Last Friday, Rams safety Oshiomogho Atogwe (OJ) became an unrestricted free agent after the Rams released him rather than pay him a $8 million roster bonus. On Monday, it was reported that Atogwe would meet with the Washington Redskins, and that the Bills were also interested. Not showing any interest, for the second year in a row: your Houston Texans.
Why not? Well, according to John McClain, the reasoning is that the Texans want to move cornerback Glover Quin to free safety upon signing a veteran CB to take his spot in the starting lineup. Lance Zierlein has called for this move in the past as well, and seeing as how the Texans let Quin play the slot in nickel sets, it's clear that they think he's better suited to the middle of the field, if not necessarily at free safety. Of course, nobody from the Texans actually ever comments on these proposed moves, so we have no idea what the new defensive brass thinks of Quin at safety. It's clear that the anti-safety agenda continues on at Reliant though, as Atogwe would (on paper) be a perfect fit for the Texans secondary.
As someone who advocated moving Quin to safety almost from the moment he was drafted, I would much rather sign Atogwe and a solid corner like Josh Wilson (assuming free agency happens normally) then deal with moving Quin to safety. The problem the Texans have right now is that Quin is still the best cornerback on their roster as well, and while he's never going to be a star corner, he can be solid there as long as he's spotted well.
↵So why not move Quin if everyone (including me) thinks he'll be better at free safety? Two reasons. First, taking Quin off the cornerback roll and replacing him with a solid veteran cornerback still leaves Kareem Jackson with essentially an unchallenged path to a starting job. I'm more than fine with the idea that the Texans have a lot invested in Jackson, but after how unfathomably bad he was last season, he shouldn't have anything guaranteed this season. He should have to earn his job.with the 1's.
↵Second, while Quin may play better at free safety, you're opening up another question mark on this defense by making the move. This Texans defense already has a ton of players that will be changing positions or learning new ones. The entire front seven is going to have to learn new roles up front. Why move Quin as well if you can help it?
↵Well, because it's cheaper! And thus starts another Texans offseason, where the questions get answered with new questions rather than actual answers.
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