Don't mean to beat up on a dead horse, but it's tough to be in love with the Texans for all the inepititude the front office has done to this team, unlike the Rockets and Stros, both of which are run by first class front office. Generally speaking, we do not draft well, especially in the middle rounds, which contributes to poor overall depth. For a team that has multiple holes since its inception, instead of using our picks wisely, we tend to give them away by either overdrafting someone, or package picks in the lower rounds to move up, and seldom with anything to show for. When we have had the chance to augment draft capitals by trading down, we always choose to stand pat and do nothing. We don't take care of our own good free agents, Quin, Brooks, Bouye to name a few, but instead pick up on other bad free agents. This is a top heavy team with little or no depth, which is why a few injuries to our starters will derail the season. A quick look at the past 8 drafts will tell you how we got where we are - 2017 - this is perhaps Smith's best draft. Watson, Cunningham, Foreman, Davenport are already contributing. Watkins, Decoud, Fuller all have potential. 2016 - still not a huge fan of W. Fuller, but at least he's starting. Martin is solid in the 2nd. Nothing from 3~5 with Miller, Ervin, and Dillion. Reader in 6th is a steal. 2015 - poor draft. McKinney in the 2nd and Covington in the 6th are the only two worth mentioning. Traded up in the 3rd to pick Strong, what a waste. 2014 - we have the 1st pick in every round, and other than Clowney, there is no other serious contributor. Oh, and we traded up for Louis Nix, whom i am not sure even play a snap for us. A gigantic failure overall. 2013 - another horrible draft, the only consolation is that we pick near the end of every round. Got Hopkins in the 1st, then Griffin in the 6th, who is serviceable. Nothing at all in the middle rounds. 2012 - Mercilus in the 1st is good, traded down our 2nd that turns out to be LaVonte David and picked up Posey in the 3rd. Hit a gem with Brooks in the 3rd but we let him go for nothing. Ben Jones in the 4th was decent but again walked as a FA. Martin and Crick in the 4th and both sucked. Took Beercan in the 5th when Justin Tucker went undrafted. 2011 - this is the JJ Watt draft. Reed was decent while he lasted, but let go as a FA. Nothing in the middle rounds again. Yates in the 5th and Newton in the 7th are both serviceable i guess. 2010 - KJ in the 1st, sucked for a few years but luckily turned it around some. Tate was an okay pick in the 2nd, too often injured though. Earl Mitchell in the 3rd and Graham in the 4th are just okay. Nothing else. Not counting the 2017 draft, we average two solid contributors out of 10 ~ 16 draft, that's like 14 guys out of 7 year span, and yet Smith in still with the organization, albeit on medical leave. Guys, the outlook on the 2018 draft is grim. We are picking near the top but with nothing to show for in the first two rounds. I'll bite the 4th pick because we do have Watson, but losing that 2nd over Os was a stupid decision, unless you know for sure you can sign Romo. Otherwise, why not let him be a backup? Had Os been our backup QB, we might be able to get a couple more wins so to make the loss of picks less distasteful. Instead, uncle Bob got a huge saving, and we are out of the 36th pick in a good draft.
Just wanted to say that Morey always has a plan to build his team, find quality players to fill his roster, won't pay dollar on a dime, and has the team winning for the most part. Morey doesn't always draft well, but the NBA is different from NFL where you don't really need the draft to fill out roster spots, especially if you are not picking in the lottery, which the Rockets haven't in quite some time. The last Rocket player drafted in the top 10? Yao in 2002. And of course Luhnow has a plan to build the Stros. He consistently finds other team's hidden gems in their farm system, manuver the draft exceptionally well to maximize his draft capitals, and spends his limited resources wisely. The Astros are a team built to win in the long run. As to the Texans, do they ever have a plan? Whether in building the team through draft and free agents, or finding the right pieces to fit the team's playing style. Whatever? As it stands today, we have a very uneven roster, with quite a few less than average position groups. For a GM who's been with the team for as long as he has, Smith instills no confidence in anyone's mind to get the job done, and yet uncle Bob doesn't even have the courtesy to fire him after a disastrous season. Most NFL fans don't view Texans with any kind of respect. We have a dysfunctional front office and people know it. We are not down to Browns level, which is probably why we keep throwing them valuable picks.
They have no plan. Their strategy is nothing more than "get rid of bad players and bring in good ones" in addition to "get rid of bad coaches and bring in good ones." "Coach better." There is no long-term plan to amass assets, rebuild and sustain success at all. You'd think they would try a smarter approach with what the Astros and Rockets or even the Jaguars have done, but nope. They're playing Candy Land.
They've had a plan. The past few years if has been build the defense, starting with the front seven. And once that was done, the offense starting with the running game. By the time you get a QB, the rest of the team is ready to go. The last two offseasons has been focused more on the offense (Fuller, Martin, Miller, Braxton, Watson, Foreman, etc) Problem is when they got the QB this year, the defense wasn't ready to go. And then injuries. Might not have been the best executed plan but they had one. And it is one that works around the league.
Agreed. The plan was to try and win with a dominant defense while looking for an opportunity to grab a franchise QB. Hopefully what was essentially a lost season will pay off with health and the ability to bring is some free agents to fill in the multiple holes we have. While free agency is not the preferred manner of building a team, it can work out if you have a franchise QB on a rookie deal. We need to use free agency now to sign some 4 years and under deals before we have to shell out the $$$ for Watson. This will be slightly mitigated by the likely reduction of Watt's contract and possibly Clowneys when Watson's payday comes.
I just don't get all the gloom and doom about not having a 1st and 2nd round pick. Last draft we got steals in dam near every round. Think of the steals that will be in the 3rd round where we get to pick 3 times(?). Even better, they have 3 more(?) in the 6th. I'm willing to bet out of the 6 players picked between the two rounds, at least two of them will be steals. Couple that with a couple of good FA signings and we're straight.
Not to mention that trading up to get a franchise QB usually costs more than just an extra 1st. I just look at it like Watson cost a 1st and a 2nd. That's still less than some other teams used to trade up recently.
Pretty much everyone who was associated with or close to Rick Smith will in all likelihood have no impact on our draft or FA's moving forward. Rick Smith has a great record of 1st round picks, but sucks evaluating all other rounds(drafts were poor pre BOB) so there's hope they can find some talent. This draft is deep at the positions of need for the Texans(DB and OL). The overt pessimism is starting to get out of hand though. As 'bad' as the roster looks to some and as 'dysfunctional' as the front office seems to some, we are in a much better place than you'd think. How many franchises would kill to have a 22 year old franchise QB who's ceiling is best QB in the league. It's easier to acquire depth than elite talent, unless of course you have a bad talent evaluator(Rick Smith). BOB doesn't have a good record of talent evaluation, but Rick Smith has proven that he has an overall bad record of talent evaluation and retention. It is easier to build an NFL team when you have a QB. I get that some feel jaded by the Texans, but lets not turn into TexansTalk where they actively root for the Texans to fail simply to prove a point. If you're that jaded go root for someone else.
Fully agree. Actually, the only time i feel like the Texans ever had a plan was when Kub was coaching offense and Philips was coaching the defense.
You can do the same thing for any team, and you'll get similar results. It's a crapshoot. In fact it has been done. No team over time has an edge in drafting. The problem, as you alluded to correctly imo, is the constant trading away of draft capital and rarely gaining more. 5 picks for nix and strong? They could have gone by Mel Kipers draft board for those picks and probably gotten 2 contributers better than the fact crap we picked up. And if they get lucky they get 5 solid guys. And then they have to use the next draft to try to fill those holes. And they also felt the need to keep Strong instead of a real prospect far after it was obvious he was a bust. Then they haven't been careful accumulating compensatory picks or trying to keep their own free agents on reasonable deals.
Honestly, for as sophisticated as the NFL game is compare to MLB and NBA, that's not much of a plan. It's easy for anyone to say, yes, i want a stingy defense to go along with a balance offense, but it's the series of moves a GM/HC make to position the team to win on the field. When i think of a plan, i am talking about a synchronized movement across the organization to reach a certain goal. The coaching staff has to communicate with the front office and the scouting dept to get the players they need to execute their scheme. Too often times our draft and free agency signings seem like crap shoot. Our salary cap management seems nearsighted. We are always rushed to address immediate needs without an eye for long term success. The only reason we have been winning the last three years was because of the lousy division we are in, not because of how good we actually are.
oh yea, negativity ruins the day, who likes that? we had a pretty decent draft last year, but outside of that, our draft history speaks for itself. finding steals in draft has been few and far in between with this organization, but uncovering duds has been our forte both in FA and the draft. if anyone thinks that losing the 4th and 36th pick in a fairly deep draft to a team already short on talent is no big deal, then kudos to you for being a natural optimist.
Ok. You are aware that I don't work for the team, right? Lol That was a high level plan. The same high level plan that other teams have utilized. And i didnt say "stingy defense with balanced offense". Maybe read it again. It is focusing resources for a couple of years on the defense especially getting to the QB. You build from the line out. Set your identity in That side of the football. Then the next year you work on the offense, starting with the running game. All the while, keeping your eye open for a QB. When it was time to get a QB, even the owner came out and said it. That plan got them to 10-6 and then 12-4. One weird and horrible season, and they were able to get back on track. They lost a lot on the offense but the defensive identity helped them comeback from that horrible season pretty quickly. They got back on the same plan and now they got their QB. Morey's plan of 3 superstars still hasn't gotten him much further. Just saying.
you can't let the outcome dictates the intent. very very few executives around the league thought Watson was a franchise QB heading in the draft, many were not sure he'd be picked in the first round, or at best the end of the first round. Had KC not traded up to take Mahomes, there's a high % chance that Watson may last until the 25th pick. the only teams in need of a QB picking from 12th to 24th are Dolphins and Giants, any maybe the Cardinals. Don't get me wrong, i am very happy we got Watson, but i think it's more luck than the initial intent. Let's play this backward, had the Texans known that they'd be in competition for the top pick this year, would they have traded up 13 picks last year just to get Watson, all the while not knowing how he will turn out?
Looks like we are in sync with one another, lol. Couldn't agree with you more, a series of dumb moves both in the draft and free agency got where are today. Make one bad move, and then another desparate move trying to cover the initial bad move, things just snowballed.
By strategy I really want to know how they plan to get there. We know they want a good offense and defense, and whatever order is fine, but what is the plan to actually get there other than coach better? We know how the rockets and Astros operate. No clue with the Texans other than "alignment" and try to scout gud.
I like Watson more than any of the guys coming out this year sooooooo yeah give me Deshaun. So the report was that the Texans wanted Watson and they had agreed with the Browns ahead of time to get him. Rick Smith said so after the draft. They liked a guy and they did whatever it took to get him. Calling it luck is just unfair. Give the team credit when they get something right.
