Uhhh...I haven't seen Hageman mocked below like number 40. We may and I mean may be able to switch Mwttenberger for Hageman. I still think that unless we have good indication we can get one of the best four qbs (Bridgewater, Manziel, Bortles, Carr) in the second round, I think we have to draft a qb in the first round. I still think there's a good chance we could land one of these guys in the second.
And his big payday in the NFL will come on his second contract, not his first. So even if you 100% buy-in to the idea that he was playing it safe and being smart... what's to stop him from Operation: Shutdown II in 4-5 years?
It worried me too, until I realized that probably 98% of professional athletes are "paycheck players". The beyond-human athlete that also lives and breathes his sport is, at best, a once every 5-10 years kind of exception. The fact that the dude would have gone #1 overall last year pretty much erases every concern I have about his senior season. There may be another JJ Watt floating around in this draft, but damned if any of us know who that is right now. Until then, I'd rather have the guy with transcendent physical ability and a crappy attitude over a guy with a good attitude and mediocre skills.
Oh, i think it's 100%. But most of them are smart enough to hide it. I didn't see Teddy B, or Sammy Watkins or Jake Matthews half-ass the season. In fact, I can't remember a college player ever so blantantly playing for an NFL paycheck.
I can't remember a college player ever being the consensus #1 pick a year before he was eligible for the draft.
Seconded. If he or Ryan Shazier is there at the top of the second, I'll be giddy. I seriously doubt that either will be there. Hageman is among the top handful of athletes in the draft.
Not a damn thing. And I might even expect him to take it down a notch or two after landing his first big FA deal. That's by far the norm in pro sports, especially the NFL. If not life in general. But like I've already said before, if you can guarantee me 4-5 years of ass-kickin', I'll sign up for it. That's far more than most teams get out of their 1st round picks. We can reevaluate before Contract II: Electric Boogaloo. If he has to go the way of Mario Williams, so be it. It's not what people want to hear, but I think it's a more realistic/practical approach.
It won't take 20 years... If the Texans draft Clowney and pass up on an elite wide receiver in Watkins _ we will all know they screwed the pooch in their 1st year... Pass rushers are important but pass rushers are easy to find.
That was not supposed to be in defending the fact that QB is the #1 need for this team. Just in refernce to him saying pass rushers were easy to find. I still think we need to trade down for some extra picks to hopefully fill the QB (Manziel or TB) and fill pass rush, RT, saftey, etc with the next few picks.
Here's a nearly year-old mock draft (so old, the Texans are picking 26th) - you're going to see a lot of familar names (including the #2 pick...)... but only one went Derek Bell on us. Clowney is far from the first elite prospect who had to play an extra year of college football. I have a feeling we won't be having this same conversation about Jameis Winston next year, for instance. Big difference - Mario Williams received a giant rookie contract; Clowney won't. Oh, he'll be paid handsomely, of course. But nothing compared to his second deal. Do you really want to draft a guy who'll have his eye on that second deal from the word go?
I just meant that as a joke. Some people think that 100% of the Texans problems last year were the QB.
Yes, I knew where you were going, just wanted to point out my opinion. We have so many holes to fill and it's not happening via FA this year at least so we need as many picks as we can get.
Rick Smith, Kubiak, Wade = The F Up Crew... But did you see the pass rushers that were just on the free agent market...??? And Seattle got their best two pass rushers off the free agent market last year... So there you go.
And we are getting our best off the FA market? Again, too many holes to take Watkins #1 overall, trade down to fill multiple spots.
I take this as anecdotal. Clowney was the universal #1 pick. Bridgewater and Manziel and so forth were anything but that. They had to prove themselves, and still do. Why do you think everytime someone sticks a mic in their face, those guys are telling everyone why they should be #1? Clowney? Not so much. Care to name a few consensus #1 overall picks who have had to wait a year? None come to mind. QB vs LB. You think thats an apples to apples comparison, or do I need to explain why it's not? Um, absolutely I do. I want him thinking about deal #2 constantly. You think someone is going to take a whole year off in the NFL when he has a contract coming due? LOL. It's not the draft all over again. There is no wage scale for free agents. Low production = low pay. If he wants to shut 'r down after contract #2 so he can milk out his non-guaranteed money, then fine, let that be someone else's problem. But I'll take those awesome first 4 years k thnx.
There's a pretty solid record of that type of guy only really being motivated in the final year before the next payday. Generally, if they were able to operate the way you describe, they would not have been labeled as having motivational issues in the first place.
