I'm denigrating him because he isn't even trying to build a forward looking front office like the other franchise have done. He still mainly drafts based on coach's gut feeling, clutch and leadership and trades away assets without much thought
To be fair... Rick Smith has done more than "some first and second round home runs." Since 2011, he's drafted the best defensive player in football (Watt); arguably the best wide receiver in football (Hopkins); two more defensive studs (Merciless & Clowney); three very good OL (Newton, Jones & Brooks - all after 2nd round, btw); and as many as six quality starters (Johnson. McKinney, Fuller, Martin, Reader, Cunningham). And I didn't even list Deshaun Watson. (Or D'Onta Foreman.) (Or the various street free agents he's brought in, like AJ Bouye) Generally, more picks will fail than succeed in the NFL. And he's made some poor choices, dealing picks for guys like Strong and Nix. But I'd put his draft record (including undrafted free agents) since 2011 up against just about any other GM in football. When he's hit, he has hit REALLY big.
I don't disagree. But football has proven the most elusive in terms of leveraging (still evolving) advanced data, and its gulf between college and pro remains not only the widest but most unpredictable. I mean, he gets seven draft picks a year; Luhnow gets 40 and a chance to not only develop those picks but to do so with no league-mandated salary restrictions (once they're in the system), far away from the glare of fans and media. Having said that, as I posted a few minutes ago, Smith's draft record is pretty doggone good. What it lacks, to some degree, in quantity is more than made up for with quality. Assuming everyone is healthy next year and doesn't regress, he's landed a top 3-5 QB, WR and DE in just six years. (OK, top 10 QB.) I mean......... what other team can claim that?
I'm only a proponent of firing someone if the alternative would definitively be better. For as much as Rick has faltered, it could be much much worse. (See Browns). This team has consistently had major talent during his tenure, and we have 4 division titles since 2011. He found Foster as an UFA, drafted Watt, traded for JJo, made the right choice with Clowney (which wasn't very popular) and he found our franchise QB in Watson. We've lost a lot of talent in free agency because we have talent, and it's hard to manage with the cap. No, I'm not saying Smith is a brilliant, wonderful GM, but it's not like he is so terrible that anyone else would be an upgrade. Without a replacement that is actually better than Rick, this could be a much uglier and hopeless franchise here in Houston.
This is a really obvious point that bears repeating because it's SO OBVIOUS, a lot of fans overlook it. Unless you're the Patriots, who are built around a true miracle in Tom Brady (the greatest QB of all-time who's also the most selfless athlete of all-time) that allows them to make ruthlessly efficient personnel decisions, if you're good in the NFL..... it's HARD to stay good. The salary cap was designed to, more or less, hurt good teams by forcing them to either (over)pay their good players or jettison them for cheaper replacements. I don't necessarily subscribe to the "It could be a lot worse" idea. But I don't think it's as bad as the knee-jerks would have you believe.
Morey gets only 2 rounds of draft picks and tons of salary restrictions. I'm not even sure Rick understands basic things like draft picks are super valuable
Morey has had his share of his mistakes. And for all the genius he is, he is not that far ahead of Rick Smith in playoff success.
Exactly. He has James Harden, which, to his credit, he acquired. But Harden minimizes a lot of mistakes, like, for instance, going 0-3 with 3 top 18 picks. And, look - you have to get lucky. Jeff Luhnow didn't draft or acquire Jose Altuve. Or George Springer. Or Dallas Keuchel. The Texans have always had talent, with one obviously glaring exception. If they've finally corrected that....... I think I'm OK with the guy who drafted Watt, Clowney, Hopkins, Merciless, Brooks, Jones, Newton, Johnson, McKinney, Cunningham, Martin, Fuller.... getting the opportunity to build around Watson.
He only has to field a team of 12 and the NBA's salary restrictions are significantly less strict than the NFL's. And as has been pointed out, Morey has a ton of mistakes under his belt. Quantity rarely equal quality. Draft picks aren't inherently valuable; it's how you use those picks that retroactively determines value. The Browns have amassed a record number of draft picks but have drafted poorly. Hell, the Patriots used to horde picks and their record is below average. If Deshaun Watson is as good as he looked this year, no one will complain about the picks used to acquire him.
The browns only recently started to hoard picks. The Patriots are one of the teams that is actually smart about managing the salary cap, picks, free agents, etc. Texans are not.
Drafts will mainly be a crapshoot. Lunhow and Morey took assets and built contenders. Rick Smith took assets (and he had plenty when Kubiak was fired) and built an extremely mediocre team. When we had Kubiak we were actually smart about this stuff, hence the Texans contending until Schaub broke his foot.
Morey was not that far ahead of Kubiak. All of that has being dismantled with Rick and O'Brien. Look at the OL and secondary.
# of Browns draft picks since 2015: 14, 12, 10. Browns 2017 record: 0-11 2018 available salary cap: Patriots: $7.5MM Texans: $54.1MM I mean, I'm not arguing Rick Smith is an A+.... I'm just arguing he's not an F-.
Did you forget Rick Smith was here with Kubiak? Or is this a case of your expertly knowing what Smith did and did not do behind closed doors during the Kubiak era? But, OK - for the record: # of playoff appearances/winning seasons in Kubiak era: 2/3 (8 seasons) # of playoff appearances/winning seasons in BOB era: 2/3 (3 seasons) And before you post about BOB doing it with Kubiak's (and not Smith's) guys: 2-11 in Kubiak's last year; same guys: 9-7 the following season, BOB's first.
Um...Lunhow was allowed to tank for 4 years....traded away almost every good player. Also, there is no salary cap ceiling or floor in the MLB. Astros had a salary cap of $25 million one year.........the art of tanking. You can't just easily trade like that in the NFL....because there is no minor league system to develop players.
You are nothing in this league without a QB. MOST on this board supported the Brock signing. Love the revisionist history.
Texans did what they had to do to get rid of a mistake and get their QB of the future. They will have almost $60 million in cap space......before Clowney is signed and after Cushing and Joseph (possibly Kareem Jackson) are gone after this season. They will focus on Oline and secondary.
Sashi Brown only started in January 2016 and the Browns strategy of rebuild through picks and draft. Just showing available capspace shows nothing either way.
Of course Rick was here and he got the guys Kubiak/Wade wanted. Just like he's doing now for O'Brien. Kubiak's teams were clearly superior. They were legimitate contenders. That year we had Yates playing in the playoffs we could have won the Super Bowl. O'Brien's teams snuck into the playoffs in bad divisons. Mediocre teams at best.
