Is the Texans' Championship window really that small?

Schaub is the ultimate issue.

Everything else can be fixed through the draft, imo, by solid drafting year after year. They have to do that, mind you, to keep the window open, but if they do, the limiting factor will be Schaub and how he ages.

 

if the defense has the longevity like the Ravens and the offense is above average, we should make the playoffs on a regular basis. i think anyone who thinks our window is small is only looking at Schaub and Dre. Schaub can play another 4 years without much drop off. Dre is another matter.

 

It's win now because this team only got a glimpse of success and now many are afraid of losing it and going back to the pre-Wade Texans.

I don't see the need of a window if the FO does their job.

 

Its with the whole NFL. Unless you have an elite qb it is very hard to win year after year.

 

I was thinking about this the other day. We're flexible. Offensively the system isn't hard to run if you get the right guys in place and we're set at LT. Defensively we're young. It looks like we draft well in the early rounds.

AJ isn't nearly as old as y'all make him out to be. WR's play at a high level well into their mid-30's. We can find a replacement in the next 3-5 years and even then we don't need a stud WR, we can manage with 2 good WR's and/or TE.

If we can find a top 12-15 QB I think we'll be alright. And unlike the majority I still think Yates could be that guy.

 

Very true. Unless you have a Peyton, Brady, or Rodgers type who can carry your offense every season it's hard to keep all the pieces together with free agency.

 

but it just opened! grrr!

( But that's the nfl. if keep drafting like we have under the kubiak &smith, we will be alright)

 

Hmmmm

 

Certain teams have shown a penchant for their ability to find talent deep in the draft, or groom talent. Packers and QBs, Philly and RBs, maybe even Oakland and WRs. With Wade pushing to draft his guys, and Kubiak and his knowledge about OL and RBs, there are distinct strengths here meant to combat the new explosive air game.

Look at SF breaking down the Packers. All they did was keep their 11 starters on defense and they're contenders. Look at those starters, 3/4 the secondary are all transplants from worse teams, and their 2011 stud rookie only rotates in on passing downs. With a young defense, the window will stay open.

 

I think you could say we probably have a bright future. But we don't have the history of the Steelers, Pats, etc. to say "yeah we'll definitely reload/retool even if we lose the biggest pieces". We're getting there with our front office. But not yet

So without that, you say you're losing your QB with no real viable replacement yet apparent, your only legitimate WR--same issue, and your RB will be hitting his possible end of his prime...all in 3-4 years. And it's hard to assume we can keep Tate through the next 4 years as a backup.

So I guess there's no visibility to the future beyond those 3-4 years, and we don't have the history yet to assume we can hold it together as the main pieces go out

 

At a glance it looks like the Texans window is only about 2 years, while Schaub and Johnson are still near their peak. However, our defense is young and as others have mentioned, with shrewd drafting and aggressive smart decision making as to who to keep and who to let go at contract time, the window expands to many years. Smithiak will have to stay on their game and not be sentimental. Letting Mario Williams go really hurt, but in the long haul, it was what was needed to keep the window open. I actually hope Williams goes on to a great career (unlike some, apparently). Those type of moves are just professional and not personal and is how New England and Pittsburgh stay in contention year after year.

 

Well, it's true in a sense for all teams that have won Super Bowls. Very rarely do "dynasty" teams string together back to back championships like the Pats, Steelers, Cowboys, etc.

Teams usually win 1 super bowl and fade after that or in some cases, like the Giants, win another after a few years. Yes, I do believe their window for winning is now but it's not as small as people think.