I also think you HAVE to go qb with the first round pick. I'm hoping it's Bridgewater because I feel he will be the best of the bunch. I'd be upset with anything other than a qb, unless we traded back up for one. A new regime with a number one (possibly two) pick would be enticed way more if they were sold the opportunity to pick their qb of the future.
For all the people worried about Bridgewater's thin frame, go watch video of Randall Cunningham, who did alright for himself. And Bridgewater is not out making rushing attempts like a maniac, which will cut way down on injury opportunities. I hate to make the comparison since the overt obviousness of the fact that they are both "black quarterbacks", and they play pretty differently, but the first play I ever saw Bridgewater run was a roll out to the right where he threw a 35 yard rocket off of one foot on the move, and I felt deja vu. He looked exactly like Randall Cunningham.
Yeah most people aren't aware of that part of his game because he rarely runs but he definitely can run. If you just look at his stats you will be very unipressed but because they count sacks as negative runs his numbers are very deceptive. If you watch enough video you will be very surprised how well he runs , almost always for positive yards. he is quick but more surprising is how strong he is. Not an easy tackle. I would also add part of why he rarely runs is because he is fearless in the pocket. When others run he uses his feet to avoid the sack and buy more time to pass.
Aside from his awesome pocket presence, he's also able to roll off from both sides (right-left) which is a rare quality in a qb.
If we take him, we also need a veteran QB to start for a year or two, this team is not that far away. DD
Why? He's the type of pick that screams Texans. The other top options right now are Clowney and Barr. I don't see anyway McNair would go for Clowney. Bridgewater is a good guy on and off the field and very humble. The Texans are in desperate need at the QB position as well. He's got to be the front runner.
The new coach will have a lot of influence on how the draft pick is handled. I wouldn't rule out Clowney at all.
Not only a bad idea in principle, but take a look at whats available. http://overthecap.com/freeagents.php?Position=QB&Year=2014 Not just no, but hell no. It's gonna be Clowney or Bridgewater for us. Will depend entirely on the coach we hire, IMO.
I Tell. . . I a terrified that Schaub would be on this team next year I figure they take Clowney or trade down for more picks to fill more holes Rocket River
Anytime a player can't step on the field without getting booed his time is done in Houston. I don't think he wants back here either. Too many bridges have been burned during this ugly season. We need a QB that can bridge the gap created between the fans and players.. bad pun intended.
The question we have to ask ourselves is can we bring in a player (using the 3-4 million we save by cutting Schaub) that will positively affect the team as much as Schaub would as backup QB? I can't say yes for certain. Even if we draft a top rookie QB, it would be nice to have a capable backup to mentor him or step in should he get hurt. That's looking at the situation objectively, though. Unfortunately the situation is far more toxic than that. Schaub is a key reason why Kubiak lost his job and this team went in the s****er. Despite what he could bring as a backup, I doubt the fans want to see his bald head on the sidelines again. Not only that, but Schaub probably doesn't want to transition into the Kerry Collins/Matt Hasselbeck role at this point in his career. He probably wants a chance to start somewhere. So, the desire to end the relationship probably runs both ways. The problem is the contract gives Schaub all the leverage. Rick Smith really done goofed with the timing of that deal.
And the extensions given to Foster and Cushing - both of them done a year too early. No doubt, you want to lock up your core players, but they could have timed the deals better or made sure they were as cap friendly as possible. I think the Schaub deal was good as long as he played well for three years, the problem was we only got a 12-14 good games out of him over 2 years, and he (probably) won't see year 3. Both Foster and Cushing are now injury concerns with big cap numbers.
You cannot hold unforeseeable injuries against the Texans. Foster's contract might have been a little rich given that the RB is a dying breed, but since he's top 5 material, it's palatable. And Cushing's contract? I'd do it over again in a heartbeat. Extending Schaub prior to the 2013 offseason was dumb. The money was right, but the timing was so, so stupid given his injury and the lack of knowledge we had about him as a franchise centerpiece on a good team (i.e. what we found out in late 2012). If we had waited until the 2013 offseason to extend Schaub (or let him go), this team would be in a lot better shape financially. The 2013 season still would have been a trainwreck, but we'd be able to pull ourselves out of it a lot easier.
It was definitely the timing of the Schaub extension that puzzled me. High off the miami win and football being back I just dismissed it as an eventual decision they would've made. But how many guys are extended in week 1? Or maybe it could have been one of those deals where it was already done in the 2012 offseason but not announced until we got our first win.
Both Cushing and Schaub signed extensions coming off of injuries without seeing how they'd perform. That's the only problem I had with Cushing's extension. It is more unfortunate than incompetent.
He signed his contract September 3rd. After having gone through all of training camp and the pre-season. I think if he had lost anything, they would have noticed by then. I have zero problem with that contract or the timing of it.
