Nobody said that. It's the same as its always been since 2014: Rick runs the draft and controls the 53. But in this draft, O'Brien didn't travel/scout players for the first time since he came here. All I know is Rick doesn't want him here. Scouts. Jon Carr/Ryan Cavanaugh and I'm pretty sure Bob Merritt. Mancz would've been drafted but had major shoulder injury predraft. Rick runs the draft. O'Brien is close with Brian Kelly, but Martin's pedigree was well established. His question was his knee. So good offense = players; bad defense/36 points allowed = O'Brien; player talent level = O'Brien if they aren't good, and Rick if they play well. Got it. No, no... Watson freelanced that offense that maximizes his skillset.
If the rapid growth we see in Watson continues, O'Brien will be here for a long time. They seem to be complimenting each other well - let's hope this continues to blossom into a great combo.
Even in a blow out game like this, Bob was caught on camera furious and talking to himself "fork me" twice today. First is right at half time, which obviously he thought that pick was "on him". And the second one is more hilarious, in garbage time, after Savage went into the game and somehow Bob wanted to call a passing play in second down in that situation and Savage got sacked, and obviously he was embarrassed to even call such play to begin with.
I’m sure that’s right up there with why did the Patriots continue to play a past-prime Drew Bledsoe... and only till he got severely injured did they actually make a move. Sometimes, things just work out... despite original intentions.
That's a totally different situation. A past-prime Drew Bledsoe at least had proven himself to his own organisation what he can do in the past. Coming into this season, what had Savage done for this franchise so far and proved himself? ZERO. Nothing. So basically it is the responsibility of Bob to determine whose better for this franchise moving forward and WIN NOW (otherwise he will not switch to Watson after 2 quarters). He should have zero consideration about Savage's pass record for this franchise, if he did, then its a failure. Either way, this decision (which after the whole training camp preparation) is a major failure and there is no ways to cover around it. Its not about Watson's success, its about how a coach made this decision 2 quarters into the season to prove himself wrong.
That’s why Brady was on a bench for a season and a half. Watson was only on the bench for half of the first game. You’re continuing to fall for what BOB says in the press conferences as if its gospel... pretty clear he was not as attached to Savage as he.was letting on, and all of training camp and actual game situations helped promote that. Plenty of people wanted Watson to watch/observe this year... plenty of experts in here thought he was nowhere close to ready. The only ones who could have somewhat envisioned this was Watson himself and maybe BOB’s subconscious when he first made the move... but even in their wildest dreams, nobody is expecting a rookie to have games like this from day one.
Well, then look lets look at this thing from another angel. Like you said, nobody is expecting a rookie to have game like this and I think its fair to say that we can all agree Watson's progress is exceeding all of our expectations. But what if he isn't, and what if he was pretty slow in development and even got hurt in his first few games, will that "result" only be used to evaluate if this team should keep Bob moving forward? Instead of the first week QB decision?
I think you can argue any side you want to support an anti-BOB stance, depending on the result. As Watson has had major success right away, the angle can be "he's an idiot since he didn't start him from game 1". If he fails or gets hurt initially, its "he's an idiot since he's a rookie that has no business being in there!" My stance is that BOB obviously was impressed with what he was able to do throughout training camp and pre-season. He didn't wait long to make a move. Did he expect this now, this fast? No... but its not like this is last year when he finally went to Savage late in the year over an obviously sub-par Osweiler. Sure, if you want to hold that first half decision against BOB, have at it. He'll be judged by the entire season... and then some going forward... which will hopefully dwarf the first half of the Jacksonville game (which was a total team loss, btw... can't believe they let Bortles beat them like that).
Scenario 1 : Savage sucked really bad and the Texans went 0-3, and then Bob decided to start Watson at game 4 and had a performance like this, I would like to think that most people will give Bob some credits (including myself) for the 3 extra weeks of development on Watson. Scenario 2 : Savage sucked really bad and the Texans went 0-3, and then Bob decided to start Watson at game 4 and Watson did not perform well at all, I think most rational people will be willing to give some extra time, even the whole season and understand that it will take time and pain to develop a QB. You see? in both scenarios, Bob will actually get more credits but the end result may not be the best. Why I think this is a really bad coaching decision - pulling Savage after 2 Q (not because the result is the best scenario and it worked out the best for this franchise)? It is about his ability to evaluate the players and get this team prepared and performed at the best. No doubt, Bill Belichick also got lucky on Tom Brady, without Brady, I don't see he can win any of those championships. But, it is not just about how you get lucky, it is about how you can make the best decisions to take advantage of it as a coach.
I have no idea why you’re putting this much thought process into your mythical scenarios. Like I said, if you want to fire BOB now for starting Watson “too late”, begin (or continue) your campaign. In most people’s analysis, he had confidence in Watson, but was reluctant to start a rookie over anybody (Savage included)... but that quickly changed with a combination of bad Savage and Watson able to perform better behind a bad o line. Sometimes, things just work out fortuitously. Worked for the Patriots. Had the Texans not played a really stout d/line in Jacksonville (that really exposed the worst of this line) so early, who knows? Game performance, and game situations, are everything. You can’t simulate them in training camp no matter how hard you try.
Just like that: it's now objectively unlikely that O'Brien isn't our coach next season. Deshaun had interesting comments on his relationship with the head coach today, most notably how valuable it is. It's very, very simple. If you have a QB, you look like a much better coach than if you don't.
Too early to say. We're 2-2. What if watson plays well but we end up .500 and don't win the division? T
Whether Bob will be fired or not, most likely will be determined by the records of the Texans this year rather than any "campaign". I am just pointing out that he is not a good coach. More people will get upset and nick pick on him on every single details if the Texans will lose a game and will also give him more credits than he deserves when we will win. That's normal. Its not about him starting Watson too early or too late, its about how the team got prepared under him and how he will evaluate the players.