Interesting minor read...14 sacks for Mario huh? http://www.sportsline.com/nfl/story/10302044 1. Quarterback Matt Schaub sure seems comfortable in his role as a starter after backing up Mike Vick the past three years. He threw the ball well the days I watched and he appears to have a good rapport with both coach Gary Kubiak and his teammates. This is a guy who called his teammates the day he arrived in Houston after being traded to the Texans. "I did that because I'm a leader of the football team," Schaub said. "I wanted to reach out to the guys and let them know I'm here and we're going to lean on each other." One big difference between Schaub and predecessor David Carr is that Schaub stays around the facility and hangs with his teammates, something Carr did not. 2. When he was with the Texans, Carr took a beating. But the team feels better about the offensive line than it has in the past. Right tackle Eric Winston looks much more comfortable in his second season playing on that side after playing the left side in college. The other tackle would be a concern to me. Ephraim Salaam played well for the Texans last year, but he's been a spinning top at other times in his career with other teams. The Texans need to get Charles Spencer back to play left tackle, but he suffered a serious knee injury last year and isn't close to being back. Salaam nearly got Byron Leftwich killed in a game when he was with the Jaguars. The interior of the line is solid, if not spectacular. But it's certainly a unit that is upgraded over recent Texans lines. "We do things better and they will get better," Kubiak said. Translated: Schaub needs to get rid of the football quicker than Carr did. 3. The heat on defensive end Mario Williams still hasn't subsided. The entire city, it seems, rags on him because the Texans passed on both Reggie Bush and Vince Young last year to take Williams with the first overall pick. That wasn't Williams' decision, yet you'd think it was. He was ripped on local radio this week for his no-sack performance in the preseason opener. Please. This kid will be a 14-sack player this year. He has all the tools to be a force on the outside. Give him a break, please. He certainly looked more comfortable in the practices I watched. 4. The Texans lost starting safety Glenn Earl for the year in their preseason opener. He was an OK player, but he's replaceable. For now, Jason Simmons, a converted corner, will take over at strong safety next to Eric Brown. Simmons, a 10-year veteran, is a feisty player who goes to camp every year with a bulls-eye on his back, yet always seems to stick around. Now he's a starter. There is a chance he could be pushed by Von Hutchins for the job. 5. Middle linebacker DeMeco Ryans is a star in the making. He had a sensational rookie year and looks even better heading into this season. Ryans has the speed and range you want in a modern-day middle linebacker. He attacks the football. It would be a shock if he doesn't get to the Pro Bowl this season.
Spencer will be out for a while, but at least we do have Black backing up Salaam. I like the guy's optomism, but I'll be suprised if Mario finishes the season with 8+ sacks. He forgot to mention that not only was it a no-sack performance, it was a no nothing performance. He failed to even assist on a tackle. But it is just the preseason.
Number five... NUMBER FIVE... NUMBER FIVE?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? Gimme a f*ck*ng break... Everyone knows we know who DEMECO is. He's the father of our women's next child and the man who OWNS our hearts and... OK, that's getting a little ga-hay but youknowhattamean... we knew that sh*t already. Hey, thanks for this nice article to end the night, Stack.
From what ive seen from mario so far I dont know what to expect from him and honestly im kind of worried about him and what hes going to do, I just hope somehow I am wrong and he has a breakout season
No sacks? How about no...anything. He played paddy-cake. Amobi is 19 and showed more promise. Look..Mario Williams was never worthy of where he was picked. Never. Ever. He had 1 AMAZING college game and three other great ones. He was drafted on these games, his size, his speed, and his strength. NOT on a collegiate career. He was not even the best choice outside of VY and Reggie. I hope he has a great year and a great career. But to all of his apologists...stop with the damn patience. It is ok to be pissed.
Exactly. Kubiak doesn't want the pressure to mount on Mario before the season even starts, but that doesn't change the fact he's been a huge disappointment so far.
A caller to grenato's show made a good point this morning, he isn't even going after the ball, he's trying to wrestle with the olineman too much, he needs to let his football instincts (if he has any) take over.
I don't think many people on the board really disagree with you, and no one's really making apologies short of pointing out he was hurt last year, which is truth. The overbearing VY fans are annoying as crap though, as is pointing to every Bush TD/run. You've got to move on at some point.
Well I was for drafting VY because of the hometown/UT/Texans needed a shot in the arm but I was never for Bush and still don't understand how anyone would want to draft a back like Reggie first overall. Build up the trenches and keep drafting defense is what they should of done since day 1 so I really have no problem with drafting Mario. Also take the hometown thing away and if you look at the draft boards about 13-15 teams had Bush number 1 (Don't know why) about 7 had Mario and the other 10-12 had either D-Brick, Matt L, Cutler or VY. Not sure how accurate this is but it's based off things I have read and either way the point is we were not alone in having Mario number 1. As far as VY vs Carr this is a joke of course VY is better but I am not sure he is/will be better than Schaub. I really wanted VY but I think Schaubs arm for the next ten years>VY's legs
(this is me, rolling my eyes...) rewatch what mario and maddox did on the 4th and 1 play saturday - sure, clark made the initial hit but m & m cleared his path by wiping out their side of the line. also, watch how leinart has to drop to his second option after mario flushed him on what ended up being a touchdown pass. i also suggest looking over the play-by-play of saturday's first half; in doing so, you'd see arizona faced a total of 7 passing situations (2nd or 3rd down and longer than 5 yards to go) and they ran on 4 of them. i mean, you want to talk about small sample sizes. but sure, let's get pissed! i'm psyched! first of all, not that i'm being overly picky, but amobi's 20. regardless (or, were i spencer tillman, irregardless), i find this silly - mario was all of 21 last year and he started the exact same # of games in college (24) as okoye - were you cutting him slack last year... or writing and recording odes to vince young? i don't think anyone should be pissed; certainly not after a few series in a couple of preseason games. the coaches may very well have him specifically working on things. you never know. concerned? sure. the first team defense hasn't been overly impressive. but pissed?....
You seem a bit upset. I understand your opinion on this issue, but think about what you are saying. "But to all of his apologists...stop with the damn patience. It is ok to be pissed." This football team has required a huge amount of patience and now you're tell me to get pissed. How is getting angry supposed to help me? Mario Williams is not the only player on this team. If all the other players on the line do their jobs, he will be in a position to be a good player. I do agree that he shouldn't have been drafted so high. Personally, I was a Reggie Bush guy. What's done is done. You can root for your Titans and be pissed at the Texans all you want. I think he has the tools to be an amzing player. Whether he has the skill to use those tools still remains to be seen.
the anti vy crowd has again made it a vy thread and then they will complain about it being a vy thread. can we just stick to the article?
went and look into this a bit more - arizona faced a distance of 6 or more yards on just 10 of their 27 first half plays and ran on 5 of them. until the defense can more consistently create passing situations, mario williams is not going to have the opportunity to rack up sacks. otherwise, he's part of a unit that has to work together: he has reads and assignments and the texans' rush defense saturday was quite good. they can't just turn him loose and leave a gaping hole on the right side of the line.
