SCOUTING THE COMBINE
Lance Zierlein: Some potential offensive line targets for the Texans
Lance Zierlein
Feb 27, 2018, 9:18 pm
The Texans offensive line has been in shambles, even before they traded Duane Brown. They will be monitoring the combine. Tim Warner/Getty Images
So long, suckers! I’m off to Indianapolis for the 2018 Combine. As many of you already know, by morning I’m a sports talk host on “The Bench” with John Granato from 7 a.m. - 9:30 a.m. each weekday. However, the rest of my day (at least from November through April) is filled with watching college game tape and writing the player profiles for NFL.com. I’m also responsible for the team needs of all 32 teams which certainly helps with my mock drafts.
I can sense that there is no buzz surrounding the 2018 NFL Draft here in Houston, and why would there be any? The Texans are without a second round pick because Rick Smith felt like he had to give it away to trade away the contract of Brock Osweiller (rather than just sucking it up and taking a reasonable cap hit) and the first rounder was spent securing Deshaun Watson which was a plus move by the former GM.
If you are going to be watching the Combine coverage, check it out on NFL.com or the NFL Now mobile app because your boy is going to be part of the broadcast. Even if you are just watching on NFL Network, it’s my job as a local with inside player knowledge to give you a heads-up about offensive linemen who won’t get Deshaun Watson killed and who might be good fits for the Texans based on the draft picks they have. With three picks in the third round, the Texans have some ammo to move up into the second, so I will include a few second round types as well.
Guards / Tackles
Because the tackle position is so coveted (and light in talent this year), players will likely be pushed up the draft board so we’ll include some tackles the Texans may have to trade up for. As for guards, it is easier to find starters in the middle round so I would be less likely to trade up for a guard.
Jamarco Jones, OT, Ohio State: I’m a little higher on Jones that others, but that’s a relative term. He’s got good arm length and decent quickness and should have enough anchor and athletic ability to become a starter at left tackle. He’s not always pretty, but guys get blocked.
Will Richardson, OT, N.C. State: He’s not the greatest athlete, but he’s good enough to handle right tackle duties. He’s been well-coached and is an adequate run blocker with a strong punch in pass protection. Richardson also has the ability to play guard.
Joseph Noteboom, OT, TCU: I will tell you right up front that I thought Noteboom looked more like a later round pick when I studied him on tape, but his solid Senior Bowl practices has made me reassess who he can be. Noteboom has long arms and good foot quickness and showed better power than I expected. He could be a third round target by the Texans.
Braden Smith, OG, Auburn: This guy is a weight-room monster and proved against Alabama that he has the strength to fight power with power. The downside? He’s a little inconsistent in pass protection and that is one of the big concerns the Texans have had with Xavier Su’a-Filo. Smith is projected to be a mid-round pick.
Austin Corbett, OG, Nevada: I can almost promise you that Bill O’Brien and his staff will like Corbett. He has good size, big hands and has the ability play tackle or center if you need him to in a pinch. Corbett is a good athlete and he’s very smart. I think he’ll be an average run blocker in O’Brien’s scheme, but an above average pass protector.
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After finishing up with the Guardians the Astros have a rather important series for early May with the Seattle Mariners heading to town for the weekend. While it’s still too early to be an absolute must-win series for the Astros, losing the series to drop seven or nine games off the division lead would make successfully defending their American League West title that much more unlikely.
Since their own stumble out of the gate to a 6-10 record the Mariners have been racking up series wins, including one this week over the Atlanta Braves. The M’s offense is largely Mmm Mmm Bad, but their pitching is sensational. In 18 games after a 4-8 start, the Mariners gave up five runs in a game once. In the other 17 games they only gave up four runs once. Over the 18 games their starting pitchers gave up 18 earned runs total with a 1.44 earned run average. That’s absurd. Coming into the season Seattle’s starting rotation was clearly better on paper than those of the Astros and Texas Rangers, and it has crystal clearly played out as such into the second month of the schedule.
While it’s natural to focus on and fret over one’s own team's woes when they are plentiful as they have been for the Astros, a reminder that not all grass is greener elsewhere. Alex Bregman has been awful so far. So has young Mariners’ superstar Julio Rodriguez (though not Breggy Bad). A meager four extra base hits over his first 30 games were all Julio produced down at the ballyard. That the Mariners are well ahead of the Astros with J-Rod significantly underperforming is good news for Seattle.
Caratini comes through!
So it turns out the Astros are allowed to have a Puerto Rican-born catcher who can hit a little bit. Victor Caratini’s pedigree is not that of a quality offensive player, but he has swung the bat well thus far in his limited playing time and provided the most exciting moment of the Astros’ season with his two-out two-run 10th inning game winning home run Tuesday night. I grant that one could certainly say “Hey! Ronel Blanco finishing off his no-hitter has been the most exciting moment.” I opt for the suddenness of Caratini’s blow turning near defeat into instant victory for a team that has been lousy overall to this point. Frittering away a game the Astros had led 8-3 would have been another blow. Instead, to the Victor belong the spoils.
Pudge Rodriguez is the greatest native Puerto Rican catcher, but he was no longer a good hitter when with the Astros for the majority of the 2009 season. Then there’s Martin Maldonado.
Maldonado’s hitting stats with the Astros look Mike Piazza-ian compared to what Jose Abreu was doing this season. Finally, mercifully for all, Abreu is off the roster as he accepts a stint at rookie-level ball in Florida to see if he can perform baseball-CPR on his swing and career. Until or unless he proves otherwise, Abreu is washed up and at some point the Astros will have to accept it and swallow whatever is left on his contract that runs through next season. For now Abreu makes over $120,000 per game to not be on the roster. At his level of performance, that’s a better deal than paying him that money to be on the roster.
Abreu’s seven hits in 71 at bats for an .099 batting average with a .269 OPS is a humiliating stat line. In 2018 George Springer went to sleep the night of June 13 batting .293 after going hitless in his last four at bats in a 13-5 Astros’ win over Oakland. At the time no one could have ever envisioned that Springer had started a deep, deep funk which would have him endure a nightmarish six for 78 stretch at the plate (.077 batting average). Springer then hit .293 the rest of the season.
Abreu’s exile opened the door for Joey Loperfido to begin his Major League career. Very cool for Loperfido to smack a two-run single in his first game. He also struck out twice. Loperfido will amass whiffs by the bushel, he had 37 strikeouts in 101 at bats at AAA Sugar Land. Still, if he can hit .225 with some walks mixed in (he drew 16 with the Space Cowboys) and deliver some of his obvious power (13 homers in 25 games for the ex-Skeeters) that’s an upgrade over Abreu/Jon Singleton, as well as over Jake Meyers and the awful showing Chas McCormick has posted so far. Frankly, it seems unwise that the Astros only had Loperfido play seven games at first base in the minors this year. If McCormick doesn’t pick it up soon and with Meyers displaying limited offensive upside, the next guy worth a call-up is outfielder Pedro Leon. In January 2021 the Astros gave Leon four million dollars to sign out of Cuba and called him a “rapid mover to the Major Leagues.” Well…
Over his first three minor league seasons Leon flashed tools but definitely underwhelmed. He has been substantially better so far this year. He turns 26 May 28. Just maybe the Astros offense could be the cause of fewer Ls with Loperfido at first and Leon in center field.
Catch our weekly Stone Cold ‘Stros podcast. Brandon Strange, Josh Jordan, and I discuss varied Astros topics. The first post for the week generally goes up Monday afternoon (second part released Tuesday) via YouTube: stone cold stros - YouTube with the complete audio available via Apple Podcast, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.