Texans Fans Time to Dance?

“Leaping and dancing. Ecclesiastes assures us that there is a time for every purpose under heaven. A time to laugh and a time to weep. A time to mourn and there is a time to dance.” - Ren McCormic, “Footloose.” Ladies and Gentleman, the time to dance is now! Once again, with the Astros heading downhill faster than a cheese-loving Englishman, people are once again looking around the room nervously and proclaiming “…how about them Texans?!” With everyone wetting their britches over the Andre Johnson contract dispute, there have been more than a few worried fans this off-season. But don’t fret, there have been far more positives than negatives this year, lets take a look at a few. First, quit worrying about Johnson, he’s not going anywhere except straight to the end-zone. The dispute was just that, a dispute, and fans were way too quick to lump Johnson in with the other prima donna WRs in the NFL. He’s a class act and the front office appreciates everything he’s done, they’re not letting him go anywhere. Secondly, our not-so-secret-weapon, Owen Daniels, is back. Maybe not back on the field just yet, but he has officially signed his free agent tender. This TE is one of the best in the business, as if you needed me to tell you that. He’s also second in franchise history with 2,501 rec. yards and 207 receptions. He’s a chain-mover and isn’t afraid to take a lick going through the middle of the field. Until tearing his ACL in game 8 last year, he’s been mostly indestructible. People in Houston are throwing around names like Tony Gonzales when referencing Daniels’ amazing talent. Something tells me we haven’t seen anything yet. Ben Tate is healthy and on track to make up for lost time. Tate spent his down time memorizing the Texans’ playbook. “You’ve got to stay in the playbook, even when you’re not playing,” says Tate. “That’s an important part of the game, stay in my playbook and making sure I know what’s going on so I can start playing the game fast.” There’s not a whole lot else you can ask from a rookie like Tate. He knows his role, and he’s excited to do the work. He’s going to be the yin to Steve Slaton’s yang and hopefully kung-fu the hell out of opposing defenses. Speaking of Steve Slaton, I’m not worrying much about the third year rusher. Obviously, last year was anything but great, but its too soon to call that rookie season a fluke. Lets be honest, its not like he was out there getting lucky every Sunday two years ago. The raw talent is there, and going into his third year, he’s got more experience and better field vision. Look at Adrian “all day” Peterson. He fumbled the ball 99.9% of the time he came into contact with it. (I may have to check those numbers, but they seem accurate to me) It’s not the end of the world folks. Once someone hears you can’t hold onto the ball, your fumbles are going to spike exponentially. They smell blood, gang tackle, and do everything they can to rip the ball away instead of just trying to stop the play. Long story short, expect to see big things from this little man. Most of all, look at the draft. These were carefully orchestrated and well thought out picks. Gary Kubiak knows his football, and knows his drafts. We plugged holes, we filled needs, we got the best players available. We basically did everything that a professional football team is supposed to do with the draft. Between our amazing coaching staff and the veterans on this team, these young kids are walking onto one of the most talented, mature teams in the NFL, and that’s going to take us a long, long way.