Sunday Night Football: Houston Texans vs San Francisco 49ers

 

8:30 PM ET, October 6, 2013

Candlestick Park, San Francisco, CA

 

59^°Low

Partly Cloudy

Chance of rain: 0%

Wind: SW at 7 mph

Humidity: 42%

 

 

 

 

Match up to Watch:

 

Texans Defense vs Colin Kaepernick

 

Always tough on the defense when they play a mobile quarterback. do you play zone? and expose yourself to holes in the passing game or do you play man? and expose your self to big runs from the quarterback. Tough tough! It does make it easier when you have NFL Defensive Player of the Year, J.J. Watts. He is the most dominant defensive lineman since Reggie White….YES, i said REGGIE WHITE!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

#10 DeAndre Hopkins: 6’1 214

1^st round 27^th pick, Position- Wide Receiver

Strength:

+  The best hands in the draft. Can catch any pass that comes his way even if the defender is draped all over him.

+  Not afraid to go over the middle and take a hit.

+  Very elusive. Able to break a lot of arm tackles and make plays in the open field.

+  He has already stepped up and showed , he can be a main target for the Texans

 

 

Needs Improvement:

–          Needs to work on his route running. Relies on his speed too much.

–          Must take on press coverage better. Too much shake moves on the line which slows down your route.

–          His blocking skills are below average and won’t be acceptable in a zone blocking scheme.

 

 

#36 D.J. Swearinger: 5’10 208, South Carolina

2^nd round 57^th pick, Position- Safety

Strength:

+  Complete understanding on how to use outside leverage

+  Quick feet and reacts really well

+  When part of a gang tackle then he stands up the ball carrier and tries to rip the ball out.

Needs Improvement:

–          Tentative against the run. Needs to attack instead of waiting for the run to come to him.

–          Covers way too much grass when he is in zone coverage.

–          He face guards which he needs to play the ball and the receiver.

 

 

 

#35 Eric Reid: 6’1 213,  LSU

1st round 18th pick, Position- Safety

Strength:                      

+  Knows how to break on the ball.

+  If he is part of a gang tackle then he will rip the ball out.

+  Really knows how to set the edge.

 

Needs Improvement:

–         Takes bad angles on tackles so he will miss out on some plays.

–         Does not have good football IQ and will get beat down the field.

–         Doesn’t wrap up when he tackles. He is always trying to go for the big hit.

 

#11 Quinton Patton: 6’0 204, Louisiana Tech

4th round 128th pick, Position- Wide Receiver

Strength:                                

+  Amazing in the open field. Can make a small play into a big one.

+  Have great hands. Catches everything that comes his way.

+  Can win any one on one battle. He is great for a guy his size.

 

Needs Improvement:

–          Did play in a offense that was simple and no route progression.

–          Got to add some bulk so he can absorb contact

–          His blocking has to get better if he wants to help the run game.

 

 

#96 Corey Lemonier: 6’3 255

3^rd round 88^th pick, Position- Defensive End

Strength:

+  Great edge rusher. Can really bend the edge and get the quarterback

+  With Aldon Smith gone, he stepped in and played well vs the Rams

+  Relentless hands, always moving and keeping himself off blocks.

+  He was taught well on the strip sack and excutes it on the field.

+  Such a strong upper body. He can throw an offensive line man to the ground.

+  Explodes off the snap, his speed rush is deadly

 

 

Needs Improvement:

–         No matter if its 1^st & 10 or  3^rd & short….he is always pass rushing.

–         Gets too high and causes him to get knocked around like a pin ball.

–         His motor is disappointing. He will get hot and cold.

–         Very poor against the double team and gets knocked back into the 2^nd level.

 

DeAndre Hopkins #27 pick for the Houston Texans

Position: Wide Receiver

Height: 6’1 Weight: 214 Arms: 33 3/8 Hands: 10 40 Time: 4.57

The Houston Texans has only been a franchise since 2002 but they have only drafted 3 offensive players in the first round ( David Carr in 2002, Andre Johnson in 2003 and Duane Brown in 2008) Now they have just added to the list in 2013, DeAndre Hopkins. There are enough pressure already in Houston, with Super Bowl or bust hanging over them this year but just added more pressure on Hopkins with the success of their last first round pick at wide receiver. Andre Johnson will hold every receiving records for the Texans and will hold those records for a while sooooo good luck! Don’t be a David Carr.

DeAndre Hopkins from Central, South Carolina decided to stay in his home state and enrolled at Clemson. They should go ahead and change the school name into Run and Gun University since their offense was the most prolific in college football. No NCAA football record was safe from the trio of Hopkins, Boyd and Watkins. As a true freshman in 2010, Hopkins was Clemson’s leading receiver with 52 receptions for 637 yards and four touchdowns. Hopkins also played basketball after his freshman season. As a sophomore in 2011, he had 72 receptions for 978 yards and five touchdowns. In his junior season in 2012, he had 82 receptions for 1,405 yards with 18 touchdowns, statistically making him one of the best receivers in the nation, where he ranked second in receiving touchdowns and fourth in total receiving yards. Making a tough choice, whether to stay for his senior year or forgo, he decided to forgo for the 2013 NFL Draft.

Strength:

+ Has the best hands in the draft. Catches almost every ball that comes his way even with a defender all over him.

+ Not afraid to go over the middle and will go look for contact.

+ Does a great job at high pointing the ball and winning those one on one battles.

+ He has a great build for a wide receiver so he can break arm tackles and take hits.

+ Never uses his hands or arms to push off the defender but uses his body and makes the catch.

Needs Improvement:

– His route running needs work. He takes too many lazy steps and relies on his speed too much.

– Not very elusive so he won’t make a lot of big plays in the open field.

– Work on his footwork on the out of bounds play. Keep two feet in bounds. (I know in college, you only need one foot in bounds but I wanted to see him do it sometimes)

– Got to do better against press man. Too much running around the defender.

– His blocking skills are below average. Need to use his big body and go right after the defender.

Summary:

I had DeAndre Hopkins #2 wide receiver on my board for the 2013 NFL Draft. I thought he had the best hands and isn’t afraid to go over the middle. This year was interesting because I didn’t think there was a #1 wide out like a Calvin Johnson or Larry Fitzgerald but a lot good #2 guys and Hopkins fits that mold. I believe he is going to the right team because there are usually pressures with being a first round wide receiver for a team but Houston already have a great one in Andre Johnson. So he can just go out and just play while defenses are focus on Johnson. I think the Texans have found that 1-2 punch for their offense.