Vandermeer's View: Combine craziness

Walking around Indianapolis during the Combine you see so many familiar NFL faces. It’s also like taking a stroll through Texans history. Just this morning I ran into Demeco Ryans, Wade Phillips, and former linebacker coach Johnny Holland. I also said hello to Dave Ragone who is the organization’s highest drafted quarterback since David Carr. And Ragone was taken in 2003! That’s a huge question about this offseason. Will the Texans take a quarterback in the early rounds of the draft? Bob McNair said prior to the Super Bowl that Houston will think about a QB in this draft. But, of course, no one will mention what round. Many of us thought that in 2014, Bill O’Brien’s first year, the Texans would nab a quarterback in the first or second round. They took Tom Savage in the fourth.This season they could draft one higher but they could also try to get better at the position through some well publicized hypotheticals in free agency or even through trade. The picture will clear up in the next few weeks. The ‘word on the street’ among national media folks here is that better QB play makes the Texans a sure fire Super Bowl contender. We’ve interviewed many on Texans Radio and Texans TV and you can check out all that content here on HoustonTexans.com. Most of the coaches and General Managers have met the media and most have had nothing major to say because free agency hasn’t even started yet. They are here to evaluate college players before embarking on a free agent blitz that begins next week. Once you get your harvest from that, it’s draft time. And, even though no one will talk about needs, the draft preferences will be heavily determined by what teams pick up on the open market. Walking through radio row here, media from all markets ask our crew about quarterback, of course, but A.J. Bouye’s name keeps coming up as well. He’s set to become a free agent next week and is a hot property. Every team looking for help at corner has media here hungry for info on Bouye. The other big questions for us concern J.J. Watt’s health and Jadeveon Clowney’s emergence. And the fact that the Texans had a win at New England in their sights but didn’t close the deal. The division is going to be the most competitive since its inception in 2002. With Doug Marrone in Jacksonville they are perfectly capable of a Titan-like jump in performance in 2017. Every team feels like they have a shot. That adds to the importance of getting things right in the next two months so the Texans can achieve a three-peat. The NFL scouting combine is the unofficial start of the league year and the highest attended media event outside of the Super Bowl. It left Spring Training in the dust in the national sports consciousness years ago and continues to grow. Keep checking back for more information.