a floor leader. I still hope that they can at least get out of the 1st round, but I am not counting on it. The

Astros - Drayton McLane just plain pisses me off. That guy has more money than Bob McNair and Les Alexander COMBINED. Financially he is in the same league as Steinbrenner. He ran the Astros organization into the ground by essentially eliminating their minor league organization, which when Hunsicker was here was one of the best in all of baseball. Why did he do it? Because he runs the Astros like they are a grocery wholesaler and looks at immediate costs only. He gutted the scouting department, and then got so cheap that he stopped signing his top draft picks because he didn't want to make competitive contract offers (these offers are slotted by MLB, but he was too cheap to spend what Selig, et al recommended). What an idiot. That is why Hunsicker left. He then helped Tampa Bay get to the World Series in a few short years. Once the farm system is depleted, even the Steinbrenners of the world can't spend enough money to build a champion sloely through free agency. What is most galling of all is that he wastes no opportunity to tell anyone who will listen how hard he is working to field a competitive team. Remember when he was asking for public funds to help build a new stadium? He said "Build me the stadium & I will do what it takes to field a winner". He is no longer living up to that promise, and I am praying for the day that he will sell the team to a guy like Les Alexander or Bob McNair.

I am an avid follower of all 3 of Houston's major teams. I get crazy excited when any of them do well. The Rocket's back-to-back in the mid 90's was great. The Astros have provided many exciting postseason performances as well. Great stuff, great memories. Nothing to me though quite matches the excitement of football. I realize the readers of this blog may not give a crap about the Astros or Rockets, so this is definitely not the best vehicle to get a good sampling of Hoston's sport fans. The question I ask is "Are the Texans the best run major pro sports organization in Houston today?". I would greatly appreciate that you only respond if you are at least a casual fan of the other 2 teams. I know you are ALL Texans fans.

Poll

What major pro sports organization is the best run in Houston?

66%

Texans

20 votes

30%

Rockets

9 votes

3%

Astros

1 votes

30 votes | Poll has closed

Todd's first 16 picks are up at ESPN. He projects 8 defensive players going in the 1st 14 slots. Curry, Raji, Brown, Jenkins, Maybin, Maualuga, Orakpo & Davis. He sees us taking the nutritionist Brian Cushing. Cushing is also the 9th ranked Defensive player on the scouts inc list top 32. Maybe McSahay used the list to make this pick. In this video clip Kiper discusses AFC South draft needs. Interestingly enough he lists WR as a need for the Texans. No respect to Kevin Walter. I trust our opponents now know who he is. Mel still has us going with Everette Brown. Todd has him going 5th to the Browns. Another reminder that nobody really knows whats going to happen in the draft, but it sure is fun to discuss. We could do worse than Brown or Cushing. Could we do better under his scenario? Would we rather take Tyson Jackson or Peria Jerry? 76 days to the draft.

You don't need an insider account to see Mel's 1st 16 picks, but you do to see picks 17 - 32. Anyone out there got an ESPN insider account and would like to share Mel's picks? Thanks in advance. Mocking is little more than wild guessing after the first 5 or so picks, but I would be thrilled with this pick. Kollar loves fast pass rushing DE's, we need one, and Everette Brown may be the best one in the draft. Check out Mel's picks and make a comment.

ESPN is reporting that former Texans' head coach Dom Capers is going to be the new DC @ GB. I like defensive coaches and based upon what he had done in Carolina, I was happy when he was named our 1st HC. He proved to be way too conservative with the offense and not a great fit here. Too bad he could not have been our 1st DC instead of HC, but at that time he was still seen as a #1 guy and I'm not sure he would have accepted the DC position. Not any more. I don't think he will ever again be an NFL HC, but I still like him as a DC. Good Luck Dom.

Although this article is 99% about the Cards standout WR Larry Fitzgerald, Cris Carter states that Andre Johnson is th best Wr in the NFL. The USA Today writer, Jim Corbett, attempts to diminsh his statement by prefacing it with the word "Curiously", and editorializing that AJ "edges" LF for the title. In fact the direct quote from Carter is "I think Andre Johnson is the best receiver in football". I will admit that I am prejudiced, and I have seen more of Dre' than any other WR this year, and that Fitgerald is awesome, but I fully agree with Cris Carter. On Fox last weekend Bill Cowher and Sterling Sharpe had the same debate about who is the best WR in the NFL and Cowher firmly stated that despite the great playoff game that Fizgerald had vs Carolina he still said Andre was tops. Sterling went with Fitzgerald as best.

Poll

Who is the best WR in the NFL today?

96%

Andre Johnson

31 votes

3%

Larry Fitzgerald

1 votes

0%

Steve Smith

0 votes

0%

Calvin Johnson

0 votes

0%

Roddy White

0 votes

0%

Wes Welker

0 votes

0%

Brandon Marshall

0 votes

0%

Antonio Bryant

0 votes

0%

Greg Jennings

0 votes

0%

Other

0 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

Jon Hoke is no loger unemployed. Hoke was the Texans first and only secondary coach. Considering how bad our secondary was this year, I wasn't sorry to see him go but wish him well in CHI town.

Good to see that yesterday Smith finally interviewed a candidate, Gibbs Jr., for one of the vacant coaching positions.   Hopefully that signals the return of Gibbs Sr. for next season.  We need another year or three of his leadership and experience.  By that time we, as a Team, should have learned how run the ball properly.

To date (unless I missed something) the Texans have had a total of one interview for 3 openings on their coaching staff. That candidate, presumably for the DL coaching position, Rod Marinelli was subsequently hired by the Chicago Bears.

There is no NFL policy against interviewing coaches for teams that still have upcoming playoff games.  The Jets are going to interview Cards OL coach Russ Grimm on Thursday in Arizona for their head coaching vacancy.  They already interviewed Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo while the Giants were preparing for yesterdays game vs Philly.  The Jets have received permission to speak with Baltimore defensive coordinator Rex Ryan, but have not yet determined a day to meet.  

There is also no policy against interviewing a coach currently under contract as long as the interview is for a promotion, i.e. position coach to coordinator, coordinator to assistant HC or assistant HC to HC.  If the Texans are interested in Sean McDermott, the Eagles secondary coach, and have not yet contacted him then I don't know what they are waiting for.  If they promote Frank Bush without interviewing anyone else they look bad even if Bush is by far the best available candidate.  Any competently run organization does a minimum of 3 (preferably 5) interviews, for dog and pony show effect only, if they have already decide to promote from within.  To interview noone would look downright foolish.  In his brief tenure with the Texans, Rick Smith has not struck me as foolish.  Now I am starting to wonder.  Get of your duff and bring in some viable candidates for interviews this week.  You have 3 coaching positions to fill and indecisiveness is not your ally.

The coaching carousel is turning quickly.  Mangenius to the Browns.  Wunderkind Josh McDaniels , the 32 year old OC for the Patriots will take over the Broncos HC position.  I continue to ask myself what are the Texans waiting for?

 

 

 

 

Familiarity being a huge factor in NFL coaching hirings came into play again as Bears head coach Lovie Smith hired his former associate in Tampa Bay, Rod Marinelli to coach the D line. Merinelli chose the Bears over the Texans, who also interviewed him this week for the D line coaching job. I think Frank Bush has the inside track to the D coordinator job because of his history with Kubiak, but I have no idea who the Texans are looking at for D line coach. Any ideas out there?

Had a conversation with a co-worker today about the Titans game, and he was wondering why Fisher didn't just go for the 49 yard FG to win the game. The TV announcers made mention of a swilrling wind but that was it. Hadn't Rob Bironas, the Titans pro Bowl caliber kicker, earlier made a 51 yarder? The answer goes back to the pregame warmups. I like getting into my seat early enough to watch the kickers go through their pregame routine (approx 60 minutes before kickoff). Most kickers do a very similar version of the following. They line up at the 17 yard line on a hash mark and make one kick. Some use the snapper-holder, some use the PVC pipe ball holder. They move back at 5 yard intervals, alternating from the left to the right hash mark at each move back. In addition to warming up their leg, this also allows them to determine their effective range for that game. Last Sunday was particularly windy, the most wind I can recall at a Texans game. The roof is almost always closed, and except for the Ike damage would have been closed on Sunday. The wind direction was predominantly from North to South, away from the end with the Texans player tunnel. Rob B made all of his kicks until reaching the 42 yard line (52 yd FG). Kicking into the wind, Bironas missed his 1st kick from the right hash. Made his 2nd. He moved to the left hash @ 42 and missed. He moved in just one yard staying on the left and missed one more kick. Two of the misses did not have enough distance. One was wide (right I think). This factored into the crucial decision at the end of the game. He had determined that his high % range did not extend beyond about 47-48 yards into the wind. On 3rd and 11 Collins completed an 8 yard pass to the 31-32 yard line. Bironas must have told Fisher that he could not guarantee that he would have the leg to get a 50 yarder up there. Hence Fisher goes for the 1st down, and the rest is history.

It is easy to get depressed with all the bad news in both the economic and Texan's worlds. Finally a shred of hope; Dunta Robinson is your starting CB once again. The announcements in todays Chron and HoustonTexans.com did not say if he was replacing the armless wonder or Fred, but here's hoping that the very expensive Jacques Reeves experiment is over. I know we'll take a cap hit by absorbing the rest of his signing bonus next year, but the money saved down the road can be better spent than by paying his exorbitant salary. Spend the money on a high draft choice, or do a better job of evaluating free agents. FA mistakes were the legacy of the Casserly/Capers regime, and can quickly both ruin a roster and dig a salary cap hole from hell. Rick Smith, this is squarely on your shoulders to upgrade our defense; coaching staff and player personnel. Go do your honmework and give us a reason to pony up for the season tickets once again next year. This also must signal that Dunta is 100% physically which is the best possible news. He has not yet regained his pre-horrific injury form, but the more plays he gets from the starting corner, rather than the nickel, the faster he will return to the Pro Bowl caliber player he was in 2007 before that fateful day last November in Oakland. Dunta leads by example. He is a fierce competitor. His physical play cannot help but spark a defense that so badly needs some rejuvination. He, Mario, DeMeco and X-Man form the core of what should and can be a good young defense, not an embarassment like the Maginot Line. Welcome back Dunta and GO TEXANS!!!!!!!!!!!