Team-by-Team Draft Recap: Houston Texans

Dan Meylor

fiedorowicz

This article is part of our ongoing series where we provide team-by-team analysis and veteran divisional winners and losers from the NFL Draft. You can read the entire series here.

After the Texans chose former South Carolina Gamecock defensive end Jadeveon Clowney with the first overall pick in the draft, they focused their attention on the other side of the ball, selecting five offensive players with their next seven picks. We’ll focus on those selections in today’s draft review.

C.J. Fiedorowicz, TE

If you look up Fiedorowicz’s numbers while at Iowa, you won’t be impressed. His 45 receptions for 433 yards and a single touchdown as a junior in 2012 was a nice season, but certainly not eye popping and his 30 receptions for 299 yards as a senior wasn’t any better, although he did haul in six touchdowns. Those numbers don’t paint an accurate picture of Fiedorowicz’s skill however. To see why, you have to watch him play.

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The first thing that pops off the screen when you turn on film of Fiedorowicz is his size (6’5”, 265 pounds) and raw power as a blocker. He’s incredibly physical at the point of attack and is unrelenting down the field in the run game. Because of those skills as a blocker, Iowa head coach Kirk Ferentz used Fiedorwicz primarily in that capacity and only featured him in the passing game on third down or in the red zone – which explains the mediocre stats he posted while in Iowa City.

As a receiver, Fiedorowicz has much to offer an offense. Although he’s not quick enough to blow by many defenders on a seam route, he’s a solid route runner and is an excellent receiver in traffic. Once the ball was in the air, he has the ability due to his large body to shield off defenders and make the catch. Most importantly, he has soft hands and a large catch radius. After the catch, instead of juking a defender in the open field, Fiedorowicz will always lower his shoulder and try to run him over. When in space, he takes long strides and moves very fluently.

Due to the depth chart for the Texans, Houston is an ideal landing spot for Fiedorowicz and there will likely be an opportunity for the former Hawkeye to play significantly as a rookie. Garrett Graham has the most experience but will likely be the “move” tight end for new coach Bill O’Brien which leaves only second year player Ryan Griffin to compete with him for “in line” duties. Whether he beats out Griffin or not, Fiedorowicz’s skills as a run blocker as well as his talents as a third down threat and red zone target give him a chance to carve a significant role in Houston early in his career.

Right now, Fiedorowicz is being drafted in the middle of the fourth round in rookie drafts, which is about where he belongs. Some have compared him to Rob Gronkowski which is fueled from O’Brien’s history with the Patriots, but that is being far too kind. Overall, he has the upside of Heath Miller and could very well deliver low-end TE1 to high-end TE2 numbers for fantasy owners – which is a great return on a fourth round rookie pick.

Tom Savage, QB

It’s rare that an NFL general manager finds a franchise quarterback late in the fourth round of the draft.

That said, due to the current depth chart behind center in Houston as well as the talent at the skill positions for the Texans and the arm strength, size and work ethic of the signal caller they chose that late in the draft, GM Rick Smith may have found just that.

Savage really wasn’t all that impressive in his three stops at the collegiate level. In his first season at Rutgers in 2009, he was named to the Freshman All-American team after tossing 14 touchdowns and seven interceptions in 12 games. A year later, he lost the starting job for the Scarlet Knights after an injury and transferred to Arizona. After sitting out a season due to NCAA rules, Wildcats head coach Mike Stoops was fired, so Savage decided to transfer again – this time to Pittsburgh, where he sat out another season. In his only season on campus, Savage completed 238 of 389 passes for 2,958 yards and 21 touchdowns for the Panthers.

All in all, Savage started 28 college games over five years. He compiled a 17-11 record as a starter, completed about 57% of his passes and threw 37 touchdowns and 19 interceptions – numbers that aren’t bad, but certainly won’t knock anybody off their chair.

The Texans didn’t draft Savage for his college performance, they drafted him because of his intangibles. Savage fits the bill of what O’Brian wants in a quarterback. He’s a pocket passer that stands tall with pressure in his face and has a very strong arm. What may be more important however is that throughout his three stops in college, he got a reputation as a team leader with an incredible work ethic.

Going into the draft, very few believed Savage would be ready to contribute in his first season in the league. That’s likely still the case, however with only Ryan Fitzpatrick and Case Keenum on the roster in Houston, Savage’s time looks to be sooner rather than later.

Overall, Savage is a 24 year old developmental prospect that would benefit from sitting behind a veteran for both the Texans and your dynasty team. He has the size (6’4”, 230 pounds), arm strength and leadership to develop into a quality NFL starter and potential fantasy contributor, but that time is most likely at least a couple years away. Unless you’re in a very deep league or one that starts multiple quarterbacks, he shouldn’t be considered in rookie drafts.

Alfred Blue, RB

If you’re looking for a sleeper tailback late in rookie drafts, Blue likely isn’t your guy.

While at LSU, he was never really given the opportunity to shine – partially due to injury and partially due to the amount of talent that was featured in the Tigers’ backfield while he was there including Stevan Ridley and Jeremy Hill. In four seasons in Baton Rouge, he only averaged 52 carries per year – although he averaged six yards per carry and scored 11 times in his career.

At the beginning of 2012, Blue got his only chance to be the featured runner for the Tigers. He had back-to-back 100-yard games to start the season but tore his ACL before he got to build on the start. When he returned as a senior in 2013, he played second fiddle to Hill, only carrying 71 times.

Because of his lack of college carries, Blue doesn’t have many miles on his tires. He’s a power runner who is physical with the ball in his hands and can catch the ball out of the backfield, but has limitations to his game including his lack of overall speed, nonexistent explosiveness at the line of scrimmage and his inability to block in the passing game which will keep him off the field early in his career.

Some have pointed to the injury history of the other tailbacks ahead of him on the depth chart in Houston, Arian Foster and Andre Brown, as well as his size and upside to perhaps develop into a first and second down back as reasons to look to Blue as a potential contributor for dynasty owners, but I’m not buying it. His own injury history as well as his below average agility, explosiveness and blocking prowess will keep him from being a consideration for me even in the late rounds of my deepest rookie drafts.

Jay Prosch, RB

Prosch has the potential to become a very good NFL fullback in the traditional sense but has no fantasy appeal. He’s a lead blocker that won’t be asked to handle the ball with any regularity.

Follow me on Twitter: @dmeylor22

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