Frank Okam

[gcates]

anyone heard anything about him? He's a big (6'5", 320), strong (32 reps at combine) DT who I think is being seriously undervalued here....wouldn't hurt to take a flyer on him late in the draft. He's been compared to Shaun Rogers....and I don't feel like that comparison is far off.

[CrisR]

anyone heard anything about him? He's a big (6'5", 320), strong (32 reps at combine) DT who I think is being seriously undervalued here....wouldn't hurt to take a flyer on him late in the draft. He's been compared to Shaun Rogers....and I don't feel like that comparison is far off.
I'm not the biggest Okam fan........he never really impressed me for all of the talent he has. He doesn't play hard consistantly.
I'd much rather have Lokey..........I think if he slims down 10lbs and moves to a DE spot he becomes a good pass rusher.

[gcates]

i agree to some degree...but I really feel in terms of upside and the fact that he played at UT (a school with a history of putting out good pros) he would be a potential robbery in the 5th round.

[gcates]

A lot of early mocks had him going in the first, but I think we are set at DT...Okoye is a balanced all around DT who can rush and play the run, TJ is plugging up the middle. We need a DE here.

do you really feel we are going to get a starting DE here after so many have come off the board....no DE here has as much upside or talent as Okam in my opinion. do you really feel comfortable with TJ as our second DT? what has he done in his career to justify that?

[BIG ERN]

Josh Barret

[H-Town Poke]

I would really like Okam for DT depth. You can never have enough DLinemen.

[CrisR]

If we could sign him as an undrafted I'm all for it........drafting him.....no thanks........I don't think he does much in the NFL.....maybe becomes a situational player.

Again if I was going to take another guy from Texas go get Derek Lokey.....get him to drop 10lbs and you have an excellent DE.

[gcates]

well i guess we have to agree to disagree....i think Okam is a real player.

[gcates]

yea baby! that's what im talkin about. trust me this one will work out.

[CrisR]

Well it looks like we will see 1st hand who is right about him.................I sure hope I'm WAY off on him.

[gcates]

no doubt....we'll see. but, in the 5th round....very little risk in my opinion.

[foozball]

hehe speak of the devil...i had us taking him in the 4th round in one of my mocks a few weeks ago, but i took him off because john mcclain said the texans like DT's who can chase in pursuit. i like okam as a NT who can take on blockers, which is exactly what adibi needs to be effective. 5th round is great value. i kinda wanted to see darrell robertson, but he seems like he's falling like a rock

[TexansMVP]

anyone heard anything about him? He's a big (6'5", 320), strong (32 reps at combine) DT who I think is being seriously undervalued here....wouldn't hurt to take a flyer on him late in the draft. He's been compared to Shaun Rogers....and I don't feel like that comparison is far off.

Nice call

[CoogBull]

I watched him in college and was consistently underwhelmed. They need to work him hard. He has good measurables and could be great with coaching. Probably needs some discipline much like a lot of the players coming out of UT.

[doodyps]

I like this guy. Just absorb as many blockers as possible and let's hope he gets the coaching he needs to be that 1st rounder he could have been. We have 4 solid DT's now. We really needed to replace killings anyway and zgonia isnt going to last much longer. DT depth was definatly a need. I think we are actually at the point we we have ZERO needs anymore other than DE and maybe we look at tommy blake now in the sixth

[CrisR]

LOL........I was just going to bring this up and then I saw it on NFL.com.........I wonder if the Texans will consider moving him to the offensive side of the ball........he might be a better fit on the opposite side.

Here is what the NFL.com deal says:
Pick Analysis: Okam has the ability to be a starting offensvie guard in the NFL. He has outstanding athletic ability and talent. He just needs to make up his mind that he wants to do it. He is very bright and could have gone to medical or law school if he chose that path. His only knock is that he does not always seem to care about playing football and lacks passion.

[CoogBull]

LOL........I was just going to bring this up and then I saw it on NFL.com.........I wonder if the Texans will consider moving him to the offensive side of the ball........he might be a better fit on the opposite side.

Here is what the NFL.com deal says:
Pick Analysis: Okam has the ability to be a starting offensvie guard in the NFL. He has outstanding athletic ability and talent. He just needs to make up his mind that he wants to do it. He is very bright and could have gone to medical or law school if he chose that path. His only knock is that he does not always seem to care about playing football and lacks passion.

If he is smart you load his contract with incentives. He will understand. I hate the fact that he seems to lack passion. 75% of this game is mental and you can not come onto the field lukewarm.

[CrisR]

In fairness to Okam I think he was taking much harder than average courses which could have weighed on his mind...........but then constantly hearing he wasn't as good as recent DT's the Horns had like Casey Hampton and Shaun Rodgers........that can really take a toll on a guy.

That said think he might just slide in on the OL somewhere and be a beast...preventing instead of defending.

[HoustonTexans4Life]

What is this crap?

http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/8079910/Handing-out-draft-grades-for-AFC-teams

Houston

Virginia Tech's Duane Brown was considered a second rounder, considering he's an offensive tackle who was a tight end two years ago. Brown did play both right and left tackle in college, which gives him a chance of being a good pro. The Texans kept trading down once they missed out on Chris Williams of Vanderbilt. West Virginia's Steve Slaton will help immensely on special teams, but he remains a project at wide receiver. Both CB Antwaun Molden and LB Xavier Adibi should help the defense immediately because both were productive players in college. Fifth-rounder Frank Okam of Texas has a chance to be a starter unless he gets accepted to medical school.

Grade: C

[Skinman84]

It seems like your reading too much into that statement. I think they are just stating he is interested in medical school or was. I doubt we would have drafted him if football wasn't his priority. Not to mention it's not like he was 1st round pick.

[jshep]

frank could go to medical school, but the guy has talent to push t.j. out. he has enough pure athletic ability to play end as well.

[clpasse2]

Someone tell me who out of all the draft picks is not a project, seems to me the NFL is turning into the NBA with all these guys drafting on talent and combine numbers. Good thing we do not need these guys to produce right away.

With this tough schedule, we will have to wait one more year to make the playoffs when we get a big time safety and running back.

[Austin Texan]

I'm guessing someone got some bad info- he took the LSAT and did well enough to go to law school, but decided he could put that off until after football. I doubt he also took the MCAT and the time to apply to med schools.

As for his desire to play, who knows, I enjoyed watching him at UT but Lokey was always more of a favorite of mine. Hopefully he'll come in with his heart dead set on football and he'll be a great player.

[Sportswriter79]

Most late round picks are simply speculation anyway. If our first 3 or 4 picks work out then the draft will have been successful.

[misterpc]

He makes for a good compliment to Okoye. Big dude who will take up blockers and stuff the run. Every now and then he'll get pressure on the QB. Right now I expect he'll be used as a sub for Travis Johnson, eventually taking over his spot in the starting rotation.

[bgrick]

found this on yahoo about him.

"Okam, a former defensive tackle, is likely to shift to guard, a clever move by teams that realize that non-athletic DTs can make for cheap, athletic G’s."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-2008afcdraftgrades042808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

[TransplantTexan1]

In listening to comments on the radio and in interviews, it seems like the Texans staff are prioritizing Okam as a DT. They think he simply needs a kick in the pants, and given his size and his quickness at that size, he really could be that extra "big" DT that helps kill the LOS and stuff the run.

But he needs to be motivated. Some people joke that he's "too much of an intellectual" to be a football player, and that's part of his problem.

Heh.

[motivationalSPKR]

We got Okam for 2 reasons:

1.) Stuff the run against Jacksonville
2.) Stuff the run against the Tacks

[DiehardChris]

found this on yahoo about him.

"Okam, a former defensive tackle, is likely to shift to guard, a clever move by teams that realize that non-athletic DTs can make for cheap, athletic G’s."

http://sports.yahoo.com/nfl/news?slug=jc-2008afcdraftgrades042808&prov=yhoo&type=lgns

I saw that too. At first I thought "what the hell is that supposed to mean? The Texans are LIKELY going to make him an offensive lineman???"

I think that writer might be enjoying some post-draft crack.

And then I realized - I'm the one on crack, he meant noseguard. LOL

[therealx9]

Lol

[greedimidi]

you guys need to read btw the lines of this draft. i think we did a great job with every pick we made. Frank Okam was brought in to plug the run against our run heavy division opponents...colts, titans and jags. we also play pittsburgh(mendenhall and parker), baltimore( mcgahee and rice), cleveland(remember what jamaal lewis did to us last year), minnesota(all day) and oakland(mcfadden) to name a few. our schedule just got twice as hard after the draft and is very run heavy. we needed a run stuffer and i think we got one. x-adibi is tackling machine and is very fast. with okam and demeco in the middle, there will be alotta runs bounced outside, and with the speed of these guys we wld be seeing, we need someone like adibi to chase them down and clean up. adibi is also fast enough to keep up with TE's like dallas clark, todd heap, heath miller, alge crumpler, kellen winslow and the other miller in oakland. so we killed two birds with one stone with the adibi pick. i would like to conclude that if everything plays out thru training camp with no injuries, we could bolster a top ten defense this season. on the offensive side, duane brown would protect our QB's blind side and also improve our running game, steve slaton will be that third down back like kevin faulk that would pick up first downs for us and keep our offense on schedule an remember, he has proven to have big play potential and can take it all the way at anytime. we just got in the third round what we woulda got in reggie bush two years ago for less than a third of the price and still have mario williams. its too soon to call, but rick smith is a genius. i'll be back to comment 2 to 3 years from now after it all plays out. i am excited.

[JAXwithanX]

I've had a lot of classes with Frank Okam at UT since we were in the some major. They were all small classes and got to be around him a lot hearing him discuss and interact. We aren't personal friends by any means but we have had discussions....

Considering all the classes I had with him dealt with sport topics including a lot of in-depth thought I can assure you that Frank wants to play football. He is extremely logical and takes pride in his intellect, but has the desire to play in the NFL.

And by the way, I have had classes with tons of our athletes here (have class with Colt tomorrow) and Frank makes them all look like high schoolers, he has without a doubt, a dominant NFL body.

[NBT]

Glad to hear if about Okam. His knock was taking plays off which he will not be able to do in the good 'ol NF of L. I think he will do fine.

[Whiskeyrbl]

A lil' off subject but not much. Seeing as we grabbed Okam and not a DE, do any of you think we could move Okoye to DE? I know he has the speed, and wouldn't he line up on the TE. That would give us Mario, Okam, T.J., Okoye

[outofhnd]

A lil' off subject but not much. Seeing as we grabbed Okam and not a DE, do any of you think we could move Okoye to DE? I know he has the speed, and wouldn't he line up on the TE. That would give us Mario, Okam, T.J., Okoye

Okam is a 5th rounder he is not breaking the starting lineup unless he puts up an amazing camp. Okoye, is a DT and got 6 sacks from his position I would rather him at pass rush DT taking on guards and centers instead of top tier tackles.

NO way you guys give no respect to ND kalu, who woulda had some sacks if he had more than 1 hand. I think Kalu will atleast fill the position for another year. Also look for Cochran to have an even bigger year and expanded role.

[3andOUT]

I think it's a great pick. He is one of only a few guys in the draft who had his kind of size, and it's just a matter of him living up to his ability.

He was asked to be a gap plug at Texas instead of getting up the field, so I think he got a little bored with his assignment. That's no excuse, but he isn't going to get a whole lot of chances to prove he's a changed man.

[Whiskeyrbl]

Okam is a 5th rounder he is not breaking the starting lineup unless he puts up an amazing camp. Okoye, is a DT and got 6 sacks from his position I would rather him at pass rush DT taking on guards and centers instead of top tier tackles.

NO way you guys give no respect to ND kalu, who woulda had some sacks if he had more than 1 hand. I think Kalu will atleast fill the position for another year. Also look for Cochran to have an even bigger year and expanded role.

It was merely a question thrown out if Okam does break the starting lineup. I also am aware that Okoye is a DT and had 5.5 sacks not 6. I'll take that your answer is no, and it more than likely will never cross a coaches mind. It was just to see how other members of this board thought of a different scenario on the DL.

[foozball]

i think okam is more of okoye's backup since okoye isnt very stout against the run while okam is. they'll shift travis johnson to the UT and stick okam to NT on run plays.

[ubecool454]

Someone tell me who out of all the draft picks is not a project, seems to me the NFL is turning into the NBA with all these guys drafting on talent and combine numbers. Good thing we do not need these guys to produce right away.

With this tough schedule, we will have to wait one more year to make the playoffs when we get a big time safety and running back.

Please don't compare the NFL to the NBA. I am to the point that I could careless to watch the NBA and I wouldn't know what to do if the NFL got that bad. The combine to me is like field day....it really doesn't translate to how good or bad a player may be on the field.

[misterpc]

the Texans have some relatively undersized linebackers (Ryans, Diles, Adibi). A big DT like Okam will help keep the blockers off of the linebackers, allowing them to be more effective and make plays.

[TexanJM]

I've had a lot of classes with Frank Okam at UT since we were in the some major. They were all small classes and got to be around him a lot hearing him discuss and interact. We aren't personal friends by any means but we have had discussions....

Considering all the classes I had with him dealt with sport topics including a lot of in-depth thought I can assure you that Frank wants to play football. He is extremely logical and takes pride in his intellect, but has the desire to play in the NFL.

And by the way, I have had classes with tons of our athletes here (have class with Colt tomorrow) and Frank makes them all look like high schoolers, he has without a doubt, a dominant NFL body.

Everyone here can disagree with me and you probably will, but hearing that the young man perhaps took his classes more seriously than football is a plus in my book. Apparently, Okam went to college on a football scholarship with the intention of actually getting an education. :eek: BRILLIANT!!!

Well color me burnt orange and make me sing The Eyes of Texas, I've just become a Frank Okam fan. Hook 'em, Frank and kick some *** this season! :D

[Bengals#1Fan]

You guys are lucky to have drafted him. My team (Bengals) passed up on him for Jason Shirley which wasn't a bad pick but he wasn't nearly as productive as Okam was.

[SAMURAITEXAN]

You guys are lucky to have drafted him. My team (Bengals) passed up on him for Jason Shirley which wasn't a bad pick but he wasn't nearly as productive as Okam was.

We know, thanks.

[robertcraft]

Frank did well until the horns got a new defensive coach and he was forced to change how he played.

[musicman8251]

i can see the shaun rogers comparisons. he's huge and will have to be in and out of the lineup just like shaun. this allows him to rest and be more effective. of course we wont know until we see him on the field if he's anything close but drafting him was definitely worth the risk.

[CrisR]

They where talking about Okam on Sirius the other day and they said they talked to a couple of GM's that said if Okam wanted to he would have been the #1 pick in the draft......but they all agreed about the change in defensive cordinator having a huge impact on him and his game........

I hope I was WAY wrong in my saying that Okam didn't show the motor for it, I hope the light comes on and rips up O lines.

That's why I'm am happy to say.......

[Coach]

the weird thing is statistically he had his best season last year...i know he had several lapses during the year but i still think he could be a solid piece of our team for years to come

[Buckle]

Our d-line coaches will coach him up, light the fire under his butt and get him to play up to his ability. With Johnson and Amobi already in the fold there won't be a huge amount of pressure forced onto him to play lights out from the 1st game. It is nice to see a big body DT with a good upside get drafted. A player like Okam helps out immensely on goal line and short yardage situations!!!

[outofhnd]

I can see him being possibly a 1st and 2nd down DT then TJ rotating in on passing situations.

[TransplantTexan1]

Rodrique Wright, Okam's co-hort at DT on the Longhorns championship team, was also accused of a) not having a motor, b) not being as passionate about the game and c) being more scholarly than your average defensive player, meaning football was more a secondary concern than some other potential pros. As it turned out, Wright had a pretty severe shoulder injury that he played with his senior year, and now he's a good bet to start for the Dolphins (had a pretty solid second year in the league, IIRC).

In other words, sometimes there's more to it than what meets the eye. Okam's got a great body to be a run stuffer at DT (in fact, he can stand to lose another 10-15 lbs), and if you can really get him to buy in to what you're preaching as a coach, you're likely to get some good play out of him.

I too anticipate seeing him as a run-stuffer on 1st and 2nd downs, assuming he makes the squad (if he makes the squad, it's probably an indicator that he's getting the lead out, so to speak, and winning the approval of task-manager Jethro Franklin, which is an accomplishment in itself).

We'll see.

[CrisR]

I sure as heck don't remember Rod Wright having a knock on his motor coming out of UT. The knock on him was his injury.......knocked him out of the 1st into the 7th. Scouts knew he wouldn't play a snap in 2006 and he could have been forced to give up football all together.

That is what hurt his draft stock.

Scouts, Inc. on Wright: "Wright has the overall physical tools, including the size, power and quickness, to develop into a pro bowl defensive tackle in the NFL. However, Wright also has the potential to get lazy once he starts collecting paychecks as a professional. He played with a more consistent motor when he was healthy as a senior and he also showed more versatility playing DT, NT and even DE throughout the course of the season. He is one of the biggest risk-reward prospects in the 2006 draft class, but Wright's tremendous upside makes him worth the early-second round gamble."

Eric, Austin: What do you say to the critics that question your desire on the field, and your tendancy to take plays off??

Rod Wright: I would just say that I love the game of football. It's all I know. It's all I've played since I was 5 years old. I think a lot of people get confused by the way I carry myself. Off the field, I'm laid back. I'm not going to get in your face. If you ask me something, I'm not going to jump and holler. I'll show you by the way I study film, the way I workout, the way I play the game. I obviously have a desire to play based on the way I play. In the offseason, I was always one of the guys motivating people to get in the weight room. Taking plays off is something a lot of DTs get penalized for. This year, I felt like more than any other year, I didn't take off plays. Not taking plays off is something we take pride on at Texas. I don't know where that tag came from. My desire is there.

[3andOUT]

Okam is going to be the steal of this draft. He and Rod Wright had about 10 different coaches instructing them throughout their college careers and were asked to play different styles. Last year, Texas wanted their DL to clog gaps and let the linebackers make tackles. When your job is to clog, it's tough to not look lazy.

Bottom line, the guy has the body and the tools so the only question is his motor/desire. I'm confident he will make a big impact, and if for some reason he doesn't, he was only a 5th round pick

[NJTexan]

yea this kid is a steal. im stoked. i wouldnt be surprised if it became:
MARIO OKAM AMOBI TJ. Do you think TJ could play end? and what defensive scheme do we run?

[greedimidi]

yea this kid is a steal. im stoked. i wouldnt be surprised if it became:
MARIO OKAM AMOBI TJ. Do you think TJ could play end? and what defensive scheme do we run?


we run a basic 4-3 scheme. after daunta got hurt last year, we ran more cover 2 than man. but this year, we want to run a 4-3 with more man than cover 2

about TJ, there is no way he can play DE, maybe in a 3-4 scheme but not in a 4-3 scheme. he is not fast enough, and he more than likely will get mauled by almost any LT or RT in this league.

[shawn76ers]

this is the link to the ESPN okam interview:

http://proxy.espn.go.com/chat/chatESPN?event_id=19727

[3andOUT]

yea this kid is a steal. im stoked. i wouldnt be surprised if it became:
MARIO OKAM AMOBI TJ. Do you think TJ could play end? and what defensive scheme do we run?

Amobi would go to end long before TJ, and that's not happening. TJ is a little too meaty and way too slow to play DE in a 4-3

[BIG ERN]

Amobi would go to end long before TJ, and that's not happening. TJ is a little too meaty and way too slow to play DE in a 4-3

GOODBYE TJ?

[3andOUT]

GOODBYE TJ?

Hell No! TJ catches a whole lot of crap, but he had a danm good year last year, and just because a D-lineman isn't starting doesn't mean he's being wasted.

The biggest thing with the success of DLs is depth. You constantly rotate based on the situation. Mario is probably the only guy out there on a constant basis. D-linemen get incredibly worn out fighting on the line, so depth is critical to success.

It's the same thing with starting receivers, you have your "starters" but after the first play you cycle packages in and out so who is your #2 and who is your #3 doesn't mean crap

[outofhnd]

Hell No! TJ catches a whole lot of crap, but he had a danm good year last year, and just because a D-lineman isn't starting doesn't mean he's being wasted.

The biggest thing with the success of DLs is depth. You constantly rotate based on the situation. Mario is probably the only guy out there on a constant basis. D-linemen get incredibly worn out fighting on the line, so depth is critical to success.

It's the same thing with starting receivers, you have your "starters" but after the first play you cycle packages in and out so who is your #2 and who is your #3 doesn't mean crap

Exactly! When we played the panthers we beat their offensive line by rotating our defensive line practically every down we ran out a fresh front four. While their O line was out there all day.

[NBT]

Okam adds another dimension to our defense. He can be one of the best, and I think he will be. We will look back and say, WOW! We got a great player in the fifth round of the Draft.

Don't be too sure about T.J. He has been a little immature, but the addition of Okam will only make T.J. better. He definitely has the talent. Only question on the Dline now is, how much gas does Anthony Weaver still have in his tank, and will his shoulder allow him to give all he's got at that critical RDE position?