I found this on PFW.com and found it to be interesting, especially as a die-hard Oilers fan. I know this isn't really Texans related, but since its about Houston football, I posted it here. If mods find it inappropriate, please move it. Lady luck Sometimes a little luck goes a long way on Draft Day By Chris Landry April 17, 2003 All the hours and hours of preparation that go into Draft Day sometimes can blow up in your face. Luck can be your best friend on Draft Day. Having joined the Houston Oilers in the fall of 1994, we inherited a team that was the worst in the league. But in the ’95 draft, we had the third overall pick, as the top two picks went to the expansion teams in Carolina and Jacksonville. After countless hours of studying, dissecting and sometimes arguing over which direction to go with our first pick, we decided QB Steve McNair from Alcorn State was our guy. The first pick was traded by Carolina to Cincinnati, who then took RB Ki-Jana Carter from Penn State. Jacksonville was then on the clock with the second pick. Because certain people in our organization were too loose with their public praise of McNair, it was no secret that we were planning to take him. Jacksonville, not only a new expansion team but also now a divisional rival, decided to try to pull one over on us, and it almost worked. While the Jaguars were on the clock, Jacksonville head coach and de facto general manager Tom Coughlin called our general manager, Floyd Reese, to say Minnesota wanted to move up to their spot, presumably to take McNair, and offered us the chance to move up to the second spot instead for a fourth-round pick. Under this scenario, the Jaguars would pick up an extra valuable pick and still get their guy, Tony Boselli, with the third overall pick. Now, to set the stage more clearly, Reese had clearly proclaimed McNair as his choice to owner Bud Adams, who made a rare appearance in our draft room during this selection. He was urging Reese not to risk losing his quarterback of the future. Others in the room, including myself and head coach Jeff Fisher, felt that the Jaguars were bluffing. Plus, we did not want to give up a valuable pick when we had so many needs to fill. With the owner urging him to do the deal and a few of us assuring him that the Jaguars were bluffing, Reese told Coughlin that he was going to stay put. It was without question the most intense and quiet I had ever heard a room. Twenty seconds later the Jaguars turned in their pick of Tony Boselli, and we had our guy with the third pick. The Jaguars were indeed bluffing, and we called them on it. Such are the games that are played on Draft Day. To be involved firsthand is a unique thrill, but it produces stress that can rarely be matched. Makes you understand why teams are so secretive about their drafting strategies.
Worked out pretty good for both teams. What is really interesting is that McNair didn't turn out to be the downfield Passer I'm sure everyone thought he would become. He became a great leader , 2 minute qb, and short passer. And that's what has got us a bunch of playoff wins. Funny how things work out differently than you expect them to.
I blame Jeff Fisher for McNair not becoming the quarterback we all expected. I truly believe that if he was in the right system from the start, McNair would have been better than Randall Cunningham (as a scrambler and passer). I think Fisher impeded his progress by sticking him in an ultraconservative offense, the only bone I've had to pick with the coach in his entire history with the Oilers/Titans.
mcnair's "downfield" passing game in college was vastly overrated. if anything, fisher's found what mcnair CAN do and has done a terrific job exploiting it. he's a limited QB in all actuality. in college, mcnair essentially threw alley-oops to his receivers. there was no precision and not a lot of skill involved. believe me, if mcnair had the tools to develop a downfield passing game, fisher would have run with it. a lot of people forget, in '95 and '96, when chandler was the starter, the oilers went downfield quite a bit. remember chris sanders emerging as a potential gamebreaker during that period?
' i thought chris sanders was going to be the league's next great receiver...i was blinded by my loyalty to columbia blue at the time, of course! of course, i'm convinced andre johnson will shatter jerry rice's receiving records...unless, of course, the texans don't draft him!
You're hillarious, McNair didn't throw alley oops, he threw strikes, 30 yards on a rope, did you actually watch any of his games. That's his best throw right now, the only downfield throw he has problems with is the post. Chris Sanders was overrated.
what are you talking about? Corey Bradford is clearly the AFC's premier receiver! I mean, look at that logo on his helmet! Plus, he scored that huge TD to beat the despised Cowboys!!! He's a freaking hero in my book!
I agree completely. Fisher seemed way too scared to rush McNair, so he brought him along really slowly and shackled McNair to a playbook not befitting his style. I would have loved to see him playing in a pass first offense. I think he would have shattered NFL records by the time his career was over.
Steve McNair benefitted from a spread offense in college, so you can throw those numbers out. Also, Tennessee's offense has gotten very conservative recently, so much to the point that McNair almost never throws downfield. McNair's arm is average to above-average in the NFL apparently. We all expected him to do great things based on what we saw of him in college. But if you argue that same principle, Kliff Kingsbury will be the next Joe Montana.
I remember McNair was drafted the year after Shuler, and they said McNair had a much stronger arm. I don't know how much this is worth, but McNair won the long toss competition last year at that QB comp.
why, and i want you to answer this -- why did fisher bring mcnair along slowly and then shackle him with an ultra-conservative playbook? what was his reasoning? to claim that he would intentionally misuse a talent is very close to claiming he wasn't concerned with winning. do you have any other examples of fisher intentionally muting a potentially dangerous weapon of his? i'll take it a step further: do you have any examples of any coach doing this? do you think maybe, just maybe, the problem was mcnair? he can throw a football downfield, but has no touch, little accuracy. he's a heaver. and there were always veiled references to coaches having to dumb down the offense for him. he's doing now what he does best -- he's a leader, he can make things happen on the fly and he can exploit a defense underneath. if anything, fisher is playing to his strengths. right, and fisher, apparently, has an aversion to that, right? that's the claim? if he had elway or favre or moon, he would put the clamps on them, too, right? he's more interested in squeezing talent into his round peg than giving them the freedom to win. that's why eddie george was used primarily as a receiver out of the backfield all those years, why wycheck was a block-first TE, why jevon kearse was asked to clog the line and fill holes, why bishop was moved off the line of scrimmage and placed in pass coverage as often as possible -- because fisher takes talent and misuses it for some sinister, alternative motive of his, right? i get the feeling fisher would do whatever he had to win, don't you - extremely competitive, fiery guy? so i'll ask again, why would he purposefully misuse a weapon like mcnair? and what makes you more qualified than fisher to list how mcnair should be used?
Steve McNair is the glue that keeps the Tennessee Titans together now, Having watched him run all over Jacksonville numerous times, then come up so close in the Super Bowl, Its hard not to have tremendous respect for the guy. Being a Raiders fan, The AFC Championship in my book proved McNair was the single most valuable player to his team, he kept them somewhat in that game when it looked like an all-out blowout at times. Kudos to The Oilers for making a superb draft pick.
McNair has thrown for over 3,000 yards and 20 touchdowns the past two years. I doubt he did that throwing alley oops. Also, I guess its just a coicidence that McNair's numbers get better when Jeff Fisher's running game and Eddie George start to wear out. Jeff Fisher is a conservative defensive coach. The guy played with Walter Payton under Buddy Ryan and Mike Ditka. There's your Jeff Fisher philosophy.
Getting rid of Les Stoeckel and going with Heimerdinger (SP?) has been a boon for McNair's career. Just wish we could get Randy Moss. Oh yeah, Dyson didn't turn out to be better, did he?
likey not; but neither did chad pennington, who did the same thing... in his first year as a starter. i like mcnair; i think what he does, he does very well. but in terms of basic QB skills? he's lacking in a big way. his arm is not great (220 of his 301 completions last year came on throws of 10 or fewer yards); it's certainly not accurate (he's hit double digits in INTs every year he's started 15 or more games) and he's topped 84 on the QB rating once since becoming a starter (as a point of contention, 16 QBs last year hit 85 or higher, including XFL-refugee tommy maddox; in limbo brian griese, journeyman matt hasselback...). my contention isn't that he's not great, because i think he has an intangible quality that does make him great, but that this notion fisher has misused him and that mcnair's been a caged animal holds no weight. i don't remember ryan having anything to do with the bears' offense, but i do remember ryan coaching a QB in philadelphia... damn, what was his name? oh, you know who i'm talking about -- the guy most people always claim mcnair would most play like if not for that ryan-reared jeff fisher... btw, fisher was a DB backs coach during much of cunningham's dominant years in philly and went from the eagles to the 49ers where he watched another defensive stiffler, george seifert, "stiffle" steve young. if anything, he's been reared by coaches who got the most out of their talent. so... since you didn't last time, please answer why fisher would stiffle mcnair and please give other examples of players he's stiffled.
My point was he played on a team dominated by a running game. I know he played defense, that's why I said he played under Buddy Ryan. Did Randall Cunningham have an Eddie George or Walter Payton on any of those teams? Jeff Fisher is a defensive minded coach, he played it, he coached it. And again, I ask, why does McNair's numbers all of sudden go up, when Eddie can't carry the load like he used to.
and he has coached for team's led by dominate QBs. frankly, i don't think either point is really relevant -- i think fisher's progressive and smart enough to play to his team's strengths -- but of the two, it would seem his coaching history would have a far greater impact on his coaching philosophy, wouldn't you say? right, and so the point is... what? i've shown ryan's coaching habits do not adhere to any one methodology, so what, exactly, are you trying to prove? no. so ryan had to play to his team's strengths -- IOW, he rode randall cunningham's prestigious talents; a lesson that fisher either slept through or didn't quite believe in, as he apparently reverted back to his experiences in 1985 and decided he wanted whoever his QB was to play like jim mcmahon. is that your contention? yup, a defensive-minded coach who coahced under ryan and seifert, two other defensive-minded coaches who rode great QBs to success. why do you continue to ignore this and pretend fisher's coaching pedigree was actually forged (and in stone, apparently) during his playing days? there's a disconnect. ahhhh... i see how this works: i ask the questions, i make all the relevant points... and you get to ignore them all and throw questions my way, huh? i'll answer your question, though: fisher learned from other coaches that you play to your team's strengths. george was no longer a strength; so he turned to mcnair. fairly easy conclusion to draw. the real question, though, is why it took him 6 or 7 years to turn the offense over to mcnair? because he had george? tell me, does st. louis's offense stiffle warner in favor of faulk? does green bay stiffle favre in favor of green? hell, does seattle stiffle hasselback in favor of alexander? if mcnair was such a bundle of untapped talent, why was fisher hiding it? what possible motivation could he have for making his team worse? it makes no sense. there's nothing in his coaching history to suggest he would purposefully shackle talent, nor are there other examples of this.
I've never been impressed with McNair. He's very inaccurate and has to throw a ton of dinks and dunks to move the offense. Does anyone even remember the Super Bowl? He missed guys all over the place. Over their heads and bouncing in front of them. Everyone focused on his scrambling and forgot he wouldn't have needed to scramble if he could just hit wide open guys down field.
