Do you think the Texans fans' not wanting another Carr in Houston was a huge mistake?

I was always on the Carr bandwagon but I think it's important to note that if he was unfortunate enough to have been drafted here he could have ended up a bust. He struggled early in his career and fans here along with around the league would have been absolutely brutal to him if he was looking even for a second like the 2nd Carr to bust in Houston. At this point, I think we should just hope that Watson ends up being a good enough QB to where we don't have to keep asking what could have been with Carr.

 

and I'm not sure about this one. The city was pretty desperate for signs of life after Schaub, and I feel like we would have rallied around a young QB at any signs of success. Carr's rookie season was solid if unspectacular, and he won the Oakland starting job from none other than Matt Schaub with a brilliant pre-season threading of the Seahawks starters in Week 3.

Weird how Texans fans took prime-Schaub's success with such a grain of salt, but would literally be jizzing themselves if any of our QB's could regularly match Schaub's numbers.

 

I think the city would have made a big deal about drafting another Carr but quickly would have gotten over it.

The FO can't be afraid of making controversial moves. We know the Rockets and Astros aren't.

 

Dont know why we're revisiting such a discussion now. There is zero question now that Derek Carr was the best QB in that draft. But it turns out that Oakland and not Houston was the better fit. Here is why:
1. Derek would've had tremendous pressure to erase the bitter memories Houston fans had to endure with David.
2. Derek's game translates in the Oakland system. Not sure how well it would work here.
3. Derek's camp basically came out and stated that he would like to AVOID being back in Houston.
4. Carr and futility were synonymous for our Texans history...Derek also was big arm QB with a bit more mobility. Didnt expect such rapid success for him.
5. No way to project that Carr wouldve had opportunities to shine as a 3rd stringer right after the draft. Carr was essentially thrown into the proverbial fire in Oakland. Fitzpatrick, Hoyer, and Osweiler remained relatively healthy during their tenures as starter... IMHO think Carr would have had the same experience level as Tom Savage here in Houston.

In the long run, Carr was the right pick...but I totally am ok with passing on the name Carr.

 

O'Brien always defends his players to the public. He and some player/leaders would've adjusted the public narrative early, giving Derek the time to learn and become the player he is.

 

I would argue no franchise in this city comes close to Mario over Bush/babyVY in terms of controversy. The Texans are by no means afraid to take a risk. Their brief history - even recent history - is littered with risky moves.

 

Well that was only controversial to Longhorn fanboys. VY had no business going that high, or even in the first round.

 

Nope. There's no amount of hindsight spin that'll recast them passing on Bush and babyVY as anything but a massive shitstorm they knowingly stepped in to it.

 

Passing on Bush was controverial. But not VY, that was just stupid.

But for the most part they don't make moves like that.

Even hiring O'Brien was the most conventional move. Everyone "knew" he was the next great head coach with his New England pedigree that they didn't even bother to interview anyone else.

IMO, McNair cares more about selling tickets (while Rick and O'Brien care more about surviving another year) whereas the Rockets and Astros actually care about winning.

 

Yeah but they ended up making the right pick so that's the kind of controversy I'm fine with.

 

McNair's tickets are sold and the waiting list is long. He likes playing with his "toy", even though he doesn't know anything about football.

Protecting his employment is Smith's highest goal, which doesn't necessarily mean going for it to win the big one. He's a good administrator and PR guy, but he's not good as a talent evaluator. If you challenge him, he will take you out -- see Kubiak, Smith, O'Brien.

O'Brien, like majority of coaches, cares about winning and the lockerroom. He disagrees with the decisions that have been made by the front office and the way decisions are made in general.

Astros only cared about losing from 2011-14. It worked.

 

The Texans would never conduct a rebuild like the Astros did. Not with this owner and front office.


Only one thing I disagree on, it's Obrien making the offensive decisions. His knee jerk trades and fa overpays are similar to his in-game behavior, QB carousel, and dumb trick plays

 

Derek Carr made Clements High School into a powerhouse. That kinda trumps any concerns he couldn't succeed in Houston. Just saying.

 

Did he win the championship in high school tho?

 

I think this was more about ownership and management not wanting to deal with picking another Carr as opposed to the fans. The dude was pretty highly touted coming out and rather than an OLineman I think most fans would've been ok with drafting a QB even if it was Carr. The reason we had to give up what we did now to get Watson is because we haven't tried drafting a lot of QBs in the past to see which one would be the franchise signal caller as other successful teams usually do. Finally after an epic fail with Brock the team realized that it takes a legit QB to win in this league, shows how great our GM and owner are. Took 16 years but they finally realized.

 

Exactly, McNair's mandate the last two years has been win it all at all costs. Not a way to build a winner.

Nope. Rick makes all trades. Rick controls the contracts (with McNair's approval on BO). Rick is in charge of player acquisition. Rick's the one who was obsessed with players from his former employer, the Broncos. See: Rahim Moore, Osweiler.

O'Brien is a coach in an organization with a powerful GM. It's in his contract. He coaches and offers opinions when asked. He was very specific about that in his long interview with the 610 guys, and said same multiple times before when asked about it.

 

Rick only gets players O'Brien wants. That was made clear.

You can tell too. The moves being made are nothing like the moves we made when Kubiak worked with Smith.

And for that matter, the moves on the failing offense are nothing like the moves we're making on defense.

The emotional moves we make (offensively) in the draft and offensively match O'Briens panicky, knee jerk "look at me, I'm a genius" moves that he makes on the field (Watt as a TE, QB carousel, etc)

The more I think about it, the more I think he's just a fraud. Why did he leave as New England OC after only one year? I know it was spun as him making the brilliant move to Penn State, but I'm skeptical. After watching how he operates, he's not a good OC.

He doesn't even seem to realize that Watson needs to fix his accuracy (doesn't know what his own scouts say) and learn an NFL pro style offense ("we won't have to limit him").

 

Drafting him would have helped us avoid Brockgate, but I'm more excited what Deshaun can bring. He was a way better college QB than Carr, and Deshaun's got the escapability edge.

 

Woah...thats a scorching hot take. But he's not wrong.