Most mock drafts have no idea what the teams are going to pick. They try to act like they do, but they don't. The Texans are not leaking anything so how would anyone have any idea who they are going to pick. I'd rather someone say "I don't know" than make up "sources said" articles.
Yup, the only way to tell who probably will be the #1 pick is if there is a clear cut #1 prospect like Andrew Luck or Jadeveon Clowney.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p><a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Texans&src=hash">#Texans</a> are looking at all options at No. 1, which explains why <a href="https://twitter.com/search?q=%23Buffalo&src=hash">#Buffalo</a> LB Khalil Mack is headed there next week to visit.</p>— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) <a href="https://twitter.com/RapSheet/statuses/455777911996284928">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Charlie Casserly: I would believe what you heard because I've heard the same things. Bridgewater has been unimpressive and Clowney's work ethic has been questioned. You have to weigh those factors and make a decision. Better Rick Smith than you? I never look at it that way. It's a tougher decision than Mario Williams. Williams was a clearer decision. There was no questions about Williams work ethic, commitment to the game, etc. There are questions about Clowney and they're looking for a QB. You'd like there to be a guy jumping off the screen. There is not. That's why it becomes complicated. Do you bristle when they say the Texans made the wrong pick both times? Who was the right pick if Mario Williams wasn't? Who would you pick? Impossible to make that pick without having access the teams do. Clowney is a talented player. Very athletic, some rare plays sometimes. You see pro bowl potential, no question. I've found no problem with his effort. What was interesting was his best plays came when he freelanced. With the QBs, they all have parts but none are complete players. I don't think there is a true top ten QB. There shouldn't be a QB in your top ten list of players. If you don't have a QB, you force them up. Each has questions. How many QBs go in the top ten? One maybe. Minnesota, do they take a LB and QB later? I'd be surprised if Manziel goes top ten and surprised if Bridgewater goes in the top ten. Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Oakland will all have better players. Minnesota, I have an over 50% hunch. ... How tough is it to trade number one pick? Never got one offer (when he was with the Texans). We shopped the pick. <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Interesting. Charley Casserly just told us they never got a trade offer for 1st pick in draft either time he drafted 1st in HOU, '02 & '06</p>— Sean Pendergast (@SeanCablinasian) <a href="https://twitter.com/SeanCablinasian/statuses/455801983136325632">April 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
The reason I don't agree with that is _ because I'm not gullible enough to believe we can get an RG3 type haul. If Atlanta wants to move up and give us their 2nd round pick this year and their 1st round pick next year (which will be in the top 10-15 because they're not making the playoffs) I'm all for it. Atlanta's 2nd round pick this year along with ours is like having 3 picks in the 1st round because of how big this draft is.
I doubt that we'd get that kind of offer. In a draft with no clear-cup #1 talent, no team would give up much to move up a few spots.
It would have to be one hell of an offer because it would be for a player we'd take ourselves. The deal would have to be seen as better than just picking Clowney, and IMO it would take at least 2 first rounders.
It has started...lol http://www.nfl.com/news/story/0ap20...ng-steam-as-texas-choice?campaign=Twitter_atl
You’ve Got to Take One’ That's the advice of Mike Holmgren—Super Bowl-winning coach and a former team architect—to the QB-needy teams considering drafting one in May. Will the Texans, Jags, Browns, Bucs and Vikings listen? Plus, reader mail RENTON, Wash. — Mike Holmgren has been where so many coaches and team architects are, 23 mornings before the 2014 NFL Draft. He has been wondering where his starting quarterback would come from. So it seemed logical to ask him Monday: Approaching a draft in which every quarterback is a question mark and there are better players all over the board, what do you do if you really need a quarterback? “You’ve got to take one,” Holmgren said Monday over lunch here, a few long spirals from the Seahawks’ training facility. “You’ve got to, unfortunately.” In Green Bay in 1992, Holmgren had just gotten the job as Packers coach, and GM Ron Wolf wanted to trade for a backup quarterback who drank too much, and Wolf asked Holmgren what he thought of Brett Favre. Wolf pulled the trigger, but Holmgren approved the trade, because he didn’t think he had a quarterback of the future on his roster. When Holmgren went to Seattle in 1999, he had a choice of either drafting a quarterback of the future or dealing for one, and he chose to trade for Matt Hasselbeck, who led Seattle to multiple playoff berths. In 2010, when he went to Cleveland as club president, Holmgren oversaw the drafting of Colt McCoy and Brandon Weeden, neither of whom played well enough to win the job—and both are gone now. “Somebody in that group can play, I feel sure of that,” Holmgren said of the quarterbacks in the 2014 draft class. “You list them, you evaluate them, you discuss them as a scouting and coaching group, and you pick one. Now—and this is very, very important—once he’s with you, you never, ever let anyone believe he’s not the right guy, not the quarterback of the future. In the building, obviously, that’s a given. But in public too. Every time you talk about him, he’s your guy. Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren on the cover of the Jan. 27, 1997, edition of SI. (Walter Iooss, Jr./SI) Brett Favre and Mike Holmgren on the cover of the Jan. 27, 1997, edition of SI. (Walter Iooss, Jr./SI) “In Green Bay, remember when Brett was really struggling, and I held a coaches’ meeting and took a vote on who should start—Favre or [Mark] Brunell? We were in the coaches’ meeting, and Favre had done something stupid the last game, and Brunell came in and played by the numbers and played well. And I said, ‘We’re going to go around the room and tell me what you think. [Quarterbacks coach] Steve Mariucci wanted Favre. A lot of the other coaches, good football coaches, voted for Brunell. I said thanks. I went down, thought about it, called [Favre] in the next morning, told him he was the guy. I told him, ‘We’re either going to the top of the mountain together or we’re going to the dumpster together. But we’re in this together.’ That’s what you have to do. I’m convinced of it. Absolutely convinced. “But what that can mean, however, and it’s scary, is it can mean if it fails, you fail, and you lose your job. But that’s part of it. You’ve got to be willing to pick a guy and be behind him. Coach your a– off, fix what needs to be fixed, and you might not know what you have after one year or two years, but you’ll know after three years. You’ve got to give him a real chance.” Words to the wise—for Houston, Jacksonville, Cleveland, Tampa Bay, Minnesota. http://mmqb.si.com/2014/04/15/mike-holmgren-nfl-draft-quarterback-advice/
Plugged into what, the Texans press box buffet line? I know it's too easy to make fun of McClain for being fat...which is why I do it all the time! But seriously, it's mindnumbing how this myth gets perpetuated about McClain's competency. As if he has ever had a trace of information regarding the organization's thoughts, ever since Casserley got fired 8 years ago. When he says something you can almost bet the opposite will be true.
John McClain went on Sportsradio 610 in 2006 and promised that the Texans would not pass on Vince Young. He had no idea Mario Williams was in the mix until the announcement was made that it would be him. And, despite what he would claim, the Mario pick was not a last second decision. Casserly has said they been honing in on him for weeks. John McClain is not plugged in and he even admits it sometimes. He gets asked who they are taking or what they are thinking and he responds with "I have no idea" followed by a snort. Reporters in Houston don't have sources. They rarely report anything that the local teams don't feed them.
The Texans have already said that they are picking "at least one" QB this year, but they wouldn't say which round they were going to do so.
McClain getting major play this morning on First Take about his mock draft. :grin: "This is significant because he previously had the Texans taking a QB and now has them taking Clowney."
And this really is the best case for taking a QB. In all likelihood, at least one of these QBs is going to end up being at least pretty good if not better. And the Texans are unlikely to be back in a position where they have their choice of any QB anytime soon. In the future, they'll probably be getting 3rd/4th/5th pickings. It sucks, but while there may be better overall and/or less risky prospects available, the Texans probably won't be in a better position to find their franchise QB than they are right now. One of these guys probably can play, the Texans would just need to figure out which one. But that's easier said than done.
IMO since that answer isn't obvious, you don't reach on one in the first. The "what the hell, one of these guys has to be competent, let's pick a name out of a hat" style is pretty reckless. Also, I think there is a strong possibility that the best QB in this draft isn't one of the overhyped 3, and probably won't even go in the first round.
