Moneyball is hardest to apply to football. Because there are simply way too many factors that goes into winning and losing. And stats mean the least in football among the 3 major sports(basketball stats are somewhat relevant while baseball stats measure players' worth the best). Not to mention the sample size nightmare that is the16 game season with unbalanced scheduling. But then again, Moneyball's basic idea is to find undervalued talent. And in a league with a hard cap, finding cheap talent is damn useful. Unfortunately, not a skill the Texans know about.
Kevin Walter fits that mold. Billy Beane's focus was drafting proven collegiate talent with a high baseball IQ and a strict eye at the plate (the ability to draw a walk was a huge factor during his scouting process), further developing those player during their brief stint with Oakland (in which they were still receiving minimum pay), and then ship those players off for young talent in return to a big market (BOS, NY, CHI) before they were able to demand more $ and most likely depart Oakland... and the cycle begins all over again. The Texans have struck out on a number of prospects, but we've also drafted plenty of high IQ, efficient football players over the years, and not necessarily had to put a serious dent in our pocket: Zac Diles, David Anderson, Owen Daniels (he was initially a huge bargain, but he's now receiving much more $) Steve Slaton (he's playing for the league minimum). Also, you do realize that Shaun Cody and Dan Orlovsky are both making more than DeMeco Ryans this year...
Just because the Texans strike gold on "some" players doesn't make them good at finding hidden gems. You can find such players on every other team. The Texans are basically a .500 team. So we're not exactly inept on the level of Detroit or Oakland. But we're also not finding talent on par with the perennial playoff teams either. Also, the names you listed except Anderson are all on their rookie contracts. That's pretty pointless in terms of salary comparison. Phillyrocket made a pretty good list at the crap that Texans threw tons and tons of money at.
While Morey may not be a football expert at this point, I would almost guarantee that if you gave him some time to study the game and how teams are run, he would build a winner. The guy is just too smart and too good at what he does NOT to succeed.
