i didn't originally post because i was meh about the clowney selection, but now i'm hoping/wishing he becomes who the coaching staff believes he can become. health and all. but this shows how much we can predict the draft. obviously, now that the draft class looks really bat at this point in time, the fall guy is rick. if i am head coach, i'd be PROUD to have a rick smith in my organization.
I'm not convinced that Blue is a solid backup. He averaged 3.1 YPC last year and has looked just as bad this preseason. He's a stiff, plodder of a back. I think people tend to underrate backup RBs in the league if they think Blue is a good one. A back that gets you barely more than 3YPC is not solid.
Everytime Foster was a late scratch, the line would move massively, like 3 points. Foster is good, but Blue is also mediocre at best.
Six contributors + a late round development QB isn't a terrible draft, especially if Clowney lives up to the pick. But, yeah - XSF and Nix are certainly disappointments.
I agree Grimes is better but remember Blue has been playing against 1st team defenses. He really needs to be backing up a power-style running back to provide a change-of-pace. Grimes is similar to Blue except he's a batter receiver.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Will have to confirm this through some research, but it's hard to imagine anybody have less productive 2013-14 drafts than Texans.</p>— Dale Robertson (@sportywineguy) <a href="https://twitter.com/sportywineguy/status/639886124274577408">September 4, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
NFL teams are built through the draft. And there is quality in sheer numbers. Because you never know when a 6th round pick will become a pro bowl player. Teams get in trouble when they go for the home run type player, such as Nix. He was supposed to be a 1st round talent, that dropped into the late 3rd round. But the Texans probably thought they were smarter than the whole NFL. Even thought the 2013 and 2014 continue the string of failed draft classes, the Texans have competent coaches. And the coaching staff has not catered to potential for too long. There is a "show me NOW", atmosphere; which is what Texans fans have been hoping for a while now. It sucks that whole draft classes go down the drain, but the coaches are finding players with talent to man the roster, even thought they were not originally their own draft picks. Big thing is that the Texans are not going the expensive route of getting high priced fee agents, just yet. So, the cap is definitely under control.
So let's see... Honestly, even if XSF washes out, this isn't a bad draft relative to what we're used to (where literally 75% of the players are not even on the team after 2 years). Also, if Clowney busts for medical reasons I can accept that a lot easier than him just sucking at football, FWIW.
Seeing this thread resurrected only served to remind me that we actually traded UP to get Louis Nix III. That makes me sad.
XSF is brutal run blocker. He's not as good on his heels pass blocking. He'll get better and contribute.
I think one of the harder things for coaches to do is shift their draft perspective in proper accordance with their team's ascension. When you're 2-14, you can afford to take projects and high-ceiling guys; but fully understanding when your team has successfully turned that corner and has a greater urgency, I think, is tough because, generally, coaches are never satisfied and so hard on themselves that they're probably the last to recognize - if ever - that their teams are good. My take is that Kubiak never, really truly made that pivot (Reed, Posey, even Brooks, almost the entire '13 class all felt like the draft of a 2-14 team hunting for gold rather than settling for much-needed silver). O'Brien's inherited a better core team than he probably realized and maybe should have made that pivot from the get-go. XSF, CJF, Nix and even Savage, who were all top 140 picks... even if they pan out according to plan, you're looking at two starters and two guys likely 3rd on the depth chart... Yeah, I said it ealrier, the 2014 draft was by any means an F. And if Clowney fully recovers and becomes what O'Brien was drooling over in last night's HK, then it's a really *good* draft. Fans shouldn't be too quick to dismiss first round hits; sure, it's easier... but that doesn't mean it's easy. Ask Tennessee, or Jacksonville, or Minnesota how easy it was to pluck a future All-Pro out of the All-Pro-laden 2011 draft.
From watching Hard Knocks it sure looks like Rick Smith defers to the coaching staff a lot. I don't see the case where he chooses to draft a player without the coaches approving it first. The failure of the draft pick has to fall on both management and coaching.
And fans need to realize that there are really three (likely many more) components that go into a pick succeeding/failing: you have to scout/pick the right guy; he has to stay healthy; and the coaches have to coach him up. When you see guys have success elsewhere... IMO, that's 100% the failing of the coaching staff, not the talent evaluator. And even then... they better be 100% committed; they have to be day-to-day smart (which is much harder to pin down before you get them in your building)...
At the time of the draft I thought it was an A+at the time, looking back, with Nix busting out I'd probably drop that a bit, but the draft still has plenty of potential to be a solid A or A- type draft.
