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Schaub Headed to Houston, Draft Outlook Changes

From James Alder, About.com GuideMarch 21, 2007

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Apparently Michael Vick won't be looking over his shoulder in 2007. The guy many thought might be given a shot to replace Vick this year should he continue to struggle as a passer, backup Matt Schaub, is on the verge of being dealt to the Houston Texans.

Adam Schefter of the NFL Network first broke the story Wednesday, indicating the promising signal caller will be dealt for draft picks. FOX Sports' Jay Glazer confirmed the details of the trade, which reportedly will net the Atlanta Falcons two second-round picks, plus the two teams will swap positions in the first round. Atlanta will take the Texans' No. 8 pick while Houston slides down to No. 10 overall.

The deal, which looks very good for the Falcons at this time, creates a nice ripple effect through the top of the NFL Draft It also means David Carr's days are numbered in Houston (as if they weren't already), and the team won't need to use its top draft pick on a potential successor.

So with the Texans seemingly out of the Brady Quinn derby, they could look at a receiver like Ohio State's Ted Ginn Jr. at No. 10 to start opposite veteran Andre Johnson. Or they might consider a guy like Penn State offensive tackle Levi Brown as insurance in the event second-year player Charles Spencer doesn't recover fully from the severe knee injury he suffered last season.

The team could also pull a bit of a surprise and draft a defensive end with their first pick for the second year in a row. The Texans lost Antwan Peek to the Browns through free agency and could use a pass rusher like Arkansas' Jamaal Anderson to line up opposite last year's No. 1 overall pick Mario Williams.

By moving up a couple spots, the Falcons put themselves in a better position to land safety LeRon Landry out of LSU. But with the extra picks stockpiled from the Schaub trade, the Falcons could be preparing to trade up for local hero WR Calvin Johnson out of Georgia Tech. It's no secret the Lions would like to move down, but there's no guarantee the Oakland Raiders won't take Johnson with the top pick.

Ironically, the Raiders might be in the market to acquire Carr at a bargain price now that Schaub is set to take his job, which would mean the Raiders might be more inclined to pass on LSU quarterback JaMarcus Russell and take Johnson themselves.

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