Scary thought from J. McClain

In todays chronicle www.chron.com, McClain talks about the recent talks with M. Williams and how Bud Addams must be drooling over the possibility of getting to choose between Bush and Young,then goes on to say it would not be bad enough to face Young twice a year, but what if Indy were to trade up and take Bush!!! 4 games out of the year we could possibly face two of the best athletes to come into NFL in years not to mentuon they are in our division. I pray this does not happen. What a scary thought.

[Runner]

Don't worry - it was just a straw man set up so he could talk about Vince/Reggie from a (on the surface) fresh perspective. It ended up being the same tired stuff.

[PokerStar]

Well McClain is doing another fluff piece for the Chron. Anyway the Mario talks are simple posturing by the Texans. Mario would be my pick hands down if I was the GM, but Bush is just as solid of a pick. It is pretty much deciding do I want an All-Pro on offense or defense, I am just a defense type guy. The pick is Reggie unless we get offered something sweet to trade down, but since there is no reason for that then we are taking Reggie.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by PokerStar

Mario would be my pick hands down if I was the GM, but Bush is just as solid of a pick.

Bush has been the highest rated running back in college the last 3 years(that includes last year when 3 of top 5 NFL picks were RBs), and
the top overall prospect in college by most the last 2 years, and unanimously this year. On the other hand, Mario had a good combine in Indy just a couple months ago and then people started to take notice.

[Trenches]

Originally Posted by nunusguy

Bush has been the highest rated running back in college the last 3 years(that includes last year when 3 of top 5 NFL picks were RBs), and
the top overall prospect in college by most the last 2 years, and unanimously this year.

So then why are teams not fighting over one another to move up and get this guy????

[dhaNim]

Originally Posted by Trenches

So then why are teams not fighting over one another to move up and get this guy????

because they know its going to ruin the future of the their franchise if they go after him. all the teams pretty much know that the texans want him, and if they want him then they would be in forever debt to the texans. if any of the 32 franchises were in the #1 spot, they would all take bush.

[Trenches]

Originally Posted by dhaNim

because they know its going to ruin the future of the their franchise if they go after him. all the teams pretty much know that the texans want him, and if they want him then they would be in forever debt to the texans. if any of the 32 franchises were in the #1 spot, they would all take bush.

I think that a)we are asking too much and b) teams realize eating that much cap space with a RB/KR/WR is not sound cap management.

[nunusguy]

Originally Posted by dhaNim

all the teams pretty much know that the texans want him, and if they want him then they would be in forever debt to the texans. if any of the 32 franchises were in the #1 spot, they would all take bush.

Well said Nim. Bush would be prohibitively expensive to almost any team but the Texans. Almost anybody but us would have to sacrifice all of their first day Draft picks to get the #1 by way of trade. We can keep the top overall, select with it, and still have all of our other first day picks.

[Hookem Horns]

Originally Posted by PokerStar

Well McClain is about as bright as a retarded child predator, bout as sick in the head as one too.

You might not agree with his football opinions but comparing him with a sick child predator is going way over the line. JM may has his faults but he is not a bad guy.

[dwilt72]

Originally Posted by Trenches

So then why are teams not fighting over one another to move up and get this guy????

Because teams go by a chart that assigns a point value to each position in the draft. The further you move up in the draft, the more points you have to give up. It is getting to the point that it is not feasible to move more than 3 or 4 positions at most or you end up doing something along the lines of what Ditka did to get Ricky Williams.

[TheOgre]

You notice you hear almost no rumors of anyone trading up to #1. Our demands must be high.

[MorKnolle]

Originally Posted by PokerStar

Well McClain is about as bright as a retarded child predator, bout as sick in the head as one too. Anyway the Mario talks are simple posturing by the Texans. Mario would be my pick hands down if I was the GM, but Bush is just as solid of a pick. It is pretty much deciding do I want an All-Pro on offense or defense, I am just a defense type guy. The pick is Reggie unless we get offered something sweet to trade down, but since there is no reason for that then we are taking Reggie.

I'm with you on the thoughts on McClain and your opinion of Bush vs. Mario. I think Bush will be a great pick and I for one am anxious to see what he can contribute to Kubiak's offense, but I'd still really like to see Mario in battle red.

Also, no way the Colts would be able to trade up to #1 and take Bush, just silly speculation by John McClain now that he has finally settled on Bush being the pick and the Texans are talking with someone other than Bush and his beloved Vince.

[Mike Kerns]

Originally Posted by TheOgre

You notice you hear almost no rumors of anyone trading up to #1. Our demands must be high.

One of the guys on NFL Network today said that even if he got offered a "Ditka" for Bush, he would still turn it down.

[Trenches]

Originally Posted by MorKnolle

Also, no way the Colts would be able to trade up to #1 and take Bush, just silly speculation by John McClain now that he has finally settled on Bush being the pick and the Texans are talking with someone other than Bush and his beloved Vince.

Yeah, as if the Colts could fit Bush's contract under their cap. Talk about offensive heavy. Oh wait, I guess that's what we are doing. Nevermind.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Trenches

Yeah, as if the Colts could fit Bush's contract under their cap. Talk about offensive heavy. Oh wait, I guess that's what we are doing. Nevermind.

Yeah it sure would suck to go 10-6, 12-4, 12-4, 14-2. That team hasn't lost their SB bids because of too much O talent, they have lost their bids because they have been out coached (Hollywood Texan should appreciate this one).

[kastofsna]

no one in the top 10 is really in desperate need of a runningback, for one (think miami last year @ #2). if you're going to trade an entire draft AND pay 30 million guaranteed, it better be for the one player that completes the team and puts you in the super bowl in 2 years. secondly, this is a very loaded draft at many positions. so trade away all your picks, pay a guy 30 million that's not a huge need and miss out on another outstanding player. just not a smart investment.

[Trenches]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Yeah it sure would suck to go 10-6, 12-4, 12-4, 14-2. That team hasn't lost their SB bids because of too much O talent, they have lost their bids because they have been out coached (Hollywood Texan should appreciate this one).

Right, they lost their SB bids because they were beaten by WELL ROUNDED TEAMS.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Trenches

Right, they lost their SB bids because they were beaten by WELL ROUNDED TEAMS.

Not sure Pittsburgh's vaunted 24th ranked passing attack qualifies as well rounded nor was it critical to their win over Indy. A lopsided but effective D and rushing attack won that day.

[Trenches]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Not sure Pittsburgh's vaunted 24th ranked passing attack qualifies as well rounded nor was it critical to their win over Indy. A lopsided but effective D and rushing attack won that day.

So why pass if you can run the ball?

And obvioulsy I was talking about a team balanced between offense and defense as opposed to spending a much larger chunk of the cap on offense (as we would be doing by drafting Bush).

[Mike Kerns]

what if Indy were to trade up and take Bush!!!

A Frightening thought indeed... http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/200...orecard.daily/

Go broke for Bush
Colts should pull a Ditka and trade it all for Reggie
Mike Ditka is a Hall of Fame tight end. A Super Bowl winning coach. He is a television commentator and pitchman. And yet among NFL draft acolytes, Ditka's name will always be tied to the trade he made for Ricky Williams.

Before the 1999 draft, Ditka, then the Saints' coach, wandered around like a mad Richard III, announcing that he would trade his kingdom for a horse, and every single one of his draft picks for the rights to Williams. Forget that Williams was not regarded as the best player in the draft (quarterbacks Tim Couch, Donovan McNabb and Akili Smith went 1-2-3). Or that some didn't even rate Williams as the best running back on the board. That distinction went to Edgerrin James, whom the Colts took fourth overall. None of this mattered to Ditka, who kept pushing his offer, which the Redskins, in the No. 5 spot, finally accepted, and managed to keep a straight face while doing so. Ditka gave his first-rounder -- only two slots back at No. 7 -- and every other pick the Saints had that year, plus their first and third picks in 2000, to move up and get his man.

Safe to say the trade didn't work out as Ditka planned. The Saints went 3-13 in 1999, after which Ditka retired from coaching. Williams played two more seasons with New Orleans before it shipped him to Miami. And then Williams shipped himself to India.

What are the lasting effects of the trade?

1. It shaded in the goofier sides of Ditka's personality.

2. It set Williams' NFL career on a track of strangeness from which it would never fully deviate.

3. Along with the even more infamous Herschel Walker deal of 1999, it cemented the foolishness of giving away a lot and getting only a running back in return.

And that's a shame. Because Ditka's problem wasn't his logic, it was his timing.

This is the year some team should do "the Ditka Trade." Give it all away. Bundle all your picks -- for a running back. For Reggie Bush
First, the Texans should be open to trading their first overall pick, because they don't need Bush. Running back isn't their problem. Almost everything else is. They could use a boatload of picks and should be more than receptive to a properly outrageous offer.

Here are a couple of teams that would be wise to make that offer: Philadelphia and Carolina. Both are potential playoff teams, and neither scares anyone with their running games. Toss Bush into the mix, they become major threats in the soft NFC.


But here's the team I'd really like to see do the Ditka Trade. It's a conservative team for which such a move would be completely out of character, but it's just what they need: Indianapolis. The Colts went 14-2 last year, but somehow they need Bush more than the Texans do.

Bush would do more than replace James, whom the Colts lost in free agency. Bush is the kind of dynamic presence that would refresh the entire team. The Colts face the mental challenge of bouncing back from the deflation of 2005, when they started 13-0 and looked like the best team in the NFL but ended up with yet another playoff disappointment. How hard will it be for the Colts to slog through the regular season with essentially the same roster, feeling like no matter how many games they win, they will have not accomplished anything?

Getting Bush would be like pressing the reset button. Everything changes. The most dangerous offensive player in the draft joins the most effective offense in the NFL. How hard would opposing defenses be gripping if they had to worry about Peyton Manning and Marvin Harrison and Reggie Wayne and Reggie Bush all on the same play? How wide open would Dallas Clark be? I can already see Brandon Stokley streaking uncovered across the middle.

The problem for the Colts is they have the 30th pick. All their picks together might not be enough to entice Houston to give up the top spot. The Colts might have to throw in a player or two, or perhaps a couple of 2007 picks. They should do it. This is what the team needs. This is how the Colts get to the Super Bowl. Do the Ditka Trade. This is an outrageous deal people will remember the good way.