Mark Anderson had like 12 sacks and 4 forced fumbles. Impressive for a 5th or 6th rounder. Mario Williams had 47 tackles, 4.5 sacks, and 4 passes deflected. Thats impressive considering a lot of things. The 47 tackles are impressive. The 4.5 sacks arent great but consider things. HE is the only good DE we have so a lot of doubling and focus on him, the secondary sucks so he doesnt get much time - if you watch he hurries the QB a lot and draws many penalties. HE has a knack for deflecting passes, saved a game with one and tipped one into an interception with another. All this is with serious foot problems, so its impressive. I think he will seriously break out next year and be crazy good with a little help. Anyone who watches him can see how capable he is.
well, for starters, how about giving everyone more than 16 games... i mean, the rockets once passed on jordan, too, you know - i guess that olajuwon character was a bust, huh? point being, young and bush may eventually prove to be the better players, but if mario does what he was brought here to do - wreak havoc on opposing QBs - then young and bush's accomplishments will become irrelevant. at least you're being rational and patient... this is not only wrong, it's irrelevant to the discussion. mario williams has nothing to do with the offense - why is he being held accountable for the number of points the team scores? and few of the coaches and players who had to defend mario williams this year classified him as "average to above average," nor did any of them make the mistake of drawing definitive conclusions about the guy after 16 games. i've seen mario play live in person twice - the guy is a freaking beast. he's fast and all over the field; an absolute physical terror. once he gets healthy and naturally matures as a player, i think he's going to render a lot of this tired drivel moot. but you know what's easier? being angry and bitter, impatient; losing persepctive and failing to appreciate the tremendous strides our favorite team made this year after an absolutely horrible 2005... more fun, too.
Props to Ryan for his Defensive Rookie of the Year Award. He is very deserving and seems like a very classy person even off the field. Also glad for Vince Young on his Offensive Rookie of the Year Award.
Maybe but in terms of having an impact on his team, VY wins hands down. Remember, this was a kid who ended up starting at QB in his rookie year - a kid whom all the "experts" felt would take at least 2 years to be ready for the NFL. And he did this playing on a team that was supposed to be one of the dogbutt teams in the league this year. I have no quibble with him winning OROTY. I feel compelled to point out that MW was the top pick in the entire draft yet he was badly outplayed by a kid taken in the 2nd round. Being taken that high, he needed to show far far more on the field than he ended up doing which is why you'll continue to see the BUST label waved around MW for some time to come. I personally don't consider him that but at the same time, the evidence speaks for itself in that there is no way he should have been the top pick in the 2006 draft. One last point: folks are taking it as gospel that MW will only get better but to date, there are no indications that he will become a superior defensive player. I'd have to classify his 1st season as most disappointing.
Were you watching the same games I was? Seriously, how do you rate a DE? What criteria do you use?? I saw a DE being double-teamed VERY often which opened up things for other guys to make plays on the ball or hurry the passer. I saw MW hurrying the passer himself and deflecting passes. I saw excellent footwork (interestingly enough). I didn't see anyone dominate him all season (BUT there are some games I didn't get to watch). If you're going to quote me numbers as your only supporting argument, then I'll have to agree with everyone else who says the guy has been outstanding this year.
And why should he do that? Because he made a good point that everyone with the Texans from McNair on down would rather us to forget about: that they took a guy with the first pick in the entire draft for whom they could have traded down and still got. MW simply did not justify his being picked no. 1 by his play on the field and ended up getting outplayed by a guy who was picked in the 2nd round. No matter how much they try to "spin" the Mario pick, it will go down as a major blunder on the part of the Texans. One final note: If all of these RB/VY comparisons are getting under your skin, then I suggest that you and everyone else affected start growing a thicker skin because thanks to McNair, Kubiak & Casserly, this is a storyline that will be with us for years to come. Next season, we get the opportunity to get pimp slapped up close and personal twice because both New Orleans & Tennessee both play at Reliant. The TV talking heads will be short stroking this story for all they can get so get used to it because that's the way it's going to be from now on.
Yes I watched all of the games (it was the only way I could justify shelling out $169 for the NFL Sunday Ticket...). The kid is big, strong and has good to exceptional speed. He lacks technique outside of a bull rush and it shows badly as he was getting outplayed constantly by more savvy players. He was double-teamed early in the season but that stopped happening once teams got a better handle on his flaws. Then he got the foot injury and while he gutted that out (to his credit) his effectiveness dropped off. Had he not been picked 1st - had he been picked say 6th or 8th, then I'd be in agreement with you that he had a satisfying season. But he was the top pick in the draft and that comes with certain expectations that MW failed to live up to - he looks more like a project than the bonafide superior talent you'd pick at that spot. This isn't to say that he will not be good eventually - it's just that he needed to show much more to justify being picked that high. That's why I termed his first season "disappointing" because I really expected Mario's play to surprise and silence the "VY is a football god in human form" faction out there. Instead, his play only served to add more gasoline to the inferno that's currently raging out of control.
quantify it. i really didn't have a problem with vy winning it, more that the margin was evidence no one bothered to actually give their vote much of a legitimate thought. because, again, in terms of quantifiable numbers, MJD outperformed vy. wins is a measure of team performance and, in a team sport, difficult (and foolish) to assign to an individual. if you mean demeco ryans, he plays a different position; so how is that relevant? besides, if you're giving vy an award for his impact on a team - MW had no impact on ryans' season? he didn't force teams to keep RBs or TEs in the backfield to account for him? he didn't demand double teams? he didn't lessen the # of people ryans had to fight through to make plays? and frankly, people doing so are moronic. now, if MW turns in the same performance the next several years, then yes, he was underachieved. but the guys isn't even 22 yet; let's hold off preparing his career eulogy for now. what evidence? no, what people are taking as gospel is that MW's a bust after an injury-plagued season. he's just a kid and showed enough flashes this year that it would be a shock if he didn't continue to mature and get better, more effective, especially given his health this year. relax, have patience...
The wife burned her #8 jersey in the fireplace on New Year's Day and she was a Carr fanatic from the start.
That's fair, thanks. I personally, once the draft is over, don't evaluate someone based on where he was picked in the draft. The draft is done, and the player had nothing to do with where he was drafted. The most valid point I've seen about the draft "blunder" is the following: "the Texans could have traded down and gotten MW." The only thing is, I don't think MW lasts until 8 or 9. I think he goes 4 or 5. As such, one wonders if the Texans explored deals with those teams, didn't get anywhere, and decided to take the heat and draft the guy they wanted. One also wonders, given Casserly's influence on this draft, if the Texans *didn't* explore those options and remained as foolhearty as they were in previous drafts. That said, even with the #1 pick controversy, this is hands down the *best* draft in the Texans' five-year history. You judge a draft on who you GOT, not on who you didn't get.
funny, because you DID say that, here: not only do you close the book on a 21-year old rookie, but you, yourself, are the one throwing gasoline on the "VY is a football god in human form" fire.
exactly; every year, dozens of teams pass on guys they shouldn't have, such as the 32 teams that initially passed on demeco ryans. it's a meaningless exercise to hang on to woulda, coulda, shouldas. and it's just as maddening to label your player a bust based not on his performance, but on someone else's. again, using that logic, hakeem olajuwon was a bust... as long as MW lives up to expectations, what every other 220+ players drafted last april do is irrelevant.
Listen Ric, I realize that you have issues with the VY faction out there but even you had to see this one coming from a mile away. VY had the press, the glitz, the glamour. He re-energized his team and led them to some spectacular wins along the way (including one in Houston). Yes, his QB rating looks like crap. Yes MJD outperformed him numbers wise but in the end VY won because his was the better story. It may not be fair but that's just the way it is. OK, you are too close to the issue here and need to step back a bit. Nothing I'm saying should be considered a dig at Demeco. For a 2nd round pick, he was nothing less than spectacular. But that's just the point: he was a 2nd round pick. If anyone needed to be spectacular and make an impact, it had to be Mario because he was the top pick in the draft, period. He was good but not great and he needed to be great. Maybe so but that's the nature of the beast. Let's see: The Sam Bowie episode happened 23 years ago and folks are still bringing it up as an example of incompetence. No post-season honors or mentions which is the very least to expect from one picked so high. The kid has does have a ton of raw ability but is in reality a 2-3 year project. Not the type you use the top pick in the draft on. A mid 1st round pick maybe but most definitely not the no. 1 player who should have been picked before others like RB, ML, or VY. Well, he's certainly not a bust. It will be interesting to see how he responds to coaching and their weight training. He may end up playing inside but he looks to be a player. Look on the bright side: At least he's better than John Mutuzak. After 5 years of bad football, I'm afraid that patience is in short supply these days. The VY thing may have been the last straw for many people and looks to have left a bad taste in the mouth for many that will last for quite some time. There is more anger and disgust with this team than I ever saw with the Oilers and that does not bode well for the future. I, myself, am curious to see if the Texans can indeed pull themselves out of their self-imposed muck. Too many bad teams get bad and stay bad for years (anyone remember the Oilers?). Hopefully, the Texans will prove to be the exception and not the rule.
Oh, not me! I'm too busy having fun throwing gasoline on the Dallas Cowboy inferno that's raging out of control all around me as I type this.
I think I've finally figured you out: You continue trying to inject logic and reasoning into the debate. How strange...
He's not closing the book. It sounds to me that he meant exactly what he said. Mario was disappointing and I don't know how anyone could say different. That's not comparing him to VY or Bush, thats looking at production versus the pick. 4.5 sacks is flat out disappointing and until he develops "a" pass rush move and consistantly puts up the numbers "and" impact games the way top defensive ends do he will likely continue to be mired in medocrity.
like i said, i didn't have a problem with vy winning the award, nor did it even remotely surprise me; the margin was suspect, yes, and, if we were really going to sit down, get geeky and crunch #s in order to select the most deserving, the clear choice would've been MJD. thus, whoever said vy was the clear-cut favorite, i don't believe, was accurate. no one disparaged demeco, certainly not me. but MLB is a flashier position to play; they're generally around the ball consistently. it's not a shock he "outplayed" williams; doesn't, though, mean that MW had a bad, average or whatever year. he was quite effective, if inconsistent. as such, i don't understand the need to rush to judgment. let's say a few of the breaks the titans enjoyed this year hadn't gone their way - the kicker misses the 60-yarder; the entire giant team doesn't implode; maybe demeco, who grazed vy on the final play, gets a more direct hit and the texans go on to win that game.... IOW, let's say tennessee had finished 5-11; 6-10... and everyone was jumping on here declaring vy a bust, "ha, ha - we were right" blah, blah... would any of it be fair? accurate? why must these kids - KIDS - be labeled so quickly? i mean, even given the 8-8 record, vy, as a QB, has a looooooong way to go. should we assume, since he had a horrible QB rating and barely completed 50% of his passes, that he's reaching his peak at 21 and won't get better? MW didn't make what you could term a SPORTSCENTER impact; but you know what - neither did a lot of other rookies. the NFL is getting bigger and faster, and the leap from college to pro, especially for underclassmen, is getting a lot larger. few rookies step in a dominant like, say, an earl campbell did 30 years ago. give MW some space; he, and the team, are both pointed in the right direction... too early to regret the pick. but you just mentioned two other rookies who didn't win any postseason honors or mentions... i disagree; you think people are more upset right now than they were in 1993? the only difference is the internet and the ability of more people being able to spit venom with stuff sych as blogs and message boards and the growth of talk radio - holy ****, this place would have SHUT DOWN after the buffalo game; and again after the KC game... no way it's even REMOTELY close. but here's the thing: the titans, for all the hype, won exactly two more games than the texans. and the texans lost two games on the final play. it's not like the titans went 12-4; they're not going to the playoffs, either. so if people want to blow the vy factor of out proportion and be huffy and pissy about it, so be it. but the texans are on the right path, just a step or two behind tennessee.
you know what else is flat-out disappointing? a 66.7 QB rating, a 51% completion %, and a 12/13 TD/INT total... numbers, especially of a DL, do not always paint an accurate picture. here are some things not included in MW's numbers: his nearly year-long injury and the endless amount of praise opponents lavished him with, including tony dungy, waarren sapp, and bob whitfield - elder statesmen of this league who know a thing or two.
I think you put *way* too much stock in where someone was picked. You can't evaluate Mario based on where he was drafted. It's just not logical. You can evaluate Texan's use of the #1 pick based on Mario's performance. But then you're evaluating the Texans (Casserless). Mario turned in a great performance for a DE this year. He looks to be headed upward, not downward. You know what, I bet this happens all the time. Folks catch lightening in a bottle in rounds 2-3 and even 4 OFTEN. Terrell Davis comes to mind immediately. What running backs were selected that year, and how high? The frequency of this occurrence means that it doesn't make sense to use it to damn the Texans' pick (regardless of how many other factors may do so appropriately). To follow that to its logical end: what type of uproar do you think we'd have seen had the Texans selected DeMeco Ryans with the #1 pick of the draft? Hindsight, hindsight.
