I'd like you to explain what their approach "should" be? And then we can argue whether or not THAT approach is better than the one they're currently taking. Otherwise, you're basically just saying "I don't like it!", without offering a plausible alternative... those sort of stances bore people more than anything.
I have a hard time thinking that we saw Hoyer's ceiling in Cleveland. That place is a black hole of talent and development destruction.
The NFL is a very violent game and, as such, your starting QB can sometimes get hurt. Therefore, it makes practical sense to have a back-up you're comfortable with, who knows your system and can, as a veteran, mentor your younger, less experienced starter. Is the acquisition of a back-up QB indidcative of being on the wrong path?
I really wonder why you back yourself into a corner sometimes... when you know good and well that things "besides what happened in the past" are very possible when players change teams/coaching staffs/systems. Systems and coaching are everything in the NFL... its what makes Kurt Warner develop from an arena league castoff into a HOF QB. Its what turns Arian Foster from an undrafted free agent to one of the top 5 RB's in the last decade. There are other examples out there... and I'm not suggesting that Hoyer is not only going to be the starter, but going to go out and perform at an all-pro level, but you know if he's under center and this team is winning, it will be "fun to watch". (just like even Fitz became "fun to watch" leading up to that big game in Indy that they could have won had the QB's not crumpled).
I'm just not willing to bet that a guy is going to all of a sudden become a much better QB than he has ever been before at age 30. Could it happen? I guess it's possible, but it's super unlikely.
I'm gonna be the Debbie Downer here and say I disagree with the large majority of your points. There are a ton of holes on the team. Offense 1. Starting QB (we know this already). MAJOR HOLE. The most important position in the game. We've got the Savage, Mallet, Hoyer SHAKIN MAH HEAD combo. 2. Future Feature RB. MINOR HOLE. We've locked up $8.9 M this year for a guy that's averaged almost 6 games missed the last two seasons and has been run 1350 times in 5 seasons. Alfred Blue is a nice backup, but he doesn't have much of a ceiling. Foster will be cut after this season with only $2M in dead money and a savings of $7M. I consider this a minor hole since we should be ok this year. Also, I could see us avoiding high dollar RBs in the future. 3. Legit WR2/WR3: MAJOR HOLE. Nobody on the roster is proven. We've blown a lot of picks on this position with almost nothing to show for it. We need at least one speedster that can open up the top and eat up double teams for Nuk. This draft is WR heavy. Torrey Smith would also be perfect here. Hopefully he changes his mind on SF and comes here. 4. Legit Slot Receiver: MAJOR HOLE. Nothing here. This draft is WR heavy. 5. Legit Pass Catching TE: MAJOR HOLE. Can C.J. turn the corner in year 2? 6. RG: MODERATE HOLE. XSF looked like a bust last year. Hopefully it was just a shaky rookie campaign. If he looks bad, this is a serious hole. 7. C: MODERATE HOLE. This is Brooks' natural position, but he's unproven here. Defense 1. NT: MAJOR HOLE. We literally have no healthy NTs on the roster. Nix is looking like another Rick Smith 3rd round bust. I imagine this gets addressed in FA soon. I could see us going DT in round 1 if it's BPA. 2. DE: MODERATE HOLE. Jared Crick is decent, but is a downgrade compared to what we've had in the past. 3. OLB: MINOR HOLE. We have talent here if Clowney is healthy. If he's not, expect to see some no-name UDFAs. 4. ILB: MAJOR HOLE. Which Cushing are we getting? If I was a gambling man, I'd bet on the broken down one that's had one-thousand surgical procedures. If we are starting Mohamed and Dent/Tuggle for a large number of games, we're gonna be hurting. I would take a flyer on Rolando McClain, but we all know Bob McNair doesn't pick up guys with character issues. 5. SS: MODERATE HOLE. Swearinger is a bust. For the 1-2 big plays he makes, he'll make 50 boneheaded mistakes. He seems to be making the boneheaded mistakes off the field too (allegedly). 6. FS: MAJOR HOLE. This is just ugly. I miss Glover Quin. 7. CB2: MODERATE HOLE. JJo is old and declining rapidly. I know this isn't a popular opinion on here, but it's the truth. He's also has a $12.25M cap hit. This is another cut that should be made to save $8.5M
Another unispiring move by one of the least inspiring organizations in professional sports. There are worse organizations and there are many that are better.... but there are very few that are as mediocre.
No, it really didn't. Fitz had a really solid season but he wasn't radically different from what he had done in the past, he just cut down on his interceptions by throwing the ball a lot less than he used to.
So, you'd rather they make "no" moves? Or which moves were you holding out for in regards to improving a 9-7 team?
He also had the highest completion percentage of his career... along with the highest yards/attempt. It wasn't just "throwing less" that led to the improvement. For all intents and purposes, Hoyer is entering only his 2nd full season as a potential starter... and the first not being on an awfully coached Browns team (baby Shan has always been over his head without Kubiak). I'd say its entirely plausible that he improves here.
When you look at it in a vacuum, it looks bad. When you compare it to the rest of the NFL, it looks borderline playoff worthy. It's a better team than last year, and that squad almost backdoored their way in to the post-season. My commentary is below in red.
His completion percentage going up was a direct result of him throwing less, the same thing happened to Vince Young when he was reigned in during the end of his career in Tennessee, his completion percentage, yards per attempt, and QB rating all improved as he threw the ball less. Back to Fitz, the knock on him his whole career was that he was a Brett Favre style gunslinger that ended up getting himself into trouble and throwing games away. BOB put a stop to that for the most part and Fitz made fewer, smarter passes. He was only throwing the ball an average of 26 times per game down from 35 times a game when he was a starter in Buffalo.
A lot of it boils down to what we do in the draft. Looking at our draft history outside of the 1st round, there's not much reason for optimism. I know most of my frustration boils down to McNair not firing Rick Smith. We all know that the 2-14 team underperformed and we had a cakewalk schedule last year. With the exception of beating the Ravens at home, we lost all of the games against playoff talent (Colts x 2, Steelers, Cowboys, Eagles, Bengals). We do have a shot of leapfrogging ahead of some of these playoffs teams if we can nail this draft and scoop up the right FA's. We need Clowney to come back strong and for Cushing's knees to hold up. We just got big downgrades at C and WR2. If Mallett looks like he did against the Browns most of the year, we could contend. These are all major ifs.
I think we got an upgrade at C and could have an upgrade at WR2 before the season starts. The Texans are headed in the right direction.
So, IOW, BOB recognized his limitations and put him position to turn in his best season? BTW, his previous best rating was 83.3; last year, 95.3. It was, far and away, his best year as a pro. Come on, bobby - you were among the few who recognized his was vastly playing beyond expectations; don't backtrack now because you think you have to win the internet. BOB turned Fitzpatrick into a very viable NFL QB. He did the same for Mallet and Keenum, too, btw. It's only been a year - but he gave us no reason to think he can't drag the best out of his QBs.
My point is that there is a difference between taking a QB with past success like Fitz and making him more efficient and taking a complete scrub QB that has never been even halfway decent like Hoyer and turning them into something good. I mean, it could happen, and I think if anyone can it's BOB, but I really wouldn't expect it.
Take a lot more risk perhaps. They could have had Bridgewater last year. Yes, you can still be so-so about Bridgewater, even though he's looked like the makings of "something" as he settled in to the NFL game and speed. And sure, the great QB whisperer coaches we have (B'ob now being the second - rolleyes) might just not have seen it with him... and that's fine... but then again, TeddyB was probably the most wanted QB by most on this BBS. And sure, us random strangers on the internet are wrong a lot, too... and sure, hindsight is 20/20... ... but then again, hindsight IS 20/20 ... in hindsight, considering how horrible they generally draft anyway, how much they need a "QB of the future", etc. it was the obvious move... But TeddyB aside, take more risk. In this case that probably means not signing Brian Hoyer because who cares? He doesn't move the needle. Again, I'd rather go to Savage as the #2 QB. Why else did we draft him? That's right, and in all of the seasons of NFL history, how many times has a backup QB like Brian Hoyer, 30 years old, let go by the crappiest of crappy teams, on a team like the Texans, which short of Mallet turning into the next Brady/Rodgers has no real shot at a championship... how many times has that actual QB mattered? The value I see is just the slightest value of Hoyer somehow making Mallet better... but I don't really see that, that much. It's an indication of mindset. A lot of people like to say, what else should they be doing!?!?! You know... I don't know. If I did, I'd be an NFL GM or coach. I do know that while great, HOF-level QBs, or even just really really solid QBs that can win multiple playoff games in a row or even a Superbowl don't grow on trees, a lot of organizations have found them in the same timeframe the Texans have been making moves akin to signing the Brian Hoyer's of the world. A lot of fans on here prefer to point to all the other teams that have toiled in mediocrity or sucktitude while also failing to do better in the QB department. You know what? Those teams also suck and I'd yawn as a fan of those teams, too. "Hey, it's not like finding a HOF QB is easy you know!" Yeah... I KNOW THIS!! But then again, the people in charge of doing this for the Texans are getting paid million(s) of dollars annually... I'm not asking my garbage man for to handle this process.
Yo Donny, I am playing Devil's advocate for the most part. We still have a shot to shore up these holes. I do think it's silly to say that we don't have many holes. Our goal isn't to be borderline playoff worthy. We want to be elite with very few holes and depth at key positions. We want to hit on our drafts. To respond to your comments QB: I don't think you can honestly say we have improved here. Fitzpatrick was average. We don't have enough sample size on Mallett to really know. Time will tell. Hoyer was meh behind a very good line. WR2/3/slot: While these may not be major positions in BoB's system, you still want guys to fit the mold. Speedster WR2/3, sure-handed water bug at slot. C: Forgot about Jones. While it may not be a hole, we will most likely not get the level of play there that we did from Myers. SS: Just not going to agree on Swearinger. At such an important position, he's a below average starter. (see February PFF depth chart. 2 years in a row as below-average).
