FanHouse Duntarobinson

The Houston Texans are dead last in total defense. It is no surprise given the big touchdown runs given up by the Texans defense to Thomas Jones, Chris Johnson and Maurice Jones-Drew. Fantasy football players have been feasting on the Texans defense for years, and certain offensive players in the AFC South probably should owe a part of their paychecks to them.

Explanations for the predictable struggles are easier to identify than the solutions:

Out of the 14 NFL players that were franchised in 2009, Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson was the only one who chose not to sign a long term deal or sign his franchise tender in time to make camp. Reportedly, he turned down $23 million dollars in guaranteed money last February, which would have put him in the top three of NFL corners in guaranteed dollars. He sat out all of camp and preseason, then signed his tender a week before the first game, just in time to get his first paycheck -- $585,705 of the almost $10 million he will receive for 2009.

Fans were displeased to learn that during the Texans ugly loss to the Jets in the home opener, Robinson was wearing shoes that read, "Pay me Rick." The "Rick" in question is Houston general manager Rick Smith.

Training camps have wrapped up, the NFL season is right around the corner, and it's still hot as sin outside. But instead of cooling you off with a warm island song, FanHouse break out ye old heat check for our 2009 NFL Season Previews. We'll rate each club in 5 categories on a scale of 1 to 10, high score wins.

Houston has forgotten what it is like to root for its hometown NFL team in the playoffs. It's been since the 1993 season that a playoff berth has graced this football-obsessed region, and everyone wonders after two 8-8 Texans seasons whether the team finally has the pieces to make a legitimate playoff run. The Texans have replaced the Cardinals as the trendy dark horse pick that might break out in 2009. No really. Dallas Morning News columnist Rick Gosselin's comments are pretty representative of this sort of thinking.

Putting together a successful NFL team is as much about finding quality starters as it is about filling out the roster with competent backups. The Patriots, Steelers, Giants and Colts have won Super Bowls because they had second- and third-teamers step into the starting lineup with no discernible drop-off in productivity.

Roster spots 23-53 are almost more important than the 22 guys who are listed first on the depth chart. And it's also what separates the perennial playoff teams from those struggling to win more than they lose.

The Texans have made progress since hiring Gary Kubiak in 2006, going from two wins the year before he arrived to back-to-back eight-win seasons in '07 and '08. Not surprisingly, lack of depth -- particularly on defense -- has been one of this team's biggest weaknesses.

Texans cornerback Dunta Robinson is the last franchise-tagged player to neither agree on a long-term deal nor sign his tender. Wednesday was the deadline for franchise players to sign long-term deals with their teams. This could get ugly.

So far, both Robinson and the Texans have failed to comment on the deadline passing. Negotiations had been mostly quiet, but the last time Robinson spoke about his contract, he said if a long-term deal couldn't be reached, he wasn't going to be around until sometime during the season.

For every game missed, Robinson would lose $585,705.

Houston Texans tight end Owen Daniels joined cornerback Dunta Robinson in skipping out of voluntary OTAs as a contract holdout. His Facebook page explains:

"Decided not to show up for practice because of my contract situation. I would much rather bet there, but I'm not getting the fairness I was hoping for on the business end of things. I really hope we can agree on something soon."

Actually, it was somewhat surprising that he attended all the OTAs without a new contract given that he risked injury by doing so. Negotiating an extension for Daniels is difficult because of the absurd money that Tampa Bay gave Kellen Winslow.

Apparently, it has been a rough month for NFL agent Kirk Wood.

The Arizona Republic reported that Cardinal linebacker Karlos Dansby fired Wood last weekend. Dansby has been trying to get a long term deal for a while, but has been franchised two years in a row.

And then on Wednesday, John McClain of the Houston Chronicle reported in his blog that Texans linebacker DeMeco Ryans has fired Wood too. Ryans and CB Dunta Robinson are sitting out voluntary workouts, hoping to get the Texans to negotiate again. Ryans is under contract but was hoping to renegotiate to receive a longer term deal with the team.

Apparently, cornerback Dunta Robinson isn't the only Houston Texan displeased with his contract situation.

In an interview with Houston's 790 AM, linebacker DeMeco Ryans expressed his frustration that the Texans were unable to get a long-term deal done with him. Here's a mini-transcript of the interview along with some analysis.

His basic point is that he and Robinson are key players for the Texans defense. Players that you want to lock into long-term deals. He believes that, before the Texans spend a ton on outside free agents, they should give first priority to them.

Because the NFL season never ends, we present our 2009 Offseason Roadmaps for front offices to navigate through the summer.

How many years were the Arizona Cardinals picked to finally have their breakout year? It seems like they were the dark horse pick to have a playoff run every offseason. But since they went to the Super Bowl last year, they can't be that sneaky hot team any more.

Maybe the Texans take over that spot. Their franchise has never had a winning season, and the last two 8-8 seasons have only resulted in higher expectations. Houston's offense ranks about the same as the Cardinal offense, their special teams is better and their defense worse. The Texans are trying to fix that bad defense by replacing a number of coaches on that side of the ball.