I absolutely agree with that last sentence, but to me it’s a safe bet. As for the first part. Almost every person in the Deshaun thread says O’Brien has held him back and not taught him anything. He’s put up solid numbers on his own. When he was having trouble with reads and decision making (this year and previous) it was how do you expect him to improve with OB. But now he’s strung some good games together and it’s he’s been progressing all along? It doesn’t make sense. Deshaun is still not elite, he’s in that second tier that is gaining more possible peers. But he’s getting paid like it, I just don’t think they’ll be able to build around him. Need too much and the cap is bad right now.
I don't believe all QB's succeed regardless of their situation. The fact that Watson is doing what he's doing, with zero running game, coaching instability, no true elite receivers, an inconsistent line... Luck had to retire because he couldn't survive the rigors of being a starting NFL QB. Its not "easy".
Mahomes is the outlier nor has it been proven he can win a championship taking up more than 15% of the cap. Do you think Watson has the same talent level as Mahomes? If so that's where we disagree Watson is a talented player but Mahomes is a generational player. Brady has never taken up more than 15% of the cap.
Luck made it to the AFCCG with OL issues and no running game to speak of. (Dominick Rhodes ring a bell? (I didn't think so) Hilton was his WR1 and I would be willing to say both WFV, Cooks are on the same level as Hilton.
You brought up that there has never been a high paid QB that won... I merely refuted that. If you don't think Watson deserves to get paid market value for his performance/talent, that's your opinion. The contract values on all these extensions will always be going up. After nearly 20 years of not having a top tier QB, if you think they should have just let him become a free agent, I guess you're entitled to your opinion... but its a dumb one.
Winning a flukeish comeback against KC... while the Texans gave up a flukeish comeback to KC. Comparable,.
I just looked it up. No QB has won a championship taking more than 13.2 % of cap space. (Steve Young in 1994 the first yr of the cap) Do you believe Watson is the QB that can break that trend? I dont. Mahomes maybe but that would be the only guy I would bet on breaking the trend.
A better college QB and is more highly rated coming into the NFL. But you're right time will tell. BTW, I think Lawrence will be really good, will he be on the Mahomes/Rodgers/Bray level? Who knows.
Do you believe the Texans should have not given him an extension? Do you believe they should have traded him before this year and looked for another QB as you previously suggested you would automatically do if a QB doesn't win within their first 4 years? The premise that a QB needs to win within his first 4 years to give the team the only chance to with a title is asinine... with the exception of a few special cases (Mahomes, Watson, Luck among them), young QB's do not succeed right off the bat. And even if they show some abilities early, there's almost always a regression once the league gets film on them... and then they have to stay healthy (see Wentz, Carr, and the host of middle tier QB's that were once early MVP candidates).
26 years suggests this isn't an asinine thought. Watson isn't on the same level as Mahomes or for that matter Luck when he was playing. IMHO
So you don’t think the Texans should have extended him. 20 years of searching for a legit QB, and you’re done before year 4.
They should have extended him, I’m not sure I would have went that high. I don’t have a problem with that really, I just don’t think it fits with the projection of this team.
But you understand that is not what Cal told a national writer right? That seemed like the perfect opportunity to layout your plan moving forward, especially if it is as concrete as you and McClain are making it out to be. He almost told Schefter the exact opposite really. And if Easterby isn’t going to be part of any personnel decisions, why would Cal let the new GM solely decide his fate? Seems strange that Cal would let a brand new GM hire decide whether to fire or keep someone that wouldn’t be working with him directly.
"Let's draft a QB, find out he's a top 10 QB in the NFL by literally every metric, but trade him away once it's time to resign him and take another gamble that we will find a QB just as good cause if we pay him too much we won't be able to compete for a SB
You should maybe check that Playoff run. Colts beat a depleted Bengals team that always loses in the Playoffs and then against the Broncos the Colts defense won them the game. Luck had 2 TDs and 2 INTs that game. The Colts d held the Broncos and Peyton Manning to 13 points. If the Texans held the Chiefs to 13 points Watson would be playing in the AFCCG too.
