Noone outside the organization is supposed to know what they are doing before the draft. It's called not showing your card. Consider the fact that with most players on IR than any other team, a mediocre quarter back, even worse o line, no playmakers, and a below average secondary that they increased the win total by 4. You don't show your hand. Brady Quinn is an okay pick if he's there. I don't see what all the hype is about him tho, honestly. If you draft smart, things will fall into place.
Look up mediot in the dictionary, and you'll find a picture of our boy Richard Justice. It's one thing to question an organization's decisions, but Dick can't find the middle ground--they're either the second coming of sliced bread or all utterly incompetent. Prediction: in a few months, we'll see a Dick Justice column that contradicts this one almost point-for-point. Worst. Sports section. Ever.
And the sad thing is that people who normally see that he's full of **** are starting to buy into his drivel.
so sad. justice has written good stuff about the astros' organization before that i'm sure you agree with. it's the back-and-forth stuff...the flip-floppping that drives me crazy with him. but i agree with his opinion on this.
It's hard to take seriously any criticism that ignores every position but quarterback and doesn't look at the rest of the team. To me, it's possible the Texans have learned (and rightfully so, imo) that a QB is usually as good as the talent around him. The list of QBs to be successful with good talent and not successful with bad talent is pretty long. Maybe they learned that it's best to try and build up the OL and running game before you determine the QB picture, which imo is one of the key lessons we should take out of the last five years. As much as certain simplistic sports journalists hate to admit it, football is more complicated than a one-on-one game based on the strength of each team's QB. There are lots of other factors, and it seems like the Texans are choosing to address those first. To me, that's the right course.
As is the list of failed teams with good talent but a bad QB. It seems just as hard to take any analysis of the team seriously that doesn't discuss the QB position. It's almost like people are saying "well, we suck anyway, so why bother trying to improve the QB position?" Unless you plan to have your other talent suck in perpetuity, fixing the QB problem is part of the improvement process.
I'm not saying it's not relevant to discuss it. I'm saying it's not the only thing to discuss. There are other issues with similar importance, and they have to be addressed as well. It doesn't make sense to compromise your ability to fill those holes by trading multiple picks to trade up (it'd probably take the second rounder this year just to move up from 8 to 6) unless you're convinced the QB you're getting is all but a sure thing to be great.
Cat, you really make a good point here but you have to know that come fall when they trot out Carr at the QB spot one more time the spotlight will shine brightest on him and his level of play. Carr will be Carr and once that happens, we'll start getting the VY - DC weekly comparisons along with a fresh rehash of the Texans' 2006 draft (what could they have possibly been thinking?) from the talking heads in the media who will take every opportunity to pontificate on their (Texans) misfortunes. And they will do so with glee.
I know and expect it, but most of the sports media are simplistic amateurs looking to stir up controversy. I hope the Texans don't make moves to appease them. Make moves based around a solid long-term vision for the entire team... not just one position... which clearly, they didn't do five years ago.
I tend to agree that Quinn is not worth trading up for - I think both Quinn and Russell are way overrated and are just top QB's by default this year. That said, I think the logic he used is fairly sound. If the Texans are wanting to draft Quinn at #8, they're basically saying they believe he will be a franchise-changing star quarterback. If you believe that, you should be willing to trade away a 3rd or 4th round pick to get him. You can find 3rd round pick quality players in free agency - you can't find superstar QB's nearly as easily. A franchise QB would affect the franchise a whole lot more than whoever you picked in the 3rd or 4th round (that's what I'm assuming it would take to move up).
That's really underestimating it. When Cleveland moved up one spot three years ago to acquire Kellen Winslow Jr. (from 7 to 6, I believe), it cost them their second rounder. We'd be moving further (from 8 to at least 6) for a supposed "franchise" quarterback... the cost would likely be this year's second rounder and more.
Certainly possible - it just depends on circumstances around it. Cleveland desperately wanted Winslow and was afraid Detroit would take him. So they had to make a great offer. In our case, if our trading partner can move down and still get the player they want, it just saves them money by paying their player less - there's no real downside. So if they don't get any better offers for the pick, they might as well move down for whatever they can get from us. Who knows what it would really take at this point, but dismissing it outright is as wrong as saying they should trade whatever it would take to move up. All that said, I'll be disappointed if they take Quinn at #6 or #8.
I remember the first time I saw MadMax agree with Richard Justice. It was like I got hit with an emotional sledgehammer in the self-esteem balls. A little bit of my faith in humanity died that day.
He takes both sides of every issue, so you've gotta agree with him about half the time. Kinda like DaDakota.
I think they are also, neither is better than the big 3 of the last draft in my opinion. Texans should build the team first, then get a guy who can be a player, not just draft him because he is a quarterback. If they truly have a plan, they will not reach or trade of for David Carr v2.0. Quinn screams pro disappointment for some reason. And it isn't about the big game problem. One thing that helps him though is the fact that there really wasn't much talent on that team when compared to the other football factories such as USC, Michigan.
