April 28, 2009

The 2009 draft has come and gone.  I thought it was an entertaining draft to watch and I was happy to be a part of the broadcasting team 610 AM put together at Reliant Stadium. 

Before I get to the draft, I just want to say that Marc Vandermeer, Adam Wexler, and Matt Jackson are quality guys and even better radio personalities.  While they have there own style, they work extremely well together and have great knowledge of the game and sports in general.  They are true sports junkies in every sense of the word and I know they will take that as compliment.  Spending five hours with those guys was a breeze.

I got a lot of compliments on how I sounded on the radio and a lot of it had to do with how easy they made it for me to communicate.  Rich Lord also falls into this category.  He didn’t work the draft but he does the Tuesday show with Matt Jackson that I am a part of and he is just a fun guy to be around and makes doing the radio show a lot of fun.  Thanks guys!!

I thought my mock draft turned out to be pretty decent.  Even though I didn’t get the right guy for the right team a lot, I thought I got the direction of the team a good percentage of the time.  For example, I had Washington taking Aaron Maybin but he already had gone to Buffalo a few picks before, and they took Brian Orapko. 

I thought Denver didn’t have a very good draft, they took Knowshon Moreno a little too early and probably could have gotten him at 18. That they then gave up one of their first round picks next year for a second round pick this year so they could draft Alphonso Smith was mystifying.  In fact, a lot of their draft was surprising, but I guess they felt they needed to give up something down the road so that they could make a run this year.  That is the only way to explain their draft.  Another mystifying draft: the Oakland Raiders.  I don’t think Heyward-Bey is necessarily a bad selection, but if you want him that badly trade down, get some more picks, then take him.  Same with their second rounder.  If you could have accurately prognosticated their first two selections, then you need to tell Mel Kiper to take a hike!! 

I thought we (the Texans) had a good draft.  I think if we could have picked up a running back we would have had a great draft.  Even though we didn’t, I think Foster (undrafted free agent) has a chance to make the team and contribute due to his size and the ability he did show over his career at Tennessee. 

I like the Cushing pick.  After talking to Frank Bush, our team’s defensive coordinator, I understand exactly what they are thinking as well.  They saw what most people saw in Brian Cushing.  A solid, four year starter at the country’s top program (right now).  He is tough, a workaholic, and will be strong against the run.  From Bush’s comments it looks like we will run more “under” defense than we have in the past.  That looks like a nose to the strong side, a 5 technique (DE that is just outside the OT) and a Sam on the line of scrimmage.  The reason I think this is because Bush made reference to Cushing excelling at jamming TEs at the LOS (line of scrimmage).  Connor Barwin I thought was another good choice.  There weren’t any good DTs left and the top four corners were off the board already so this was a logical choice.  Barwin looks like he will be able to put on 10 more pounds no problem and appears to be a heck of an athlete.  Look for him to be a pass rush specialist his first year and build from that point. 

Antoine Caldwell was a little bit of a surprise, not because we took an OL but where we took him.  I thought we would look for defense again but he must have been real high on our board.  It will be an interesting battle in camp to see where he is going to fit in.  Mark Bruenner’s retirement left us with only two TEs remaining from last year’s roster, so grabbing one wasn’t a big surprise.  You always need a TE that can set the edge and handle DEs and Sam linebackers.  From what I hear, Anthony Hill can do both.  Our other 4th rounder was used to get Quinn Glover, a cornerback that might be converted to safety.  James Casey was a value pick in the fifth round that will be a jack of all trades for us and a big contributor on special teams.  The sixth and seventh rounders were DBs who will provide depth and will have to make the team most likely by showing off their special team skills. 

OTAs are right around the corner.  May 18 is our first.  To me the draft is the first event of the upcoming year, so let the fun begin!

Eric Winston is the starting right tackle for the Houston Texans. His blog for www.playerpress.com runs at www.ericwinston73.com.