In the second part of this one-on-one interview, Texans owner Bob McNair spoke with Texans TV's Brooke Bentley about how the team fared during free agency and how the Texans are approaching this year's draft.
Brooke Bentley (Texans TV): How do you think the team fared during free agency?
{QUOTE}Texans owner Bob McNair: We filled our big need, and that was getting a defensive end. I think that is really going to take a lot of pressure off of Mario (Williams) on the other side. And I think it will help (Antonio) Smith be a better player because he's going to be playing opposite of Mario. That will help our pass rush; there's not doubt about that. We still would like to get a little more help inside. We signed another defensive tackle (Shaun Cody). In the draft, we'll be looking at linebackers; there are a lot of linebackers available. We ought to be able to get another good linebacker. We would like to strengthen our defensive secondary some more, too. Mainly, the defense is what we'll be looking for, but at the same time we need to have a big, strong running back to complement Steve Slaton, who had a wonderful year. We need a guy when it's third-and-one, a guy who can move the pile, so we'll be looking for that. There are a lot of great players out, so I'm optimistic that we'll fill our needs. I'm looking forward to a big year.
Brooke Bentley: The Texans pick at 15 in the first round. What is your wish list going into the draft?
Bob McNair: We would love to see some of the highly rated players fall down to us. You never know will can happen. One of the good things about it, though, there is more depth in the linebacking corps this year than there has been in other year, and we need some more help there. There is a very good possibility that there will be an impact player available. I think also there are some good defensive backs out there, too. We'll be looking at that. I think we will be able to get that impact player; I hope we will in that first pick.
Brooke Bentley: How open are to trading their first-round pick?
Bob McNair: We were able to do that last year. We were able to trade down and we picked up another pick. If we can do that, we certainly would. There is a possibility with the depth at some of the positions that we might be able to do that and still get the player that we want.
Brooke Bentley: Finally, a lot of people are saying this is the Texans year to get over the hump. How much pressure is on this team to go to the playoffs?
Bob McNair: I don't know how much pressure there is on us to do it. But I can just tell you, from our standpoint, we are very impatient about it. It's what we fully expect, so I guess we put the pressure on ourselves. We need to improve our defense. Our offense was number three in the league; our defense was 22nd. We jus need to step up what we are doing on the defensive side of the ball. (Defensive coordinator) Frank Bush is our new coordinator there and he has a lot of enthusiasm. He is going to be very aggressive and I think fans are going to like the way we play defense with Frank. We were very close last year and there is no reason why with a little luck and the way the ball might bounce this year that we will go a long ways, and that's what we expect to do. I'm looking forward to it. I'm ready and I know our fans are ready. I'm tired of not being in the playoffs. When the playoffs start, I want us still to be playing.
