** Offensive tackle Charles Spencer (University of Pittsburgh--third round, 65th overall)
(on how he felt when he heard he was being picked by the Texans)** "I was very excited. I'm very excited to be a Texan and I'm ready to play football again. Overall, I'm just excited; the emotion is flowing."
(on the importance of being able to contribute immediately) "It's very important. If I can help out the team in any way, I'm trying to be that guy. I just want to help the guys out and be a part of the team."
(on playing at tackle) "I believe I can play either guard or tackle. Whatever position they put me at, I'll play it."
(on his strengths as a player) "I'm an aggressive football player. That's the way I play the game."
(on the city of Houston) "I've been down to Houston once, when Pitt played Texas A&M. It's a great city, and I like it, so I'm looking forward to coming down there."
(on his biggest challenge coming into the NFL) "Adjusting to the scheme. Once I get down there and get involved, I believe I'll make that adjustment pretty quickly."
(on the importance of his relationship with Texans QB David Carr) "It's very important. You have to protect the quarterback at all costs. That's my job, and I take pride in that. I'll protect any quarterback – whoever's playing."
* Offensive tackle Eric Winston (University of Miami--third round, 66th overall) *
(on how it feels to be a Houston Texan) "It's great. It's going to be fun. If I could've picked a few teams I wanted to go to before the whole thing started, the Texans would have been right up there. I'm excited about it. I'm excited about the opportunities I'm going to have, and I'm glad to be here."
(on the importance of being able to contribute immediately) "I'm not one of those guys who tries to come in and get a starting position because it was given to them; I'm going to go out there and earn it. That's the mentality I'm going to come in with this year. I'm not going to expect them to give me anything. I'm going to go out there and try to earn everything I can get, and I want to come in there and make an impact for the team right away. I want to go in there and help out in any way I can – whatever position it is I'm going in there to help, so I'm ready to go."
(on if his health was a reason that he wasn't picked until the third round) "First off, my knee is feeling great. If you're not convinced after eleven games, the Senior Bowl, the Combine, my pro day and all of the physicals that you want to see, then I don't know what's going to convince you. I did everything I can, and I don't know what happened with the slide. I don't know why I dropped this far. It's just one of those things that maybe I wasn't really that high on a lot of people's boards and maybe there was a lot of media hype. I'm not going to worry about it. I'm not going to think that it was a slide. I'm going to go under the assumption that this is where I was projected. No one is a draft pick any more, everyone's just a part of the team. When you play and how much you play is going to be dependant on how you do at camp."
(on the challenge of helping the Texans improve their quarterback protection) "As an offensive lineman, if protecting the quarterback is not your top priority, if you're focused on anything else other than making sure the dirt stays off of your quarterback, then you're probably playing the wrong position. I've never met David Carr, but I can tell you that my main objective is going to be to make sure that the running backs have great holes to run through, that the quarterback has unbelievable time to throw, and that the receivers can have time to catch the ball. That's what it's all about. The skill guys need to make the plays, and the offensive line needs to make that happen."
(on the possibility of playing right tackle) "I've never played at right tackle; [my coaches] have always wanted me at left tackle. I'm willing to play whatever they want me to play. I'm not going to struggle at one position or the other. I'm open to whatever they want me to do. If they want me to play right tackle, I'm going to play right tackle. If they want me to play center, I'll play center. I don't care where they put me. Wherever they want me, I'm going to go in there and start going at it."
(on his familiarity with the zone blocking scheme) "We do some [zone blocking] at Miami. I'm sure we didn't do it quite as effectively as Denver does it, but I'm familiar with the scheme and I'm familiar with what you try to do in zone blocking, and hopefully that will help me pick it up a lot faster."
(on Charles Spencer) "I've met him a couple of times at the Combine and some of the other [draft] stuff that we do. I wouldn't say I know him well, but he's a guy that I've seen around. He's a mammoth and he can really move considering how big he is. Hopefully he'll be a great player and we'll be playing next to each other for many years."
(on if he's surprised that the Texans took two offensive tackles back-to-back) "I'm not concerned with other people that are there. I'm concerned with me coming
in and doing a great job for the Texans, making the franchise proud and making
the city of Houston proud. That's all I can do. I'm not into playing the depth
chart game or any of that. I'm going to go in there and make it hard for them
not to play me. I'm going to go in there and work as hard as I can and they're
going to have to figure out a way to get me on the field, because that's how hard
I'm going to work."
