http://www.houstonprofootball.com/cap.html David Carr is in the option year of his rookie contract. If the option is exercised, Carr's contract extends through 2008 and he is due a pro-rateable $8,000,000 bonus. Base salaries for the next three years would be $5.25 million in 2006 and 2007 and $6 million in 2008. ____ I'm not a cap expert, but I believe that he'll count against the cap $7.91 million in 2006, $8.6 million in 2007, and $8.6 in 2008. That's way to much.
If we don't exercise Carr's option, anyone want to buy my season tickets? I'll never stop supporting the team, but Carr's one of the only reasons I have any hope of not going 0-16... if we lose him, well... It's not as simple as picking a few isolated cases where Carr does have time and saying "oh, he didn't do well there either, so this proves it isn't the OL." No, in most cases, Texan opponents don't have to blitz the secondary or linebackers because they can get all the pressure in the world from just the front four. On other teams, the blitz can occasionally be picked up and the quarterbacks can throw against only five men or so in coverage. On this team, even when Carr has time, he's still throwing against seven because there's less reason to blitz. The offensive line is always a factor in this offense, even on the rare occasions Carr has time. And yes, I think Carr would be every bit as good as Eli and Carson if he were in those systems. Perhaps even better with his mobility. Peyton Manning wouldn't even be "IT" if he had on average about 1.5 seconds to throw.
In favor of what? So that we can start over with another rookie QB being put behind that line? Or go the Dallas route and bring in 40 year olds? Carr isn't a bust just because he doesn't look like he'll be Pro-Bowl material. The O-Line, on the other hand, will continue to hold our offense back until we bring in NFL-level players to replace this sad group of journeymen. Replacing Carr won't create run blocking for Davis. Replacing Carr won't create 3+ sec pocket protection for deep routes. We NEED to use this upcoming draft to finally bring in a credible tackle or two. Evan P.S. Fire Casserly or else he'll focus on special teams depth
From talking to people inside the Texans, the thought is that the OL is good enough for Carr to be effective this year. But Carr is missing out on alot of plays when he has a chance to throw and actually runs into sacks alot of the time. I personally feel that the O-line is average or just below average, but I do feel that Carr has the same grade. When your QB is below average, you have some serious problems. I wouldn't exercise that option on Carr. Either it was the hits he has taken or maybe he just wasn't that good to begin with, but he seems ruined now. But I will keep my season tix for years to come. I love football and this is the best we have locally.
The question for the option is not whether he's a bust. It's whether he's worth the price, which I assume is quite high since it was based on a projection of him being a top pick. You don't overpay your QB just because you need one. Any given year, you can go out and get a mediocre/decent QB if need be. Whether it be a Jon Kitna or a Tommy Maddox or Kurt Warner or Trent Dilfer. There are always some of those out there. What has to be decided is whether he's worth the top-pick level money going forward.
But if that was the case and the OL wad decent enough, then Domanick which is a good back would be putting up a lot better numbers then he is right now.
When DD was playing so well the last two seasons and AJ was having a great season last year (especially in the beginning-middle), did we have a completely different OL or something?
Teams scouted us.... figured out the 3-4 plays that we ran effectively, game-planned against our zone blocking, and shut us down offensively the last 5 weeks of last season (and all of this season). With our O-line, and our coaching thus far, we haven't been able to "branch out" and re-adjust to the adjustments. If we can't do that, we can't win.
andre johnson is counting the days until he becomes a free agent and can jettison himself from this rapidly sinking ship. man, it's hard to be a Texans fan. that said, the OL has to be addressed before you can put any QB back there and expect an above-par performance. we haven't even given carr a chance to be good.
If we don't extend Carr and I've got no indication this is the case; but if we don't, I hope he lights our asses up on the way to many probowls and superbowls. That would be about the most bush league thing this team could do at this point. Get him some protection, lineman generally play ten to twelve years atleast the good ones do, and then in 08 if he still sucks bring in someone else right as the line is coming into it's prime. That's why Big Ben and Palmer are successfull, time and picks were invested into building the line before they stuck their franchise QB back there. Ideally we would have built this way and already had an average to above average line then we could all be salivating about adding a Leinart or Bush but that is not the way it was done. Bosseli hurt us, but it's time to realize that and move on. This draft that appears to be loaded with line talent, make the move to get a couple of talented rookies in here to make the offense go because that is what needs to happen.
