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In 2009 the Houston Texans posted the first winning season in the team’s eight year history on the arm of quarterback Matt Schaub and a young defense that is beginning to come into their own. The team enters the offseason in need of help at running back in draft that is not considered to be particularly strong at that position.

Despite a 31-33 record, head coach Gary Kubiak received a contract extension from the team to ensure some continuity. However, the team will be entering the season with a new offensive coordinator as Kyle Shanahan departed after his father, Mike Shanahan, was named the new head coach of the Washington Redskins.

2009 Team Record: 9-7
First Round Pick: 20th Overall

Roster Analysis

2009 Active Roster Batting Average (NFL Average): 35.85% (44.69%)
2009 Draft Pick Retention: 66.67%*
Undrafted Players on 2009 Active Roster (NFL Average): 24.53% (27.89%)

2010 Free Agents

Unrestricted: 11
Restricted: 8
Notable: Kevin Walter, WR (UFA); Bernard Pollard, S (RFA); Rex Grossman, QB (UFA)

Last Five First Rounds

2009 – Brian Cushing, OLB, USC (15th Overall)
2008 – Duane Brown, OT, Virginia Tech (26th Overall)
2007 – Amobi Okoye, DT, Louisville (10th Overall)
2006 – Mario Williams, DE, NC State (1st Overall)
2005 – Travis Johnson, DT, Florida State (16th Overall)

DNQBR

For the 2009 season, Matt Schaub had a Draft Nuggets quarterback rating of 19, good for 7th in our rankings.^

Notes & Observations

• Six of Houston’s nine draft picks made the team’s active roster
• Fourth round pick TE Anthony Houston finished the season on injured reserve
• Four of the last five first round picks have been used on defensive players, including three along the defensive line
• 2005 first round pick DT Travis Johnson was traded before the season to the San Diego Chargers for a conditional sixth pick that could become a fifth based on playing time
• So far in free agency the Texans have lost CB Dunta Robinson to the Atlanta Falcons and have retained P Matt Turk and WR Kevin Walter

* we have not performed a complete analysis of teams’ 2009 draft selections versus their 2009 active rosters in order to calculate an NFL league average.

^ we will detail the breakdown of the DNQBR in a future post, however, the figure represents the approximate number of points per game that the team’s quarterback contributes. As a point of reference Saints QB Drew Brees lead the league with a DNQBR of 26.3, while Jets QB Mark Sanchez possessed the lowest at .7

Follow all the action with Draft Nugget’s Around the Draft series leading up to the 2010 NFL Draft.

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