Wow! I can't either, you wanted him over Patrick Willis, Jon Beason, Darrelle Revis, and Marshawn Lynch? This guy did nothing in college and he's doing the same in the NFL. It baffles me how the Texans can do so well with one #1 pick and whiff on the next. 02' David Carr - bust 03' Andre Johnson - superstar 04' Dunta Robinson - player 04' Jason Babin - bust 05' Travis Johnson - bust 06' Mario Williams - superstar 07' Amobi Okoye - bust IMO 08' Duane Brown - jury is still out 09' Brain Cushing - promising rookie How up and down the picks are is baffling to me.
The first moronic ALL CAPS thread the OP started sort of by accident has morphed into a pretty interesting thread, thanks to some credible posters turning it into an intelligent conversation. I think he mistakenly thought that happened because of him instead of in spite of him, so he figured he’d start ANOTHER lame ALL CAPS thread to see if he could catch lightning in a bottle twice.
Perhaps it's because we tend to draft workout warriors? I believe most of those players draft stocks went up in the workouts. Regardless, I don't think it's a bad haul. And I personally find our drafts to be fine in general. However, the same cannot be said of our FA and trade acquisitions.
Overall our drafts end up with a great grade but as far as 1st rounders go, eh, not to consistent. I agree with you on FA though. Some terrible players have been signed to name a few Ahman Green, Roosevelt Colvin, Lewis Sanders, Quinn Gray, Jamar Fletcher, Kenny Wright, Todd Wade, Keenan McCardell, Jordan Black, and Jacque Reeves. No winners there. Whatever happened to Deltha O'Neal? Was he not performing well enough.
You can't count Colvin, Gray, Fletcher, Mccardell, etc. as "bad signings". They came here to compete for roster spots and were signed for very little money. Black and Green were the only true "bad signings" on that list ... jury is still out on Reeves. With the exception of Willis (we had DeMeco anyway), nobody in the league knew those guys would be worthy of a top 10 pick. If we had picked any of them instead of Okoye they would've been ridiculed. Okoye was considered almost a steal at out pick.
I diagree, the secondary would be no better if Reeves was in the lineup, in my mind, he's considered another Petey Faggins. I honestly can't name one player in the history of the Texans that is or will be considered a good FA signing. Even the recently signed Antonio Smith, unless he starts piling up sacks by the tons or maybe this weekend against the Raiders he'll be another WTF player with a big deal. Ridiculed for grabbing some proven players with skill? How so? IMO Okoye was not worthy of a top 10 pick and the 9 other teams that selected before the Texans new so.
Okoye doesn't seem to be big and powerful enough to move through the center of the O-line but he does have good foot work which might benefit him coming from the outside. Also he does have a good motor which is also a plus from coming outside in.
They would've been ridiculed because at the time, based on projections, Rivas and Beason weren't on anybody in the top 10's radar, while Okoye very much was. And no way we were drafting Lynch after signing Green to the big contract, or taking Willis when we had DeMeco. Of course in hindsight it looks like a bad move, but at the time that was the best route to go based on what we knew. Now perhaps you could argue that we could've traded down for a guy like Rivas, but it takes two to trade. And Reeves is better than Fred Bennett at this point, so our secondary would be better. That doesn't make Reeves a good signing, though, because the jury is still out on whether he will live up to the contract. You have to give him more than one season to prove himself.
Did nothing in college? Amobi was actually a very good player for Louisiville and really solidified his 1st round status with a great showing at Senior Bowl practices/game. He has definitely been a bust so far but he was actually considered a good pick for us at the time.
Why not? Ryan was drafted as a OLB coming out of college. There was no reason why he can't move back. I agree that none of the other hindsight candidates were feasible at the time. But Willis was a sure thing. That said, Okoye was a good pick at that position. I thought the mistake was not trading up for Peterson. If we have Adrian Peterson right now...
Okoye isn't really a bust, but we've never had a NT at his other side that could give him help. As a DT, Okoye is the type that is supposed to get into the backfield while the other DT(NT) eats up space and requires a double team to contain. That is why 3-4 work so well for certain teams, because their NT and DE are large strong guys that require possible double teams to contain. Okoye did well in his first season, but last season for a while he was injured and only started to get back into productive form around the end of the season. Now, we have guys that aren't even close to NT weight and power playing the position and people are surprised that Okoye hasn't had any defensive success? He isn't and wasn't supposed to be a Kris Jenkins, he is a young complementary player that is meant to penetrate to the backfield while the other guy holds the pile. As for moving him to DE, that might not be a bad idea, except we'd have nothing but scrubs in the interior then. Amobi is our most productive DT followed by Jeff Zgonina, the oldest player signed to a team in the NFL.
I think he'd be a Texan today if the Vikings weren't so smart to take a RB when they already had a guy they liked, Chester Taylor, on the roster. I believe they had just signed Taylor to a FA contract, but upgraded with Peterson regardless. A classic example of a team drafting for talent over reaching for need. Even as a UT-grad, I'm still cursing the day the Vikings decided not to miss their first round pick!
lol. We're all frustrated. This team has 2 more losses than I figured they would this time in the season. The defense has given up HUGE runs in about 5 games in a row (back to the pre-season). Our offense has been great....just hoping for some D to allow us to win.
I never understood that saying. In the 2007 season, the combination of mario and okoye produced an amazing stat of giving up less than 2 yards per rush on their side of the line. It's like Okoye is regressing and that is no bueno. Maybe we miss travis more than we anticipated? our d-line looks malnutritioned compared to any other team. God don't like skinny. :sighs:
Close to nothing? Patrick Willis had a way better track record than Okoye. And like meh said we could have moved DeMeco anywhere that would have been a great LB tandem, the next Ray Lewis & Jamie Sharper!
I'm not saying he had a better track record that Willis, but I don't think you can even say Amobi did "close to nothing" in college. Played every game as a true freshman snagging 17 tackles and 1 sack. Got 26 tackles and 1 sack as a sophomore. 16 tackles and 4 TFL as a junior. And 55 tackles, 8 sacks, and 3 fumble recoveries as a Senior. Those are very good numbers for a DT, especially one that was 2 years younger than most players. As far as moving Okoye to DE, I think we would if we played a 3-4. But if we see any moves this season, it will probably be Smith moving inside with Barwin coming off the edge, but I doubt we'll even see that.
It did seem strange that Okoye's college coach had a chance to draft him in ATL but took Jamaal Anderson instead. Maybe he knew Okoye would be a bust then again Jamaal hasnt shown alot in Atlanta either.
