Six Miami Hurricanes were among those named to the 2013 Pro Bowl, announced by the National Football League offices Wednesday.

With its six selections, Miami tied Tennessee for the lead among all universities nationwide.

Andre Johnson (Houston Texans) and Reggie Wayne (Indianapolis Colts) were two of the four AFC selections at wide receiver. The veteran proCanes wideouts, who each earned their sixth Pro Bowl nod, have played pivotal roles for their respective teams through Week 16, combining for over 200 catches and 2,700 yards. Johnson ranks first in the conference with 1,457 receiving yards, while Wayne ranks second in the AFC with 102 receptions.

Johnson's teammate Chris Myers earned his second Pro Bowl selection when he was named the AFC's back-up center. The former sixth-round draft pick was also named to the Pro Bowl in 2011.

Two of the league's best defenders, Baltimore Ravens' safety Ed Reed and New England Patriots' nose tackle Vince Wilfork, were among those selected as starters. Reed earned his ninth trip in 11 professional seasons, while Wilfork was selected to his fifth-career Pro Bowl.

San Francisco 49ers' running back Frank Gore, who recently marked his team-record sixth 1,000-yard season, was the lone proCane NFC selection. The four-time Pro Bowler has rushed for 1,146 yards this season.


(hurricanesports.com)

Chris Myers, Pro Bowl center for your first-place NFL Houston Texans, will be Friday’s Honorary Aero at the Houston Aeros vs. Oklahoma City Barons hockey game at Toyota Center.

Myers will drop the game puck while raising awareness of the mission of Blue Cure. The locally based non-profit foundation champions a lifestyle movement to educate men, young and old, about prostate cancer prevention, and to offer support for those affected by prostate cancer.

All this makes Friday’s game a win-win. Take the family and watch the Houston Aeros take on the Oklahoma City Barons, while also supporting a good cause.
How? Three dollars from each ticket sold at an Aeros link online will be donated by the Aeros to help Blue Cure spread its message of prostate cancer prevention. Also, Aeros players have recorded prevention tips to be played on Toyota Center’s big screen throughout the night.

When: 7:05 p.m. Friday, Nov 30
Where: Toyota Center, Downtown Houston
Discounted Tickets For A Donation: http://tinyurl.com/c3g47el
The Aeros will donate $3 from each ticket sold at this link to help Blue Cure spread its cancer prevention message.

C Chris Myers, #55 Houston Texans Height: 6-4 5/8 Weight: 296 Speed: 5.12

Notes: Lettered at Miami (Fla.), where he was a three-year starter, seeing action at center, both guard positions and right tackle, starting his final 38 games. Was selected by the Broncos in the sixth round (200th overall) in the 2005 NFL draft. Saw limited action on special teams his first two seasons before being thrust into the starting lineup at left guard in ’07, moving to center for the final 11 games for an injured Tom Nalen. Former Broncos offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak traded for the restricted free agent in 2008 as part of a sign-and-trade deal after Myers agreed to a four-year, $11 million contract with $3 million guaranteed. Proceeded to start every game at center for the Texans the next four years, earning Pro Bowl honors in ’11. Has started all seven games in ’12, giving him 87 consecutive starts.  

Positives: Excellent hand technician ­— locks out in pass protection and controls and steers defenders. Can dig his feet in the dirt and anchor against massive widebodies. Comes off the ball low and can move big pluggers off the line when he gets underneath their pads (see Baltimore vs. Terrence Cody). Good agility to pull, play in space and seal off run lanes working up a level. Good athletic ability and recovery speed. Alert and aware in pass protection ­— can peel off blocks and help cut off the wide rush. Understands and takes very good angles. Versatile and can play multiple positions. Football-smart, hardworking, highly durable and dependable.

Negatives: Is not a nasty or violent glass eater. Lower-body strength is adequate and still can stand to improve. Does not always run his feet and can be stalled on contact in the ground game. Can do a better job sustaining and finishing blocks. Has a tendency to set a bit tall in pass protection and could stand to play with more consistent knee bend. Average punch strength ­— pushes more than he pops and slips off defenders with athletic spin moves while trying to overcompensate for his lack of power. Will leak the edges to quick, slanting penetrators.

Summary: One of the most unheralded movement centers in the league, Myers keys the Texans’ high-paced ground game, possessing the savvy, technique and agility suited so well for Gary Kubiak’s zone-blocking scheme. Is one of the few pivots in the league who's alert and athletic enough to reverse out of pass pro and help his left tackle handle an elite edge rusher. Grades out very highly in both the run game and pass protection and is a key piece of one of the most light-footed and athletic lines in football that has helped generate Arian Foster’s exceptional production. A highly respected, savvy, veteran O-line leader.


(profootballweekly.com)

HOUSTON (CBS Houston) – In Sunday night’s blowout loss to the Packers, the Texans had their worst rushing day of the season. Star running back Arian Foster was bottled up for 29 yards on only 17 carries, a terrible performance against a Green Bay defense playing without nose tackle BJ Raji.

Houston’s rushing offense has been sort of a mixed bag this season. The Texans rank 6th in the NFL in both overall rushing yards and rushing yards per game. However, more troublesome is what they do on a per-play basis: 3.8 yards. That’s 23rd(!) in the NFL, and not nearly good enough for a team that fashions itself as a ground-based, play-action football team.

Taking a look at the last three games, Houston has averaged 3.1 yards per run against the Titans, and 3.2 against the Packers. Two bad performances. Against the Jets, Foster had 152 rushing yards, but 46 came on 1 play. Removing that one play (which was very-well blocked, to be fair), and Houston averaged 3.6 yards per carry. That number, mind you, comes against a Jets defense that was sliced and diced by the 49ers eight days earlier.

A lot of fingers have been pointed to the right side of the offensive line, with newcomers Antoine Caldwell and Ben Jones at right guard, and Derek Newton and Ryan Harris at right tackle. Clearly, the transition has been turbulent at times on that side. However, the left side needs to play better as well, and that begins with center Chris Myers.

Against Green Bay, Foster had no room up the middle, even with Raji sitting out the game. Part of being an elite football team is being able to take advantage of matchups, and the interior offensive line failed to do so. I think Myers is a terrific player and one of the best centers in the NFL, but the overall inconsistencies of the rushing attack can’t all be due to the right side of the offensive line.

On Sunday, Myers faces one of the NFL’s best defensive players in Ravens defensive tackle Haloti Ngata. He’s massive, powerful, and quick. Even with Ngata, Baltimore allowed 227 yards on the ground to the Cowboys, as Felix Jones and DeMarco Murray were able to find tons of creases. Myers needs to lead this offensive line to do the same kind of damage the Dallas line was able to inflict.

No Ray Lewis, no Lardarius Webb, and no excuses for the Texans to put together a big-time game on the ground. Foster should be fresh (it feels like he barely played against the Packers), and Ben Tate will be healthier. Many will be looking for bounce-back efforts on defense for Houston, but the onus is on Myers and Duane Brown to punish Baltimore on the ground.


(cbslocal.com)

Offensive linemen are often some of the most fun, funny and smart players in an NFL locker room.

Reporters -- and fans -- tend to rely on at least one as a key team spokesman who can address issues that extend well beyond pass protection or room for the running backs.

But some lines are intentionally quiet, believing that any voice that emerges as louder than the others in a group of five can dent the cohesion necessary for five guys -- maybe not literally, but certainly in a symbolic way.

Eric Winston’s tenure with the Houston Texans dated back to 2006, and he never shied away from a microphone or a tape recorder. The team cut him at the start of the offseason in a cost-cutting move, and he’s now with Kansas City.

The line’s personality changed a little with the move.

Center Chris Myers signed a four-year, $25 million contract to stay in Houston including $14 million guaranteed. While left tackle Duane Brown landed a monster deal during training camp and rates as one of the best in the league at his position, it’s Myers who was the group’s quiet leader even with Winston around.

And it’s Myers who will be looked to more to explain things going forward.

“That’s not really Myers’ personality,” Rashad Butler, who lost the right tackle job to Derek Newton in camp, told me during the offseason. “Now since Eric’s gone, and this is not a knock against Eric, I just think we don’t have that type of guy on the offensive line now. Eric was that guy, he loved that, he loved to talk, to debate and things of that nature, not in a bad way. I don’t really see us having any guy now on the offensive line that has that personality that Eric had.”

I feel like I’ve gotten a better sense of Myers over the last couple years. He’s smart, gritty and intensely focused. Those are qualities you want in any player and certainly in a center. Chatting with the likes of me is part of his job and he’ll do it, but it certainly wouldn’t make the list of his favorite duties.

In July, he said he treated training camp like it was his first and his last. He learned the offense all over again and took detailed notes during install as a rookie would while also being paranoid that he was a veteran whose job was on the line and it could be his last time.

“I’ve never been a big media guy,” he said. “If there are things going wrong in the season, I view it as there is nothing to talk about. Spend your time getting better as an offensive line. You’re a unit, there shouldn’t be one or two guys out there kind of doing the whole media thing.

“I’m a firm believer in that, but I do understand the business side of it and the media side of it. Somebody has to speak. I don’t like it, I’m not a huge fan of it. I will do it for the time being. The offensive line just needs to go out there and work. Whatever perceptions positive or negative come out of it, that we don’t talk, we don’t care.”

I respect that stance and explanation.

But I think team accountability is reflected, at least to a degree, in public accountability.

If a guy is reluctant to talk during the week, that's one thing. A player’s willingness to talk after a game is what people should be most concerned with, as fans are eager to know what happened and why. There are big egos in the business, no matter how one unit on one team may try to suppress that. And part of what wins the continued respect of teammates is the way a guy might step out to accept blame for errors or spread credit for success.

“I’ll talk after a game,” Myers said, before shifting to the bigger picture. “Last season and the season before when Arian Foster was blowing up, everyone wanted to talk about the offensive line. So there was a lot more media attention on the offensive line and I’m not a big fan of that.

"Obviously the attention’s great. But with us having to talk and do interviews and personal type of things, appear on the coverage of programs and those type of things, obviously I’m not a huge fan of that. I think we should just get the whole accolades as an offensive line. But me, Duane and Wade Smith being vets, we do understand the process.”

Last year's line made the Texans go, and nothing schematically has changed so that should be the case again, even with new starters Antoine Caldwell and Newton on the right side. Hopefully for Houston, Myers and crew will be in position to decline interview requests often.

It'll mean they're playing great.


(espn.com)

Andre Johnson did not participate in Monday’s light practice.

Johnson landed on part of the football Saturday while attempting to make a catch in New Orleans. He lost his breath for a second and left the game to have precautionary tests run.

Johnson said after the game that he did not have soreness in his ribs, but that might have changed.  Gary Kubiak said Johnson was sore today.

Chris Myers, who was feeling ill and didn’t finish Saturday’s game, did not practice and neither did Brian Cushing, who bruised his ribs against the San Francisco 49ers. Kubiak said all three will be available week 1.


(chron.com)

The battle between Rashad Butler and Derek Newton at right tackle is so close that coach Gary Kubiak is considering playing both during the regular season.
With chemistry so crucial on the offensive line, my big question was how rotating right tackles might impact both the in-season chemistry and how the line is gelling now. Who better to ask than center Chris Myers, who has seen this process a couple times?

“You get into a game, especially hard-fought games and loud games, knowing what the guy next to you is going to do without talking to him is a key component,” Myers said. “We’ve been spoiled over the last four years or so pretty much having the same starting line and this is going to be a new transition to have that new right side and they’re going to have to build their own chemistry at right guard/right tackle to the point of being able to know what each other are going to do without having to say it.”

So what if both Butler and Newton wind up playing in the regular season?

“You know, if that ends up being the case, it ends up being the case,” Myers said. “They’re both in there, they’re both very high quality right tackles. I remember back to when Duane Brown was a first-round draft pick in 2008, we had Ephraim Salaam who was a long-time vet. He kind of took Duane under his wing and the first two games of that year they were going back and forth. Every other series or two series one series so Duane could slowly get implemented into that starting role.”

Brown and I spoke about Salaam last week as part of this story about left tackles. I didn’t include much of it in the story, but Brown really stressed the impact Salaam had on him not just on the field but in developing good habits in the classroom as well.

Paramount for the line as they sort this out, though, is for the right guard and right tackle to know each other well, no matter who that is. Both positions are in flux right now with Antoine Caldwell and third-round draft pick Brandon Brooks competing at right guard.

“There’s little speed bumps here and there like when Brandon Brooks comes in, he’s learning the offense for the first time,” Myers said. “So you can’t expect him to know everything right off the bat. So he’s going to have his hiccups and stuff like that and Derek Newton is still kind of a first-time guy getting a lot of action with the starters. Last year he was running with the twos but that’s the speed of the game.

“That’s the natural process of the league is that when you get your opportunities if you take full advantage of them and impress the coaches, that’s where you make your niche.”


(chron.com)

Need another example as to why the Texans make re-signing C Chris Myers a top priority? The Pro Bowler recorded three of the 10 best performances at the position in 2011 according to Pro Football Focus. Myers' performances against the Colts (Week 1) and Browns (Week 9) were ranked 1-2, while his effort in a Week 15 loss to the Panthers was tied for tenth. The site called Myers' Week 1 effort "the likes of which you don't see often."


(cbssports.com)

The Dolphins will check out UM draft prospects on Wednesday and Thursday, which reminds us that they have selected only two Hurricanes in the past 20 drafts (Yatil Green in 1997 and Vernon Carey in 2004). “It’s mind-boggling,” Ed Reed said at UM’s Hall of Fame inductions Thursday. “We’re right here!” Bryant McKinnie said. “You would think they would know us better than anybody.”

If the Dolphins sign McIntosh, he would be the only Hurricanes player on the roster - for now - because Carey is not expected to return.
The Dolphins insist they have no objection to drafting UM players, and they are believed to like a few departing Canes, including receiver Tommy Streeter.

Keep in mind this is a franchise that took John Jerry at 73 over Jimmy Graham (who went 95th) in 2010 when Bill Parcells mistakenly thought he could draft Graham in the fourth round; Jamar Fletcher (26) over Reggie Wayne (30) in 2001; selected Jason Allen 16th and traded the 51st pick for Daunte Culpepper in 2006 (instead of signing Drew Brees), thus eliminating any chance of drafting Devin Hester (57) or Eric Winston (66); and took Anthony Alabi over Chris Myers in 2005, among other moves. Choosing solid pro Daryl Gardener at 20 instead of Ray Lewis (26) in 1996 would have been regrettable if Jimmy Johnson hadn’t found a gem in Zach Thomas at No. 154 that year.

McKinnie said he, Reed and Jeremy Shockey used to talk about finishing their careers with the Dolphins, but “the Dolphins wouldn’t do that. In college, we all said we would take pay cuts to come to the Dolphins.”

McKinnie said he doubts that would happen now. "I don't know what direction this team is going in," McKinnie said.

Miami didn’t try to sign McKinnie or Shockey when they were free agents last year, opting for Marc Colombo and Jeron Mastrud. Wayne would have considered the Dolphins last month, “but it didn’t seem like they wanted me.”


(miamiherald.com)

Houston fans have been getting a little nervous this week.  Between tackle Eric Winston and fullback Lawrence Vickers being cut and linebacker Mario Williams and guard Mike Briesel signing elsewhere, a sense had developed that the franchise that finally made it to the playoffs was now moving in the wrong direction.

A step in the right direction (or at least not another one in the wrong direction) arrived Friday night, when center Chris Myers agreed to terms on a four-year deal.  A league source tells PFT that Myers will receiver $14 million fully guaranteed on the $25 million contract.

Myers had said he wanted to stay in Houston, but he also wanted to hit the open market.  Myers also drew interest from the Titans, but nothing from the Packers after the market opened.  (Three weeks ago, it was reported that Green Bay had been communicated with Myers’ agent, which would have been a clear violation of the tampering rules.)

The move leaves the Titans at 0-2 in their quest for a new guy who would snap the ball to Peyton Manning, if Manning comes to Tennessee.  Scott Wells recently opted to join the Rams.

Of course, the Titans always could sign Jeff Saturday.


(profootballtalk.com)

Liz Mullen of SportsBusiness Journal reports that free agent center Chris Myers will visit the Tennessee Titans on Thursday.

Florio previously reported that Myers was on Tennessee’s radar.

The Titans are showing an awful lot of interest in interior offensive linemen, which is no surprise after they struggled so mightily to run block last season. They’ve also hosted center Scott Wells and met with free agent guard Steve Hutchinson.

Myers, 30, has been in a zone-blocking scheme with the Texans for the past four seasons. He’s started 80 consecutive games.


(profootballtalk.com)

Saying the Texans are "more conversations than negotiations," Pro Bowl C Chris Myers will hit the open market, according to a Tweet from SiriusXM NFL Radio's Adam Schein. With LT Eric Winston's release and the team also struggling to re-sign OG Mike Brisiel, Houston could be without 3/5ths of an offensive line that has been a foundation of the team since 2009.

Myers is in discussions with the Texans, yet the AFC South rival Titans have jumped into the fray, according to Profootballtalk.com. The Packers, who reportedly talked to Myers during the combine, have yet to be contacted by him.


(cbssports.com)

Texans right tackle Eric Winston announced on Twitter that he’s being released by the Texans in a move that’s got to be coming to help give the team enough money to make bids to keep outside linebacker Mario Williams and center Chris Myers.

Winston was slated to make a $5.5 million base salary in 2012.

Four tweets from Winston:

Unfortunately I have bad news. The Texans have decided to release me today. Although it is a surprise, I have nothing but positive memories

And great relationships that I have built over the years. While my future seems uncertain, I am confident I will land on my feet.

Let me say thank you to Mr. McNair and the whole Texan organization. They have had big role in the player and person I have become.

And last but not least to my fans and teammates. You guys are the absolute best! I will miss all of you more than you know.

It’s a classy exit following surprising news.

The Texans' offensive line has been a team strength and Winston has been an effective player in helping spring Arian Foster for an awful lot of yards. When an O-line is a team strength, continuity is usually a big part of it.

The Texans now need a starting right tackle, and their center (Myers) and right guard (Mike Brisiel) are on the eve of becoming free agents.

Houston fans are surely hoping news of new contracts is coming before then.

As for Winston, Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. said he could see him landing in Washington, Seattle, Miami or with the Jets.

"Winston came to THE U as a TE, but just kept growing," Williamson wrote me. "Before blowing out his knee, many considered him a truly elite LT prospect. He fell in the draft a bit after his injury, but remains long, athletic and very mobile. Perfect for the system he was in with the Texans, and I thought he had a very good year. I bet the Skins would kill to get him."


(espn.com)

That’s a relief.

The Houston Texans head into the 2012 league year with several difficult choices. But they’ve taken care of one major player, agreeing on a five-year contract with running back Arian Foster, according to John McClain of the Houston Chronicle and ESPN's Adam Schefter.

That means the team won’t have to use the franchise tag on Foster, who would have been a restricted free agent who could have been lost to an offer sheet at the cost of a first-round pick.

The franchise still has a big list of pending free agents, including outside linebacker Mario Williams, center Chris Myers, guard Mike Brisiel, tight end Joel Dreessen and kicker Neil Rackers.

If the team can’t reach a deal with Williams, he’ll hit the market as the biggest defensive free agent. They cannot afford to use the franchise tag on him as it would be more than $22 million.

The franchise tag number for offensive linemen is the same for tackles, guards and centers — an unreasonably large grouping. The team likely can’t clear roughly $9.5 million to tag Myers either, and a long-term deal for him should now be the priority.

We don’t know Foster’s numbers yet on the five-year deal, but he was due a giant raise after playing as the biggest value in the league the past two seasons. He made $525,000 last season.


(espn.com)

Amid rumors of the Packers' interest in him, free agent C Chris Myers told 610 Sports Radio in Houston that he wants to re-sign with the Texans.

"I want to be here," he emphasized. "I want to see things through, and that’s the way it is. So that’s kind of the bottom line of my thinking." Myers has been a Texan since 2008. He has 80 straight starts and was a Pro Bowler in 2011.


(rotoworld.com)

In public, Packers G.M. Ted Thompson won’t reveal much about his plans for 2012, or any year.  Behind closed doors, he reportedly has begun pursuing at least one player who is under contract with another team.

Bob McGinn of the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel reports that, with efforts to re-sign center Scott Wells going nowhere, the Packers have turned their attention to Texans center Chris Myers.  Specifically, McGinn reports that the Packers met with Myers’ agent, Drew Rosenhaus, to discuss Myers.
Wells is 31, but Myers isn’t far behind.  He’ll be 31 on September 15.  (That’s also Florio Jr.’s birthday.  Who is now nearly large enough to play center for the Packers.  Or the Texans.  Or any other team.)

It’s a clear and direct violation of the rules for the Packers to talk to Myers, but the Packers aren’t the only team doing it.  Indeed, if the famously rules-conscious Thompson is tampering, everyone is tampering.

“Almost every re-signing, waiver and UFA signing upcoming germinate from supposedly illegal club-agent meetings in Indy,” McGinn writes.  “All happens here.”

McGinn uses “supposedly” because the rules prohibit meetings with free agents who won’t be free until March 13 at 4:00 p.m. ET.  But no one follows the rules.  Indeed, as the Packers negotiate with Myers, Wells undoubtedly is negotiating with some other team, or teams.

Sometimes, this gauging of the market helps lay the foundation for a player to stay put.  The bigger issue is that tampering remains rampant, and the NFL will continue to look foolish until the rules are revised to reflect the reality.


(profootballtalk.com)

The Green Bay Packers met with the agent for Houston Texans C Chris Myers, an impending free agent, at the NFL Scouting Combine over the weekend. A source with knowledge of the situation said the team discussed Myers with agent Drew Rosenhaus in one of the technically illegal but nonetheless widespread meetings that set the stage for what happens across the league in free agency. It appears the team is looked for an upgrade over their own impending free agent, C Scott Wells.


(kffl.com)

Free-agent C Chris Myers (Texans) says he would love to stay with the Houston Texans, and he is hopeful the business end works out. According to former Houston Texans offensive lineman Chester Pitts, ‘It Will Not Be Cheap To Keep Chris Myers.’


(fantasysp.com)

Tons of attention has been given to what the Texans should do this offseason when it comes to building the 2012 edition of this team.  For example, re-sign or franchise Mario Williams?

My contention is to have the Texans focus on their own players first before deciding who to go after on the free agent market.  However the draft is just around the corner and the Texans will for sure continue to build this team through that avenue.

Priority number one for this team should be to sign or franchise Chris Myers to a long-term deal.  If you franchise Myers, then you would possibly free up the money you would need to possibly sign Arian Foster to that long and well-deserved contract extension.  However if you sign Myers to the long term-deal of possibly three or four years, then you probably wash out the possibility of bringing Mario Williams back and extending Arian Foster.

The reason I feel that Myers is the most important free agent to bring back this offseason is two-fold.  Look at how the Texans fared this year without Mike Brisiel in the lineup with his leg injury.  He went out after the week 14 division clinching win over the Bengals and the Texans went winless in their final three games.  Not to mention what the four game suspension of Duane Brown contributed to the teams disappointing 2010 season.  Plus, the Texans ran for about 2,800 yards this season (Regular and postseason combined).  Along with nearly 8,000 yards of passing over the past two seasons.  What’s been the constant theme with these numbers?  Offensive line continuity!

It would be understandable if the Texans Pro Bowl centers would want to become one of the higher paid players at his position.  In order to make that happen, Houston would then probably have to pay Myers three to six million dollars annually.

So with that being said I think you franchise Myers, sign Arian Foster to a contract extension, draft an outside linebacker for depth (either in the first or second round), draft a receiver in either round you don’t take the ‘backer, and then focus on restructuring contracts or releasing players who could keep you under the cap.

After you do all these steps you can look at Neil Rackers, Joel Dressen, Jason Allen, & the other unrestricted free agents.  Along with drafting and signing all of your players by training camp next August.  So…  Who’s ready for all this to be behind us and get to that time of year?  My hand is up.


(houston.cbslocal.com)

The Texans "won't break the bank" to keep free agents C Chris Myers, RG Mike Brisiel, TE Joel Dreessen, and K Neil Rackers, according to the Houston Chronicle.

That doesn't mean the Texans won't make every effort to retain the foursome, but they're already up against the salary cap with Mario Williams and Arian Foster as the top priorities. Myers was arguably the top center in the NFL in 2011, though he's a purely a fit for zone-blocking teams.


(rotoworld.com)

Texans C Chris Myers and DE Antonio Smith have been added to the AFC's Pro Bowl roster as injury replacements.

Myers replaced Maurkice Pouncey, and Smith replaces Patriots DE Andre Carter. It's just as well. Myers outplayed Pouncey all season, finishing as Pro Football Focus' top-rated center as the pivot for one of the league's most dominant ground attacks. Smith was outstanding against the run in Wade Phillips' 3-4 scheme.

Myers joins proCanes Frank Gore, Vince Wilfork, Ray Lewis, Jimmy Graham and Ed Reed. This is Graham’s first Pro Bowl selection of his career. This will be Gore’s 4th Pro Bowl (2nd consecutive), Wilfork’s 5th Pro Bowl (4th consecutive), Ray Lewis’ 14 Pro Bowl (7th consecutive) and Ed Reed’s 9th Pro Bowl (7th consecutive).


(rotoworld.com)

Frank Gore, Vince Wilfork, Ray Lewis, Jimmy Graham and Ed Reed all made the 2012 Pro Bowl, this being Graham’s first Pro Bowl selection of his career. This will be Gore’s 4th Pro Bowl (2nd consecutive), Wilfork’s 5th Pro Bowl (4th consecutive), Ray Lewis’ 14 Pro Bowl (7th consecutive) and Ed Reed’s 9th Pro Bowl (7th consecutive).

Chris Myers and Andre Johnson have been named alternates. Stay tuned for a couple of more players to be named alternates soon.

By the way: The Florida State Seminoles have ONE Pro Bowler and the Florida Gators also have only ONE Pro Bowler.

Since the 1959 Pro Bowl a proCane has been on a Pro Bowl roster 51 out of 52 seasons. Since the 1984 Pro Bowl, a proCane has been named to the Pro Bowl for 28 straight years. Check out the full history of every single proCane in a Pro Bowl below.

At the core of the Houston Texans’ steady, methodical play this season in the face of a ridiculous injury list has been the offensive line.

Right tackle Eric Winston is a talker with a profile, but the rest of the group seems to revel in a degree of obscurity, no one more than center Chris Myers.

“I think he goes unnoticed for the kind of player he is,” Titans coach and Pro Football Hall of Fame offensive lineman Mike Munchak said. “He understands the system, understands what he’s supposed to do and he goes out and does it. It’s not about how big and tall he is or what his measurables are. He’s efficient, and he’s successful the way he does his job.”

Matt Williamson of Scouts Inc. says Myers is the second-best center in the NFL this season, behind only Nick Mangold of the Jets.

“Myers is a great technician,” Williamson said. “He’s got great movement skills. He plays the game with excellent leverage. He’s the linchpin of the best offensive line in the NFL.”

Myers was pleased to learn of Munchak’s compliment, but he clearly isn’t concerned with what people outside of team headquarters think of him, the line or the Texans.

In that regard, he’s an old-school offensive lineman. He trained under five-time Pro Bowler Tom Nalen in Denver and is perfectly happy operating quietly in the background, allowing his play to do most of his talking and pleased if his running back is getting attention.

“It just comes with the territory of being an offensive lineman,” he said. “When you get to the higher level, once you become successful in the league you learn those accolades will come when warranted.”

They should be warranted this season, with the Texans winning the AFC South despite a slew of injuries to key players.

Myers was originally a sixth-round pick by Denver in 2005, 200th overall out of Miami. He spent the first month of his first season on the practice squad, then backed up Nalen and played special teams.

The Texans traded a sixth-round pick in 2007 to get Myers after coach Gary Kubiak and general manager Rick Smith moved to Houston from jobs with the Broncos. Myers became a torch-bearer for both the sort of locker room culture and offensive line scheme the Texans wanted to establish. Houston has started him in every game.

There is less noise than there used to be about the Texans' zone-blocking scheme, a philosophy that features backside cuts that put defensive linemen on the ground. A lot of defenders hate it, and many say it puts their knees at risk. But it’s a legal technique that plenty of teams use, just not, perhaps, with the regularity and proficiency of the Texans.

It’s a scheme that serves to spring one-cut-and-go backs Arian Foster and Ben Tate, and syncs up perfectly with the Texans’ play-action and bootleg passing attack.

“You put them all together and they are pretty darn good at what they do,” Munchak said. “The five of them together, they’ve got it going. They’ve been doing the same thing now since [offensive line coach Alex] Gibbs went in there [in 2008]. They kept the same concept, they stuck with the same system and they’ve gotten good at it.”

There is a psychological aspect to the scheme as well.

“I can’t lie, it definitely plays into the defense’s mind,” Myers said. “When you’re pounding and pounding on guys throughout the game and you keep cutting them on the backside, they can play the cuts for a long time, but at a certain point either they are going to forget about it or get tired of having to play off of it. Once you kind of grind on them, it ends up playing out in the fourth quarter.”

Left tackle Duane Brown, left guard Wade Smith, Myers, right guard Mike Brisiel and Winston make up what has been one of the league’s best and most reliable lines this season. Brisiel just finished playing in the win at Cincinnati on a broken leg and had surgery, so Antoine Caldwell will step in for a stretch.

When the line and offense are playing well, the Texans’ attack can be a beautiful operation.

“So much about the way we run the ball is tied to coordination, there is a real rhythm to this offense,” Smith said.

“To the degree that you can get five guys and in a lot of cases six guys with the tight end and then seven with the fullback on the same page and execute that coordinated effort, that’s where you start to get the big runs and the cutbacks and you start to see the success in the system. They’ve got that coordination, they’ve got that rhythm together, and I think that’s why you see us running the ball effectively.”

As the Texans make their first venture into the playoffs, there will be talk of the line’s solid play, but far more focus on the league’s top defense, Foster, receiver Andre Johnson and rookie quarterback T.J. Yates.

Myers will have a great vantage point on it all, watching and working.

“Obviously his position is a natural position of leadership on the line,” Smith said. “He’s done a nice job of keeping our guys coordinated and he’s playing at a high level at this point.

“More often than not it’s a position where people don’t talk a lot, so maybe people don’t recognize how important or how strong a leadership position the offensive line commands within a team, but it’s significantly important. That’s where games are won and lost, up front.”



(espn.com)

We’ve been talking about the season that Houston’s Chris Myers has been having at center for a while now. We’ve even written an article about it!

PFF was lucky enough to get to talk to Chris during his bye week, and in addition to talking about the usual things, we got his take on the Texans’ prospects with Matt Leinart under center, and what difference that makes to the Houston offense, and Myers himself as that center.

Pro Football Focus: Thanks for taking the time out of your bye week to talk us here at PFF, Chris. First off, can you tell us a little about what an average day for you guys is like – it’s more than just a few meetings, a practice and then going out on Sundays, right?
Chris Myers: For the most part every NFL team pretty much has the same kind of schedule on a day-to-day basis. Mondays you come in after the game and you get a lift in and go over the film from the day before. We’ll get a bit of a run in to get loosened-up from the game the day before, and then Tuesdays are always off. I’m married now with two little daughters so I spend most of my time with the family hanging out.

Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays are the big work days. I’m usually in the facility from 6:00 in the morning on Wednesdays, and I don’t leave until 3:00 or 3:30-ish. Those are long days. Then on Fridays we get to tone back a little bit, more of a mental preparation. We’ve had our big days of practice and we’re just putting the finishing touches on things getting ready for the game.

Saturday rolls around and we go through a walkthrough, but we’re pretty much traveling the whole day for away games, and that can get pretty tedious. For home games we get pretty much have the day off and then go to the hotel in the evenings.

PFF: How do you get your feedback from the Texans as players?
CM: Just like you guys have your own grading scale, every position with us has their own grading scale. Our offensive line coach John Benton and Frank Pollack, our assistant coach individually grade every single play for every person on the line just like you guys. They check how you did, how your technique was, whether you got someone to the ground and it all gets tallied up into a score. Ours gets worked into a percentage. In our grading scale you have to get knockdowns and cuts to get a positive grade. When you do your job you just get a zero, but if you get a knockdown or a cut you get a plus, so you’ve got to get some cuts just to get above zero.

That’s just the offensive line, every position is different. They rate us early Monday morning and then when we come in as a group we’ll watch it as an offensive line and as an offense and check out the grades.

PFF: How much do you get to watch of other players in the NFL at your position? Do you watch film of those guys?
CM: I don’t specifically watch other centers. Sometimes if we’re getting ready to play a team I’ll try and watch some film of offenses that run a similar offense to ours. Teams that we know runs similar plays like the Raiders, the Falcons, or Seattle runs it a little bit, the zone blocking scheme, and you’ll watch a few different centers throughout the league. Just watching film on guys, you know, you don’t even know them. You don’t talk to them, you don’t have their numbers, you’re not friends with them, but like for instance Matt Birk, a quality center in the league for a long time, whenever we’d get to play the Ravens – or in the past, Minnesota – I’d talk to him after the game, just a mutual respect from center to center, you know what I mean? He watches me on film when he’s scouting defenses he’ll face and vice versa. This past game I got to talk to Alex Mack after the game, the Cleveland center. He’s in his second year, went to the Pro-Bowl last year as a rookie, and had a heck of a season. We kind of just have that mutual respect ’cause there’s only one other guy on that team playing center on the line, so you kind of have that respect and you know every single one in the league.

PFF: So when you’re watching somebody like Matt Birk – a bigger type of center who has played primarily in power-blocking schemes – are you watching for technique stuff, or just to check out another center?
CM: Yea, both. I understand that his technique will be a little bit different because he’s bigger, but Baltimore has been trying to implement this zone scheme this past offseason. They brought in Alex Gibbs, basically the founder of the zone schemes, to try and help them get that technique underway. Matt was talking to me after the game about that, saying it’s not easy, especially for bigger centers. I mean, I’m only 285-290, and to be able to be in a zone scheme you’ve got to be quick off the ball and be able to get places and to the second level, be quick at everything you’re doing, and that’s what Matt was talking to me about after the game.

PFF: At ‘just’ 285lbs do you find it more difficult to go up against some of these behemoth 330lb, 2-gap nose tackles?
CM: It depends on our scheme and the plays we have called. Because of the way we block things, offensive linemen aren’t usually alone on defensive tackles, aside from pass plays. In pass plays you’ve got to be able to man-up and do your own thing. Sometimes it’s even harder to block the lighter and quicker guys, because they’re able to react and read faster than bigger guys are. With bigger guys you’re sometimes able to get around them and get play-side technique, and then get them cut. That’s the biggest thing with the 3-4 defenses – we’re trying so hard to get the backside cut, and yeah, 3-4 defenses are tougher, but it depends who it is with those big tackles and what kind of schemes we’re running.

PFF: So who are the toughest guys you’ve gone against?
CM: In my career, Shaun Rogers has been a tough task in his prime. That one season Albert Haynesworth had in Tennessee he was pretty tough, and Kris Jenkins. When Jenkins was on point he was one of the best defensive tackles in the league and nobody could block him. But now you’re up against guys like Haloti Ngata in Baltimore, and he’s unbelievable. He can line up at nose tackle, 3-technique and defensive end and beat guys. Then you’ve got Justin Smith. I rarely have to go against him because he played DE in a 3-4, but speaking with my guards and stuff … and he’s having a heck of a year right now.

PFF: Another Justin Smith fan! We’ve been singing his praises for a long time, he must be one of the most underrated players around.
CM: Oh, by far.

PFF: So you haven’t seen the information behind the PFF paywall yet, I’m curious if our grading matches your perception of games this year. What would you say has been your toughest game this season, your worse performance?
CM: Oh, by far, Oakland! [Chris’ -2.4 grade against the Raiders was more than twice as bad as his next worst game and represented one of only two negative grades he’s received this season] Our whole offensive line didn’t grade well in that game. For some reason … no, I don’t want to say for some reason … Tommy Kelly and Richard Seymour have always been quality players, and this year they’re playing unbelievably. They had a scheme for us, and it worked tremendously. They stopped our run, and when we had to pass because they stopped the run, they’re so tall and so lanky inside that they were batting down balls. I think they batted down like six or seven balls [PFF counted 6] and I honestly think that was the difference in the game. We didn’t have great grades as an offensive line blocking them, and they were able to bat down balls in the passing game. It was definitely our worst game of the season, and we kind of took that personally a little bit, and we’ve been trying to use that for the rest of the year.

PFF: Richard Seymour is currently in our Top 3 for defensive tackles this season.
CM: Yea, I wouldn’t doubt it right now.

PFF: So is there an area of your game you think you’re better or worse at? Are you a better run blocker or pass protector, say?
CM: I don’t know. I definitely enjoy run blocking, I think that goes with the territory with offensive linemen but especially with our scheme and the way we can get on top of defensive linemen and linebackers before they have a chance to react. That helps us out as a line, and the fact that we’ve been together as a unit for a while now, we’re meshing really well. So I definitely enjoy run blocking more, I think any offensive lineman is going to say that, and like we talked about before, pass blocking, with me being a little bit lighter, I’ve got to work on my technique and be a little bit stronger weight room wise to be able to hold in there. But that comes with the territory, because if I gained a few more pounds I woultn’t be able to run block as well as I do. It’s a give and take, but it’s working out right now, knock on wood.

PFF: That was something else we were going to ask, how much of a difference does the time you guys have played together and had a chance to gel make?
CM: It makes all the difference in the world when it comes to offensive linemen, especially in a system like this. We’re all doing the exact same things at the same time, and we really don’t even have to make too many calls anymore. Between Eric Winston, Mike Breisel and myself on the right side we’ve been starting together since 2008, and Mike and Eric together since ’07. Duane has been starting since 2008, and Wade Smith has been starting since the beginning of last season, and he’s a nine-year veteran so he didn’t need much time to pick things up. We’ve all been gelling real well, and for the most part we just go up to the line, don’t make many calls anymore, just call out a number, and they can’t tell if we’re going left or right. It’s really helped us out.

PFF: What about you personally … you’ve always graded well for PFF, but this season you seem to have taken it to a new level. How do you feel about your play this year, are you aware of improvement?
CM: I mean you can obviously tell when you have a decent game compared to an average game, like in the Oakland game I could tell that I didn’t play well, and we didn’t play well as a line. I think that’s the way it goes, the way the offensive line goes, the team goes, and right now we’re playing really well as a team. When our line is playing well the team is playing well. I try not to look at it too much individually, that’s just the way I am, supersititious wise, but I had a decent year last year, and I’m just trying to build on that this year.

PFF: So tell us what happened in Denver, why didn’t things work out there, and you had to come to Houston to get the shot?
CM: I ended up starting most of 2007, the first four or five were at left guard when I had to jump in for Ben Hamilton who was a guard there for a long time. Then Tom Nalen ended up getting hurt and I had to jump in at center. At the end of that season they weren’t sure if Tom was coming back. My contract was up, and they weren’t going to re-sign me as their starting center if Tom was coming back, and so was Ben Hamilton, and that’s when Coach Kubiak searched me out. He was my offensive coordinator out in Denver before he came to Houston, and that’s how that all started with the trade. That’s how it all worked out.

PFF: It worked out pretty well for you it seems.
CM: Yea, I can’t complain too much, you know. That helped out my future big time so I owe a lot to Coach Kubiak and Rick Smith.

PFF: How much does the Pro-Bowl mean to you guys as players these days. It’s become the subject of a lot of derision, what’s your take, do you take it seriously?
CM: Yea, obviously you take it seriously, and if that honor gets bestowed on you at the end of the season it’s icing on the cake. We’re only in the midst of things now, we’re only 10 games in, on our bye week, relaxing and speaking for our guys, you don’t think about it too much. Right now we’re in the hunt to do something this franchise has never done – make the playoffs, and onwards. That’s what our goal is right now, and if all of the accolades like Pro Bowls come afterwards then that’s more icing on the cake, and I can talk to you about that if it happens down the line, but right now I’m not even thinking about that type of stuff.

PFF: We’re curious about Matt Leinart. With Schaub down, we wrote a piece recently about what a great situation this is for Leinart to walk into. Tell us a bit about your take on him coming in to be the guy at QB.
CM: I think you guys hit it right on the head. Aside from everything about Matt, if you were a backup quarterback coming into a team, you’d want it to be a situation like this. 7-3, looking to go to the playoffs, an offense that’s been able to have success on the ground and give you a bit of a cushion. That being said, Matt’s got all the tools in the world to be successful. Things didn’t work out for him in Arizona for whatever reasons, but he’s got the chance now. He’s been in the offense for over a year-and-a-half, and he had his chance to leave and didn’t. He wanted to stay here, and I think that says a lot.

He knows how to run the offense, he does it every day in practice, and we’ve seen what ability he has all through training camp, and now he has the chance to go out and do it on Sundays. I’m thoroughly excited for him. I got a bit of extra work with him before we took off for the bye week and I’m excited to get back to work and see how it’s going to work out.

PFF: Is there anything you have to do differently from a technique or mechanics point of view to deal with a left-handed quarterback like Matt Leinart?
CM: To be honest with you, I had never taken snaps from a left-handed quarterback before he ended up coming here last season. I thought it may be different or feel different on my butt or something, but after a few days of training camp you get used to it. Now when he’s in the huddle as opposed to Matt (Schaub) I don’t notice a difference of where their hands are at. Obviously he takes it with his left hand not his right, but you can’t really notice the difference. He takes pride in being able to do that and makes the centers comfortable, so they don’t have to worry about how they’re snapping the ball, he’ll move his hands around, so he does a good job with that.

Obviously it’s now backwards with the blind side now on the right, those type of things. Our offensive coordinator may have to take that into consideration, but aside from that we’re just rolling with what we’ve been doing.

PFF: How big a deal is something like the blind side moving for a left handed quarterback? The media likes to make it into a big issue, but do you guys really focus much on it, or is it just business as usual?
CM: To be honest with you, I don’t know yet. We haven’t had to deal with it in the regular season. I think it’s more like you say, a media issue, and something for the fans to talk about, or something for the announcers to talk about on gameday as a whole different situation, but it really isn’t. Our protections are already build to go both ways, and if we go a little more to the other side now it’s not like it’s out of the ordinary, because we’ve already been running them to both sides for a long time.

PFF: That’s all we’ve got Chris, thanks again for taking the time to talk to us, and good luck down the stretch, hopefully we’ll see you guys in the playoffs.
CM: Yea, absolutely, any time. I’m a big fan of the website. Thanks guys, I appreciate it


(profootballfocus.com)

Three Texans starters who played at the University of Miami — receiver Andre Johnson, center Chris Myers and offensive tackle Eric Winston — were critical of the former Hurricanes booster who is at the center of a scandal that could bring down one of college football’s most successful programs.

Johnson accepted drinks and VIP accommodations at Miami-area clubs, according to Nevin Shapiro, a former Hurricanes booster who told Yahoo! Sports he lavished as many as 72 Miami players and coaches with cash, prostitutes, jewelry, travel and parties at his mansions, on his yacht and at local nightclubs.

Johnson didn’t deny knowing Shapiro, who was one of Miami’s most prominent boosters.

“I wasn’t in the clubs too much when I was in college, so I don’t know about that,” Johnson said about Shapiro claiming he hosted Johnson in VIP sections and bought him drinks, a violation of NFL rules. “He knows what happened, and I know what happened. I’m not really worried about it.”

Shapiro, who is in a New Jersey prison for his role in a $930 million Ponzi scheme, also told Yahoo! Sports that between 2002 through 2010 he paid players to attend Miami and, on one occasion, paid for an abortion.

“I don’t know about everybody else,” Johnson said. “I can only speak for myself. The guy’s in trouble, and he’s trying to take everybody down with him. You kind of get upset about it, but at the same time, you can’t control what anybody says.

“It’s over. It’s done with. The NCAA is handling it, and we’ll just move on.”

Johnson said no one connected to the scandal has contacted him. He made it clear, though, he doesn’t like what Shapiro is doing to his college, where he expects to earn his degree next summer.

“I think that’s bad,” he said. “It’s something you don’t want to see.

“Being down there this offseason and working out with so many guys and seeing the team improve and seeing that team on the rise, you hate to see something like this happen.”

Yahoo! Sports had a picture of Johnson posing with Shapiro at the Hurricanes’ 2002 all-sports banquet. Johnson said he took a lot of pictures with a lot of fans while he played at Miami and doesn’t remember that one.

Shapiro also said Texans second-year linebacker Darryl Sharpton partied at one of his mansions and accepted VIP access at clubs, where he also was bought drinks.

Counting veteran defensive lineman Damione Lewis and rookie cornerback Brandon Harris, the Texans have seven players who played for the Hurricanes.

Myers, Winston and backup tackle Rashad Butler played on the same offensive line at Miami. Myers left for the NFL after the 2004 season and was drafted by Denver in 2005.

“To be honest with you, it was a surprise to me,” Myers said about Shapiro’s allegations. “I was there five years. I knew the guy was around, but I didn’t know all that stuff was going on.

“Every story I read is new stuff to me. It’s a shame, but it’s a one-sided story right now. I’m anxious to see how it all pans out. He’s in prison. He can say anything he wants to say. It’s a real shame, dragging down a program right now. There’s always two sides to every story.”

Winston earned All-American recognition with the Hurricanes before the Texans drafted him in the third round in 2006.

“I heard the name (Shapiro), but I didn’t know him, and I couldn’t pick him out of a lineup,” Winston said. “Anytime you have a guy who, obviously, has the character he has and gets that close to the program it’s worrisome.

“Sure, you’re surprised when something like this comes out. It’s unfortunate that a guy like that got as close as he did with the program, but, a lot of colleges are dealing with the same kind of thing.

“It’s unfortunate, but we have to deal with it as a program, as a family and keep pushing forward.”

Click here to order Andre Johnson’s proCane Rookie Card.


(chron.com)

Denver Broncos
D.J. Williams, linebacker: Williams was a first-round pick in 2004, and the Broncos paid handsomely to keep him a couple of years ago. He is appreciated in Denver, but this athletic, smart linebacker doesn’t get much national notice. He has never been to a Pro Bowl, yet Williams is a tackle machine. He has had at least 119 tackles in three of the past four seasons. He is versatile and has played virtually every linebacker position possible.

Buffalo Bills
Roscoe Parrish, receiver/punt returner: For five years, Parrish practically begged to be thrown the ball. He made the most of his touches, becoming one of the most dangerous punt returners in the NFL and setting franchise records.

But his listed position was wide receiver, and in the Bills' passing game under head coaches Mike Mularkey and Dick Jauron, the undersized Parrish always seemed to be an afterthought.

That changed last year under new coach Chan Gailey. He played just eight games because of a broken wrist, but Parrish caught 33 passes for 400 yards and two touchdowns. The yardage was the most of his career. His touchdowns tied a career high. Two more receptions would have matched a career high.

Houston Texans
Chris Myers, center: A team with a good deal of flashy names and stars needs quality players in support roles to be effective. The Texans don’t have enough of them, but Myers is certainly one. I’ve heard from scouts he’s underrated and good at what the Texans ask their line to do. He worked as the man in the middle for the line that helped a guy who wasn’t drafted, Arian Foster, to the NFL rushing title in 2010. Most fans couldn’t name a single Texans lineman, but Myers deserves more recognition. He'll be hard-pressed to get it, though, while Jeff Saturday is still playing center for the rival Colts.


(espn.com)

Welcome to our 1st annual and long overdue proCane Rankings where we look back at the 2010 NFL season and rank the 43 proCanes that took snaps in 2010 (except for Sinorice Moss who was placed on IR before the start of the season).

Stay tuned as we countdown from number 43 to number 1. Our rankings are based on each player’s performance last year. In August we’ll go ahead and re-rank the player’s based on our 2011 expectations. For now read our review of each player’s 2010 season and where they rank overall. Enjoy!

To read our rankings of players 43-35, click here.

To read our rankings of players 34-26, click here.

25. Jeremy Shockey TE New Orleans Saints/Carolina Panthers: In Shockey’s nine-year career he has not once been able to play all 16 games in a single season and unfortunately 2010 was no different. Shockey was only able to play in 13 games which ultimately led to the emergence of fellow proCane TE Jimmy Graham and Shockey’s release in the offseason and signing with the Panthers. Shockey accumulated a career low 408 yards receiving, and career lows in receptions (31) and yards per reception (31.2). Shockey will be reunited for the 2011 season with proCane offensive coordinator Rob Chudzinski in Carolina. If he can stay healthy and the Panthers can find a quarterback, Shockey could have a big season because Chudzinski’s offenses emphasize the TE.

24. Bryant McKinnie LT Minnesota Vikings: After making the Pro Bowl in 2009, but not being voted to the Pro Bowl in 2010, most would think McKinnie did not have as good of a 2010 campaign, but on the contrary McKinnie according to himself and coaches played more consistently in 2010 while protecting Favre’s backside as well as Tarvaris Jackson’s. McKinnie still needs to lose some weight this offseason to improve his quickness versus edge rushers and vowed to do that with a personal trainer, especially since he will be seeing Julius Peppers twice again this season.

23. Willis McGahee RB Baltimore Ravens: McGahee the last two seasons has been stuck behind Ray Rice as the number two back for the Ravens. As a result in 2010 McGahee had his worst year statistically with only 380 yards rushing and 5 TDs on the ground and 1 TD through the air on only 100 rushing attempts. McGahee in 2009 had totaled 14 TDs as he was the main red-zone threat for the Ravens, but wasn’t featured as much inside the 20-yard line in 2010. McGahee can still be a starter in the NFL and is approaching free agency this year where it looks like he will not be resigned by the Ravens. Look for him to have a bigger impact in 2011.

22. Jimmy Graham TE New Orleans Saints: After not appearing in the first two games of his rookie season, Jimmy Graham slowly made his presence known for the Saints as he topped 70 yards receiving in two games and finished the 2010 season with five touchdowns as he subbed for fellow injured proCane Jeremy Shockey. Graham performed so well in 2010 and showed so much potential that the Saints released Shockey this offseason and plan on using Graham as their feature TE in 2011.

21. Rocky McIntosh LB Washington Redskins: McIntosh had his best season statistically with 73 tackles despite playing for the first time in his career in a 3-4 defense as the RILB. McIntosh has had a solid and somewhat underrated career and turned many heads by showing his versatility and playing so well in a 3-4 defense as well as versus the pass. Most seem to think he won’t be with the Redskins next year, but look for him to have no trouble signing with another team and picking up where he left off.

20. Kenny Phillips S NY Giants: Phillips played in only two games in 2009 because of the need of microfracture surgery on one of his knees. Many at the time said Phillips’ career was over and he would never be able recover after such a serious injury and surgery. Not only did Phillips come back, but he had a solid season in his first season playing beside fellow proCane Antrel Rolle. Phillips played in all 16 games and started 15 of them. Though he only recorded one interception he had career highs in tackles (77) and pass deflections (5). Phillips did admit that it took him a while to feel 100% physically and mentally but he did stay healthy and put up good numbers which leads us to believe he is in for a big 2011 season.

19. Antrel Rolle S NY Giants: In his first season with the Giants, Rolle was named to his second consecutive Pro Bowl and had a solid though not spectacular season for the Giants. Rolle started all 16 games and the fact that he had only one interception may be misleading as he played a lot closer to the line of scrimmage than most safeties. Look for Rolle to become more comfortable in the Giants’ defense and as long as he continues to play well on the field and create less headlines off of it, he and Phillips could become one of the best safety tandems in the NFL.

18. Eric Winston RT Houston Texans: The only explanation we can come up with for Winston not making a Pro Bowl yet, is that he plays for the small market Texans. Winston has been stellar at RT for the Texans and 2010 was no exception. Winston played at an All-Pro level during 2010 with one exception versus the Tennessee Titans where he was beat for two sacks. Look for 2011 to be an even better season for Winston and the Texans, and look for him to make his long overdue first Pro Bowl.

17. Brandon Meriweather S New England Patriots: Meriweather made his second consecutive Pro Bowl after a good 2010 season, though he was inconsistent at times. Meriweather started 13 of the 16 games and in three games only record one tackle while versus the Colts, for example, recorded 7 tackles and an interception. His inconsistency led to him sharing time with the other Patriot safeties as his numbers did slip from his 2008 and 2009 seasons. The Patriots do expect more from Meriweather, and look for him to step up in the 2011 season with the increased competition at the safety position.

16. Chris Myers C Houston Texans: Despite having a solid 2009 season Myers did take a lot of heat in the offseason from Texan fans mainly because of the lasting image of Kris Jenkins throwing him to the turf towards the end of that season. Myers followed up his solid 2009 campaign with a stellar 2010 season where he was ranked as the #3 center in the league by ProFootballFocus.com and anchors a Texans offensive line which at one point featured three proCane starters; Myers, Eric Winston, and Rashad Butler. Look for Myers to continue his stellar play in 2011 and hopefully make his Pro Bowl debut.

Check back tomorrow to see which proCanes were ranked 15th through 8th!

Four the Texans' five starting offensive linemen finished in the top six at their respective positions in Pro Football Focus' player ratings for 2010.

Eric Winston was sixth at right tackle, Chris Myers was third at center, Wade Smith was second at left guard, and Mike Brisiel finished sixth at right guard. Thanks to improved run blocking, left tackle Duane Brown even finished with his first positive rating. The Texans' elite offensive line is another reason that Arian Foster will garner legit consideration as the No. 1 fantasy pick this year.

Click here to order Eric Winston’s or Chris Myers’s proCane Rookie Card.



(rotoworld.com)

Texans C Chris Myers had arthroscopic surgery on his left elbow in late January. He's fine now- said rehab only took a few weeks.





(kffl.com)