CODY STOOTS: PFF
Pro Football Focus: Texans OL has its moments; Colts tackle struggles
Dec 5, 2018, 7:00 am
Greg Mancz graded out well. Bob Levey/Getty Images)
Pro Football Focus grades each individual player's performance and assigns them a grade. All 32 teams use Pro Football Focus.
Each week we will take a look at some of the key grades as well as some from the Texans upcoming opponent. They also do great fantasy analysis and draft coverage as well. Stats are for the previous game unless otherwise noted. You can join Pro Football Focus here.
Greg Mancz - 80.0 offense grade
Mancz has been in and out of the lineup due to injuries to the offensive line. He was only in for a handful of snaps, 22, but was well above average in run blocking and pass blocking. He has been a nice player when given the opportunity. With the likelihood, the dings hang around on the offensive line Mancz could be a key player down the road.
Zach Fulton - 86.8 pass blocking grade
His best of the season in this category. Fulton struggled against the Cleveland defense when run blocking but he crushed it when he had to pass block. This was especially important when he slid out to tackle for a few snaps when his fellow offensive linemen needed a break. Fulton has struggled a time or two but he has been consistent in at least one element in most games.
Zach Cunningham - 92.6 defensive grade
His best of the season. He was a monster in this game. He deflected an early pass and then scored another one. Most of the success against him came late when the Texans defense was playing less aggressive and basic defense. He has been fantastic since his return from injury with two of his three highest grades.
Benardrick McKinney - 39.4 defensive grade
His lowest of the season. I wonder how much of this happened late when Cleveland was dumping down pass after pass in an attempt to catch up. McKinney almost never grades out this poor. I am willing to write this off as an anomaly and product of Cleveland's late-game attack.
Anthony Costanzo - 49.5 pass blocking grade
Uh oh. This fella is not going to like seeing the Texans on Sunday. The Colts offense finally sprung a leak and allowed multiple sacks and the left tackle allowed two of them. He allowed another six pressures as well. The Texans should be attacking him non-stop in an effort to keep the Colts offensive line in disarray. The team just had their worst pass blocking game since week three. The Texans didn't get hardly any pressure against the Browns. that likely won't be the case against the Colts.
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With the Astros now officially ten games under .500 for the season, manager Joe Espada is taking a lot of heat from the fanbase for the team's struggles.
While we don't agree with the sentiment, we even hear fans clamoring for the return of Dusty Baker and Martin Maldonado, thinking the Astros wouldn't be in this mess if they were still here.
Which is ridiculous. First of all, Maldonado has been awful for the White Sox, hitting .048 (even worse than Jose Abreu's .065). And for those of you that think his work with the pitching staff justifies his pathetic offense. Let me say this: Where was Maldy's game calling genius for Hunter Brown, Cristian Javier, and Framber Valdez last year? All of them regressed significantly.
And as far as Baker is concerned, we have no idea how much a difference he would make, we can only speculate. Baker would also be dealing with a pitching staff ravaged with injuries. And let's not forget, Baker was the guy that refused to move Jose Abreu down in the batting order, even though he would finish the regular season with the ninth-worst OPS in baseball.
The reality of the situation is managers can only do so much in baseball. Which leads us to something else that needs to be considered. Is Espada being handcuffed by the front office? Espada and GM Dana Brown both said recently that Jon Singleton was going to get more at-bats while they give Abreu time off to try to figure things out. Yet, there Abreu was in the lineup again in the opening game of the Cubs series.
It makes us wonder how much power does Espada truly have? The Astros have some other options at first base. Yainer Diaz may only have eight games played at the position, but how much worse could he be than Abreu defensively? Abreu already has four errors, and Diaz is obviously a way better hitter. Victor Caratini isn't considered a plus offensive player, but his .276 batting average makes him look like Babe Ruth compared to Abreu. Let him catch more often and play Diaz at first. Starting Diaz at first more often could also lengthen his career long-term.
Maybe that's too wild of a move. Okay, fine. How about playing Mauricio Dubon at first base? I understand he doesn't have much experience at that position, but what's the downside of trying him there? If he can play shortstop, he can play first base. He's driving in runs at a higher rate (11 RBIs) than everyone on the team outside of Kyle Tucker and Yordan Alvarez. And he's producing like that as part-time player right now.
The other criticism we see of Espada is his use of Jon Singleton to pinch hit late in games. Let's be real, though, who else does Espada have on the roster to go to? Batting Abreu late in games in which you're trailing should be considered malpractice. Espada can only use who he has to work with. This all really stems from the Astros poor farm system.
They don't have anyone else to turn to. The draft picks the club lost from the sign-stealing scandal are really hurting them right now. First and second rounders from 2020 and 2021 should be helping you in 2024 at the big league level.
Maybe they go to Astros prospect Joey Loperfido soon, but after a hot start he has only two hits in his last six games.
Finally, we have to talk about what seems like a committee making baseball decisions. Lost in a committee is accountability. Who gets the blame for making poor decisions?
As time continues to pass it looks like moving on from former GM James Click was a massive mistake. He's the guy that didn't sign Abreu, but did trade Myles Straw (recently DFA'd) for Yainer Diaz and Phil Maton. He also built an elite bullpen without breaking the bank, and helped the club win a World Series in 2022.
The reality of the situation is Dusty Baker and James Click are not walking back through that door. And all good runs come to an end at some point. Is this what we're witnessing?
Don't miss the video above as we hit on all the points discussed and much more!
Catch Stone Cold 'Stros (an Astros podcast) with Charlie Pallilo, Brandon Strange, and Josh Jordan. We drop two episodes every week on SportsMapHouston's YouTube channel. You can also listen on Apple Podcast, Spotifyor wherever you get your podcasts.