Morency vs. Walker

[beerlover]

This is just one example why Casserly sucked & Rick Smith is going to turn things around. Casserly spent a mid 3rd round pick to get Vernand Morency in the 05 draft while Smith picked up a comparable RB prospect as an unsigned/drafted free agent from Notre Dame Darius Walker.
Darius Walker, ND 5100 206 4.58 vs. Vernand Morency, OSU 5095 212 4.67
Morency- Finished with 1,454 yards and 12 touchdowns 05, including a stretch of eight consecutive 100 yard rushing games… Possesses very good speed, quickness, and vision. Better outside runner than inside. Not afraid of contact, but doesn't look for it, instead opting to juke defenders. Tough to tackle one on one. Good size.
Walker- Ran for 1,267 yards 255 carries (5.0 avg.) 7 touchdowns plus set a school single-season record for running backs with 56 receptions for 391 yards (7.0 avg) and a score...Ranked 24th nationally with an average of 127.54 all-purpose yards per game. Likes to bounce wide, showing a good feel for the cut back lanes, with receiving skills to be lined up in the slot and a good feel for the passing game, showing good cutting agility and vision to get under, extend for and catch the ball without breaking stride...Natural hands catcher with hands the quality of a receiver's.
Both came out as Junior eligible rb prospects, Vernand a little stockier but likes to run wide & juke too much for Kubaiks system, while Walker will run more downhill with single cut-back move driving his legs with good pad level to move the pile, also exceptional receiving skills, so good in fact he could play in the slot & brings another offensive option to Schuab & improvement over Lundy (who was the best receiver out of the backfield last year).

[TiredofSuffering]

Gado will be cut. Taylor is a project and they like his athleticism so he'll still be around, but I think that Walker will be able to work his way past him by the middle of the season.

[beerlover]

In Kubiak's offense, RBs must be adept at 3 things:
1) Must have excellent vision
2) Must be patient (to allow blocks to develop in front of you)
3) Must be able to catch the ball out of the backfield
Darius Walker has all 3 of these abilities and should be our 3rd RB this season, behind Green and Dayne. Although you could call him our 2nd RB, since Dayne will only come in when we're faced with short yardage and goal line situations.

sounds pretty good to me, but what about Chris Taylor? I think he should be the #2 option after Green under normal situations. Dayne being more of a 3rd or 4th & short option & Walker a possible long yardage option as receiver out of the backfield [B]

[beerlover]

allday is that you young texan?
your kidding me about Chris Taylor right? right here right now I'm gonna state he is the best kept secret in the NFL, at least until they get a whif of Jacoby. I know they keep harping on his touches to fumble ratio (which also happens to be Walkers & Greens IMO) but he has the makings of a feature back. I don't care if he went undrafted so did Walker, (which is the jest of this post) he has the most game breaking speed out of the backfield in Texans history, just nobody knows that yet.
bottom line: Casserly could not build the franchise through the draft or free agency, he used draft picks to fill needs without taking advantage of the marketplace, wasting pick after pick on players who could not even find a position to start, when all the while he passed on more skilled, bigger & faster game breakers. Rick Smith will bring a championship to Houston by finding these gems who fit the system, just like in Denver.

[Texan281]

From 2007 NFL draft, it seem like Kube and Smith have comfident with our RB. They pass Antonio Pittman, and never make a RB pick. A. Green signing is an insurance and the teacher for Texans young RBs.I think C. Taylor with be the starting RB, and DW will be the the 2nd before the 2007-08 season end.

[beerlover]

Darius Walker was a projected 4/5 rd. pick, for reasons unknown to me he slipped down the board & went undrafted. as an undrafted free agent he was ranked the #1 most talented RB prospects available & Rick Smith picked him up. also near the top where Jackie Battle- Houston (Cowboys) Danny Ware- Georgia (Titans) & Selvin Young- Texas (Broncos).
Chris Taylor was ranked the #37th undrafted RB.
Rick Smith used his 3rd rd. pick on Jacoby Jones considered the best kept secret in College because he was such a late bloomer & played @ Lane College. the difference in building a team before & after Casserly is stricking to me, while Casserly spent high draft choices on marginal players (who Rick Smith seems to find & sign as undrafted free agents) Rick is finding the best most talented young prospects available while hitting on key areas of need.

[Goldensilence]

I think Green and Dayne will make a great Duo at RB this year. Probably more of a "thunder and lightning" type of deal with those two barring injury getting the bulk of carries and seeing One of those three in the 3rd back spot. Should be an interesting camp battle to see who gets the third spot.

[El Tejano]

Darius Walker reminds me of Adrian Griffin from OU who played with Denver a while back.

[outofhnd]

He reminds me of Derrick Lassic from Alabama in the early 90's.
He backed up Emmitt till he got hurt. Very good runner just was not really a home run threat. He is a 1 cut and go kind of back which fits this offense.

[Porky]

Darius Walker reminds me of Adrian Griffin from OU who played with Denver a while back.
Quintin Griffin? That dude was a short little guy, a quick waterbug type. Not sure I buy the comparison.
I actually see a lot of Dominick Davis in Walker. Similar size, speed and body type. Excellent hands and can produce YAC. I see him as our 3rd down back.

[outofhnd]

NO DD had more juke than walker. I never saw this guy lined up in the slot at ND not to mention with his speed I dont see why you would line him in the slot hes not a matchup nightmare with 4.56 speed. However he can catch the ball.I watched the kid at ND and thought he would be a great RB for the system because of his style.

[Keyfro]

see while i think morency and walker are comparable to one another i don't think their running styles are anything alike...i compare walker more to warrick dunn than anyone else...he's the little guy who runs hard and surprises you when he makes it out of the hole...the notre dame games i watched the past two years i have come away quite impressed with walker...couldn't say that about morency out of osu at the time...maybe that was because i was impressed with tatum bell at the time but hey...if your impressed your impressed
morency is probably going to be the starter up in green bay so i wish him the very best of luck up there...green bay definetly got the better end of the trade...they get a starting runningback and we get a guy who probably won't even be on the team this season...first mistake of rick smith/kubiak's tenure?

[Zagen30]

see while i think morency and walker are comparable to one another i don't think their running styles are anything alike...i compare walker more to warrick dunn than anyone else...he's the little guy who runs hard and surprises you when he makes it out of the hole...the notre dame games i watched the past two years i have come away quite impressed with walker...couldn't say that about morency out of osu at the time...maybe that was because i was impressed with tatum bell at the time but hey...if your impressed your impressed
morency is probably going to be the starter up in green bay so i wish him the very best of luck up there...green bay definetly got the better end of the trade...they get a starting runningback and we get a guy who probably won't even be on the team this season...first mistake of rick smith/kubiak's tenure?

But is he a starter because he's earned it or a starter by default? Just because someone's a starter doesn't mean they're actually that good (see: a lot of our players in our short history).

[Whiskeyrbl]

I don't know if you guy'sealize it but y'all are making an argument that might make people believe that we are starting to aquire depth at our positions.

[Zagen30]

I don't know if you guy'sealize it but y'all are making an argument that might make people believe that we are starting to aquire depth at our positions.
Somewhere Dom Capers and Charlie Casserly are both reading this saying "What's depth? Silly fans, they know nothing about how to build a winning football team."

[Keyfro]

But is he a starter because he's earned it or a starter by default? Just because someone's a starter doesn't mean they're actually that good (see: a lot of our players in our short history).
i know what you mean...but with morency he isn't a bad back...i can think of a lot of teams that would love to have him on their team...heck look at the indy colts roster right now...the only runningback on their roster that i recognize is joseph addai...morency's reason for being traded away from houston was that kubiak didn't feel that he could learn the zone scheme where you make one cut and go...personally i thought it was a mistake not to work with morency for a season because i thought he had some real potential here has a starter...he's been given his chance in green bay and i think he will excell there with brandon jackson sharing the load
i was merely stating the fact that green bay got a starter where as we got roster fluff...pretty uneven trade i'd say

[beerlover]

But is he a starter because he's earned it or a starter by default? Just because someone's a starter doesn't mean they're actually that good (see: a lot of our players in our short history).
i know what you mean...but with morency he isn't a bad back...i can think of a lot of teams that would love to have him on their team...heck look at the indy colts roster right now...the only runningback on their roster that i recognize is joseph addai...morency's reason for being traded away from houston was that kubiak didn't feel that he could learn the zone scheme where you make one cut and go...personally i thought it was a mistake not to work with morency for a season because i thought he had some real potential here has a starter...he's been given his chance in green bay and i think he will excell there with brandon jackson sharing the load
i was merely stating the fact that green bay got a starter where as we got roster fluff...pretty uneven trade i'd say

if thats the worst trade the Texans make I can live with the end results. Gado has Shermans handprints all over it, not sure that Kubes liked what he saw in practice from Vernand either, cause his unwillingness to minimize his cut-back & hit the designed hole with burst/power. Samkon Gado is still unkown, he could look really good in ota's & mini-camp & make cut down @ rb a very difficult decision, he is both a better blocker & special teams guy than VM ever was, if he can just develop softer hands. look for Darius Walker to upgrade the run & catch role, but the Texans may still find a way to keep Samkon for other attributes, not to mention he is playing for near league min.