I don't think we were targeting DeMeco. He was supposed to be a mid first round pick and when he fell to us, we couldn't believe it so we took him. Remember, we were trying to trade back into the first round with the Bears to get DeAngelo Williams or Joseph Addai but Buffalo offered a better deal.
It's not out of line to predict that MW will have a longer and possibly better career than VY and RB.
INTERESTNG CHRON.COM NFL POLL Based on how they've performed so far in their NFL careers, which player should the Texans have taken first in the 2006 draft? (Poll closes: Today at 11:59 p.m.) Reggie Bush 10% Vince Young 32% Joseph Addai 34% Jay Cutler 3% Maurice Jones-Drew 11% Mario Williams 10%
The Texans shutting down Reggie Bush yesterday was a conspiracy by the whole team to make Mario look better than Reggie. Yeah...thats it. And yes, VY is similar to Trent Dilfer w/ 2K Ravens but instead of the rare great play with his arm, he makes it with his feet.
i think donnymost is reference the large percentage of votes going to VY. anyhow, Addai and Jones-Drew should be winning by a landslide. but after witnessing yesterday's game, and all the previous other games, Bush shouldn't even be on the poll.
I for one am defending the pick. 8 and a half sacks so far, compared to Reggie's 4 touchdowns, and Vince's 7 touchdowns. Both Vince and Bush have been pathetic this year offensively whereas Mario has consistently been good and is improving. Here is an article on Bush that well make everyone happy we didn't take him. http://sports.aol.com/fanhouse/2007/12/04/is-new-orleans-starting-to-sour-on-reggie-bush/ Is New Orleans Starting to Fall Out of Love With Reggie Bush? With two of the 15 highest-paid running backs in the league coming off of a wildly successful first season as a tandem, the Saints probably entered this year with no worries about the long-term state of the position. Yet with Deuce McAllister's knees becoming more unreliable with each tear, the spotlight has fallen on Reggie Bush. And he's dropped the ball, literally and figuratively. And now the Saints have to worry about acquiring another running back this year. There have been excuses made for Bush at every turn (including, admittedly, from myself) because of his big-play ability and immediate altruism upon arriving in New Orleans. But, as he approaches the end of his second year (sans any big plays this year, or medium plays for that matter), it's time to acknowledge the fact that Bush has been at best an incredible disappointment, at worst a flat-out bad player who's threatening locker room morale. And I'm not even talking about his running prowess, although that leaves a little to be desired. Though he still hasn't quite understood the concept of "running forward," there are many other reasons the Saints can't run the ball, and not all of them are Bush's fault. Let's backtrack for a second. As the Saints began the 2006 offseason, a lot of help was needed. This started at the top, where Jim Haslett and Aaron Brooks were both shown the door. Before Drew Brees' shoulder was maimed, laying the groundwork for his move to the Saints, fans thought the team's new quarterback was going to come from the draft. And there was one guy I knew for sure I did not want – Matt Leinart. I like my players like I like my women – low-maintenance and without the diva complex – and Leinart failed in both categories. Though it didn't seem relevant at the time, because Houston was "guaranteed" to take Bush, I didn't think of him the same as Leinart. As is almost always the case, I was wrong. It started this past offseason, when there were much muted rumblings that some Saints veterans didn't appreciate Bush missing workout time to film some of his umpteenth commercials in California. And it's bled into this season, one in which Bush has regressed noticeably. Again, forget the box scores. Instead, pay attention to the myriad of dropped passes, most of which are screens or short dump-offs that anyone with his athletic ability (or mine, for that matter) should be able to catch. Or how about the fumbles – eight this year. Or how about the punt that bounced right off his face against Jacksonville, which the Saints were lucky enough to recover at a crucial point. Or what about the handful of times Bush has just slipped and fallen or, worse yet, purposely hit the ground early to avoid contact. These are the signs not of a player who isn't good enough, but a player who doesn't care to be good enough. And it's doing damage to the chemistry that carried the Saints so far last year. In the last couple of weeks, the frustration with Bush from his teammates has been on display. Perhaps none have hassled Bush more lately than Brees, who has been caught on camera screaming angrily at Bush after unnecessary drops and demonstrating with his hands in a condescending fashion how to catch a football. Then there's last week's loss to the Bucs, where cameras caught Bush sitting desolately by himself with teammates bunched and communicating far away. With 14 seconds left in that game and the Saints in possession with a (very remote) chance of victory, Bush was already halfway to the locker room; Sean Payton had to furiously chase after him to pull him back to the sideline. The media isn't pleased either, and they've made it known increasingly lately – when he gets pissy, Bush refuses to answer questions post-game, especially if the questions are about something he did to cost the team the game. This lack of accountability when other Saints are acting like professionals is maddening to everyone – the media, his teammates, and the fans (who are split on the matter, though the anti-Bush sentiment is growing). The problem, as it so often is, is that Bush didn't have to earn anything to become a star in the NFL, and he doesn't look like he cares. His roster spot is in no danger for at least two years, and I have faith that one day he'll be a superstar. I just hope that day isn't after he's burned his bridges with the Saints.
I still would take Vince #1, Mario #2, and Bush #3 if we had to do the draft over. I believe that Mario will wind up being the second best player in the draft and Vince will be the best. Have no idea where Bush will end up. Right now, he's headed the way of a lot of those Paterno running backs.
In hindsight, I would have traded down and got an extra pick or two. Of course, at the time I wanted Bush because I thought he would be perfect for Kubiak's zone blocking scheme. But now, I'm starting to think Denver's great running game had more to do with their O-line and less to do with their scheme. If I had to choose one of the three, I'd take Mario. Of the three, I think he has the most potential to be great. Bush is Dave Meggett. Not bad, but hardly worth the #1 overall and all that money/hype. Vince, I think, will struggle with injuries over the course of his career and never reach his full potential unless he turns into strictly pocket passer. Of course, if he does that, you take away what makes him special.
Actually, Bush has been bad. Very, very bad. A complete bust so far. At this point anyone who actually says they'd still take him #3 is a joke. He isn't even playing worthy of a 5th round pick, frankly speaking. There's still hope for him. Maybe this next offseason he'll stop filming commercials and actually work really hard and try to become an NFL-caliber running back. I don't think his phone's going to be ringing that frequently anymore anyway. I am so thankful we didn't pick this guy. As for Vince, yeah he has been bad too, but at least he has lots of room for improvement and is actually motivated to be a great player. That's why most people still think he has a chance to become a great NFL quarterback. Mario, on the other hand, has gotten an hugely unfair amount of flack through no fault of his own over his first two years, and has done nothing but work hard to prove himself ... now we're seeing the results. And of course the bottom line is ... had we taken Bush OR Young in that draft, we would be a much worse team than we are today. That's the truth.
This was another interesting artcile. Not sure if it was already posted yet. http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2007/writers/reuben_frank/12/05/texans/index.html Maybe the Texans were right after all. The Texans were laughed at, mocked and ridiculed a couple Aprils ago, when they bypassed gifted Heisman Trophy winner Reggie Bush to draft workmanlike defensive end Mario Williams with the first pick in the draft. Nothing against Williams, but this was the Trail Blazers taking Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan. Bush was a can't-miss talent, a once-in-a-lifetime player. He was going to revolutionize the running back position. Almost two full years in, the Saints are still waiting. While Williams closes in on his first Pro Bowl season in Houston -- with 8½ sacks, he trails only Jared Allen of the Chiefs among AFC defensive ends -- Bush sputters along in New Orleans, looking less and less every week like a once-in-a-lifetime player. More like the second coming of Larry Centers. The Saints, who thought they lucked into a future Hall of Famer, are now trying to figure out how Bush became so ordinary and what to do with a guy who's essentially a high-priced role player on a 5-7 team. "I think that everyone expects him to go out and just be Superman all the time and that is not the case, especially in this league," Saints quarterback Drew Brees said. "Reggie is a young back who is still learning how to play this game, learning how to be a professional." Bush turned in a few electrifying plays last year, a few glimpses of greatness, but he's regressed this year; and that aura of greatness has faded a little more each week. With four games left, Bush doesn't have a run longer than 22 yards. Trent Green, Jay Cutler, Josh McCown, Ben Roethlisberger, Donovan McNabb and Jason Campbell all have longer runs than Bush this year. And they're quarterbacks! Bush's 3.7 average is 37th out of 47 backs with 75 carries or more. OK, but Bush is electrifying catching the ball out of the backfield, right? Wrong. Despite 73 receptions, he doesn't have a catch longer than 25 yards. He's seventh in the NFL in catches but 77th in receiving yards. Incredibly, the Texans' Williams actually owns a longer play this year than Bush -- his 38-yard fumble recovery for a touchdown is longer than any run, catch or return that Bush has managed. So what's the problem? Because of his physical limitations, Bush will never be an every-down back. The Saints concede this. "It's unfair to have those expectations," Brees said. And he's such a poor blocker that teams recognize when he's running a pattern, he's probably going to get the ball, and they can adjust accordingly. Hence a 5.7 per-catch average, lowest by a back among the top 12 in catches in 63 years -- since Bob Davis of the Boston Yanks averaged 5.1 yards per reception in 1944. "We try to give him enough opportunities where he's out in a route and he's not in protection," coach Sean Payton acknowledged. No doubt Bush misses running mate Deuce McAllister, whose season ended after three weeks with a knee injury. But even before that, Bush was averaging 2.8 yards per carry and 4.4 yards per catch. Bush was billed out of USC as a hybrid receiver and back, equally dangerous as a runner or receiver. But in reality, he's not physical enough to break tackles, not shifty enough to turn short catches into big plays and -- with eight fumbles (five in the last five games) -- not secure enough with the ball to be trusted in critical situations. So what is he? A bust? No, that's unfair. He's OK. But just OK. Because of his speed, he'll pop the occasional big play, though he hasn't this year. But when the Saints drafted Bush, they didn't think they were getting a guy who would rank a pedestrian 18th in the NFL in total yards. Here's why this is such a huge problem for the Saints. Bush is signed through 2011 with cap numbers ranging from $3.7 million to $6.1, and McAllister is signed through 2012 with cap numbers ranging from $5.8 million to $8.2 million. But McAllister, who turns 29 in a few weeks, is coming off a torn left ACL with MCL damage just 23 months after rehabbing a torn right ACL. He hopes to come back at some point next year but will likely never be the same. With McAllister's injuries and Bush's lackluster performance, a team that thought it had two brilliant running backs ... has none. Because it's obvious that Bush is not Superman. He's barely even Mario Bates. "Reggie is one of the best athletes I have ever seen, but that only gets you so far," Brees said. "(There are) certain fundamentals and discipline to playing this game that are learned. And that's not something that just happens immediately." Most likely, Adrian Peterson, Brian Westbrook and Marion Barber will represent the NFC in the Pro Bowl in Hawaii. That's OK. Maybe Mario Williams can send Bush a postcard.
