Assuming I was hired as the new GM today and given full power, I would: 1) Fire Kubiak, Frank Bush, and David Gibbs. The new coach will decide the fate of the rest of the position coaches, including Dennison. 2) Attempt to bring in Bill Cowher first, then gauge interest from Dungy and Gruden. 3) If that fails, make significant offers to Billick (HC) and Marvin Lewis (DC). 4) Use franchise tag on OD. I think our offense missed him more than we realized, and we give him one more year to see if he can get healthy. Tag is just over $5 million for a TE, definitely worth it. 4) Free agency: Scour the market for a veteran corner. Champ Bailey would be a dream scenario if he's available. Attempt to sign a competitor for WR2 spot, but we should not be desperate and overpay. Another under-the-radar Kevin Walter type signing, perhaps. Also would look hard at Centers here. 5) Draft: DT/DE first round. Great teams start in the trenches, and we are lacking there tremendously. Other early picks on safety, OLB, C, and WR (preferably that can return kicks), depending on what we land in FA. 6) Prepare for a tough season if there is a lockout, knowing the grass will be greener in 2012. At least we won't have to sit through another season of Kubiak. Even without a lockout, it's unrealistic to expect a Super Bowl in a coach's first year. By 2012, with the right staff, we could be contenders.
Fire the ST coach, too. The ST suck this year. They're not as historically bad as the defense, but they suck nonetheless. Glad you're for letting the new HC evaluate Dennison. I'm not as sold on this "awesome" offense as most (ducks and covers). Yes, the D (and to some extent the ST) are our real problems. I agree! That said, much of this vaunted passing yardage is coming with the Texans down three touchdowns and opposing teams running Tampa 2 or prevent defenses. Garbage yards. First half offense is ridiculously bad this year. That wasn't the case last year.
Priority 1: Bring in Cowher (* he'd bring in his own GM), toss him the keys, scour the earth for a legit NT. Don't follow Shanahan's footsteps in Washington: if you don't have a NT, hold off on the 3-4. If that doesn't work, I'll pretend to be a Holgren-esque President/GM: 1) Hire the best possible D-coordinator, regardless of scheme, and pay particular attention to the staff they assemble. For once, there needs to be teachers at the position level. No more hiring a staff member's son to take a crack at DB position coach. D-coordinator will probably be the higher profile and take on the name of HC. 2) Try and hire an O-coordinator that is a good fit for this ZBS offense. Players are fairly established, so a guy that fits them is more important than finding a top guy armed with a different scheme. Scheme can be phased out, but don't try and go a completely different route day 1 with undersized linemen. 3) Prioritize roster moves, and accept that it will take 2 offseasons to reshape personnel, especially when there are 4-6 starters on defense that are unacceptable. I focus on: a) DTs b) DBs c) OL (interior, primarily) 3a) I'm a strong believer that lines are the most important place to start, and the Okoye-Cody combo are backups at best, and I feel more like they're practice squad fodder. Ideally, a NT and 3-4 conversion literally swats two birds with one stone, but there isn't a Suh every draft, and the few that appear are gone n the top 5 for good reason. I'd convince McNair that a NT, like LT, is a position that you overpay for and never regret it. 3b) I'd try and squeeze what juice I can out of this group before throwing them all out. Wilson absolutely needs to be nudged out the door and most of the bench is gutter trash. With solid coaching in place, I'd like to see what Nolan can do at FS, if Quin/Jackson can make it, or if they need to be moved to nickel packages. I'd suspect if a Champ Bailey came in and eased the pressure, Quin would survive as a #2 and Jackson would find a place off the bench. 3c) My biggest concern here is center, with Myers being woefully outmatched against elite DTs. It's tricky changing out the C without having an effect on the snap, so if there isn't a golden boy to replace Myers, I then focus on upper tier guards that can help him out. For the moment, I'm not rushing to upgrade the tackle spots - there are too many pressing concerns at other positions. The goal should be getting the most improvement with minimal roster moves. We'd all love to upgrade some 13 starters, but it's difficult enough to come up with 6 new, good, starters in an offseason. We don't have the Patriots' ridiculous cache of picks, so we need to see if adding good coaching and one new elite DB can put the rest in a better position to succeed. If we can strike gold with a competent NT to plug the gaping hole that's killed us for years. One or two interior lineman to keep the offense intact when we face a 3-4. "We can build on this!"
1. Stop out thinking myself on offense. 2. Stop playing base defense with personnel that are short on talent. They need to be acting and not re-acting. 3. Sad thing is, these two simple changes made after the Giants game could have made all the difference THIS season.
I have an advice for them. Stop drafting tight ends!!! If they had done that with the CB position one of them would of bound to stick.
If I were the GM, I'd hire the smartest available GM with the best understanding of coaching and personnel moves I can, and then resign from my post. Much more so than MLB or NBA, "organization" really wins championships in the NFL. You get the best people on top and it will trickle down to players. You don't need top 5 picks or 200+ million salary budget. You just need to make the right decisions. And quite frankly, I'm not capable of doing that.
We need to win the battle of the trenches. I want fat asses that can play. Definitely need to draft a space eater at NT. Im hopeful for Cowher, so Im assuming we are switching to a 3-4. I dont think it will be as difficult to switch to a 3-4 as some may think. Mario - Ryans - ILB or Sharpton - Cushing. Or, on some plays, you can even go: Mario - Ryans - Cushing - Barwin Absolutely need to get some FA help...secondary is an absolute priority. First 4 rounds of the draft, I want: 1) NT 2) DB 3) OL 4) LB Free agency, I want: 1) DB 2) OL 3) WR 4) DL Through the draft and free agency, we should be able to revamp the defense...and getting Barwin and Ryans back from injury will be a big plus. I think with good coaching, this team can do some damage. Cowher would be the biggest acquisition of them all.
1) Bush is gone as soon as the gun sounds after the Jags game. 2) Move Jackson to FS, sign Champ Bailey and Richard Seymour. 3) Draft a CB #1 Peterson, Akumara, or Harris, then draft DT, FS, and OL.
i just think we need some more experience in the secondary, our front line is good, safeties aren't terrible, but our CBs are just not getting the job done on pass defense plus, like pollard said the other day, we just make so many mistakes, we have the talent, but were just not focused enough
At least we may be set at RB and OL...Wade Smith turned out better than expected... We need to use Foster more than 20 attempts per game, and we need to be all about the secondary...
I think fixing the Texans starts with McNair: He needs to chart a direction for his team and I think one can be found in the wreckage his first two regime left behind. One thing the C&C Idiot Factory and the Kubiak regimes had in common was an over-reliance on potential at the expense of production. The next regime needs to be dedicated to finding talent that can step in and play today. We are 9 years removed from expansion; there can't be any more 3- or 4-year plans; hell, there's no time for even a 2-year plan. The emphasis should be on taking this team, virtually as is, to the next level. How do you do it? If it's, "Build through the draft," you go to the next guy. The answer needs to be, "Develop the players we have, put them in a better position to succeed, and augment your strong nucleus with talented, winning veterans." The other commonality: Neither staff was very good at developing younger players. Even a guy Like Mario hasn't really reached his potential. The next regime has to staff *teachers*. You have a lot of young guys, and with a possible lock-out, you're not going to be able to make wholesale changes. Guys like Okoye, Barwin, Quin, Jackson, Jones - they have to, if they have the talent, realize their potential, and they have to do it tomorrow, not next week. Lastly, I'd do my homework more judiciously this go 'round. Capers had fleeting success in Carolina and it was mostly attributable to building a veteran core. The plan here was to build through the draft - how was he a good fit? Casserly was *not* a good GM in Washington. He rode the remains of Bethard's efforts but he made so many red-flag mistakes... STUDY! We're not even sure Kubiak was Denver's offensive coordinator, and you should have been more dubious of the Denver pipeline. Good organizations are not built through cronyism. Hire guys who are certified winners. That's why I keep going back to Cowher - look at the guy's resume: Impeachable. Dungy? Impeachable. Gruden? Peachable. Why in the world does a guy demanding top dollar have 4- and 5-win seasons on his resume? Why was he 8-8 or 9-7 in 4 other seasons? DO YOUR HOMEWORK! Same goes for the new staff. Don't let your next coach talk you into another Vic Fangio, who's defenses were among the worst in football in Indianapolis. If they don't come with genuine skins on the wall, put your foot down and demand they looks elsewhere.
I think this organization is too comfortable. They value the familiar above all else. The coaches all have some Denver/Shanahan tie. If you count injured reserve and practice squad there are 6 current Texans from that mighty football juggernaut and hotbed of college football talent the Colorado State Rams. You have 120 Division I football schools with most of their rosters dying for an NFL job and you are signing on half the CSU Rams graduating class? It's a small symbolic thing I guess, but I just feel better knowing that we aren't gonna take a scrub that was Klint Kubiak's teammate over a scrub from Western Podunk who might be 10 percent better. If we do make a personnel move I am gonna be physically ill if there is some sort of Denver connection. The only way I want to see Denver involvement is if his name is Champ Bailey.
The free agent crop this year is much deeper, especially for DBs... so I have to think that Kubiak may get McNair to open up the wallet this offseason for a guy like Champ Bailey or Carlos Rodgers... both on the other side of 30, but both far better than what we have. I imagine we will bring in a veteran CB or two and draft a FS instead. There is an amazing bunch of DLs hitting the market too. Haloti Ngata, Johnny Jolly (purple drank lol), Pat Williams, Richard Seymour, Shaun Ellis, Mathias Kiwanuka... I would splooge myself if we got any of those guys. I think Jolly would be a hell of a deal, he will be eligible for reinstatement after this season, and it would probably be a good chance for him to reboot his career in his hometown.
1. Fire Kubiak and co. 2. ??? 3. Profit! We'll discuss Phase 2 once McNair has the balls to do Phase 1.
If I were the Texans GM, I would make the following moves. Coach: Bill Cowher Enough has been said already on this board about Cowher coaching pedigree. He is clearly my first choice and I would go to whatever length it takes to acquire his services. DC: Marvin Lewis Lewis is on his way out of Cincinnati and nobody is really looking to hire him as their head coach so quickly. Therefore, his best option might be to take another DC job for a team where his defensive scheming is highly appreciated. Also, there is the Cowher-Steelers connection; Lewis was the linebackers coach for Pittsburg from 1992 to 1995. Draft: 1st Round: Nick Fairley (DT Auburn) Fairley looks like Suh II. He has been completely unstoppable this season and he is poised to become a dominant tackle in the league. Amobi Okoye has been decent but too inconsistent so far in his career and Shaun Cody is just not a good long term solution, so we need to pair Fairley with Okoye at DT and solidify the line. 2nd Round: Rahim Moore (FS UCLA) Eugene Wilson and Troy Nolan have utterly failed at Free Safety. Moore is a smooth ballhawk who should tremendously improve our defensive secondary. 3rd Round: Bruce Carter (OLB North Carolina) Carter is projected as a 2nd-3rd round pick by many and taking him here would fill that much need position of weak side linebacker. Zac Diles is terrible in coverage and needs to go or be relegated to the bench. Free Agency: Champ Bailey CB Cornerback position needs a huge upgrade over our current crop of DBs. Bailey is going to come with a heavy price-tag at age 33 but he is still one of the top CB in the league even with his age and diminishing speed. Plus, veteran leadership and smart playmaking is key to winning in this league. Randy Moss WR Okay, Moss is getting old and is a total team cancer but he can still play and be effective. Also, his price has dropped tremendously since the start of the season. So if the price is right, which should be cheap and short-term, Moss can be a great addition next to Andre Johnson. Both command constant double coverage and with Moss setting up the deep ball, Dre can finally light up his one-on-one match-ups. This is by far the most realistic option of getting a 2nd receiver without breaking the bank. Lineup: Offense QB: Shaub RB: Foster FB: Leach OL: Winston, Caldwell, Myers, Smith, Brown WR Johnson, Moss, Walter TE: Daniels, Casey Defense Smith - Akoye - Fairley - Williams Cushing - Ryans - Carter Bailey - Jackson Moore - Pollard This is how you improve a defense, by making one significant move to bolster each level of the defense, Fairley at the line, Carter at linebacker, Bailey at the corner, and Moore at safety. I think this defense would be tremendous under Cowher. With Bailey and Moore, the secondary would be significantly improved and I'm hoping Cowher can squeeze the most out of Kareem and turn him into a legit cornerback. The linebackers would also benefit from an upgrade at the weakside with Carter who can rush and play coverage effectively. At safety Moore is an upgrade over Wilson and Nolan but Pollard is still a liability in coverage. However, I think Cowher is going to recognize that and find a way for Pollard attack and play tough without getting burned in pass coverage. Blitzing him has proven to be very effective and we need to do that more often especially now that Bailey can hold his own at corner. Overall, this is how I would fix the Texans if I were given the opportunity. GO TEXANS!
It's simple can Kubiak gets a head coach that will light a fire under a players *ss when he messes up.
I like this. Even if Bailey = Rogers or another good vet, that's ok. And even if we didn't get Seymour. Assuming we spend some money, we should be able to lure in a good vet CB. And Jackson may perform better at safety, which could potentially solve another problem. We should have a high enough pick to get a good CB in the draft, so both our CB positions are improved through FA and draft. Then, with Jackson at safety and anybody else, we can at least feel better about being better than this season. And oh yeah, we will have a new DC. If this happened to be someone like Marvin Lewis, that is even better. That said, I don't want to get my hopes up considering we have been saying similar stuff for like 3 offseasons in a row... If we just get a HC that makes better offensive decisions, and a D that is halfway decent, we would (obviously) be a much better team next year.
