Backtracking. Wonderful. So soon you've lost your faith in the Reggie White, Mario Williams, Bruce Smith, Jevon Kearse, JJ Watt inbreed all rolled into one? So sad. I thought you had more faith in your football scouting/expertise than the rest of us uninformed misguided souls. SMH. What will this forum do now?..........
LOL, how is that backtracking? I absolutely think Clowney could go on to have a phenomenal career, possibly even HOF worthy if things break right, but you don't call a guy with less than 10 games under his belt a future HOFer, that's why I said "no one knows". Maybe you thought that was a "gotcha" moment, but it really, really wasn't. Better luck next time.
This is spot on which is why my expectations for this year have never been more than their being a 6-9 win team. BoB is in year two of reshaping the roster he inherited from Kubiak - a coach whose offensive philosophy is radically different from his own. We'll just have to wait and see what happens this season with an eye toward 2016 when BoB will be in year three of his rebuild/retool process.
Ironically, aside from the use of tight ends and bootlegs, the current offense is looking much like the previous.
OK but this wasn't supposed to be a full rebuild. This team already had Watt, Hopkins, Foster, a good OL, plus the #1 pick. It wasn't like Kubiak coming to a team with Andre surrounded by a complete dumpster fire. What are your expectations for next year?
But you can't just completely ignore that this team was 2-14 in 2013. That did happen... regardless of the ultimate circumstances (and as many have pointed out, there were signs even as recent as the 12-4 season that things were not "all good"). There are depth/talent issues that are real... likely due to years and years of missed mid-round draft picks. Special teams gets affected by that. LB and safety talent has most definitely been affected by that. The #1 pick you mentioned missed all of last year... and the team still went 9-7 (which speaks volumes as to how valuable Watt is). People keep claiming "good OL"... when in reality, Brown is passed his prime, XSF hasn't even played (and they were thin at RG when he was drafted), Newton went from castoff to necessity in just one year, Chris Myers was on the way out (and still can't find a job), Ben Jones has switched positions... leaving Brandon Brooks as the only offensive lineman who is both young and playing up to expectations. To me, 9-7 was actually quite the record for last year... even when taking account of the easy schedule (as you then factor in the 4 different stating QB's that they had to overcome). Good/established teams chock-full of talent don't really have the depth issues this team is currently facing... they do have some hard-to-find pieces locked in, but this was/is by no means a complete team.
Really? I don't think so. The blocking schemes are entirely different which makes the run game look different. In fact, this is why I'm not in the "when Foster gets back..." camp because he excelled in the ZBS but this year's run game looks a lot like what BoB ran at Penn State. It appears to me that he's still looking for his type of lineman to run his offense so it's a work in progress. The injuries have not helped at all. Overall, if Mallet can keep the mistakes to a minimum and not turn over the football, the defense is good enough to keep them in games which gives them a chance to pull in some W's. This division is so bad that they really have a shot at making the playoffs if everything goes their way (and the internal civil war in Indy continues).
Nick, a lot of that 2-14 was a broken Schaub, I think. Getting average QB play in Fitz made a big difference. But putting that aside, do you think the 2-14 record is more indicative of the talent level than 9-7 from last year? If that's the case then we may need to be happy with 8-8 and give BOB two years after this one. But even so, BOB has had two years to make his moves. XSF was his pick. He decided to go with this OL. He decided to trade six picks for Nix and Strong instead of drafting OL. To be fair to BOB though, he isn't the one who gave terrible contracts to Cushing, Foster, and JJo. That's a lot of money tied up in not much production. Mercilus is this regime though
It's not so much as a total rebuild but more of a renovation into the type of team capable of running BoB's systems. IF Mallet works out as the starting QB and they improve the OL, I can easily see them make the jump up to 10 or even 11 wins. The defense will continue to get better as Romeo shuffles more of his type of players into the mix. The key has to be Mallet - he has to solidify the QB position else they'll spend another year looking for that guy which will mean another year of uncertainty at the QB position which will continue to set this team back. Also, they will be approaching decision time on what to do about Foster (keep him or move on) given his age and salary.
Obviously it is a different offense but it looks the same. Minimal output. Not much running game without Arian. A lot of short passes. Start the game trying to establish the run. Run for 2 yards on 3rd and 15. Throw the ball 5 yards when you need 8. Foster proved you wrong last year and in the preseason this year. Yes they can and should win games, especially the bad teams (TB, Jax, Ten, NO, Mia). They'll probably pull off wins against one or two average teams (NYJ, SD, Ind).
Minus the unpredictable Cushing injury, I think that was money well spent. Foster is this team's best offensive player and JJo is one of the top 3 defensive players.
Didn't Cushing get the contract after his first knee injury? JJo being your third best defensive player isn't great.
I don't think its that complicated. The Texans do have talented/highly paid players on the roster who perform relatively up to expectations... when healthy (maybe except for Cushing). Unfortunately they're not all healthy... and they have a sizable depth issue due to years of missed draft picks or other extenuating circumstances. Talent level isn't just about who your starters are... its about having able-bodies throughout the roster who can fill in and do the job just as well within your system. Every team loses players to injuries every year... the good teams plug/play pretty seamlessly... the mediocre/bad teams have depth issues. Last year was actually a relatively "healthy" year for both lines, Foster and half the secondary (although Swearinger, when healthy, was still a liability). They also had an easier schedule as mentioned... as they beat every bad team out there (and lost to every good team... minus Baltimore... who's now bad this year).
Right. And the first few games after that contract he was playing like a beast. Then he got injured again. JJo was a pro-bowler and is paid as the 3rd (arguably he was the 2nd best when signed) best defensive player on the team is just about right. Aside from players on their rookie contracts, who should have been getting paid more than him that wasn't?
I have said this before and will say it again this off season free agency and draft is huge for BOB. BOB is only in his 2nd year it takes longer than 2yrs to change the CULTURE and IDENTITY of a team. Last year was good for this team to having a winning season and come one game within the playoffs this year even a 8-8 season would be good for this team. It's year 3 when the turn around should really happen having 3 off seasons to really get the culture and identity of this team to where BOB wants it. 3 years for this coaching staff to really amp up this system and style of play. And 3 years for the players to REALLY get use to this system because I still see miscommunication and misunderstanding going on during the game. And with the cutting of bullock today BOB isn't on any hot seat or panicking but he's putting everybody on notice that he's not waiting for this turnaround to happen forever.
I'm not saying someone should be getting paid more, I'm saying we could use that money for depth. At the age of 31 we can't realistically expect him to be elite but were paying him like he should be
Well I agree with you. Which is why I'm alarmed they've thrown away so many picks over the last couple years.
I would google all the defensive backs who are inferior and are getting paid more but I'm too lazy. I don't think you risk your best DB and your 2nd or 3rd best defensive player walking just to get "depth".
I do find this comment to be funny, especially today in that it ignores that the Astros haven't made the playoffs in a decade and are currently in the process of choking away a possible playoff berth.
Right, the Astros have a crappy front office, have no young talent, and look like they will be mired in mediocrity a long time. The Texans are in a much better spot amirite
