2012 a rebuilding year?

[76Texan]

I agree with the OP; in many ways, we were in at least semi-rebuilding mode.

We have 3 young guys on the Oline, at least two of them (Brooks and Jones) show promises. Both played better than any of the Guards we ever had under Kubiak (at the same stage in their career.). If they continue to improve on a normal rate, they will be the best we ever had.

The same thing can be said about Graham.

Posey (discounting his injury) showed that he can be more consistent than Jacoby.

On defense, Ryan's dead money will be off the book, giving us more cap space to play around with.

We might be able to find somebody to pair with Cushing next year that can cover worth a crap.

Hopefully McCain comes back to battle it out with Harris.

Or we can find a third safety with the additional money.

One FA at either safety or ILB, and we can draft the other position.

[Tailgate]

Our next draft will need more players that will impact the game better than the 2012 class did if we want to take a step forward.

[TejasTom]

Should be a place FA want to come play.

Posted using Tapatalk from my phone. May contain errors.

[Doppelganger]

Originally Posted by Norg

what type of team does Rick and Mcnair want

a consistent team like our counterparts in the North Ravens and Pittsburg who make the playoffs year after year and get bounced in the Div or AFCC game ever year and if they dont anything less the 9-7 is tabboo


or a team like ATL and SF who take gambles

Pittsburgh has won 2 superbowls in recent memory...

[Texecutioner]

Rebuilding year?? Not even close. We lost a few players just like every team does every off season. We were picked to go to a SB by a lot of people. They don't do that to teams that are rebuilding who have almost zero playoff history. We came back with a damn good team this year, but had holes just like any team. We weren't rebuilding by any means though, and we won't be next year either.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by mariowillshine15

It takes an elite QB. Get one of those and you contend every year.

Do the Steelers have an elite QB? The Giants? The Ravens?

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Unavoidable conclusion: When you build on a shoddy foundation you're always rebuilding.

12-4 and a playoff win is not rebuilding. And if it is, then you've got a great foundation.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Do the Steelers have an elite QB? The Giants? The Ravens?

yeah, those are top QB's. Quibbling on the 'elite' tag notwithstanding. I don't see any of those guys schaubing the ball up the field slowly when behind.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Vinny

yeah, those are top QB's. Quibbling on the 'elite' tag notwithstanding. I don't see any of those guys schaubing the ball up the field slowly when behind.

And yet, the Giants and Steelers were NOT contenders. Therefore, saying that having an "elite" QB means you will contend year after year is wrong. (Although, I don't consider either of those guys elite.)

And I don't consider Flacco even close to elite, and yet he's making it to the playoffs and to the AFCS year after year.

[Vinny]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

And yet, the Giants and Steelers were NOT contenders. Therefore, saying that having an "elite" QB means you will contend year after year is wrong. (Although, I don't consider either of those guys elite.)

And I don't consider Flacco even close to elite, and yet he's making it to the playoffs and to the AFCS year after year.

You are going to argue this way? Since Schaub has a better record he is better than Big Ben? So I guess you are saying that Rothlisburger and Manning are just good when they win Super Bowls and Schaub is better than those guys in years that his team wins 12 games? Those guys lead their teams and play at a high level more often than not....certainly more often than Schaub. Just mentioning Big Ben and Schaub in the same sentence is laughable.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Vinny

You are going to argue this way? Since Schaub has a better record he is better than Big Ben? So I guess you are saying that Rothlisburger and Manning are just good when they win Super Bowls and Schaub is better than those guys in years that his team wins 12 games? Those guys lead their teams and play at a high level more often than not....certainly more often than Schaub. Just mentioning Big Ben and Schaub in the same sentence is laughable.

I didn't say anything about Schaub, did I? Did I mention them in the same sentence? No. You did.

The guy I was responding to made the comment that having an elite QB assures you of being in contention. My point is, if those guys are elite, why aren't they in contention?

First: I don't consider those guys elite but like you said, that's a quibble about the definition of elite. If more than 10% of your guys are "elite" then they're not "elite". OTOH, people say you can't win a SB these days without an elite QB... "these days" being defined as starting after Brad Johnson's SB victory.

Second: But to the original guy's point, I don't think just having an elite QB puts you into contention. Look at the Saints. Brees alone is not enough.

Finally: Here it comes, I wasn't going to bring it up but you did, I think Schaub is good enough to win a SB. But he's got to have a superior team around him. He's not going to be able to carry a team into the playoffs and win games by force of will. Very few QBs are able to do that very often. Peyton only did it once and as far as I'm concerned, he's elite. I don't believe you have to be an elite QB to win a SB.

[Rey]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

I didn't say anything about Schaub, did I? Did I mention them in the same sentence? No. You did.

The guy I was responding to made the comment that having an elite QB assures you of being in contention. My point is, if those guys are elite, why aren't they in contention?

First: I don't consider those guys elite but like you said, that's a quibble about the definition of elite. If more than 10% of your guys are "elite" then they're not "elite". OTOH, people say you can't win a SB these days without an elite QB... "these days" being defined as starting after Brad Johnson's SB victory.

Second: But to the original guy's point, I don't think just having an elite QB puts you into contention. Look at the Saints. Brees alone is not enough.

Finally: Here it comes, I wasn't going to bring it up but you did, I think Schaub is good enough to win a SB. But he's got to have a superior team around him. He's not going to be able to carry a team into the playoffs and win games by force of will. Very few QBs are able to do that very often. Peyton only did it once and as far as I'm concerned, he's elite. I don't believe you have to be an elite QB to win a SB.

They are in contention every year...

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by The Pencil Neck

Do the Steelers have an elite QB? The Giants? The Ravens?

It's all relative. Compared to the Texans yes, those teams all have elite QB's. I see rings, I see AFC Championship games. I see big throws under pressure in big games.

None of that can be seen here. I'd trade three Schaub's if I had them for one Ben, Eli, or Flacco.

And honestly, if you have to spring for a perfect team to put around a guy to win a Super Bowl then what in the hell do you need him for? Think about it. Schaub's biggest weakness in my opinion is that he cannot create anything. Nothing. He can't make a play out of a busted play to save his life much less win a game. The handful of times he ever did that were years ago and now he's slower and more mechanical than ever before. Your QB has to give you more than that. I saw someone earlier listing what he was best at and it read like a list of things damn near any obedient QB in the league could do. There was nothing special about that list. Just a bunch of "follows orders" and "reads defenses when protected".

This system makes him look good. That's it.

[powda]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

None of that can be seen here. I'd trade three Schaub's if I had them for one Ben, Eli, or Flacco.

Maybe just 2 schaubs for flaco. Ben would be fun to watch in this offense.

[Hervoyel]

Originally Posted by powda

Maybe just 2 schaubs for flaco. Ben would be fun to watch in this offense.

Ben's the QB we should have drafted to build around. 2002 we should have done the smart thing and taken Peppers to build our defense. Start Banks for a couple of years and then grabbed Roethlisberger in 2004.

We got no offensive line? Fine, Ben doesn't need much of one.

[The Pencil Neck]

Originally Posted by Rey

They are in contention every year...

If you're not in the playoffs, you're not in contention.

If contending is just being in the mix on the last week of the season, then this team has been in contention a helluva lot more than a lot of people here want to admit.