Jan 15, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Houston Texans receiver Andre Johnson (80) is defended by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Laradarius Webb (21) in the AFC Divisional Playoff game at M

With the collapse of the Indianapolis Colts last season, the Houston Texans finally were able to win their first division title in franchise history in 2011 despite injuries to some key players and lost their best defender, Mario Williams, via free agency. With that in mind, here’s their 2012 draft:

1 26 Whitney MercilusLB Illinois
3 68 DeVier Posey WR Ohio State
3 76 Brandon Brooks G Miami (Ohio)
4 99 Ben Jones C Georgia
4 121 Keshawn Martin WR Michigan State
4 126 Jared Crick DE Nebraska
5 161 Randy Bullock K Texas A&M
6 195 Nick Mondek T Purdue

A glance at their top pick makes one realize the loss of Super Mario wasn’t “lost” on the organization. Whitney Mercilus was a bit of a one-year wonder at Illinois, but he did have a monster final college season, leading the NCAA in sacks. The Texans hope he can translate that and do so quickly as a rookie and earn the nickname “Ming.”

WR DeVier Posey is the latest attempt to put an outside threat opposite All-Pro WR Andre Johnson. Posey has good size, speed, soft hands and strength to play the outside.

The ensuing 2 picks show that they want to improve their interior offensive line for Arian Foster in Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme.

WR Keshawn Martin from Michigan State is a smaller guy that should find a home in the slot and is an accomplished punt returner that could steal Jacoby Jones’ job there and DE Jared Crick is a strong run defender that lacks great pass-rush skills but will get a few sacks due to his relentless, high-motor style.

It looks like their draft could produce up to five immediate starters or sub-package/rotational players that should see the field quite a bit. For a playoff team, that’s huge.

The one issue they cannot solve is QB Matt Schaub’s durability issues. The Texans had to go 3 deep at the QB spot last season and didn’t have Schaub for the stretch run or the playoffs. While the backups played well, including rookie T.J. Yates, they can’t fully replace Schaub. This offense has several bona fide stars with WR Andre Johnson and RB Arian Foster so they are capable of making a lot of noise. So far in mini-camp, they’ve been bitten by the injury bug much like last season so we’ll have to wait and see how everyone is when September rolls around.

Defensively, the Texans dominated in 2011 under first-year DC and former Cowboys HC Wade Phillips. The scary part is that they’re also a young defense with their oldest projected starter being Pro-Bowl defensive end Antonio Smith at age 31.

They have a number of star players on the defensive side as well, even after losing Super Mario to free agency and the Buffalo Bills. Brian Cushing played well moving to ILB from OLB last season when they switched to the 3-4 from the 4-3. Rookie J.J. Watt could easily have been DROY and should dominate in his second season. Another 2011 rookie, Brooks Reed, had a few sacks as he helped fill in for Mario Williams, who was lost to IR after week 5 last year. Connor Barwin was moved to OLB and played well also.

The added LB Bradie James through free agency to add into the mix. Their other notable signing was RB Justin Forsett from the Seahawks as a third-string RB behind Foster and Ben Tate and should see action on special teams.

The secondary appears to be in good shape as well with Danieal Manning at safety and Pro-Bowl cornerback Jonathan Joseph returning. Glover Quin played well moving to strong safety so Phillips had to be pleased with the way his squad gelled with so many players at new positions.

The only issue I can see the Texans possibly struggling with is cohesion in the passing game. With Schaub being injury-prone and Andre Johnson showing a recent propensity to nagging injuries, those two rookie WRs need to come in and start producing very quickly. TE Owen Daniels is a solid player but unspectacular when compared to the recent trend of players like Vernon Davis, Rob Gronkowski, or Jermaine Gresham. The Texans didn’t attempt to upgrade there through the draft nor free agency.

Considering their vault to the top of the division and Indy’s fall along with their roster changes and factoring in injuries last year, I’d say the Houston Texans took…

…one step forward. They made the playoffs with a rookie QB at the helm for a couple of games and that means the rest of the team is very solid. They lost a big free agent, Super Mario, but replaced him with as good a rookie as they could in Whitney Mercilus. While I don’t expect a rookie to come right in and fill those shoes, the rest of the team should be able to pick up the slack there. They also made a serious attempt to get Andre Johnson some help on the outside. If Schaub can stay healthy, this team is a Super Bowl contender and matches up with the Patriots particularly well should they find themselves in the AFC Championship Game in January, 2014.

Next up, the Indianapolis Colts.

Jan 15, 2012; Baltimore, MD, USA; Houston Texans wide receiver Andre Johnson (80) is unable to make a catch while being defend by Baltimore Ravens cornerback Lardarius Webb (21) and strong safety Bernard Pollard (31) during the second quarter of the 2011 AFC divisional playoff game at M

Rumors run rampant pretty much the entire NFL season. Some have legs, some don’t, but some make you stop and think for other reasons.

The Preseason is a fun time for the NFL, especially the first couple of games when we get to see a lot of new faces on the field. It’s interesting because sometimes a franchise will find TOO much talent at one spot and have to let someone go that will obviously be picked up by someone else. It’s a process, but interesting if you follow it.

It’s also a double-dose of newbies time. Not only do this year’s rookies get a fresh new look, anyone injured early as a rookie last season does too.

Take the Houston Texans as an example. Andre Johnson has been a top-3 WR for some time now along with Megatron and Fitz. Last season, he got dinged up and missed considerable playing time. He’s entering his 10th NFL season, and while WRs can be productive well into their 30′s, he’s 31 and of the age where some players start that decline as injuries heal more slowly and recovery week-to-week gets harder.

With AJ still nursing injury, Lestar Jean is a player that has created some buzz in Houston. Apparently, last season in the abbreviated training camp, he displayed a lot of skill before he went down due to injury for the season. This year, perhaps he’ll get a closer look. The Texans have been seeking a good #2 WR to put opposite Andre J., but they may be looking for guys to start in place of him if he can’t stay healthy this year. Kevin Walter is in Houston and they’ve drafted some talent there too, so it will be a battle for Jean to see the field.

Another sleeper-type guy I kinda like is Dezmon Briscoe of the Bucs. Vincent Jackson’s signing got all the press, and Briscoe was a role-player even last season. He’s now entering his 3rd season and with a new head coach he gets a fresh start and new look too. What impressed me about this kid is his prodcution really started to pick up the final month of last season and that’s what you want to see both as a coach and a player.

His stats last year weren’t great – 35 rec 387 yds 11.1 yds/catch, but he had 6 TDs. 3 of those came in the last 3 games of the season and 2 of those were in the final contest against the playoff-bound Atlanta Falcons. He’ll have JUST turned 23 when the 2012 season starts, so he entered the league quite young. Now that he’s had a couple of years of experience and his body has likely finished developing, he’s worth keeping an eye on especially if you’re into deep fantasy leagues. He could be worth a late-round flier as your 4th or 5th WR, with significant upside potential as defenses will focus on V-Jax.

Did you know the Bengals have no less than SIX former first-round picks at CB on their roster?Leon Hall, Nate Clements, Jason Allen (a horrible mistake made by Nick Satan drafting his former LSU player for the Dolphins), Terrence Newman, Adam “Pac-Man” Jones, and this year’s top pick, ‘Dre Kirkpatrick. If they cannot find 2 solid starters AND a good nickelback out of that group, they will need group therapy for the entire management and coaching staff.

One good QB camp battle to watch is Kevin Kolb and John Skelton. The Cardinals spent a “Glob for Kolb,” but when he got injured last year, Skelton outplayed him. If that happens again this season in training camp, look for Whisenhunt to put Skelton out there despite Kolb’s salary. He wants wins, and Kolb has shown a fragility nobody likes to see in highly-compensated players – especially at QB.

The Pittsburgh Steelers are going to have to play some catch-up in a couple of weeks. Mike Wallace hasn’t reported for OTAs and this contract situation looks to have some legs. It could wind up being similar to V-Jax in 2010, where he held out the entire camp and a large part of the season, only reporting so he wouldn’t lose a year’s worth of service to count toward his time toward becoming an unrestricted free agent. With Hines Ward’s retirement, the Steelers are a bit thin at receiver and Wallace is one of the top deep-threat receivers in the entire league.

They also won’t have David DeCastro OR Mike Adams – two rookies drafted as probable starters, and DeCastro should be a lock to start at guard – because both Stanford and THE Ohio State University haven’t finished their academic years yet. That means neither guy can join their teams until June 7th. With Todd Haley installing a new offense, it would help to have Wallace around to pick it up for opening day.

I’m sure Big Ben is not happy about Wallace’s absence but has to know it’s just business and must be happy for the new drafted protection, as he spent much of last season hobbling on a bad ankle. There’s also the drama over RB Rashard Mendenhall’s New Year’s Day torn ACL. Chances are he’ll start the season on the PuP list (Physically unable to Perform) while he rehabs the knee. The Steeler offense is in disarray and they’ll need every moment of the summer to get the pieces put in place.

Then, there’s Dallas: Just put Jerry Jones in Larry Hagman’s character sans Stetson hat and you wouldn’t be far off. With Brandon Carr and rookie Morris Claiborne likely ahead of him on the depth chart, Mike Jenkins has been demanding a trade from the Cowboys. The ‘boys have said they’re not trading him.

Lots of dynamics are going on here: Carr was signed to a big contract and will play, Claiborne is the most highly-touted CB in the 2012 draft class, and Jenkins is coming off shoulder surgery in the final year of his contract. Tim McMahon of ESPN.com had a good take on this when he compared the situation to the Eagles’ trading Asante Samuel for a 7th-round pick: The Eagles wanted to dump his salary for cap space, but the Cowboys don’t have that issue at this time. Why trade him for a 7th-rounder now while you’ve got probably the best nickel-corner in the NFL now (or a top one at least) for the season to use, he’s also there as injury insurance for the other two starters, and they can just let him go into free agency after the season and wind up with a compensatory pick that will be higher than the pick they’d get by trading him.

In a nutshell, it makes sense for Dallas to keep him around this year for several reasons. Look for him to remain a Cowboy this year, but watch him to see if he mopes about it or plays lights-out in hopes of landing a big contract with another team following the season.

These are just some of the episodes of NFL: the Soap Opera that airs new episodes daily for a few months between the draft and the end of full-blown training camp. Stay tuned for more…it always, always comes along.

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