RT Eric Winston Discusses 2008 Texans, Line Guru Alex Gibbs: 'He's Awesome'

Last year, Texans right tackle Eric Winston quietly had a solid season for a Texans team that allowed near the fewest sacks in the league. In a recent HoustonTexans.com video, Winston talks about last year and his expectations for this year (anything but playoffs would be a disappointment).

The playoff talk is what smart players are supposed to say, but the most interesting part of the video is Winston talking about how excited he is to work with offensive line guru Alex Gibbs. Some believe that Gibbs is the most important acquisition in the Texans short history in that he will improve technique and make this line tougher. Interestingly, what Winston talks about the most is how Gibbs works to improve the lines' understanding of the mental aspects of the game.

Last year, it was surprising to me how well the Texans could throw the ball without teams having to respect the running game much. Since Kubiak has been coach, the running back group has looked like inhabitants of the island of misfit toys. A group that no other team in the league would want.

I'm not sure how many teams would covet the Texans current running backs over their own, but I'm guessing that getting Gibbs on board is likely going to improve the running game immediately. I've long been concerned that Mike Sherman's style of line play and running game wasn't terribly compatible with what Kubiak wanted to do with the passing game.

To get a better flavor of this, I would like to take you to a way back machine entry I wrote at my old Houston Chronicle blog about the creation of the Texans "Gulf Coast Offense." (boring note of little import: my name isn't on the top byline, but it is on the bottom in small print).

The purpose of that entry was to try to figure out what Kubiak was going to do to the Texans offense when he took over by looking at the Denver offense as a guide. The most interesting thing about that piece in retrospect is what was said about Gibbs role in making the Denver offense go.

Yeah, Denver's offense was better when they had key quality players on their offense (*Elway*), but it was amazing the sorts of production they could get from system players who may not have excelled on other teams or for other systems.

So, if you are Texan fan or are otherwise interested in the team, I suggest watching that video and reading that old entry, and tell me what you think. I'd also like to hear from knowledgeable Denver fans about Alex Gibbs.