Good point but I'm not entirely convinced that Kubiak would have even drafted the "Chosen One". He'd have probably gone after Leinart or Cutler because they fit in the traditional QB role more so than the young Jedi Vince.
this has always been at the crux of my carr defense: i find it very hard to believe ANY decent coach/talent evaluator would have determined carr was toast *at that point* in his career. kubiak had four years of film: the 2002 season, in which he showed promise as a rookie on an expansion team; the 2003 season, in which he got hurt, but definitely showed growth on a second-year team; the 2004 season, in which he was pro bowl-bound after 8 games and finished the season as one of the the better QBs in the league, if not top 10; the 2005 season when he - and the team - fell off a cliff. meanwhile, he's seeing a poor OL, few gamebreakers, a miserable offensive system... i'm telling you, it's easy *now* to say, "blah" - and i know a lot of people then were saying, "blah" - but i just can't believe kubiak looked at the film and didn't see promise and hope. the one thing kubiak could not have known - and i think it was ultimately carr's undoing - was his commitment to football. if ever had one, and i have no idea - i think it's pretty obvious that by 2006, it had been snuffed out. but that's something kubiak wouldn't have known until he got into a camp. by then, it was too late. but kubiak has been too good evaluating talent to be so completely wrong about carr. physically. didn't schaub look very... carr-like yesterday? all of us who screamed, "it's not just carr! look at their (lack of) playmakers! look at their OL! look at their defense!" weren't merely excusing david carr - there's something to it.
If Schaub does that for 2 seasons straight, I think you'll be on to something! (i'm just kidding...i REALLY don't wanna have that discussion again! )
believe me, i don't, either. but it does underscore, i think, that there's still a lot of work to do with the texans, and that most QBs - even the great ones - are generally only as good as the team around them.
Disagree. You do what's right for the team now, regardless of what transpired before. And, IMO, it's been a pretty good philosophy (though I'd like to see better RBs): draft well (VERY well), build the defense, patch the many holes until some actual talent can be accumulated.
And that's what concerns me because if he really looked the film objectively, he'd have seen one Sage Rosenfels who was more than ready to take over. Carr by that time was clearly on the decline and had become increasing skittish because all of those hits had gotten to him mentally and once that happened, he was for all intents finished as a franchise player. That's why I thought the best move in 2006 was to go after the rookie QB because there were some good ones available in that draft. But I suspect that Kubiak engaged in sheer hubris with the decision to keep Carr because after all, look at what he'd done for Jake Plummer. If that is truly what he saw, then it was short-lived because if memory serves, Kubiak looked like he had soured on DC by the 3rd or 4th game. You will recall how the stories then began to circulate about how the coaching staff was "unhappy" with everything from Carr's happy feet in the pocket to his "attitude". Yeah, you may recall that I remarked that Carr sounded more like a surfer than an NFL QB with fire in his belly - judging by his public comments. That's just the point: to me he simply didn't look at the total picture. All he saw was the physical Carr with the size and arm strength to be a top-flight QB. He didn't look at the Carr who'd been sacked 200+ times nor did he look at the Carr who'd been coached to do stupid things to compensate for a non-existent OL (like throw over ladders). That's the Carr he really was dealing with and not that other pretty one. Hey, to me you were preaching to the choir. Everyone wanted to tar Carr with blame for the previous teams when it was clearly due to forces that were beyond his control. Kubiak and Smith have done a pretty good job so far but they continue to gamble (and lose) on players like Green, Brown and Reeves and that disturbs me greatly. Also, at this point in time, I can see no real difference between Schaub and Sage as they look almost interchangeable to me. Schaub looks like a backup QB who's not quite ready yet from prime time while Sage is a backup QB. And Kubiak's decision to ignore all evidence to the contrary from last year and depend on Green once more smacks of the same thinking that led to the Carr decision. Once again, he passed up some good players in the draft to bring back AG to man the key portion of their offense strategy. And as vital as the run is to this offense, that's a decision that has me most suspicious - it's almost as if they wanted to have a built-in excuse for when their offense flounders this season (now that's cynical!). I predict that until they show that they can run the ball (and that's going to require someone other than AG), Schaub will continue to look more and more "Carr-like" as the season progresses.
I agree with you except for the part about patching with leaky patches which is what they've been doing. They simply don't have that luxury to continue to pick up guys like those in the hope that a change of scenery will cure what ails them. Another disappointing season and they both will most probably be facing a make-or-break 2009 season with their jobs on the line.
It should be make-or-break now and we need to get Jack Pardee's phone number (he doesn't use e-mail) - he's going to have some work to do next spring!
that’s a bit of a stretch; the book on rosenfels was much shorter, and less distinguished, than carr’s prior to the 2006 season. if you want to argue they shouldn’t have dealt for schaub because they already hade rosenfels, i think that’s certainly fair game, especially given the price they paid for schaub. but rosenfels was a career 28-year old back-up in 2006. again, three years of natural ascension versus a single year in which the entire team fell off a cliff. i didn’t believe then (nor do i believe now, looking back at it) that ANYTHING was clear. and thinking a former first overall pick might be salvageable with a better coach, system and team is not out of the question. IMO, this is like arguing mclane should rebuild: it ain’t gonna happen. kubiak has been a head coach for three years; in that short timeframe, he’s passed on young, leinart and cutler to resign carr, and passed on quinn to deal for schaub: it’s fairly obvious he prefers a QB with NFL experience to a rookie. i’m not dismissing your point; it’s valid. then again, kubiak had just resurrected a QB with a similar track record in plummer… to not have it mentally – or, more specifically, to have lost it mentally – is a far easier fix that not having (or losing) it physically. they had 4 pressing needs this offseason: RB, OT, DE, DB. that’s a lot of pressing needs and it’s nearly impossible to fill them all – successfully - in a single offseason. my guess (hope) is that, given the relatively short shelf-life of a RB, they’ve made it the 4th of 4 priorities; get everyone else in place and make RB the final piece of the puzzle. i Do agree this band-aid approach is worrisome. but I think, when the time is right, they’ll go get themselves a top-flight back.
this has never been and never will be a factor. money talks. period. one of the worst franchises in football, who lost their QB to jail and had their head coach quit in the middle of the night, lured the far and away best running back on the free agent market away from one of the nfl's better teams to come play in one of the worst sports cities in america. meanwhile, the far and away best cornerback on the free agent market walked away from the far and away best, most successful franchise in the NFL to go play for a good, not great team in a tough division. why? money, money, money... there is NOTHING the texans can do to scare away free agents, unless mcnair forgets where he put his wallet.
Mcnair will never forget his wallet he just won't let the prisoners run the league after looking at the schedule it's a tough season but I still see 11-5 leave us all not forget that last year had the defense held up against NE that game could have been a win Jags can be beat with a health Watson. Titans and Colts should be wins Denver won't compete this year. Mia,NY,and the jets all should be wins.
flash forwarding to a season later, 2009: people say Kubiak is pretty laid back but he cursed that rookie Aryan Foster? like no other. Foster won't even make the squad.