The Texans GM let the right side of the line leave in free agency and had 2+ years to fix it, and didn't. That is a real issue. It took the Texans what, 5 years to fix the #2 receiver? That doesn't include the wasted picks at the position like Posey. The Texans spent a 2nd rounder on a RB when they already had Foster and other pressing needs. I would give Smith a "B-" on the draft....... but his real problem is when it comes to negotiating contracts and the strategy involved.... he has been really, really bad.
Evidently it was McNair who wanted Reed so he could bring in his toughness and experience. Evidently Mercilious was a Wade Phillips guy. Holding onto Schaub and requesting him to get an extension was on Kubiak. If this is the case what the hell does Rick Smith do anyway? Sounds to me like he's just a puppet for the coaches and owner.
i have to go but there is a lot more savageable about this team. the cardinals are a good team and so are the seahawks, yes losses but very competitive games. they just have a few tweaks to make and a few contracts to let expire
He is a puppet... which is why he may survive this whole ordeal... "it wasn't me! it was the coaches!" In reality, his being a puppet, while he's supposed to be the guy "in charge", is part of the problem... no accountability because nobody will claim the most responsibility. Also, when it comes to "fixing" things, he has not had a good track record. Also, fwiw, he was big on the Mercilus pick... and it doesn't look like he makes a big enough impact thus far to claim it was a "good" one.
So are the Chargers (who should have beaten this team), so are the Titans (who should have beaten this team), so are the Ravens (who are mediocre... but still handled this team easily).... You have to consider how salvageable the players would be in a DIFFERENT system. The ZBS masks some of the physical weaknesses of our smallish center (who gets paid at a high level), and our fragile RB. Mercilus and Reed are only asked to rush the QB in this system... on any other team, their lack of overall skills could get further exposed. Kareem is undisciplined, and un-talented.... and lacks good CB instincts. He does perform head-to-head hits better than most CB's. So, we have holes on O-line, D-line, LB's are all mediocre, secondary is easily replaceable, and special teams as a whole is a joke.
Way too early on Mercelus to say it was a blown pick. There are several more blatant examples of Smith whiffing on high draft picks. Quite frankly, right now Brooks Reid looks like a worse pick than Merculus does.
Well, they're only a year apart... and Reed had more of an impact his rookie season than Mercilus did last year. Both don't seem to have much of a ceiling in a system other than Wade's... and neither is flourishing in Wade's system to begin with.
If I remember correctly, Tate was chosen while Slaton was still here, and was injured during preseason his rookie year. Foster was on the practice squad and won the starting job out of camp that season when Tate was out.
Merculus had 6 sacks and 2 forced fumbles last year starting 4 games (and he barely played early in the season) This year he has 4.5 (and that was early...hasn't done anything the last few weeks). Compare that to Brooks Reed who had 6 sacks his rookie year, 2.5 last year, and 1 this year. Can you say, "bust"!
Brooks Reed was taken in the 2nd and Merculus in the 1st. Reed needs to be gone next season regardless if we stick with the 3-4, and Merculus's play has been mediocre for the position. Similar production to what a good GM could get in the 3rd or 4th round.
Both mediocre. I don't think its too early on Mercilus. OLB is not a position that typically needs "development". The fact is he doesn't do what he was supposedly "good" at... rushing the passer. Don't get me started about his coverage ability or his run stopping ability (or lack thereof).
I think its beyond time for Kubiak to go. One of the first things that come to mind were his poor choices of Richard Smith and Frank Bush as D-Coordinators. It took the hiring of Wade Phillips to turn Kubiak into a winning head coach. One of the first things Wade did was in practice, he had his D-line put their hands up in order to bat down passes. Up until Wade's hiring, Kubiak didn't allow the D-lineman to bat down passes at the line of scrimmage. It was Kubiak's way of scouting his offense in practice. Now I'm not 100% sold on Rick Smith as the GM, but I think he has done far better in his job than Kubiak has done in his. Extending Schaub, signing Ed Reed and drafting Sam Montgomery are marks against his resume for sure. But what about the drafting of Watt, Hopkins, Graham, Swearinger and signing the Ninja and JJo? Remember when most everyone wanted the Texans to sign Nnamdi Asomugha? Well once Rick Smith figured out Nnamdi was just using the Texans as leverage for a better deal elsewhere, he quickly turned his attention to signing Joseph AND Manning for the same $$$ as Asomugha. That was a very smart move. He deserves credit for that. Also remember, Smith doesn't manage the cap. That would be Chris Olsen, VP of football administration and "capologist." Smith makes the decision to pull the trigger on the player, and Olsen's job is to fit them under the cap.
Would any decent coach want Kubiak's job if it meant being saddled with the same front office? Clean House.
Um...bro, Smith would have bit on Nnamdi like Philly did if he didn't spurn us. How does he get credit for signing his second choice because his 1st choice didn't want to play here? You're reaching. And sure Schaub, Reed, and Montgomery were bad decisions, but how about blowing an early 1st rounder on Okoye? How about all of the missed 1st, 2nd, and 3rd round picks? If you want to give Smith credit for Watt....perhaps that pick doesn't get made if Phillips wasn't just brought in and had a huge hand in that draft. Lack of corner depth despite drafting lots of DBs; huge holes in the linebacking corp; problems on the right side of our o-line.... Rick Smith is an average to slightly above average GM. He's had 7 years to build a super bowl team and we've only won 2 games this year. That's not all on Kubiak. Smith shares some of the blame. It's time to clean house and start anew.
yes the personnel is bad. You couldn't draft a DB to save your life so you blew your cap on free agents. You failed in the most important acquisition on an NFL team when you invested in Schaub, your high round draft pick OLBs are failing and the big name free agent was a bust before a regular season game was ever played. You don't get much credit for finding the right band aid for the mess you created. They found a little bit of success and couldn't hold it together at all.
Or maybe some guys would look better in a different system than they do now. I find it hard to believe everyone on the team is perfectly and only suited to play in Wade Phillip's system. This is the same stuff we heard about switching to a 3-4 and how we had so many holes and we'd have to rebuild the whole defense and it took all of one offseason for them to go from horrible to great.
If you are going to go with "should haves" then you need to include that the Texans should have beaten the Seahawks and Colts.
You would think McNair would fire Kubiak regardless of how many more games the Texans win, but I suspect Sleepy Head is looking for a reason to bring him back, so I'm officially rooting for them to lose every remaining game.
Sort-of... except that both losses were very similar in fashion, and are often experienced by "bad" teams. I think its easier to say our wins were more "flukeish" than our losses.
The bottom line is that this organization could do better than Rick Smith. Does anybody expect him to land another GM job if he's let go from here? His track record includes being Kubiak's lackey, and now appears to include throwing the coaches under the bus to save himself. Kubiak will catch on as an OC somewhere (if he wants), and will likely get another HC job if he has success.
