He's not the best but he's not the worst. He's had to make some tough decisions, letting Mario go seemed to leave money on the table to pay Barwin but then Watt happened and they couldn't afford to pay both so they let him walk. He should have slapped the phone out of McNair's hands when Bob called Ed Reed's agent, Glover Quinn is a stud (and a Pro Bowler smh) but that was a McNair signing and Smith shouldn't have to take the blame for that. Plus you could argue that he balanced out the lack of impact players in the '14 draft class with impact street FA like Jumal Rolle, Ryan Pickett, Jason Ankrah, John Simon, Daryl Morris and Damaris Johnson. Either way this team was a torn peck and a broken leg away from making noise in the playoffs. Give Smith a break, he's doing a good job. I don't think he needs to be fired, he and O'Brien have improved this team. We're a long way from a superbowl but we're not as far as some of you are behaving we are, the sky is not falling in Houston
Being old, I've learned one thing. You try and be smart and make good decisions but sometimes the whims of fate just make you look stupid. for example: before the Ed Reed signing, the Texans D was playing pretty well but they were very deficient in turning the ball over. Ed Reed was a Hall-Of Fame turnover machine, we had to bid high and let talent go to get him to boost our turnover ratio. It seemed like a real coup to get him. Then when he got here and got his guaranteed money, he just didn't give a s***. What looked to be a great move, in hindsight looks stupid. My guess is they paid Cushing to set the tone for the entire defense. Dude was a maniac, in the gym, in practice and on the field. But now JJ is the example for the entire team and Cush's value is only his playing level. Schaub? I don't know, I think that was just stupid but I guess they were valuing him in the market that paid Matt Ryan and Joe Flacco.
I still wish we could have hired Munchak. Maybe this means we can make another run? But I guess he's pretty happy right now coaching in the state he went to college in. Good for him, but sucks for us!
Bruce Mathews might be a possibility. It would not surprise me if OBie saw an upgrade available (from a fired coach's staff).
Talkin about Brian Ferentz. And I believe they'll circle back to him. Brown, Myers, and Brooks all regressed this season. That can not continue.
Yeah, most of what I listed was probably unfair to Rick because he wasn't involved in it or I ms-typed some things, but I still don't think he deserves a pass from everything. Obviously, It's a bit too early to judge the entire 2014 draft Class, but I still had a sour taste in my mouth from it. I mean, I wasn't expecting stars at every position selected, but I at least expected some impact from the draft. Last year's included. Instead, our #1 pick's rookie season was marred with injuries, Sua-Filo (A guy we took instead of a QB for more of an instant impact) had a mostly inconsistent and down rookie season, (albeit he shifted around pretty much every position on the line). C.J. and the whole TE group provided little impact expect for C.J.'s 1 Arian touchdown. Louis was also supposed to be a steal, but the jury is still written out on him and the same could be said for Tom, Pagan, and Prosch. Blue surprised me with his talent and hopefully can continue to improve and Hal showed some flashes as well, and I'm not sure what Ballentine has to offer yet. I guess I can understand why you don't feel Smith should be fired, but at the same time I just find it very frustrating to have so little impact from 14' and 13' draft class. Also, I don't really consider Damarius, Rolle, Ankrah, Pickett, Simon, and Morris impact players (well, Morris and Simon are pretty good situation role players). To me, they are mostly quick patches and flash moment players. I don't think their signings should defer any criticism Rick should receive from the draft.
Have the Texans ever moved up in the draft? I can't recall them ever doing this; is that rare among organizations to NEVER trade up?
Pancakes just retweeted that Tamba Hali may be getting cut. Would prob excell in this system and has a good history with Romeo. Would love him, but he might be alittle too expensive
I expected this. He was only hired because the Texans whiffed on Munchak and Ferentz and by the time those two rejected the Texans' offer, it was late in the game and there weren't many guys left. Paul Dunn was the least ugly girl left in the bar at closing time. He was OK for a season, but they know they needed somebody better going forward.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Source confirms that Jets OL coach Mike Devlin has accepted same position with Houston, as <a href="https://twitter.com/alexmarvez">@alexmarvez</a> said. Had a yr left on Jets contract.</p>— Rich Cimini (@RichCimini) <a href="https://twitter.com/RichCimini/status/553538951055953920">January 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Can’t tell you how excited I am that Mike Devlin is the new offensive line coach for Texans. Huge upgrade w/ very sharp man taking over.</p>— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) <a href="https://twitter.com/LanceZierlein/status/553542013715353600">January 9, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> Don't know much about him, but the Jets had a good rushing attack.