Observations: My All Ex-Houston Texans Team

Saturday, October 6, 2012

My All Ex-Houston Texans Team

Not many years ago, if a player couldn't make the Houston Texans, his chances of making some other NFL team were... well, let's say "slim."

How far the Texans have come! Now, the Texans see ex-Texans on the opposing side virtually every week -- often as starters. In fact, it occurred to me that you could put a pretty good football team together consisting only of current NFL players that the Texans had released. Here's my team (and where they are now).

My All-Ex-Houston Texans Team: Offense

QB: Rex Grossman (Redskins)
RB: Chris Ogbonnaya (Browns)
FB: Vonta Leach (Ravens)
WR: Jacoby Jones (Ravens), Jabar Gaffney (Dolphins)
TE: Joel Dreessen (Broncos)
OT: Eric Winston (Chiefs), Nick Mondek (Raiders-ps)
C/G: Cody Wallace (Buccaneers), Mike Brisiel (Raiders), Shelley Smith (Rams)

My All-Ex-Houston Texans Team: Defense

DE: Mario Williams (Bills), Jason Babin (Eagles)
DT: Amobi Okoye (Bears), Mitch Unrein (Broncos)
LB: DeMeco Ryans (Eagles), Zack Diles (Titans), D.J. Bryant (Buccaneers-ps)
CB: Dunta Robinson (Falcons), Tramon Williams (Packers)
S: Bernard Pollard (Ravens), Jason Allen (Bengals)

Some Positions Were Easy: Others Were a Stretch

What's really incredible is that there were positions where I actually had options. For example, I went with "the sex cannon" at QB; I could have chosen Matt Leinart, Dan Orlovsky, or ... David Carr -- all currently active.

Still, there were a few places where I had to stretch. My ideal was a roster of players who were currently on some NFL team's 53, but in a couple of cases I dipped into the practice squads (ps). The biggest stretch was putting Jason Allen at safety. There has to be another ex-Texans safety under contract besides Bernard Pollard, but I couldn't find one.

Where Did I Screw Up?

Maybe with a little more research I could have come up with an even better team. So, let me know if you have any upgrades. Which players on my roster would you replace, and with whom? Remember, the player had to be under contract with an NFL team as of October 5 -- either on the 53 or the practice squad. As a result, as much as I wanted him to be, Steve Slaton is not my All-ex-Houston Texan running back. It appears the Dolphins dropped him and no one has picked him up.

Who Would You Like to Have Back?

This year's Texans roster is clearly the best ever. However, imagine if we could have a couple of "do-overs!" What two players would you like to have back? I'd go with DeMeco and Tramon (ignoring salary cap).

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While much of my approach is strategy based, readers shouldn't be surprised to hear that I'm also a huge proponent of sports analytics. For more on the analytical approach to sports, visit, e.g.,
Advanced NFL Stats
Football Outsiders: covers college football as well
MIT Sloan Sports Analytics Conference: Covers all major sports: baseball, basketball, football, ....
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