In my dream situation, the lockout gets resolved and FA occurs before the draft. The Texans sign Pat Williams (MIN) or Aubrayo Franklin (SF) to be their nose tackle next year. Then sign Ike Taylor (PIT) at CB, and Shane Lechler if he gets cut. You go into the draft with needs at safety & LB really and that's it. If that scenario plays out, I'd like them to go BPA in the first round, even if it means grabbing Julio Jones or another Wide Receiver to pair with Andre. Edit: What do I expect to happen? They sign a middle of the pack free agent veteran corner, a few low impact veteran defensive linemen and then call it a day.
Unfortunately, until they actually do it.... lather, rinse, repeat. I think that's where a lot of fans' ire is rooted: The team routinely insults the intelligence of its fans. I'm OK with the Phillips hiring; again, it makes us a better team. What I didn't like was the dog-and-pony show. It was soooooooo transparently obvious what was going on - did they honestly think ANYONE was buying it? If you *want* Wade Phillips, HIRE WADE PHILLIPS! Stand by it - *make us believe*! Don't put on a charade. Don't mention extensive searches and intended criteria. It cheapens the decision and erodes our trust in you.
This is so true. Conventional wisdom is that it's a good thing to build a team through the draft. I just wonder, in this day and age, if that's good strategery anymore. How many great teams have been built almost exclusively through the draft (like the Texans) in the last 10 years? How many teams have won Superbowls without signing a few big name FA's? I can't think of one of the top of my head. Maybe Pittsburgh? How many great players spend their entire careers with the team that drafted them. Very few. Seems like it's better to let other teams take the risk of drafting guys early and developing them, then once they establish themselves as great players, sign them as FA's. Then you have great players with a proven track record instead of a bunch of unknowns with potential. Which is made even worse by the fact that our coaching staff is completely inept. Besides Matt Schaub, who is the last impact player we've signed or traded for? Kevin Walter? LOL.
Any change we'll sign OLB Julian Peterson? He was 'released' by Detroit and is a good veteran player, we could use.
Here's the thing, and it's been true for several years now: They've BUILT the team through the draft. If they think every single piece has to come from the draft, then we're in bigger trouble than we ever imagined. Building through the draft means you assemble a core, which they've done. Quite well, too. There are A LOT of teams that would LOVE our core. This team doesn't need any more draft choices; rather, they should no longer be relying *only* on the draft to find impact playersm and it should be secondary to free agency, et al. Well... I think Antonio Smith has been a very good acquisition and might look even better with the move to a 3-4.
Read more about the 3-4 transition here ... That's So Crazy, It Just Might Work: Examining Wade Phillips' 3-4 Scheme
If you look at their drafted vs. signed/traded for player ratio, apparently they DO think every piece has to come from the draft. Schaub, Walter, Smith, and Pollard are the only starters I can think of obtained from other teams. Agree 100%. Remember a few years ago when fans (myself included) would go into orbit if you suggested trading draft picks for players? Now, I wouldn't mind it so much. In fact, I would actually prefer it for the next few years. Forgot about him. He's okay save for the stupid ninja dance he does on the rare occasion that he gets a sack. I think he's a better fit for the 3-4 as well, but I heard an interview with him on 610 yesterday and he was basically saying he's not sure about it. Then again, I can't think of any DE that would be excited about going from the 4-3 to the 3-4 unless they were going to be switched to OLB.
Yeah, I heard that too. I don't think we're switching to the 3 4 though. Kubiak's hardheadedness and Wade's foolishness will prevail.
Vonta Leach, Chris Myers, Rashad Butler (he deserves a mention, good pickup and very capable in place of Brown as we saw during the suspension), Shaun Cody, Eugene Wilson, and don't forget that Arian was technically a free agent signing.
Not to mention the ones they pursued but didn't win, and the ones that didn't work out (Ahman Green being the highest profile of those).
Have you actually watched any Texans games? Smith is arguable the best defensive Texans player. It is between him and Cushing.
Yeah, the DL is actually a strength. Football Outsiders, I believe, recently posted "hurry" ranks - IIRC, Mario was top 2 or 3 and Smith was top 10. Install a better, more effective scheme and improve the secondary and I'll wager those hurries become sacks. And those guys play the run pretty effectively.
Cushing was terrible this year, IMO. He was absolutely no where near his level of play in 2009. Smith is good, but if you are going to talk about best player on defense, Mario should at the least, be ahead of both Smith and Cush.
Self-loathing Aggie? I want Miller on our team just because of how tite he looks in those glasses. F whether he can play or not.
