Houston Texans Free Agnecy Grade

UPDATE: Former Dolphins ILB Tim Dobbins agreed to terms with the Texans on Saturday, his agent David Canter announced on Twitter.

The Dolphins cut Dobbins last Monday. He played in 16 games with six starts last season, and recorded 47 tackles, one sack and one pass defensed.

Dobbins’ first season in the NFL was with the Chargers in 2006, and his defensive coordinator then is his new defensive coordinator in Houston, Wade Phillips.

A big splash was made by the Houston Texans when they pulled the trigger on the signing of former Cincinnati Bengal cornerback Johnathan Joseph. Joseph, a fellow South Carolina Gamecock as is Texans owner Bob McNair Joseph, was one of the top three available corners in this years free agent class. The Texans could not wait around for Nnamdi Asomugha to make a decision in which the team could possibly have been left holding a bag of money without a top cornerback on the market to give it to. 2010 was a tough year for Joseph when it was marred by injury. Jonathan Joseph was a top 10 ranked cornerback in 2009.

The Texans followed the signing of Jonathan Joseph with headlines of former Chicago Bears safety Danieal Manning. A move that helped soilidy the safety position next to Glover Quin and upgrade the Texans secondary in a huge way over last years 32nd ranked pass defense.

Both Manning and Joseph are solid support in the run game as well as the passing game and when it came to addressing team needs, both general manager Rick Smith and vice president of football operations Chris Olsen performed admirably.

Jacoby Jones, Rashad Butler, and Mike Brisiel were all resigned on the offensive side of the ball and this came as a huge surprise to many. It was expected that both Jones and Butler would bolt for higher paydays via free agency. Continuity is key for offenses and especially so for an offensive line. For the Texans to be able to bring back a part of second ranked offensive line was huge.

A key cog that was not resigned by the Houston Texans was free agent fullback Vonta Leach. The Baltimore Ravens won Leach’s services. Leach was a devasting blocker and his mean streak on the field will be sorely missed.

However the Houston Texans had the foresight to see Leach’s escape as a possibility and asked tight end James Casey to add weight in preparation for a move to fullback. Houston also signed two undrafted free agent fullbacks. Vonta Leach was a undrafted free agent fullback originally signed by the Green Bay Packers but later was signed by the Houston Texans in 2006. So finding a replacement for the one who got away should only be a matter of time. Let’s just hope someone steps up sooner rather than later.

With sixteen undrafted free agent signings for the organization and the proper team needs filled on both sides of the ball the Houston Texans had one of the best free agent signing periods in the history of the franchise.

We would of liked to see the resigning of Zac Diles for depth purposes but nonetheless with what the team did overall we have to grade out the Houston Texans with a solid A. However with the recent addition of Tim Dobbins at ILB for depth purposes. Along with what the free agent signings did for the city of Houston and its fan base from an excitement standpoint we are throwing a plus in with the “A”.

Grade: A+

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