In a development that's been far too long in the making, Andre Johnson of your Houston Texans was named to the All-Pro team today. That honor never really should have been in question, what with 'Dre leaving the NFL in both receiving yards and catches this past season. As Texans fans, this doesn't really qualify as news; we knew and continue to know that Andre Johnson is the best wide receiver in all of football, even if the rest of the world doesn't.

Thus, BRB offers its hearty congratulations to 'Dre. Yes, it's long overdue. Next up: Proper accolades for Super Mario and DeMeco.

Being a Texans fan in January necessarily means that it's the perfect time to engage in completely baseless speculation. What's that? You say there are playoff games going on? What's this "playoffs" you speak of?

Anyway, I received an interesting e-mail from none other than BRB co-founder/onetime contributor/real-life person Scott this morning. Because I love nothing more than stirring the pot and debating things that will never happen, I provide that correspondence (entitled "Proposal") in its entirety for your review:

Texans send fourth round draft pick to Nashville for Vince Young, with Vince agreeing to serve as the #2 QB, #3 WR, KR and PR. It is patently absurd that the Titans' hapless offense muddles up and down the field without a single downfield playmaker when they have such an incredibly dangerous weapon sitting on their own bench.

Before we all start tearing this theory apart, let's get reality out of the way first. This is purely hypothetical. Your Houston Texans aren't going to acquire VY from the Titans. Not happening. Won't happen for any number of reasons. First, VY could very well still be in the long-term plans for Bud Adams' Army of Darkness, Kerry Collins' meteoric and unexpected rise and/or VY's meltdown notwithstanding. And VY's contract, as currently constructed, would surely be a huge impediment to any such deal. And there's no way that Smithiak would pull off a deal that would be the equivalent of changing the team name from "Texans" to "Totally Unnecessary Quarterback Controversies." Oh, and Sage Rosenfels remains under contract for one more season, so it's not like backup QB is a dire need. Under any interpretation, Scott's proposed trade would not and will not happen.

Still...would you give up a fourth-rounder for Vince Young? If so, why? If not, why not? Is there anything you'd trade for VY, or is the thought of him coming to H-Town such a repugnant idea that you refuse to even consider it? I have a sneaking suspicion that this post may elicit some rather lively commentary.

According to the Chronicle, your Houston Texans opted to part ways with Dan Riley (strength coach) and Kevin Bastin (head trainer) today via declining to offer them new contracts. While this isn't exactly on par with Richard Smith's dismissal (and the subsequent liberation/joy we all felt), it comes as a bit of a surprise. Both Riley and Bastin had been with the Texans since the franchise's inception, and their positions are generally not tied to coaching changes.

Apologies for the delay in posting the second part of the final PGB of the season (Part I here). Work, prayers getting answered and Riott's arrival (not to mention his subsequent badarsery) kept my plate full last week. We already checked out the offense's performance against Da Bears, with an eye toward output over the 2008 season; now I turn our attention to the defense and special teams:

1. DE--Pretty simple analysis here. Super Mario is a demigod. Potential wrath of the Almighty aside, I think we should all construct statues in Mario's honor.

I'm also bullish on Tim Bulman, Jesse Nading, and Earl Cochran. All of those guys, especially Bulman, looked like they have the ability to be in a rotation at DE in '09. While none of them may be an ideal long-term solution opposite Mario, I hope that at least one, hopefully two, and perhaps all three, is/are brought back next season. If I have to choose between them, give me Bulman, who has the benefit of not coming off an injury and the flexibility to play DT.

Finally, we come to Anthony Weaver. Anthony Weaver, who signed a five (5) year, $26,500,000.00 contract ($12,500,000.00 guaranteed) in March of 2006. Anthony Weaver, who has posted one more sack than a dead man during his three (3) seasons (none since 2006!) in H-Town. I'll leave the cap implications of parting ways with him to Riott. I'll just say this: If Anthony Weaver is a Texan in 2009, it had better be the result of a drastic, Ahman Green-esque restructuring of his contract (suggestion...$200,000.00 for every sack or tackle for loss?). Further, if Weaver starts another game at DE, I'm giving myself a gasoline shampoo/lit match conditioner job. I can't take it anymore.

2. DT--Tim Bulman and/or DelJuan Robinson were your best DTs last week, as well as the entire season. Considering your Houston Texans "boast" two (2) recent first-round picks that "play" defensive tackle, that's rather troubling.

Staying on DelJuan Robinson...he even stepped in and looked solid at DE when Mario went down in the second half against the Bears. Considering his relatively low salary demands, you'd think the Texans would be interested in bringing him back in 2009.

There's no denying that Amobi regressed in his second season of professional football. He showed flashes of promise as the 2008 season wound down, but flashes ain't enough for the tenth overall pick of the 2007 NFL Draft. He has to get markedly better in '09, or the bust talk will get increasingly loud.

That said, Amobi needs a planetoid DT lining up next to him to be able to do the things Amobi can do. I thought Frank Okam could be that guy, but the coaches, via the fact that Okam was not even active for most of 2008, clearly disagree with me. Whose call was that, I wonder? Kubes? Richard Smith? Jethro Franklin? Two of those guys don't have a say anymore, so it'll be interesting to see if Okam sees more action in 2009 (though I think it's far from certain that Okam makes the team next year). If Okam's not the guy to line up next to Amobi, bringing in a mammoth DT, likely via the draft, has to be one of the top priorities of the offseason.

Remember what I wrote above about Anthony Weaver? Plug in "Travis Johnson," and re-read it. Same thing. Self-immolation all around!

3. Quick anecdote about Jethro Franklin from the final game of the 2008 season...one of my buddies procured seats that were a few rows off the field, right behind the Texans' sideline. As such, I had a vantage point I typically don't have last week. What did I see? I saw Tim Bulman and Super Mario yelling at Jethro at various points throughout the game. Bulman in particular looked pretty hacked off. Of course, this could just be heat of the game interaction between a coach and his players, but I found it to be interesting, as players typically don't shout down their coaches. For his part, Franklin looked completely unfazed; he didn't give off the impression that it was a big deal at all. In fact, maybe that's the relationship he had with his players; I don't know. Still, I remembered those exchanges when the slightly surprising decision to jettison Franklin (who Super Mario had praised at length on several prior occasions) came down on the Eve of New Year's Eve.

4. LB--This is easily the strongest unit of the defense. DeMeco is one of the best in the business. Zac Diles, though undersized, was a tackling machine until he managed to kick himself to the injured reserve in early November. Xaiver Adibi looked fast and sure when he finally stepped in for Morlon Greenwood. Greenwood, meanwhile, looked nothing like the criminally underrated Morlon Greenwood we saw in 2007. If Morlon was a pitcher, we'd say he lost his fastball. If he was a horse, we'd shoot him. While Greenwood may still be capable of contributing in a rotation at LB, I'd be surprised if he was plying his trade in Houston come September 2009.

I'm intrigued about how Smithiak will handle LB in the 2009 NFL Draft. Assuming Diles can come back from his injury, I think a starting troika of him, DeMeco, and Adibi has real potential. I like Kevin Bentley a ton, but there's not a lot of depth after him. If you can get a stud linebacker in the first few rounds, do you take him? It's not nearly the area of need that DL or secondary is, so perhaps not. Then again, we shouldn't delude ourselves into thinking the Texans are so stacked at LB that they should pass on the best player available simply because of the position he plays.

5. CB--I am positively terrified at watching the Dunta Robinson negotiations play out, because there's a very real possibility that Smithiak has a totally different take on what should comprise a long-term contract for Dunta Robinson than Dunta and/or his agent does/do. If not for the injury, Dunta would be getting paid top corner money. Nor should we underestimate the fact that Dunta is the emotional leader of the Houston defense; in that respect, he'd be awfully difficult to replace. Plus, even coming off the injury, Dunta's the best CB on the roster. I think he's going to get his long-term deal. I hope he gets his long-term deal. I'm still scared.

Jacques Reeves is who I thought he was, though I'll admit that his speed is top-notch. Here's hoping that our as-yet-unknown new secondary coach threatens him with bodily injury throughout the offseason in an attempt to get him to turn his freaking head to locate the ball and/or to get his effing hands up. That, or cut him. I'd be good either way.

I have no idea what happened to Fred Bennett this year. I know he's not as bad as he appeared to be. I also know he's nowhere near as bad as Reeves and/or Petey Faggins, both of whom took snaps away from him. How does somebody go from young stalwart to barely getting on the field? Was it entirely Richard Smith's diabolical work? Jon Hoke's? We may never know.

6. S--A true FS is still nowhere to be found on the Houston roster. Generally speaking, I thought Nick Ferguson and Eugene Wilson did yeoman work in '08. Neither's going to Honolulu anytime soon, but they were tremendous in run support and definite upgrades over Will Demps, C.C. Brown, and Brandon Harrison in coverage. I hope both Ferguson and Wilson return to Reliant Park in '09, though I'm equally hopeful that a young safety acquired in the draft pushes one of them to a backup role.

Demps, Brown, and Harrison? Maybe C.C. returns. Maybe. Demps and Harrison seem like surefire goners.

7. K/P--Kris Brown and Matt Turk go nowhere. Might be a good idea to bring in a young punter to push Turk in training camp, but I'd be surprised if someone besides Turk is punting for your Houston Texans in 2009. What can you say about Brown? A golden leg, plus recovering a fumble against Chicago. What else do you want from a kicker?

8. LS--Welcome to the big leagues, Clark Harris. You were better than Bryan Pittman, and you haven't been suspended for violating the league's banned substance policy. No reason Harris shouldn't be the guy snapping to Turk and Brown in '09.

9. Fake Game Balls: Offense--Matt Schaub; Defense--DeMeco Ryans; Special Teams--Kris Brown.

So there you have it. 8-8 doesn't get you to the playoffs (unless you're the Chargers, that is, who surely showed they deserve to be there last night). Time for us to avert our glances to the majesty that is free agency and the draft. One of these years (e.g., 2009), we'll still be talking about Texans football in January. For now, we have to make due with more of the same wait-'til-next-year we know all too well.

It is with great pleasure that we announce that Riott has agreed to become a regular contributor to BRB. Those of you who have read Riott's stuff probably have a pretty good idea why SOLIS and I were so eager to bring him aboard the Good Ship BRB. For those of you who haven't read his FanPosts about draft prospects (e.g., here and here), you're missing out.

It goes without saying that BRB's draft coverage just got a whole lot better with Riott's addition to the site. Here's to 2009 being another banner year for all of us.

Dreams really do come true. I may or may not be doing an awkward jig of sorts as I type this. Discuss!

As SOLIS noted here, 8-8 is worlds better than 7-9. 8-4, which is what your Houston Texans accomplished after their 0-4 start, is even more impressive when you consider that the bagel they posted through the first quarter of the season eliminated them (for all practical purposes) from postseason contention. While you'd like to believe professional athletes would have enough pride in themselves to expend maximum effort regardless of the situation, that's not always the case. The Texans didn't roll over, and that's worth noting and applauding as we enter the offseason.

That's not to say that this team is ready for 2009, because it's not. There are several areas ripe for upgrades in the starting corps, most notably DE, DT, CB, and FS. And although the offense has all the makings of an elite unit, there's always room for improvement and depth. In that vein, this PGB will spit out my thoughts on yesterday's win over the Bears with an eye toward possible offseason moves. Position by position, and then we'll end with the coaches. Now:

1. QB--I'll accept the argument that Matt Schaub is still a work in progress, but I believe the position that The Schaub can't be the starting quarterback for a playoff team is untenable based on what we've seen. Yes, he turned the ball over too much this season, and that's a problem. But he also threw for more than 3,000 yards, 15 TD, and 276.6 yards per game in about two-thirds of a season (including his near flawless 328 yard, 2 TD, O INT effort yesterday). Those are big-time numbers. The kind of numbers that should leave us no doubt that Schaub should be starting in '09.

With regard to Sage Rosenfels, I'm still of the mind that he's a fine back-up despite the fact that he provided us with what I believe was the single most horrific moment in franchise history. He's no longer the attractive trade bait he once was, so I'd count on him being Schaub's No. 2 again in '09. I'd look for the Texans to make QB a very low priority this offseason, though I think a young QB could be drafted relatively high in 2010 for grooming purposes.

2. WR--Still the strongest area on the team, led by the best wide receiver in all of football. Another Sunday, another ten (10) catch day for Andre Johnson, who finishes 2008 as the league leader in both receptions and receiving yards. Quite simply, it doesn't get any better than 'Dre. Memo to Kubes and Kyle Shanahan: That fade to 'Dre in the end zone...why isn't that in the playbook every week? It can't be stopped.

Kevin Walter quietly had another very effective season as the No. 2, though there were a handful of games where his contributions didn't show up in the stat sheet. Although K-Dub only had one catch yesterday, it was huge; that drive could have very well ended in zero points and changed the entire complexion of the game without that reception. Apostrophe Davis wasn't the factor he was in 2007, but I think his emergence in '07 was primarily due to Andre Johnson missing almost half of the season. Apostrophe is an average No. 3; his value as a return man is what really makes him a key cog in the scheme.

Jacoby Jones has been and continues to be a complete non-factor at WR and a fumble waiting to happen as a punt returner. He put another one on the ground yesterday, and I don't know how Kubes can keep running him out there. His speed is undoubtedly electrifying, to the point that I wonder if there'd be any interest in him in the trade market. If I could get a fifth round pick or better for him, I'd do it in a second if I was Rick Smith. As I sit here today, I wouldn't bet on Jacoby being a Texan in 2009; I could absolutely see him struggling in the preseason and being one of the final cuts in late August. With the possible exception of Jacoby, I'd look for the status quo to remain at WR in '09.

3. TE--Owen Daniels finished with better numbers than he did a year ago, posting 70 receptions, 12.3 YPC, and showing little sign of the ball control issues he displayed at times in '07. OD is already one of the best tight ends in the league, and he's only getting better, as witnessed by that 33-yard scamper yesterday. You can count the number of TEs in the NFL who can routinely move the chains on a single play on one hand, and OD is one of them. Draft-wise, I don't know that it's even worth spending a late-round pick on someone to replace Joel Dreessen. Dreeseen's not going to be mistaken for Tony Gonzalez, but he's a cost-effective spot player when OD isn't on the field.

4. RB--1,282 rushing yards at 4.8 YPC. 50 catches for 377 yards. 10 TD. Ladies and gentlemen, I do believe your Houston Texans have themselves a franchise running back. Yes, Smithiak needs to acquire a short-yardage bruiser to take some of those third-and-two carries away from Slaton, and I'm sure they'll do it. The question is whether that acquisition is made through the draft or via free agency. Personally, I'm guessing we could see a late-round pick burned on a big RB, though an undrafted rookie free agent taking the gig is another distinct possibility. The only thing I do know is that there's no way we're going to see Smithiak spend anything remotely resembling sizable coin on a RB.

What discussion of "sizable coin on a RB" would be complete with mentioning Ahman Green? As in, "Ahman Green won't be a Texan in '09." Ryan Moats has been intriguing in limited action (including but not limited to yesterday, when he filled in for Slaton while Slaton was in Kubes' doghouse for reasons unknown to us--was it that fumble, something else, etc.?), which may well result in an invitation to camp and the opportunity to return as a No. 3.

Something to ponder that Chris raised: Will Steve Slaton hold out? He's fresh off a monstrous season in which he proved to be invaluable to the Texans; the second year of a third-round rookie contract is no longer commensurate with his stature; and he plays a position that has perhaps the shortest shelf life in professional football. His leverage may never be greater than it is now. So what does he do? I have no idea; needless to say, it bears watching.

5. OL--Thank you, Alex Gibbs. You made an offensive line that was rather underrated last year into an undeniable strength this season. Chris Myers had the problems a smaller center is going to have with mammoth DTs, but he has to be considered one helluva return on a sixth round pick after his first year in H-Town. Chester Pitts may have had the best season of his career. Mike Brisiel proved to be a solid, inexpensive solution at RG (though I seem to remember him being a greater source of penalties than anyone else on the line throughout the season). Duane Brown had moments where he looked every bit like the rookie he is, but he showed enough flashes of promise that I have no idea why Ephraim Salaam took snaps away from him. In the final analysis, I'd have to say that I was most disappointed in the play of Eric Winston, who seemed to take a step backward from the tremendous performance he put forth in '07.

Schaub was sacked 23 times this season; Sage was sacked 9 times. With three (3) new starters on the OL, one of whom is a rookie protecting the QB's blind side, that's not too shabby. Add in Slaton's success on the ground, and there's little doubt that Alex Gibbs was manna from heaven.

I'd look for your Houston Texans to draft OL for depth, but it certainly does not qualify as a priority.

Wow...that ran long. Separate post on defense and special teams forthcoming tomorrow.

Because it's never too early for draft speculation (now that the season's officially over, anyway), feel free to wildly speculate and/or opine on who you want your Houston Texans to select fifteenth overall on April 25, 2009.

Go on. You know you want to.

Here's hoping your Houston Texans are giving us something to feel good about before we spend the next several months dissecting the organization, players, and coaches. Make the last half count!

Last first-half open game day thread for more than seven (7) months, brothers and sisters. If the thought of no football for the next eon doesn't motivate you to wax philosophical in the Comments below, I don't know what will.

Leave your witticisms and barbs in the Comments below as your Houston Texans tangle with the Bears of Chicago. The second-half thread will magically appear on the main page at 1:30 p.m. CST, so please move the exchange over there at the appropriate hour. GO TEXANS!