Greg Eslinger

[Bucking Texan]

Welcome Greg Eslinger to the practice squad! 2005 Rimington and Outland Trophy winner.

[Matt_in_KW]

I would agree, much like Walker at RB. The staff we have now has a great eye for talent. And this kid will be a stud if he is brought along right.

WTG TEXANS...agian for finding jewls that others miss.

[joedinkle]

Anyone want to expand for those of us not in the know(like myself)?

[3andOUT]

So what makes this guy so special if he's been waived and waived again?

[3andOUT]

Come on 3andOut...just because someone has been waived a couple of times doesn't mean they were a bad player. Chances are the other two teams "think" they have someone better and no longer have a need for him. I really trust our front offices ability to sniff out the sleeper talent. Just research the guy and you will see the possibilities this holds for us. Please, don't make me go down the list of formerly waived studs in the league...it will take much longer than I am willing to give.

I fully understand that legit players do in fact go undrafted and clear waivers. I was just asking what it was about this guy that made him such a lock to be the center of the future.

Outland winner and All-Big 10 honors are all good, but we've seen dozens of decorated collegiate players that just don't translate to the NFL.

And I'm all for us continuing to add depth and taking our chances on young guys that don't come with much risk. It's better than nothing, just looking for a little inside info about the guy besides the trophies he won in college

[HydrOshocK]

Very good signing. This kid has great upside.....

"He drives defenders off the ball and into the ground."

"He is way above average in all phases of his game. He moves well, is an excellent run blocker, gets it done in pass protection, and is smart enough to handle the line calls in the NFL."

This is probably the ringer....
"NFL Comparison: Tom Nalen, Denver Broncos"

[Wolverine]

The "Excellent run blocker" part is what i like to hear.

[HydrOshocK]

Thanks for quoting the article...I should have done that...wasn't thinking. I'm excited about the pickup and think it was exactly what we needed...now it frees up another position to pick for in the draft.

no prob. Honestly I haven't kept up with Eslinger since the draft. I know he was touted as being one of the top 3 centers in the '06 draft. Any reason why he dropped all the way to the 6th round?

[HydrOshocK]

for you combine junkies......

Combine Invite? Yes
Height: 6031
Weight: 292
40 Yrd Dash: 5.13
20 Yrd Dash: 3.02
10 Yrd Dash: 1.77
Wonderlic:
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 28
Vertical Jump: 30
Broad Jump: 8'5"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.69
3-Cone Drill: 7.59

[Sprtsfanatic]

I dont know how we got this guy, but I was all for us picking him up in the draft. This kid is a monster at center and plays our system to a T. He was great at Minn. and a year learning our system would be a huge advantage going into t.c.

[jvaldez1984]

So what makes this guy so special if he's been waived and waived again?

Jeff Saturday went undrafted and was waived by the Ravens before landing in Indy...

[zanth91]

for you combine junkies......

Combine Invite? Yes
Height: 6031
Weight: 292
40 Yrd Dash: 5.13
20 Yrd Dash: 3.02
10 Yrd Dash: 1.77
Wonderlic:
225 Lb. Bench Reps: 28
Vertical Jump: 30
Broad Jump: 8'5"
20 Yrd Shuttle: 4.69
3-Cone Drill: 7.59

That with the scouting report, I would have drafted him. This looks promising if he can produce good.

[Matt_in_KW]

TY HYDRO for clearing up why he is a legit player.

[aj.]

He missed all of the '06 season with a shoulder injury. Played some Europa this year. Hopefully he can work his way back from the injury because he was a decent prospect coming out of college. He was the front end of the Maroney and Barber machine at Minnesota.

[stx-texans]

So what makes this guy so special if he's been waived and waived again?

remember the browns starting qb, anderson i think is his name, was waived by the ravens also.

being waived by a team does make a player no good, just not a good fit for that team.

[HydrOshocK]

Hydro...by my count he was the 4th center taken in the draft overall. That year there was no big demand by teams for drafting a center. I think that's the year all the QB's, corners, wide receivers, and gaurds were being taken. From what I've read it was touted everywhere that he was an absolute steal in the sixth round and would have been a 1st or early 2nd rounder in last years draft.

Nice.....you know what that means don't you?? he's CHEAP :D

[HydrOshocK]

He missed all of the '06 season with a shoulder injury. Played some Europa this year. Hopefully he can work his way back from the injury because he was a decent prospect coming out of college. He was the front end of the Maroney and Barber machine at Minnesota.

I don't want to get too high on this signing until we've seen him go through OTAs and traning camp, but the thought of having a productive run game like that gives me goose bumps.

[Hwood82]

Whenever someone is speaking about Greg Eslinger it is always good. A blue collar guy with no ego or off the field issues, Greg is just a guy that truly loves to play football. He is an extremely gifted athlete, pulls on run plays and screens better than any guard or center prospect in the draft.
He is not just an undersized offensive lineman who moves well. He drives defenders off the ball and into the ground. He is the best all around center in the draft he is smart, can move well in space, he can move the pile, and he has no ego. There is a lot to be said about that in this day and age.

Love the sound of this...I'm excited about this guy already. Sounbds like the pieces are falling into place for next season already!!!!!!!

[ThaShark316]

Remember also...they run the Zone Blocking Scheme out there at the University of Minnesota...so thats also a plus...i wanted us to pick him in the draft that year...but we never did...when he was taken in the draft i was thinking "steal".

[Bucking Texan]

Gary Kubiak was the architect of the Denver Bronco offensive line and its schemes that got the broncos to the super bowls, with great running backs and elway. He put 290 pound O-lineman in a scheme that allowed for a very mobile offensive line (ie: Tom Nalen and Ben Hamilton), opening tremendous offensive production. Now, due to his success in denver, he is the head coach at the texans.

Greg Eslinger fits this same style. Its what made him the Outland/Rimington winner. He was drafted by Denver as the heir-apparent to Tom Nalen, now in his 13 year as a starter for Denver. Nalen got hurt and Coach Shanahan decided to move a guard to center rather than pull Greg up from the practice squad.
He left Denver because the Browns offered him a chance to be on the 53-man roster instead of the practice squad. After 3 games, all of which he was inactive on Sunday, the browns let him go. Now it appears he would have been better off in Denver because Denver is now out of the race and they are pulling guys up from their practice squad.

He is a team player, an over-achiever and skilled at center...and capable to play guard in a motion offensive line scheme and he rarely gets penalized. Look forward to a very competitive training camp in 2008!

[HydrOshocK]

IMHO...another brilliant move and foresight from our new front office. I can't wait to see the guy in training camp....among offseason moves/trades/pickups this time around...looks promising if this is any indication. Michael Turner is beginning to look more and more attractive with moves like this (although I don't want to get my hopes up). :D

Making moves like this now should only help narrow down our selections in the draft.

[aj.]

I don't want to get too high on this signing until we've seen him go through OTAs and traning camp, but the thought of having a productive run game like that gives me goose bumps.

The thought of having a run game like that is pure fantasy until the Texans add a couple of legit feature RBs to their roster. I like the signing though because there's nothing to lose and our GM is starting to show a knack for pulling guys out of his you know what that make an impact.

The Texans are desperate at C and drafting a C/G as high as Rd 3 is a priority. Flanagan is done. McKinney will probably fight his way back. Weary may be done. Hodgdon isn't an option.

[HydrOshocK]

The thought of having a run game like that is pure fantasy until the Texans add a couple of legit feature RBs to their roster. I like the signing though because there's nothing to lose and our GM is starting to show a knack for pulling guys out of his you know what that make an impact.

The Texans are desperate at C and drafting a C/G as high as Rd 3 is a priority. Flanagan is done. McKinney will probably fight his way back. Weary may be done. Hodgdon isn't an option.

Something tells me Smith and Kubiak will be working on that next.

[Sprtsfanatic]

The thought of having a run game like that is pure fantasy until the Texans add a couple of legit feature RBs to their roster.

Who is to say that with an experienced center in the zone blocking scheme and with the skill set that eslinger has....that our backs in walker, taylor, and a little dose of dayne wont give us a more than decent running game?

I like walkers vision, hands, quick feet, and ability to hit the whole at full speed, and I like taylor's power and speed for our sytem too. I think we could be well above average if we can just settle our LT spot...see how spencer comes back, see how eslinger does at center, and I think our young guards could do wonders for our line.

[3andOUT]

Jeff Saturday went undrafted and was waived by the Ravens before landing in Indy...

Great info valdez. I didn't realize that. The comparison to Tom Nalen probably had Kubiak and Smith drooling

[Sprtsfanatic]

Great info valdez. I didn't realize that. The comparison to Tom Nalen probably had Kubiak and Smith drooling

No, I think it was his play at Minnesota that had them drooling when he became available. To find a center of his caliber at this time is certainly a STEAL. I just hope he hits the weights and the play book for the remainder of this year and continues through the offseason to have minimize the learning curve he'll have to go through. I love the pick up of this kid and cant wait to see him in training camp next year.

[painekiller]

Great info valdez. I didn't realize that. The comparison to Tom Nalen probably had Kubiak and Smith drooling


Smith was involved in his drafting while in Denver he oversaw pro scouting of all leagues, and he help organize the draft for Denver, so he knew the kid well.

[Sprtsfanatic]

wow, didnt realize it was smith that drafted Eslinger....if I were Eslinger I sure would feel good about not only being drafted by smith for the broncos but also being picked off a practice squad by smith for the texans....it re-assures him that he really is liked and wanted and will be given the opportunity to prove himself for the starting position.

[barberman]

Sounds like anouther solid move by Rick Smith.

[Whiskeyrbl]

If we continue to make these kinds of moves and draft a LT stud, we could very well have the best or one of the best OL and DL in the leauge in a couple of years. Not to mention they will be all fairly young. I also would like to see us grab another young stud at DE to put opposite of Mario. Kendall Langford out of Hampton would be a nice 3rd or 4th rd pick at DE.

DL
Williams, Okoye, T. Johnson, Weaver(Langford)

OL
Spencer(Clady), Pitts, Eslinger,Studdard, Winston

Could be real sweet.