View Full Version : BIG NEWS - Duane Brown named starting LT
nscurfield
05-09-2008, 12:16 PM
Just in - Duane Brown was named the starting LT today by Texans head coach Gary Kubiak. Check out the link from Brooke Bentley & Nick Scurfield's blog:
Link (http://www.houstontexans.com/news/blogs.asp?blogger_id=16)
taylor90
05-09-2008, 12:17 PM
wowowowwowowow holy crap was NOT expecting that
Texian
05-09-2008, 12:24 PM
I'm not reading to much into this. It is the first practice of the first day of the first mini camp.
Sportswriter79
05-09-2008, 12:28 PM
I'm not reading to much into this. It is the first practice of the first day of the first mini camp.
Yes, they are telling him that they expect him to earn the job. Not unreasonable for a #1 draft pick.
willieg52
05-09-2008, 12:33 PM
The sooner the better for everyone on the O-line so they can form that unity an O-line needs to have to one day become great. This is great news because my only concern was that Brown wouldn't step in there right away and now it seems like Gibbs's boy is more ready than I thought.
headsplint
05-09-2008, 12:33 PM
IMO the best part of that blog came in these words:
Brown worked with the first team for much of practice, facing off against defensive end Mario Williams (who looked even quicker and more aggressive than he did last year).
Mario is gonna be plain sick. Just sick.
I agree - more than anything it's a message to Duane regarding the expectations.
If he's still with the first team on Week 1 is still far from being determined. He hasn't earned anything yet.
wrestler4life
05-09-2008, 12:36 PM
IMO the best part of that blog came in these words:
Mario is gonna be plain sick. Just sick.
Yes, but why would Mario be on the right side of the D-Line?
Didn't he line up more at left end last year?
headsplint
05-09-2008, 12:38 PM
Yes, but why would Mario be on the right side of the D-Line?
Didn't he line up more at left end last year?
If you want to test out your new LT, why not line him up against the your best pass rusher?
Jwwillis1
05-09-2008, 12:45 PM
Doesn't sound as if Salaam took it so well. Hope this doesn't cause a moral issue. We're gonna need Ephraim BAD this year. I hope he knows that.
moses77550
05-09-2008, 12:51 PM
Doesn't sound as if Salaam took it so well. Hope this doesn't cause a moral issue. We're gonna need Ephraim BAD this year. I hope he knows that.
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
SuperstarII
05-09-2008, 12:52 PM
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
I agree with that.
BIG ERN
05-09-2008, 01:00 PM
Brown needs to get as much practice against Mario as possible.Salaam needs to rest his old legs anyway
Jwwillis1
05-09-2008, 01:03 PM
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
If this is true. I hope he never says it out loud.
Wolf123
05-09-2008, 01:41 PM
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
Thats not true at all, Salaam is extremely competitive and doesn't want to settle to be a backup. If you just listen to him speak he"ll tell you he's not giving up his spot.
TexansMVP
05-09-2008, 01:52 PM
When the season begins, you want the best guys on the field whether is Salaam, Brown, or even Spencer. For the time being, it makes perfect sense to let Brown get some reps against the first team so we can see how he responds to the challenge and get some time to develop especially since the coaches already know what Salaam is capable of doing.
3andOUT
05-09-2008, 02:10 PM
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
That's crap. The only professional athletes that want to be backups are 3rd stringers. If there is any player on this team that DOESN"T want to be a starter then they need to be cut.
Salaam wants that job
MrTexan Slim
05-09-2008, 02:22 PM
a little off subject, but someone mentioned his name earlier; any mention or sighting of Spencer at mini camp?
moses77550
05-09-2008, 02:42 PM
That's crap. The only professional athletes that want to be backups are 3rd stringers. If there is any player on this team that DOESN"T want to be a starter then they need to be cut.
Salaam wants that job
Actually, I heard him say(in an interview awhile back)that he knows he was supposed to be a back up when he came to the Texans, but when Spencer got hurt he had to take the starter role. At the get go he was only going to be depth on our line. So it is not crap, he is getting old and he will be a back up. I would love for him to want to be a starter, but he knows and I know that that is not his job.
moses77550
05-09-2008, 02:43 PM
Thats not true at all, Salaam is extremely competitive and doesn't want to settle to be a backup. If you just listen to him speak he"ll tell you he's not giving up his spot.
I know he is competitive, but read above posting.
Hound
05-09-2008, 02:50 PM
I agree - more than anything it's a message to Duane regarding the expectations.
If he's still with the first team on Week 1 is still far from being determined. He hasn't earned anything yet.
I know what you are saying... but I guess he earned the right to get drafted in the first round and he's earned the right to play with the first team in practice... Your first round picks are supposed to play. He also earned the right to face Mario Williams every day... Now that should be a growth experience... If he gets where he battles Mario to a draw... then we will have a hellava OLT.
3andOUT
05-09-2008, 02:52 PM
Actually, I heard him say(in an interview awhile back)that he knows he was supposed to be a back up when he came to the Texans, but when Spencer got hurt he had to take the starter role. At the get go he was only going to be depth on our line. So it is not crap, he is getting old and he will be a back up. I would love for him to want to be a starter, but he knows and I know that that is not his job.
There's a difference between wanting to start and knowing your place on the team. Ephraim realizes he's getting older, and Ephraim is a smart guy and a class act. He realizes the team is getting younger and he will eventually be replaced, that does not mean that he doesn't desire to be a starter. He will be fighting for that job, and should (IMO) probably win it to start the season.
moses77550
05-09-2008, 02:54 PM
There's a difference between wanting to start and knowing your place on the team. Ephraim realizes he's getting older, and Ephraim is a smart guy and a class act. He realizes the team is getting younger and he will eventually be replaced, that does not mean that he doesn't desire to be a starter. He will be fighting for that job, and should (IMO) probably win it to start the season.
I see what your saying, but I really hope Brown steps up big and becomes the starter. No reason to keep putting off our future LT.
Scott747
05-09-2008, 03:15 PM
IMO the best part of that blog came in these words:
Mario is gonna be plain sick. Just sick.
First - Glad they are throwing Brown in now. Hopefully it will give him that extra shot of confidence along with allowing the staff to quickly evaluate him and work on any weak areas asap.
Second - I hope that Mario's "chip on his shoulder" has grown to the point that he is a raving manic this year. Combine that with his natural athletic ability and the improvement he showed last year = some serious issues for the opposing QB's health.
Gosh forbid that Okoye progresses as quickly as Williams did in year two....
Not to worry. Salaam has been around the track a few times, so he is (or should be), used to this. Besides that is how you build your footall team. By always challenging the incumbent to keep his job. It will strengthen the position for sure, and that is the bottom line. It will be fun to see Brown & Williams going after it in TC.
TransplantTexan1
05-09-2008, 05:15 PM
Salaam is a professional. I don't think he's going to create a crappy locker room even if he IS disappointed to hear that the young LT has been named the starter right out of the gates.
Everything about Salaam suggests that he'll be a quality guy on the field and in the locker room and would more than likely be a good mentor for the young guy, even if he wants to start himself.
No worries.
gforce365
05-09-2008, 05:48 PM
i would expect Brown to get looks as a starter. I never thought the FO would've drafted him so high if they didnt think he could contribute early. Salaam was never our long term solution at LT, so even though he couldn't be happy with it, he should've expected it. and Mario is going to be HUGE this year. i know he feels he got snubbed for the Pro Bowl. he said in one of his interviews that he started to explode too late in the season and that he needs to start off early.
281lxm
05-09-2008, 05:49 PM
Salaam wants to be a back up. He does not want to be a starter if he does not have to. He is getting older and knows his role on the team. There should not be a problem at all.
I think Salaam dated Moses...in otherwords, he is lucky to have an NFL consideration. He is an awesome guy to have on your team in a supporting role and we should be glad to have him!
Wolf123
05-09-2008, 06:16 PM
Actually, I heard him say(in an interview awhile back)that he knows he was supposed to be a back up when he came to the Texans, but when Spencer got hurt he had to take the starter role. At the get go he was only going to be depth on our line. So it is not crap, he is getting old and he will be a back up. I would love for him to want to be a starter, but he knows and I know that that is not his job.
Just because he signed to be a backup doesn't mean he wants to be the backup. He knows he's nearing the end but still feels like he's starting caliber. Thats why he got so upset when kubiak made brown the starter.
South Texan
05-09-2008, 07:41 PM
This early, someone named a starter is no guarantee that they will start in regular season, it's more of a "It's your job to lose" thing.
As for Salaam, with our injury luck with LT, be ready to play. That PR position with the front office will still be there for you in a couple of years.
... he's earned the right to play with the first team in practice... .
My point was that he has to earn the right to stay with the first team.
First rounders need to play, yes, I think everyone realizes that. But he has a long way to go and I think everyone realizes that too (or should). It's May and it was the first practice. Many of the questions won't be answered until preseason games and beyond. There's a long way to go...
TexansMVP
05-09-2008, 08:19 PM
Now that should be a growth experience... If he gets where he battles Mario to a draw... then we will have a hellava OLT.
For some reason this line of yours got me extremely pumped. I'm ready to see some football.
Texan Naija
05-09-2008, 10:44 PM
If Brown can prove that he is ready for the position, there is no doubt it will probably be his, but I still would not be surprised to see Spencer or Salaam for a few games if the actual NFL experience proves to much from Brown early on.
Texan Dave
05-09-2008, 10:53 PM
I know what you are saying... but I guess he earned the right to get drafted in the first round and he's earned the right to play with the first team in practice... Your first round picks are supposed to play. He also earned the right to face Mario Williams every day... Now that should be a growth experience... If he gets where he battles Mario to a draw... then we will have a hellava OLT.
Heck, he wouldn't even have to battle Mario to a draw to be a hell of an OT, just hold his own and he'll be able to spank about 90% of the pass rushers in the league.
RichieVar
05-10-2008, 01:03 AM
Well this is quite a shock to me. I didn't have Brown starting until nearly 1/4 of the season was done at the earliest. He must have impressed some people at the camp.
Not to mention its great news to hear that he is facing Wiliams in practice. If that doesn't get you ready to face some primere ends in this league, I don't think anything will.
edo783
05-10-2008, 08:20 AM
Well this is quite a shock to me. I didn't have Brown starting until nearly 1/4 of the season was done at the earliest. He must have impressed some people at the camp.
Not to mention its great news to hear that he is facing Wiliams in practice. If that doesn't get you ready to face some primere ends in this league, I don't think anything will.
It's one thing to get put in the starter LT position in camp to get the kid experience and training, it will be a whole other thing if he is the starter on opening day. If he is, that's a huge up for us, but I would not be surprised to not see him as the starter until after the bye. I thnk they are comfortable that they know exactly what they have in Salaam and will use that as the fallback if Brown doesn't develope as fast and as well as they hope. If by week 3 of pre-season he isn't up to snuff, look for Salaam to finish the pre-season to get reps with the starting O-line before going into the regular season. If Brown plays all 4 pre games.....we have done found our LT and get to do the happy dance. Not that he still wont make rookie mistakes, but they are confident then that we will make a good NFL level LT.
HuttoKarl
05-10-2008, 09:52 AM
I think he's going to be starting from game 1. Thought it the whole time. He's not going to learn to play while sitting on the bench.
Zac Attack
05-10-2008, 08:24 PM
The Texans want Brown thrown into the Fire from day one of mini-camp!!!
The have an offensive line genius coach, and they want Brown to learn by trial and tribulation. If the Texans put Brown on the backup, he'll get nothing more than practice and theory to ponder.
Athletes have said it all over from each sport in the world; there is no substitution to playing in the game. Bar none!!!!
Brown seems like the guy the Texans realistically targeted. Now they are going to put him in there to start. Right now they are seeing that he isn't going to get Shaubb killed if he is the starter from now.
If Brown fails to protect Shaubb as good or better than Salaam starting mini-camp; Brown will have to go to the bench to get his training.
The coaches know what Salaam can do!! No need to check his status out. He's a professional, and he knows how to get himself in the best of shape. Brown being put in with the first team is merely the introduction to the capability that Brown possesses. Will Brown this early live up to his potential? Well time will tell.
This is really one of the funniest threads I have read in a while and so full of hypocrisy.Last year every one was calling for Salam to be run off the field....we need a LT Salam can't block on and on week in week out.Now that we have a possible franchise LT people start standing up for Salam and saying Brown needs to win the job.Salam was never intended to be our starting LT and the coaches have no plans to annoit him the starter.
Brown has the best chance out of all the O-lineman to be your starting LT and people should get use to this ideal.Brown will beat Salam out of this job...he already has in the coaches minds especially Gibbs.About the only way Salam will be the starter is if we have another freak injury.;)
SuperstarII
05-11-2008, 12:27 AM
This is really one of the funniest threads I have read in a while and so full of hypocrisy.Last year every one was calling for Salam to be run off the field....we need a LT Salam can't block on and on week in week out.Now that we have a possible franchise LT people start standing up for Salam and saying Brown needs to win the job.Salam was never intended to be our starting LT and the coaches have no plans to annoit him the starter.
Brown has the best chance out of all the O-lineman to be your starting LT and people should get use to this ideal.Brown will beat Salam out of this job...he already has in the coaches minds especially Gibbs.About the only way Salam will be the starter is if we have another freak injury.;)
you know I noticed the same thing how people (including me) were calling for his head. Now some people are defending him which is kind of shocking to me.
SAMURAITEXAN
05-11-2008, 12:37 AM
Come on people! Have a little faith in Gibbs. After all, Texans drafted Brown in first rd. I can't reall anyone who were drafted this early when Gibbs were OC with other teams. Let's just trust Gibbs eyes on talent. I am certain that Gibbs sees more about OL talent than we can. Because, he is the expert on ZBS. So there, let us see how Brown progresses with every reps he takes.
Go Texans!!
HydrOshocK
05-11-2008, 11:20 AM
Actually, I heard him say(in an interview awhile back)that he knows he was supposed to be a back up when he came to the Texans, but when Spencer got hurt he had to take the starter role. At the get go he was only going to be depth on our line. So it is not crap, he is getting old and he will be a back up. I would love for him to want to be a starter, but he knows and I know that that is not his job.
The fact that he was not meant to be the starter is nowhere near the same thing as "wants to be a backup". If that's the case then please post a link to the quote where you got that from.....nobody wants to be a backup except maybe David Carr.
The fact that he was not meant to be the starter is nowhere near the same thing as "wants to be a backup". If that's the case then please post a link to the quote where you got that from.....nobody wants to be a backup except maybe David Carr.C'mon dude give Carr a little more credit than that, he also wants to grace the cover of GQ magazine. ;)
HydrOshocK
05-11-2008, 11:06 PM
C'mon dude give Carr a little more credit than that, he also wants to grace the cover of GQ magazine. ;)
GQ wouldn't take him because he refused to take the gloves off....something about picking up germs while turning the pages or something.
btw...you made a good point in the Spencer thread about having Brown go up against Mario right away. There's no better way to speed up the learning curve and measure where the guy's at than to put him up against the best we have.
moses77550
05-12-2008, 08:50 AM
The fact that he was not meant to be the starter is nowhere near the same thing as "wants to be a backup". If that's the case then please post a link to the quote where you got that from.....nobody wants to be a backup except maybe David Carr.
Sorry, I don't have a link. It was when he first got here and he did an interview with a local station. He came in to compete but he knew that Spencer was drafted to be the starter. I know he doesn't want to be a backup, but he knows that we wanted to get a LT for now and the future for this franchise.
outofhnd
05-12-2008, 09:28 AM
Spencer was doing individual drills but as i suspected rotoworld states he was penciled in at guard. From there they will look into how his leg holds up to NFL contact when he is ready to. I think its a wise move to start him inside and let him work his way out because you don't wanna put a guy out there to fail.
Brown just really needs to build his upper body strength and put on a few lbs. and absorb the system at the same time.
crazyhorse
05-12-2008, 09:59 AM
I'm not getting to excited about moving Brown to the starting position because they are only in shorts and helmets!! Anybody can look good in this senerio.. I would rather wait until they get the pads on to evaluate his ability. I hope he does well but there is a lot to learn, especially when you consider that the Steelers and Ravens love multiple looks.
My guess is that when the smoke clears Salaam will start at least for the first month to allow this kid to process what he is learning. Putting him in there to soon runs the risk of ruining him.............
Jwwillis1
05-12-2008, 10:02 AM
" 'I asked (Duane) yesterday after practice, 'Did you guys practice this fast in college?' " said Ephraim Salaam, last year's starter at left tackle, on Sunday. "He was like, 'The games weren't even this fast.' So the new terminology and the speed of practice, it's heavy, it's tough, especially for a left tackle in this league.
"To just come in and get all this thrown on you, plus to be on the edge by yourself — he's handling it all right. There are some things he needs to work on, but that's what we're all here for.' "
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/5771587.html
You ROCK! Ephriam. I think this answers any qustions about Ephriams attitude following the sudden demotion. It all HAS to make sense to him. Make our rookies better team!
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