I wonder if fans of any other team in the league make this argument for their coach. I think we're so conditioned to complete failure from the previous regime, that we see mediocrity as progress. jacoby jones, owen daniels, zach diles, eric winston. good picks. absolutely. great players. no way. i think we way overrate them, frankly. particularly jacoby. my understanding when we drafted him was he would be a receiver. he's not. he's on the field about 5 times a game. mario is the only one on this team that has "great" potential. i'm with you on okoye. i have no idea what we have with him. none at all. if we get nothing more than we've seen, it won't be good. he's going to need to improve significantly for him to be anywhere near the value of a high first round pick. they have an incredibly thin secondary. for all the picks on the d-line, they still rarely get significant pressure. the passing game is, i think, the best facet of their game...but their QB's still make too many mistakes (and our starter can't stay healthy)....i love slaton...but think we need another back to pair with him. andre is finishing up his 6th season now; think he gets better or worse over the next few? and aside from kevin walter, i'm not thrilled with any free agent move this regime has ever made. reeves...green....brown....colvin...yikes. worthless.
i think owen daniels is very nearly great - second among afc TEs in receptions & yards - he's likely going to the pro bowl. and i think winston is a cut above the others, too. great? no, but he's very, very good. i'm starting to wonder... you know, casserly did this and it used to drive me CRAZY: he'd draft all these projects with supposedly high ceilings - i always felt so he could look like a genius down the road when they all panned out. problem is: none ever panned out. so we got guys like pitts, wand, babin - it sickens me to go over the entire list... you can't build an expansion team around a bunch of projects. after an absolutely STELLAR '06 draft (4 starters, plus anderson, and don't forget spencer, who would be starting right now, too) in which they got *players*, kubiak seems to going the casserly route and i'm a little worried. there's okoye, who everyone knew would need 1-2, now maybe 3 years to really mature and grow; jones, a gamebreaker, no question; but he's also stuck behind a midget WR drafted in round 7; brown, who's been predictably inconsistent but was a guy not very many people viewed as 1st round material; and molden, who can't see the field despite having reeves, bennett and faggins in front of him. on a team *desperate* for players... i'm not sure you can justify using 4 picks (especially when two others are in ATL) on projects. they may all eventually pan out - but will kubiak be here to coach them? this april, they need to find *players* - guys who are going to step off the bus and contribute right away. they've (admirably) tried to sign mid-level FAs to avoid huge, damaging contracts... it's not a bad idea... if you're the NE patriots with 25 all-pros on your roster. remember also, they're having to simultaneously build depth, too - and some of their signings reflect that. i think reeves was viewed as a nickel CB; brown a compliment to green, etc. rosenfels is another FA acquisition. and another example of them trying to acquire depth. but i do think they need to get a little more proactive here, too, and go after guys who are going to step right in and contribute. no more rooting around on depth charts looking for young 2nd and 3rd stringers (like bentley and thompson, even walter, really) - go get STARTERS. they have to match their '06 acquiaitions (walter, williams, ryans, winston, daniels, anderson) - six guys who are going to step in and contribute right away. if they can do that, and it's not asking THAT much, i think they'll have the horses in place to finally make the leap.
holy crap, ric, we just agreed on every point. i'm with you on owen daniels. i thought it after i posted. a friend of mine and i were talking about okoye the other day. he is a bronco fan from colorado, but lives here so follows the texans. he's under the assumption that okoye will pan out. i asked him, "but do you know that? i mean if you have a DT on the board who was grading out as an absolute stud...would you pass him up because you hope okoye will work out one day?" and therein lies the problem with taking so many "projects", as you say. i thought the point of taking okoye was that we could start having an impactful d-line sooner rather than later, by pairing him alongside mario. obviously that hasn't happened. and maybe that expectation was entirely unrealistic. as for free agency...michael pittman was one that stood out to me. from the accounts i read, the texans simply weren't interested. how? why? we had zero depth coming in at that position. we signed brown...gone before the season. we had green..always injured. we had slaton...an unknown at that point. i can't imagine not being interested in a guy like that if you're the texans. maybe there's something about him i'm unaware of.
i assume you mean turner?... he certainly was worth at least a look, given his production in SD. but he was also an expensive risk: what if he couldn't carry the load as an every down back? did we really want to have $80M tied up in a career back-up QB *and* RB? i admire being cautious with that - those are the kind of deals that kill teams if they don't work out. turner has obviously worked out, but... i recommend they go after no-doubters - like, haynesworth-level no doubters; guys we know can play, who aren't too old; etc.
turner!! sorry! right. good point. i suppose the reason they stayed away from turner was because they already had green's salary to deal with.
i fear they didn't deem him a good fit for their system, another sore spot for me. i'm sure a few people here will be shocked to know i didn't actually want them to draft carr: nope. i wanted julius peppers. but he wasn't a fit in capers' precious system. it was year 1 so i cut them massive amounts of slack on it - but it *always* rubbed me the wrong way. it's tantamount to saying, "i can't actually coach." i mean, if you can't find a way to fit julius peppers into your system.... kubiak hasn't been *as* blatant about his system (though i think it was a contributing factor in not drafting bush) but its problematic if good players are being bypassed because they don't fit. i understand the OL - if you're building a young, sleek line, you can't go get a plodding 400-lb LT. but if you're a *good coach*, i'd like to think you can make any supremely talented RB, WR or TE fit into your system. those, to me, are kubiak's two biggest negatives: too many projects; possibly too married to his system.
Not sure why y'all are complaining about the Texans' offensive skill players. I think they're fine at WR, TE, RB. Slaton was a very good pick, he's a solid back. The receivers are doing their jobs. The QBs are turning the ball over at a disgusting rate, but otherwise the offense looks to have the pieces it needs. And we're what, #11 in the NFL in points? It's the atrocious defense that needs help. The secondary is brutal, but we knew that coming into the season. They absolutely lack a quality 2nd pass rusher. The run defense is very bad, and that starts at tackle. We could use OLBs and SS help on the run as well. Those are the areas I'd shore up in the offseason. The offense is pretty good, with the exception of finding a solution to the Glass Schaub / Rosenfumble mess at QB.
I totally agree about bringing in people to fit your system. That is the most ridiculous philosophy ever. You go and get the most talent that you possibly can and you build a system around your talent. Man does that piss me off. Derrick Johnson comes to mind.
As simple as that sounds, I absolutely agree. As others have posted, our offense is actually pretty potent (minus the QB TOs) and a lot of that has to do with Kubiak. With that said, his decision-making during games (time outs, challenges, clock mgmt, etc...) has been very questionable. But I would really like to see what this team could do with a new DC. It's amazing that we have 3 first-rounders on the D-Line and yet our 2nd/3rd leaders in Sacks are 2 guys who went undrafted. I guess you can put that on TJ and Amobi as much as the scheme, if not more.
I would give him one more year, but honestly, who here would not drop Kubiak for Bill Cowher if he'd take the job? Also, while Smith is on his way out, how about sending Travis Johnson and Anthony Weaver with him? I think they need to throw some cash at a quality defensive free agent next year. Whether they get a Osomoghu (sp) or Terrell Suggs is another thing, but at least they should try.
They draft terrible. Free agent signings worse. It is no mistake they are 3-7 and going no where. Look in my arm chair GM mode I have drafted against them every season and beat the tar out of their picks (most anyone could have) Here are some of the problems- Don't use #1 draft picks on DL- the only exception is an elite can't miss edge rusher. Same rule applies for RB- the exception an elite RB Do use high #1 picks on DB (especially CBs), OL, WR, QB, and TE Use 2-4 rd picks on LBs unless because of need then only draft elite level players Build your defense first, second get your QB, third work on the trenches, next get offensive playmakers at WR and RB, then fill out the roster. Big run stoppers are important but usually come after the first round. Edge Pass rushers and CB must haves and worth high picks The Texans should have made CB and OL a priority. They waited too long with Carr. They put off the OL and secondary for too long. They should have drafted more RBs. They waisted too many high picks on DL Should have picked up DTs in later rounds and free agency Just name our starting secondary and that reflects how well we have built the roster.
people throw this around a lot........ i struggle with it: being a first round choice doesn't really mean anything between the sidelines - it rings hollow to me, given how many first round busts there've been. i mean, i recognize the inherent expectation associated with your draft position, but once you justify (or fail to justify) your selection, it should really stop being a standard. if we redid the '05 draft, travis johnson would not be a first round pick; he doesn't have "first round pick" talent.
How about this one?: new players, new coaches, new name, new uniforms...yes, startover! This team may be so messed up it is unredeemable. Year after year, same story. Time for a new beginning. How about the Houston Drillers!? No, that is terrible, but it is a start.
yeah; i'm starting to think they REALLY blew the '07 draft. i understand (and agree with) their thinking - let's find a partner for mario - but look at the guys selected right after amobi: patrick willis, marshawn lynch, darrelle revis.... i know its hindsight, but the quickest way to derail a rebuild is to blow a 1st round pick. not to mention: heard kubiak the other day, and they asked him about brady quinn. gary answered he was very familiar with him because he scouted him extensively in '07... i wonder if quinn was EVER a possibility at #8. i have no opinion of quinn whatsoever - looks competent enough; but he looks even better with two additional 2nd round picks around him....
When you consider that the team had to deal with Hurricane IKE...and still sits 7-7 at this point, I think he has done an outstanding job. It does not take long for a team to go from the middle of the road to elite as they grow up, it is like a light switch that goes off as they learn to win. I think the Texans are going to be in the playoffs next year as Indy falters...it will be the Titans and Texans for the next few years. Gonna be fun. Good job Kubiak. DD
I think the Hurricane Ike thing is overblown. Much bigger for a baseball team playing everyday than a football team playing once a week. This is all the defense. The offense has been playing well virtually all season. They're certainly clicking. But the defense flipped a switch a few weeks back, and that's made all the difference in the world. They were very bad earlier this season on the defensive end...very bad. It seemed a foregone conclusion that the defensive coordinator would be fired. Now?? Well they just held the Titans to under 200 yards total offense. They made huge plays against the Packers. They look entirely different. Kubiak isn't going anywhere. Congrats to him!
what records did u guys expect? we had a tough schedule and expectations were either 8-8 or 7-9 or 9-7... looks like we met them with a bad start. our offense is clicking in all cylinders and if we hadnt lost that indy game or jags game, we would be 9-5.
I disagree with you Max....football only has 16 games, so each one is equivalent to roughly 10 baseball games. The team was dealing with their family situation, their house being damaged, possibly no electricity or water, and then was supposed to play football games. I think it effected them a lot, just like it did the Astros. DD
