If this bozo isn't fired as well McNair doesn't get it. Who put this freakin horrible team together? Rick Smith!!! Since he's been here the only time they've won the division is Manning was hurt the entire yr and when the Colts had a rookie qb. This is all you have to say about Rick Smith and his ability to evaluate talent. He drafted Sam Montgomery after LSU's HIGHLY respected strength & conditioning coach told everyone who and what Montgomery was all about. 95% of the teams in the NFL took him off their board entirely. Smith spends a THIRD round pick on him. Who went and spent 11 million on Ed Reed without even giving him a physical nor consulting Wade Phillips. Jimmy Johnson (who's a hell of a talent evaluator & coach) said the talent on this team is pathetic. Go through and look at who Smith has been drafted and it's a freakin NO brainer that he needs to be fired as well.
If the personnel acquisitions were his call then yeah he sucks. If they were Gary/Wade's then Rick hasn't done anything to prove he deserves to stay. His staying probably hinged on convincing Bob that this team doesn't need to rebuild.
It seems like he's simply taking credit for all the "good" acquisitions (regardless of whether or not they were his), and he's blaming the coaches for the bad ones (even though both coaches have gone on record saying they didn't want or weren't involved with the Ed Reed signing). I've already stated my piece on Rick Smith multiple times. I don't believe he's ever been qualified for the job he's currently portraying to have. Kubiak was originally the GM in 2006... brought in Smith to handle cap stuff... and Smith has become more and more entrenched as a front office liaison between the coaching staff/players, without a defined role to have the "final say".
Smith has a number of years left on his contract. In the past, McNair kept Casserly well after firing Capers, I suspect to prep for the draft. They may be waiting to see what GM the new coach wants (in case its a big name coach). I hope they are negotiating a buyout of his contract since cleaning house is needed.
Casserly was gone prior to the 2006 draft (same time as Capers)... he was held on simply as a token because Kubiak didn't want the "GM" title (even though he was the GM).
The way that McNair was talking, Smith's in his pocket right now. He was painting a picture of championship contender talent being absolutely mishandled. He seems not to realize that the talent pool had been drying up for a couple years as well, by supbar drafting particularly in rounds 2-4.
Tell me who exactly was Rick Smith responsible for? Watt was a Wade pick Cushing was a Bush pick Brown was a Gibbs pick Schaub was a Kubiak acquisition Foster was a product of the Gibbs/Kubiak ZBS (and was a Kubiak UDFA selection) Keenum was a Kubiak UDFA selection So, are we talking Shane Lechler? DJ Swearinger? Ed Reed? Kareem Jackson? I'll give him 1-2 years of Joseph/Manning... but even those guys were guys that Wade wanted.
Rick Smith-led drafts: 2007: Amobi Okoye (bust), Jacoby Jones (bust with the Texans), Fred Bennett (bust), Brandon Harrison (bust), Brandon Frye (bust), Kasey studdard (bust), Zac Diles (bust) 2008: Duane Brown (hit - Alex Gibbs), Antwaun Molden (bust), Steve Slaton (injury bust), Xavier Adibi (bust), Frank Okam (bust), Dominique Barber (bust), Alex Brink (bust) 2009: Brian Cushing (hit - Frank Bush), Connor Barwin (hit), Antoine Caldwell (bust), Glover Quinn (hit), Anthony Hill (bust), James Casey (hit, but wasn't used properly), Brice McCain (initially a hit, but then got paid, injured, and now can't play nickle CB as well), Troy Nolan (bust) 2010: Kareem Jackson (hit), Ben Tate (hit - will leave for bigger contract this year), Earl Mitchell (marginal starter), Darryl Sharpton (always injured), Garrett Graham (hit), Sherrick McManis (bust), Shelley Smith (bust), Trindon Holliday (bust with Texans), Dorin Dickerson (bust) 2011: J.J. Watt (hit - Wade Phillips), Brooks Reed (bust after good rookie season), Brandon Harris (bust), Rashad Carmichael (bust), Shiloh Keo (bust), T.J. Yates (bust), Derek Newton (bust), Cheta Ozougwu (bust) 2012: Whitney Mercilus (bust with respect to draft position), DeVier Posey (bust - should have drafted T.Y. Hilton), Brandon Brooks (bust), Ben Jones (bust), Keshawn Martin (bust), Jared Crick (bust), Randy Bullock (bust), Nick Mondek (bust) 2013: DeAndre Hopkins (hit), D.J. Swearinger (hit), Brennan Williams (TBD - IR), Sam Montgomery (bust - kicked off team), Trevardo Williams (TBD - IR), David Quessenberry (TBD - IR), Alan Bonner (TBD - IR), Chris Jones (bust - cut and got picked up by Patriots and leads rookie DTs in sacks), Ryan Griffin (hit)
If you attribute every good pick to someone else of course there is no defending. You guys are silly. Bottom line,should this roster be competitive. Yes
Smith did say a few weeks ago that the coaches have too much say in draft picks. We don't know what the opportunity costs for these picks are either. If Cush was a Bush pick maybe Smith wanted Matthews III? Who would Smith drafted in lieu of Brooks Reed or Whitney Mercilus? Only the front office knows what Smith would have done if he wasn't a figurehead.
When Griuden or whatever coaching candidate asks for his own guy he'll get his own guy or Bob will have a slim list of candidates
Thats the main problem I have with him.... he has always been a "puppet" to other main people making the real decisions. And, btw, this is not a great roster. The have some quality starters, but lack any sort of depth to withstand injuries that every team suffers. Where does depth come from? Round 2-4. Even if we presume Smith is fully in charge (which he's not), he's been awful at this part of his job.
