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2008 Houston Texans Schedule

( Pre-Season Games )

Saturday - August 9, 2008
Texans versus Broncos
7:00 p.m. on KTRK-TV ( ABC in Houston area only )

Saturday - August 16, 2008
Texans at Saints
7:00 p.m. on KTRK-TV ( ABC in Houston area only )

Friday - August 22, 2008
Texans at Cowboys
7:00 p.m. on CBS

Thursday - August 28, 2008
Texans versus Buccaneers
7:00 p.m. on KTRK-TV ( ABC in Houston area only )

( Regular-Season Games )

Week 1
Sunday - September 7, 2008
Texans at Steelers
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 2
Sunday - September 14, 2008
Texans versus Ravens
3:15 p.m. on CBS

Week 3
Sunday - September 21, 2008
Texans at Titans
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 4
Sunday - September 28, 2008
Texans at Jaguars
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 5
Sunday - October 5, 2008
Texans versus Colts
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 6
Sunday - October 12, 2008
Texans versus Dolphins
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 7
Sunday - October 19, 2008
Texans versus Lions
3:05 p.m. on FOX

Week 8
Sunday - October 26, 2008
Bye Week

Week 9
Sunday - November 2, 2008
Texans at Vikings
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 10
Sunday - November 9, 2008
Texans versus Bengals
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 11
Sunday - November 16, 2008
Texans at Colts
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 12
Sunday - November 23, 2008
Texans at Browns
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 13
Monday - December 1, 2008
Texans versus Jaguars
7:30 p.m. on ESPN

Week 14
Sunday - December 7, 2008
Texans at Packers
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 15
Sunday - December 14, 2008
Texans versus Titans
12:00 p.m. on CBS

Week 16
Sunday - December 21, 2008
Texans at Raiders
3:05 p.m. on CBS

Week 17
Sunday - December 28, 2008
Texans versus Bears
12:00 p.m. on FOX

Houston Texans - 2008 NFL Draft.



First-round selection ( 26th overall )
Left Tackle, Duane Brown
6-5, 308 pounds from Virginia Tech.

Duane Brown is an athletic offensive lineman who is expected to be a franchise Left Tackle for the Houston Texans. He ran the fastest 40-yard dash at the NFL combine and he's capable of being an elite pass blocker at the NFL level due to his athleticism, strong upper body, long arms, quick feet and agility. He'll need more time to reach his full potential ( he only has two years of experience as an offensive lineman ), but he has all of the attributes you look for in a franchise Left Tackle. He'll be an immediate success as a run blocker in the Texans' zone-blocking scheme, because he's a perfect fit for the Texans' system.



Third-round selection ( 79th overall )
Cornerback, Antwaun Molden
6-1, 198 pounds Eastern Kentucky.

Antwaun Molden has great size and speed. Even though he's from a small school, I can envision him being a starting cornerback with the Houston Texans at some point during his rookie season, a la Fred Bennett last year. He'll likely emerge as solid cornerback at the NFL level and I'm excited about his overall potential.



Third-round selection ( 89th overall )
Running Back, Steve Slaton
5-10, 197 pounds from West Virginia.

Steve Slaton was one of the most exciting running back during his college football career. He has the speed, quickness and home run speed the Texans have been lacking at the running back position. He's a threat to score anytime he touches the ball, and I can see him starting some games as a rookie running back for the Texans this season. The reason I think Steve Slaton will start some games this season is because I doubt Ahman Green and Chris Brown will stay healthy.



Fourth-round selection ( 118th overall )
Outside Linebacker, Xavier Adibi
6-2, 236 pounds from Virginia Tech.

Xavier Adibi was one of the fastest and most athletic linebackers in this entire draft class. I believe he will be a starting outside linebacker for the Texans as a rookie, and he's a future pro bowler and superstar who will team up with DeMeco Ryans and form one of the most exciting linebacker tandems in the entire NFL.

The fact he fell into the Texans' lap in the fourth round is hard to believe!



Fifth-round selection ( 151st overall )
Defensive Tackle, Frank Okam
6-5, 328 pounds from Texas.

Frank Okam is the ultimate feast or famine player. He has the potential to become a dominating All-Pro caliber defensive tackle in the NFL, but he also has the potential to be out of the league after a few seasons. A lot will depend on his commitment and desire to play football.

Due to his size and rare blend of quickness and burst off the snap for that massive size, Frank Okam is capable of being a long-term solution with Mario Williams and Amobi Okoye, on what promises to be a great Texans' defensive line for many years to come.



Sixth-round selection ( 173rd overall )
Safety, Dominique Barber
6-0, 210 pounds from Minnesota.

I can envision Dominique Barber starting at strong safety for the Houston Texans at some point in the future ( more or less two or three years down the road ). He was an excellent value pick in the sixth round. He's the brother of Marion Barber -- running back for the Dallas Cowboys, and he comes from a long line of family members who were solid football players.



Seventh-round selection ( 223rd overall )
Quarterback, Alex Brink
6-2, 212 pounds from Washington State.

Alex Brink will be on the practice squad this year and next year. The Houston Texans already have three solid quarterbacks on their roster, and unless there's an injury to Matt Schaub, Sage Rosenfels or Quinn Gray, the future of Alex Brink is more or less as a practice squad player. He'll need an injury to make the Texans roster as a third-string quarterback.

( Houston Texans - 2008 Draft summary ).

Video profile of Frank Okam.

( Courtesy of Draft-Guys TV )



After his first two seasons, Frank Okam was considered a top-10 draft lock. But by his senior year, the Texas Longhorns Defense had fallen apart. Scouts have questioned his work ethic, but there's more than meets the eye to the way this clever defensive tackle plays...

Xavier Adibi highlight reel.



This video shows the great speed and quickness Xavier Adibi has. He's an excellent sideline-to-sideline player with natural instincts regarding both pass coverage and stopping the run. I think he has a chance to be one of the better outside linebackers from the entire 2008 NFL Draft class, and I still can't believe he fell into the Texans' lap in the fourth round!

Some NFL experts compare Xavier Adibi to DeMeco Ryans coming out of Alabama, and if that's the type of linebacker the Houston Texans are getting.... The Houston Texans now have a great front seven on defense, because between Mario Williams, Amobi Okoye, Frank Okam, DeMeco Ryans and Xavier Abidi... That's a lot of young defensive talent to look forward to for the next decade!

Now granted... Only time can tell, but there's some definite potential there.

And I'm only discussing the front seven on defense right now, but I plan to go into further details regarding the secondary in the next few days. The Texans' secondary appears to be the only weak spot on the defense, especially with Dunta Robinson expected to miss half the season, but with some of the draft picks and free agent additions... I'm not sure the Texans secondary is going to be as bad as people think, especially with a stronger pass rush from the front seven on defense this year.

Anyway, that's all I have for right now, but I'll add some more thoughts, words, photos and videos at a later time regarding the 2008 Houston Texans.

Hopefully a lot of you guys out there who are reading this will add your own comments, because eventually I'll need some feedback ( replies ) in order to further enhance this thread's quality of conversation.

We need to have some good topics to discuss before the NFL Preseason and the Regular Season is underway. It's going to be a long wait ( a little over four months before the Texans' first regular-season game ), but the time will quickly pass before you know it!

In 2007, the Houston Texans scored 379 points and averaged 23.7 points per game. That was 12th best in the entire NFL ( out of 32 teams ), and that number was actually better ( top 10 caliber ) during the 9 games Andre Johnson played.

It's not a surprise the Houston Texans went 6-3 during the 9 games Andre Johnson played last year, because he's one of the best wide receivers in the entire NFL when he's healthy and playing at the top of his game.

It was the 2-5 record the Texas suffered during the 7 games Andre Johnson missed with his PCL ( knee ) injury that caused the Texans strong offense ( excellent passing offense ) to score less points, and that 2-5 record in the 7 games he missed cost us a trip to the playoffs last year ( In my opinion ).

To the Texans credit, they were still moving the ball through the passing game with a lot of success and earning a lot of yardage during that time when Andre Johnson was out, but their lack of scoring -- especially in the red zone during that time wasn't good.

Too many field goals and not enough touchdowns, but it should be noted that Andre Davis did a fantastic job ( playing wide receiver ) during Andre Johnson's absence, and there was a home game against the Titans that the Texans lost 38-36, and that was the game Sage Rosenfels and Andre Davis both had a huge "once in a lifetime" 4th quarter.

That was the game the Texans scored 29 ( nearly 30 ) points in the 4th quarter, and Sage Rosenfels accounted for 290 passing yards and 4 touchdown passes. He also threw 3 interceptions in that game, but his overall QB rating for the game was a solid 91.4.

A lot of credit should go to guys like Sage Rosenfels, Andre Davis and Kevin Walter for stepping up their game last season, and I expect big things out of Andre Davis and Kevin Walter this season as well. Hopefully Sage Rosenfels won't have to be on the field as much this season, because that would mean a healthy Matt Schaub, but Rosenfels is such a good quarterback in the Texans' offensive system and he could easily step in during a moment's notice and succeed.

The Texans are loaded at the wide receiver position with Andre Johnson, Andre Davis, Kevin Walter and Jacoby Jones. Not to mention, Owen Daniels is more or less a great receiving threat as well. I expect the Texans to be the only NFL team to have four or five players with 500 or more receiving yards this season, but then again we should be getting around 1,500 receiving yards out of a healthy Andre Johnson ( playing a full 16 games ) and that will mean a lot less receiving yards for everybody else.

In fact, the Texans were the only NFL team in 2007 ( last year ) which had a total of three players with 600 or more receiving yards. How amazing is that? Well, the Patriots or Colts didn't do it, but then again that's not necessarily a good thing because it means our running game on offense was struggling, or we were playing from behind and had to pass more.