If the Rockets had not totally shut it in at the end of the 2001 season (by benching virtually their entire starting lineup for the last few games), they would not have gotten that extra ping pong ball which ended up being drawn first. In that case, short term tanking led to long term Yao. Good move. I apply the same rationale to the Texans. Winning this season does the franchise no good in the quest for a ring. They likely won't make the playoffs even if they win out. However, a player like D'Brickashaw could be their anchor for 10+ years at LT. He could be a championship caliber player, to go with guys like Andre Johnson and Dunta Robinson. The argument against this is rooting for the guy that saved up his money all year to attend his one Texans game. Hard to tell him that you want them to lose when he has invested so much in attending.
On the flip side of that, you instill a losing tradition on the team. They get used to losing. They expect losing and feel comfortable in a losing environment. I heard Strahan being interviewed last night. He talked about how the Giants prepare to beat the teams they're supposed to vs. taking it easy and leaving it up to chance; putting bad teams away. He talked about winning at home, every home game. Definitely had a winning attitude. I don't see that kind of an attitude happening after you tank for the #1 draft pick. Which isn't all that more beneficial than the #2 or #3 or whatever we end up with. If they learn to win, and play hard to win every game vs. giving up and accepting a loser's mentality, the end result - even with losing the #1 pick - is much more rewarding - for the team, the organization and the fans alike.
no offense, but this brand of thinking and these kinds of discussions, disgust me. why would anyone choose to endure losses for the right to gamble on a #1 pick? as if this team is one pick away from being good even if the pick does pan out. you don't invite, or feed, a losing culture. you don't ask players to lie down today in order to compete tomorrow. you don't instill in your organization a free pass to underachieve. and you sure as hell don't ask fans to sit through it with their wallets wide open.
i'm not a texans fan, i just follow them...so i want them to lose so they can pick up reggie bush and be able to make some plays on offense regardless of line play. he can flat out, outrun defenders even at the NFL level. he doesn't need much of a line, even though they definitely help. the texans are just pathetic right now. they need line help bad but you can't pass up a guy like reggie bush, and i think he would make the team better for the long run. so one season that is already in the crapper isn't too terribly important than say the next 8.
You don't... but you do need talent... and this team has NONE up front. If you have to start somewhere, you might as well start with a franchise LT... it would help this current team more than any other commodity, and there's a good chance he'll play for a lot longer than any current, or potential, skills position players.
Most "franchise LT's" do not have an immediate impact. There is about a 2 year learning curve. And Bush is not just any run of the mill skill position player. Some are saying that he is the best skill player to come out in the last 15 years. You don't pass on that. Of the AFC playoff teams last year, NONE, I repeat NONE, have a LT that was taken in the top 10. And only one of those teams that made the playoffs in the AFC last year had a LT that was taken in the first round; Tarik Glenn of Indianapolis who was taken 19th overall.
Nobody is suggesting that the players tank the games, you're comments are taking this to an extreme. This thread is about what you would like to see happen since our year is wasted. Get the #1 pick or win some games and have the #6-10 pick. And did you even completely read my first post? I don't suggest that we use the #1 pick, I suggest that we trade down in order to pick up 2 top notch OL. I also posted that pinning our hopes on the draft may not be the way to go, that maybe winning games to attract big FAs might be better.
it's not wasted; we have 8 games left to evaluate who can play and who can't; who needs to stay and who needs to go; what are the strengths and where are the weaknesses. to root for, or excuse losing is, IMO, just as reprehensible as advocating it. i'd rather have a clearer take on carr's long-term potential than the #1 pick. i'd rather solve AJ's tendency to be neutralized to easily. i'd rather evaluate if anyone on the OL is worth a damn. i want to know what kind of character babin and buchannon have. if mathis and armstrong are sleepers; if DD can be productive consistently inside the red zone... i want sure things to emerge from this season, not a gamble on a #1 pick.
Ric, You already know the answer to all you questions. It's about a change in coaching philosophy. This team reeks of a failure due to the staff in my opinion. Are they a Super Bowl team? No, but they are a decent team with good young talent. As bad as it is, I'm all for watching this team underachieve themselves into a situation to get Reggie Bush. I want to see them play well and win this season, but I want the #1 pick more. The way it appears to me is that this season is an anomaly, and not the begining of a downward trend. So if this team can somehow bump into the #1 pick then root on.
I can't root for them to lose, but I'm not too upset if they don't win. Make sense? Oh, and count me in the Reggie Bush camp. You don't pass up a talent like that.
no, i really don't. i think the team has two players worth building around: AJ and robinson, and even they have question marks. it's not, IMO, a talented young team, nor was this year an anamoly. the offense was awful the second half of last year, too, and carr, while certainly better than he's been this year, has never been "#1 pick" good. i think they head into 2006 with almost too many questions and they're essentially starting from scratch. this is, far and away, the worst team in football and their cupboard is nearly bare. canning capers, et al, is a step in the right direction, but if casserly is still supplying the talent....
I'd rather us get the #1 pick than win a couple more pointless games and move down to a #5-#10 pick. I would never root for Houston team to lose, but this team isn't gonna get any better the way it is. Get the #1 pick, trade down for a Top 5 pick + a 2nd rounder, some teams like the Dolphins or Browns might be desperate enough for Leinart to trade another 1st rounder along with their top pick. Pick up D. Ferguson with the top pick and maybe we could steal another OL like J. Scott or Blaylock. If VY wins the heisman and wins a NC, I fully expect him to come out, despite what he has said. Then you pick up VY with the top pick and then a OL with the latter.
It seems we are in the minority. One player will not this team make. We can take Reggie Bush, but if we don't have an offensive line, he's going to get mauled. Even if we did have the first pick, I'd rather trade down a few spots, pick up another 2nd round pick, and users the majority of the first 2-3 rounds on Off. Linemen and a WR or CB.
See Im all for them losing, but then I really dont care. See i came of age during the Rockets Championship. Still in my very early teens the team made an impression on me. If any of us took a Psych 101 class in college then you know how important these years are in the development of adulthood. So in watching the champioship seasons and the heartbreak of seasons prior (I will always hate Hersy Hawkins and smile when I am reminded of what became of Shawn Kemp) an emotional bond was created. Same thing with the Astros. Went 2 a game at the Astrodome 2 days after we moved from Chicago and none other than Dave Smith tossed a ball at me during batting practice and I thought it was the coolest thing. Emotional bond was thus developed. Football on the other hand I really didnt get &understand as a child. It was too slow(unlike b-ball), never played with friends(we were a baseball crew) so I never got into the Oiler thing. So when they moved i was graduating highschool and making preperations to go to Europe so it really wasnt on my radar. I started college at UT and it wasnt utill then that i began an apreciation of football. It grew on me. The hate for Oklahoma was tangible, i could feel it. And it bacame an experience during a memorable and important period. Which is why im having problems with the Texans. I honestly could care less if they win or loose cause I have no emotional investment in this team. I know theyre some old schoolers out there who might be projecting thier love of the Oilers on this Texans team but ask yourself is it the same. Ask yourself which would mean more to you. If the Texans won the Superbowl or the Rockets won an NBA championship? If the Texans won the Superbowl of if the Astros won the World Series? If the Texans won the Superbowl or if your college alma matta (or adopted sports team if yall went to Rice... yes I'm talking to you Bigtexx) won a Football or Basketball National Championship? Im willing to bet that 90%+ don't pick the Texans. Why? Zero emotional investment. Dont get me wrong, Im glad we at least have a football team to complain about, but do any of us really care? Thier so new and so inept. We as fans have not shared playoff experiences (Wins or loses) that is essential in developing a connetction. All we have is a 4 loosing seasons. I agree that its a new franchise and lets give them some time. Which is what I did. And then they passed on my boy Derick Johnson. That really ticked me off coz I couldnt see why they would? If Travis Johnson wasnt so funny I'd be calling for his head. With each game I hope that we get blown out and get the #1 pick. So we can either trade down, get more picks and wait to see if Vincent Young decides to leave after winning the Heisman and National Championship. If the Texans don't pick him either this year or next then Ive decided to root for whatever teamn does end up picking vincent young. And as is the case when you follow a team it might be likely that I adopt whatever team he ends up with as my own. Acoording to this site http://www.thehuddlereport.com/draftorder/index.shtml If the season ended today we would get the second pick coz Greenbay has lost to lesse competition. All but 2 team in the top ten have a higher opp so if we win one more game we go from 2nd to 6th. Jesus the TExans cant even lose properly. THRU WEEK 9 BASED ON FULL 16 GAME SCHEDULE PICK TEAM W OPP% 1 PACKERS 1 0.458 2 TEXANS 1 0.600 3 JETS 2 0.417 4/5 49ERS 2 0.500 CARDINALS 2 0.500 6 TITANS 2 0.583 7 RAVENS 2 0.640 8 SAINTS 2 0.708 9-12 BILLS 3 0.375 DOLPHINS 3 0.375 LIONS 3 0.375 VIKINGS 3 0.375 13 BROWNS 3 0.515 14 RAIDERS 3 0.640 15 PATRIOTS 4 0.333 16 RAMS 4 0.417 17 EAGLES 4 0.688 18 BEARS 5 0.292 19 JAGUARS 5 0.440 20/21 BUCCANEERS 5 0.560 CHIEFS 5 0.560 22 CHARGERS 5 0.583 23 COWBOYS 5 0.625 24 REDSKINS 5 0.650 25 SEAHAWKS 6 0.333 26 STEELERS 6 0.480 27 BRONCOS 6 0.520 28/29 FALCONS 6 0.520 PANTHERS 6 0.520 30 GIANTS 6 0.583 31 BENGALS 7 0.458 32 COLTS 8 0.320
The #1 pick would look really nice in April, but it's tough to watch the Texans lose games now in order to get it. I root for them to win, and if they don't I console myself with the thought that they are one week closer to landing some big time talent.
