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01 Nov 2009

Owen Daniels Out For Season

Adam Schefter's reporting that Owen Daniels will miss the remainder of the season with a knee injury.

Posted by: Bill Barnwell on 01 Nov 2009

6 comments, Last at 03 Nov 2009, 5:53pm by Admorish

Comments

1
by Costa :: Sun, 11/01/2009 - 6:10pm

Sucks, not just for Texans fans. Houston has been a hella fun offense to watch so far.

2
by Mr Shush :: Sun, 11/01/2009 - 6:53pm

Definitely a significant loss for the Texans, but maybe not as bad as one might think from Daniels' #1 ranking in DYAR. Most of the slack will probably be picked up by a combination of rookie TE James Casey, Daniels' likely long term replacement, and extra targets for the likes of Kevin Walter and David Anderson. This doesn't derail the offense in the way an injury to Johnson or Schaub would. Fantasy players who haven't already noticed may also be interested to know that Steve Slaton was yanked after his umpteenth fumble of the season, and given the way Moats played in his stead I wouldn't count on Slaton starting from here on out. Walter and Moats look far more valuable from here on out than they did four hours ago, and Daniels (obviously) and Slaton far less.

This does create a potential offseason nightmare: Daniels is playing as an RFA this season. If a new CBA is negotiated, making him a UFA, it will probably be even more difficult than was already likely for team and player to reach an agreement they both think is a fair reflection of value. He will probably not be franchised, as the team will likely have to use the tag on Demeco Ryans, a far more integral player.

4
by Key19 :: Sun, 11/01/2009 - 10:00pm

Casey is sweet in Madden 10. A little slow (well, slower than Owen at least) but effective. The Texans have one of the best "12" formations in the league imo.

Not sure how Casey is in real life though. :P

5
by Mr Shush :: Mon, 11/02/2009 - 8:40am

Well, Casey's a little raw at this point, and the hope/expectation this season was that he'd primarily be used on special teams and as a back-up fullback/h-back for passing situations. He's certainly not the route-runner Daniels is (though of course nor was Daniels when he came out of college), but his size, build and athleticism are very similar to Daniels', and he has absolutely sensational hands. He's not a good blocker, but again, nor was Daniels (and arguably still isn't, though he has improved). Is 2009 Casey an adequate replacement for 2009 Daniels? No. Is Casey's realistic ceiling highly comparable to 2009 Daniels? Yes. I wouldn't bother picking Casey up in a regular fantasy league, but in deep dynasty leagues it could well be a good move.

6
by Admorish (not verified) :: Tue, 11/03/2009 - 5:53pm

This is a big blow to the Texans, and no mistake. Dreesen and Casey (esp for receiving) are good fill-ins, but not on Daniels level at this point, as you say. I'm wondering if we might not see some two back sets with Slaton and Moats going out from the backfield, or Slaton motioning to a WR slot more since he's so fast, and such a good pass catcher. It will be somewhat harder to run the two TE formation now, too.

I hate to see Slaton demoted, but he's not been right all year, 6 FL in 8 games is just hard to take. Moats (in one game at least) seems to be showing that its not really the O-Line's fault. There has been talk of Slaton getting too muscular in the off season, and it affecting his speed and elusiveness. I can't know if that is true, of course, but that's something making the rounds here.

3
by Dice :: Sun, 11/01/2009 - 7:07pm

Yeah, first thing I thought about was the possibility of a long term deal. Same as what happened with Dunta Robinson, but with Owens not being nearly as needed as Robinson was, esp with other players' contracts needing to be addressed.