Peter Kings MMQB w/ the Texans

[4Texans]

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?eref=T1

Peter King has....

* us ranked 15 and heading to the Playoffs in 2008
* Mario as Defensive Player of the week.
* Charley Casserly as a candidate for NFL Exec of the year, if he could.

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by 4Texans

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...x.html?eref=T1

Peter King has....

* us ranked 15 and heading to the Playoffs in 2008
* Mario as Defensive Player of the week.
* Charley Casserly as a candidate for NFL Exec of the year, if he could.

Am I the only one that is having trouble equating Mario with a CC pick?Am I wrong on the info I have heard?

Not just from McClain bit from others I have heard CC wanted to announce Reggie as the pick and that he was a Reggie guy. You have Reeves holding his hand telling him this was a bad move. CC is a lame duck and we have Kubes saying he wanted Mario at the last second. I just don't give the guy this credit. If I'm wrong, tell me.

[Leahmic223]

In Order for us to make the playoffs we need to stay healthy. I feel 90% confident had we stayed healthy for most of this year we would still be a solid wild card contender...

As for Casserly...I feel sorry for the team that hires him as a GM because of the Mario move...like they say even a broken clock is right two times a day.

[eriadoc]

Casserly was credited with drafting 9 of the 11 starters on the last Redskins SB team. He also drafted Greg White.

Just some food for thought. Personally, I think Capers and his staff would have made any GM look bad. Casserly did his damage in plenty of other ways (contract deals, caving to Capers; demands, trading draft picks), but I don't ding him (well, too much) for talent evaluation. He also said Jammal Brown would never be a good LT and Merriman wouldn't be a good 3-4 OLB, so ya know ....

[DiehardChris]

Originally Posted by HoustonFrog

Am I the only one that is having trouble equating Mario with a CC pick?Am I wrong on the info I have heard?

Not just from McClain bit from others I have heard CC wanted to announce Reggie as the pick and that he was a Reggie guy. You have Reeves holding his hand telling him this was a bad move. CC is a lame duck and we have Kubes saying he wanted Mario at the last second. I just don't give the guy this credit. If I'm wrong, tell me.

You've got it backwards. I hate to give CC credit too - but it was him who turned Kubiak and McNair toward Mario over Reggie. I read an article about it just the other day, I'll see if I can find it.

[DiehardChris]

Here it is...

Peter King article from Dec. 11

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

You've got it backwards. I hate to give CC credit too - but it was him who turned Kubiak and McNair toward Mario over Reggie. I read an article about it just the other day, I'll see if I can find it.

I'm just asking because I know the story I heard was relayed by McClain again the other day..Charley wanted to announce that Reggie was the pick and Reeves told him not to because it would ruin the trade value.

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

Here it is...

Peter King article from Dec. 11

I still can't tell if he is telling King that or if that is the way it really went down. I'm sorry, I'll give credit but I have a hard time believing that we brought in a guy to oversee Charley and then let him run the show, knowing he would be gone.

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Casserly was credited with drafting 9 of the 11 starters on the last Redskins SB team. He also drafted Greg White.

I had heard that the Redskins last draft was actually due to Bethard

[threetoedpete]

Originally Posted by Leahmic223

In Order for us to make the playoffs we need to stay healthy. I feel 90% confident had we stayed healthy for most of this year we would still be a solid wild card contender...

As for Casserly...I feel sorry for the team that hires him as a GM because of the Mario move...like they say even a broken clock is right two times a day.

Befor we whip the board into another frenze again...can we just wait and see if we can rip off three in a row ? That's the first thing. Win three in a row. Weak sisters, easy scedule I don't care. That's the first thing. Win a month. Any month...then we'll talk the "p" word.

[DiehardChris]

Also - it should be noted that Lance Zeirlein's response to that article was as follows:

Awesome to know that Casserly made that call, Peter King. I mean, after all, which organization doesn't let a lame-duck GM make the decision on who the first pick of the draft will be after screwing up personel decisions for 4 straight years? Input? Yes. Decision-maker? No.

I think Lance makes a valid point there. Kubiak probably deserves just as much credit, in fact he surely had final say in the matters since Casserly was on the outs.

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by DiehardChris

Also - it should be noted that Lance Zeirlein's response to that article was as follows:

Awesome to know that Casserly made that call, Peter King. I mean, after all, which organization doesn't let a lame-duck GM make the decision on who the first pick of the draft will be after screwing up personel decisions for 4 straight years? Input? Yes. Decision-maker? No.

I think Lance makes a valid point there. Kubiak probably deserves just as much credit, in fact he surely had final say in the matters since Casserly was on the outs.

Exactly my point above..before I saw this

[austintexanite]

Honestly, I don't care who got/takes the credit. Let them fight over it.

[Thorn]

Oh jeezzzzz. Before we had to put up with everyone laughing at us, now we have to put up with everyone expecting Mario to be the next Football God.

I can do without either.

[281]

...so was it kubiaks or casserlys decision or what? jeez. all i heard last season was how kubiak convinced casserly to take mario, and now i hear it the other way around? i need closure!

[281]

Originally Posted by Thorn

Oh jeezzzzz. Before we had to put up with everyone laughing at us, now we have to put up with everyone expecting Mario to be the next Football God.

I can do without either.

which do you prefer?

[Thorn]

Originally Posted by 281

which do you prefer?

Well, if they laugh at us, we shall prove them wrong. If they make Mario into a God, we have to listen to endless comparisons. I don't know.

It's nice everyone is finally beginning to realize what a player he is, and that helps. Most especially if he continually gets doubled allowing others to sneak in on the QB.

I guess in the long run, it's good Mario is finally doing his thing. I just get nervious when people expect things out of Houston sports, because we so rarely deliver.

[HoustonFrog]

Originally Posted by Thorn

Well, if they laugh at us, we shall prove them wrong. If they make Mario into a God, we have to listen to endless comparisons. I don't know.

It's nice everyone is finally beginning to realize what a player he is, and that helps. Most especially if he continually gets doubled allowing others to sneak in on the QB.

I guess in the long run, it's good Mario is finally doing his thing. I just get nervious when people expect things out of Houston sports, because we so rarely deliver.

I'm completely happy about the attention this has brought and the progress but I also have seen the roller coaster so I'm hesitant to just jump on board without seeing a consistent trend because if it died off for a couple of years this little flurry would be forgotten.

[Thorn]

the one good thing about all this, is we've seen what the future can be. If Mario and Okyae (I can never spell his name right) progress the way we hope, we are gonna have a killer D line. And I love good defense.

[eriadoc]

I don't have a hard time believing that Casserly convinced Kubiak that Mario should be the guy. I don't have a hard time imagining that Casserly evaluates talent pretty well. He made his way into the NFL via the scout ranks, I believe.

Look at the players he drafted or acquired for the Texans. There have been some busts along the way, but there has been ample indication at this point that Capers and staff had as much or more to do with those busts than anything. In no particular order:

Gaffney - Bust? Certainly not a #1 WR caliber, and probably not worth a second round pick, but he's a contributor, and probably a legit #2 WR on many teams. He certainly would be a #3 WR for most teams.

Seth Wand - Bust? Well, he didn't succeed in the NFL, so yeah. BUT - he was given a shot as a rookie, and he fared better as well as Pitts had at the LT spot. Then he never saw the light of day again when that genius Pendry benched him. He showed more than Spencer has shown to this point. He could have developed, but we'll never know.

Babin - Bust? Well, he was playing out of position, then he was injured, then he played part-time for Kubiak and got after the QB pretty well as a situational pass rusher. Not a bust, IMO, but he would never be worth the 3 picks given up to acquire him, even if he made the Pro Bowl.

Travis Johnson - Bust? Well, he was when Capers coached him. He seemed to have an attitude problem, and definitely didn't live up to his draft position under Capers. But he's showing us now what kind of talent he has. Cass saw the talent, but Capers didn't get from TJ what Kubiak and Co. is getting from TJ.

Marlon McCree - Acquired in mid-season and took over the job from Matt Stevens. He performed well, and may actually still be the best FS this team has had. In his second year with the club, he seldom saw the field because Capers moved Coleman to FS. McCree left and became a quality player elsewhere.

Steve Foley - Pro Bowl in SD before he went bonehead and died to the cops.

Weary - Didn't do much of anything until Kubiak got here, and now he's a decent player.

Clark Haggans (sp?) - Capers told Cass that Haggans wouldn't be a good fit here in Houston, so Pittsburgh got him to be a starter in the 3-4 and he now has a SB ring. Cass brought him in for a tryout, IIRC, and Capers didn't want him.

Greg White - couldn't make this team when Capers coached here.

I'm sure there are more; I am just riffing off the top of my head. Also worth mentioning are the players that came here from other teams and got worse, along with the players we drafted that declined over time. Very few players that were coached by that Capers staff ever got better. You really think Anthony Maddox, Thomas Johnson, or Earl Cochran would have done anything here under Capers? Those are Rick Smith acquisitions that we all laud for their value in critical situations.

Casserly killed this team by spending draft picks inappropriately, giving too much money to average players, and mucking up deals involving draft picks. On the talent evaluation front, I don't put him any better or worse than your average GM throughout the league. The deals were brutal, though, and that part of his job was ultra-important to an expansion franchise. You can't afford to waste away three draft picks on a player like Babin. You can't afford to give away draft picks for Buchanon on two games worth of film. You can't pay Todd Wade and Morlon Greenwood money like Orlando Pace and Ray Lewis.

As I said elsewhere, Casserly has a seat at the head of the table for who takes the blame here in Houston, but it wasn't necessarily his talent evaluation that killed the team. JMO, of course.

[eriadoc]

Originally Posted by Thorn

the one good thing about all this, is we've seen what the future can be. If Mario and Okyae (I can never spell his name right) progress the way we hope, we are gonna have a killer D line. And I love good defense.

Go play the Chiefs on Super Tecmo Bowl

[crunkbuc4d1]

Originally Posted by eriadoc

Go play the Chiefs on Super Tecmo Bowl

Just play the original one with the unstoppable Bo Jackson.