My first thought when Gaine left to the Bills was the same as Peter King's. I appears to me as a if he is bailing ship. Why go to Buffalo and be 2nd in that division behind the Patriots when you "can" still be division winners in the AFC South? Then I wondered if Gaine liked that area of the country. I was shocked that the Texans drafted one of the top 4 rated QB's in this past NFL draft in the 1st round. O'Brien knows this offense is way too difficult for a rookie QB to matter. Chad Ochocinco went to the Patriots and found this type of offense too difficult. Chris Clark came from Denver to the Texans, saying the offense is so difficult....."it's like reading Chinese backwards." Experienced QB's like Mallett, Fitzpatrick, Hoyer, Weeden & Osweiler had trouble in their 1st year stints with the Texans Erhardt-Perkins scheme. I believe Rick Smith is under fire to win more than the 9-7 record of the past 3 yrs. Why did the Texans pass on Vince Young, Geno Smith, Teddy Bridgewater in the past to move up for Watson?......when there are about 5 young, tall QB's coming out next year that will rated higher? NFL.com/combine rated Bridgewater with a grade of 6.30 while they rated Watson as 5.98. Watson combine velocity was 49. Only one player since 2008 has been successful throwing less than 53 mph. That was Tyrod Taylor with 50 mph making a pro bowl......but he was coming off a shoulder injury prior to throwing at the combine. Dak Prescott also came off an injury when he threw at the combine. I would like to say the Texans could win 10 games; but that offensive line has to protect the QB. PFF ranked the Texans O-Line as 11th going into the 2016/17 season....Going into 2017/18 PFF has the Texans O-Line as 18th. If I was GM I would have gone a different route; shoring up that O-Line first as top priority.
Like, cutting Brock instead of giving away our 2nd rounder in 2018? Or not trading up to draft a QB that nobody else was going to draft ahead of you? Or waiting one just one more year to choose from a bumper crop of high caliber QBs after ignoring the position for a decade? Or not signing Assweiler and making the HC play him when the other QBs were better? How about hiring someone qualified to make scouting decisions instead of you and your owners, who aren't? Or drafting guys on football talent, not on who has a good backstory you can sell to the media? Or avoiding drafting RBs with a broken foot?
Wow, I love all of the bullet point examples. I'm sure it's not meant to be addressed one by one; but I would like to see where we differ? I numbered your points 1-7. 1&4) kinda tie into one another: Osweiler was a bad signing. I'm glad the Texans recognized the error & were fortunate a team gave them a "Get out of Jail" card.....but it was not free (2nd rd pick). I've read articles on QB's with a distinct carrying angle at the elbow having issues throwing due to mechanics and inconsistent release points. To me Brock had a distinct carrying angle. During the season I asked myself, "why does it look like he throws like a Girl/Woman? I know I'm going to get blasted for saying this....but I believe it's at his elbow. The human body was not designed to throw a baseball over handed repetitively.....nor a football. The carrying angle forces woman who play softball as pitchers to throw under handed for more velocity. Over handed over longer distances, as the player tends to be more accurate than under handed over say 80 ft. Just my theory......I would not have signed Brock. Texans could've waived Brock in July and not given up that 2nd rd pick. And yes BO'B was forced to play the high priced Brock; as well as Mallett, Hoyer & Fitzpatrick. 2) I do think Watson was the best QB in the draft. I just had mid to late 2nd on him. Unlike the scouts who think Watson has a ton of upside; I do not. I think his mechanics, footwork, release is as good as it may get. Velocity was 49 mph at combine but better when he can step towards his target. Unfortunately in the NFL you don't always have a clean pocket to step towards your target....& those throws may get picked off a lot. Brett Kollmann broke down Watson & gave him an early 2nd round grade. He watched every throw and attributes his inaccuracy problems throwing deep down field due to his over compensation for lack of arm strength. Watson has to get his entire body into the throw. So that is something that he can fix. So he will basically have to improve mentally and compensate for the low velocity by beating teams cerebrally......because he is about where he is going to be physically for years. And running QB's his size get killed. If you watch video of Watson.....he will get killed if he runs like that in the NFL. 3) Yes I believe the QB class of next year is far superior to this years class. Of the top ten projected next year, there are probably 7 listed as 6'5" or 6'6". About 5 of them are very good pocket QB's. Strong arms that are accurate. My favorite is Chase Litton from Marshall. 6'6" in height. A) Good pocket presence. Slides feet well subtly to hit proper angles for throwing lanes. B) Will move feet back or forward to avoid defenders as he can sense the rush while maintaining vision down field. C) Good mechanics: holds ball near chin securely, good wind up with elbow near body (not flaring out), Quick compact throwing motion and release, good arm/velocity, accurate, & will dissect a defense with surgical precision while rolling left or right. Many have young Mr Litton around 6th on the QB prospect board for next summer; I think he will leap to the top of the board as he gets one more year of college to gain about 10-15 pounds. The added muscle in legs and arm will translate to further distance and greater velocity. Litton can throw well with touch right now but will learn to throw a better deep pass. His ability to roll out and hit with accuracy is shades of Montana and Tom Brady. 5) Not sure who Rick Smith listens to. Phillips says he had to lobby hard for JJ Watt. But I believe Wade Phillips lobbied hard for Sam Montgomery. I remember him saying he had success moving a DE named Mario Williams out to OLB....that he could do the same with Sam Montgomery. Smith may not trust BO'B because of the mistakes Kubiak and Phillips suggested. Rick should let Bill O'B and Romeo C have more say or input. Swearinger thought he was a ILB, Sam Montgomery a bust, Brennan Williams a bust, Trevardo Williams a bust, Amobi Okoye a bust, Sua Filo?? Jeff Allen?? People mistake the success of the Texans as good work by Rick Smith. But what if the undrafted players hadn't come to Houston? Those undrafted players getting coached up? Where would the Texans be right how without Arian Foster, Bouye, Lamm, Mancz, Grimms, others? Smith was inserted in 2006 after Casserley made the picks. 6) Not sure. 7) Foreman highlights show him running through holes you could drive a Mack truck through. None of those holes existed with the Texans last season. All I saw were road blocks. Foreman doesn't block well....doesn't even see it coming half the time. He will get a QB killed if he doesn't learn fast. Reports are he played above 250 pounds during the season. That's Eddie Lacy territory. You end up with nagging injuries that can lead to more severe. My guess is the Texans want weight clauses in his contract, and that is delaying his signing with the team. Past #1 pick QB Jamarcus Russell ballooned up to offensive lineman staus after the Raiders drafted him. Texans near to fear the same with Foreman. He could help in short yardage plays; but only caught like 14 passes during his time with the Longhorns. Not sure if BO'B made the call on that one. Trying to copy the Patriots with a Lagarrett Bount type?? I'm a strong believer Savage will be fine. Just manage the game, don't throw interceptions and get rid of the ball quickly. 1 Mississippi 2 Mississippi 3 Mississippi release the ball. Know where you want to go with the ball or throw it out of bounds. It's ok to punt. Play the field possession game with a good punter forcing teams to go about 90 yards to score TD's vs you. That's what the Patriots mostly do. They can drive the length of the field.....but the Pats like to make things easy on themselves by choosing to play mostly at your end. If I'm wrong on anything please let me know!! Take Care
8-8 or 9-7; here we come!!! Battle fight!!! Maybe Smith and O'Brien can keep Watson off the field long enough to sell hope to the fan base and owner..."I know we were mediocre in 2017 but Watson is ready! He has looked awesome in practice! 2018 will be a banner year, 11-12 wins easy!".... while they leave the office at noon and chuckle about having kept their job another year.
And I completely whiffed on not listing AJ Bouye in there... franchise him and see if he does it again. We've got the 4th most salary cap in the NFL at ~$35M... and a supposedly Super Bowl defense... Does that sound like a team going for it all? Or will we waste Watt's last healthy years? Are we improved? Like someone said above, how are we looking at OT? I believe people will look back at selling this draft pick as a bad football move. Cut off your nose to spite your face. All it did was put $10M back into McNair's pockets. Fans lose out. Yep. He would have fallen to us. Great kid. Wade and Gary had same issues with front office that BOB has -- owner choosing players and Smith, who's not a good talent evaluator, making scouting decisions. Are all of the coaches wrong? Will check him out. Foreman is not a power back like Blount. He's more finesse. Doctor on another forum said he has a broken bone in his foot. Dumb. I think we'll see there were better backs drafted after Foreman. This draft was all Rick's picks. Hope he improves. Hasn't yet shown me he can get it out quickly. Worse than that. 7 or 6 wins. Turmoil at the top always trickles down to harm the team.
It sure is a lot of doom and gloom in here lately. I don't know why because it turned out that Rick Smith is dam near a genius when it comes to putting this team together. It didn't look like it at first but now it's quite evident.
Well the best I can say is better than last season. They're getting all of their pieces back so they should be better.
*I left off Rahim Moore, Chris Clemons & Bergstrom (recently). I give Rick Smith credit.....he cuts bait quickly when he makes mistakes. But mistakes are mistakes. *Half of the experts say Foreman runs violently and they see defensive backs re-engaging with their blocker to avoid having to tackle Foreman. The other have of experts say Foreman goes out of his way to avoid tacklers by a foot or two. That tip toeing going east and west may work in college; but not in the NFL. That gives bigger, faster, smarter players enough time to get their angle on you......group tackle & corral a player. He will need to try to bust thru more arm tackles. I will try to reserve judgement; but I believe other backs may have been a better option later in the draft. *I believe the Texans can get to 11 wins if whoever QB's can manage the game and not fumble or throw int's. Texans: rank/takeaways/giveaways/differential: 2016: 26th (tied) / 17 (takes) / 24 (gives) / -7 (dif) 2015: 10th (tied) / 25 (takes) / 20 (gives) / 5 (dif) 2014: 2nd (tied) / 34 (takes) / 22 (gives) / 12 (dif)........takeaways will be a big factor. Everyone understands that the Texans have a new QB every year; but they seem to forget the receiver turnaround each year. It takes each new QB about a year to learn the system.....receivers have to learn as well. 2014: Fitzpatrick/Mallett 2015: Hoyer//Weeden/Mallett 2016: Osweiler/Savage Receivers: 2014: Andre Johnson/Hopkins/Damaris Johnson/Posey/Keshawn Martin 2015: Hopkins/Nate Washington/Cecil Shorts/Strong/Mumphrey 2016: Hopkins/Fuller/Braxton/Strong People seem to be misinterpreting the Texans success as Rick Smiths doing. I believe it's more about the Undrafted Free Agents and the coaches having an ability to coach them up. Edited: most of the team/players look good in the recent OTA's. Person would need to keep in mind that the QB's are protected from being hit right now. We need to see Savage & Watson with the pressure on.
Hahaha the freaking Browns have been building for over 2 darn decades and counting. I know we are not using them and their circus show of GM's as an example of building something. Man the season can't get her fast enough.
I guess Cassel/Jimmy G helped cover for those mistakes too. Ricky's pick of Brock sure didn't cover for those mistakes and I doubt Watson will either. So lets go back to 1-5-10-25 years? How long is long enough for you to say enough is enough?