This guy is right...

[caspian]

...he's right.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab1pos2

Mario has to be a pro-bowl, rookie-of-the-year impact player next year for this not to be an inferior selection in retrospect. And he'll be competing against Vince Young and, yes, Reggie Bush, for this.

For you real clever folks, if individual accolades are irrelevant and winning is all that matters, Houston had better execute a historical turn-around to even just get to the playoffs. And they'll have to beat the Saints and, yes, the division-rival Titans to do it.

Time will tell...

[Wolf]

Houston plummetted to 2-14 because of the defensive collapse.

Personally I think we will be better Offensively because we have Kubiak at coach, Sherman at coach, a real Center (flannigan)(did I misspell that?) Moulds is much more of a WR than Bradford will every be, and Pultzer is a better TE (I didn't say great) than Miller or whoever we have.. and IF Joppru is healthy, that would be HUGE for us this season..

[MrMeToo]

Originally Posted by caspian

...he's right.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab1pos2

Mario has to be a pro-bowl, rookie-of-the-year impact player next year for this not to be an inferior selection in retrospect. And he'll be competing against Vince Young and, yes, Reggie Bush, for this.

For you real clever folks, if individual accolades are irrelevant and winning is all that matters, Houston had better execute a historical turn-around to even just get to the playoffs. And they'll have to beat the Saints and, yes, the division-rival Titans to do it.

Time will tell...

I agree.

[samomin]

Mario Williams has to be a rookie of the year, pro-bowl type of player only if Reggie Bush is that type of player this season. I don't expect Vince to play much this season, but if he does then he should have a similar impact. We can't expect Williams to carry our defense if Bush and Young are not carrying their offenses.

[Texan Asylum]

Originally Posted by Wolf

Houston plummetted to 2-14 because of the defensive collapse.

Personally I think we will be better Offensively because we have Kubiak at coach, Sherman at coach, a real Center (flannigan)(did I misspell that?) Moulds is much more of a WR than Bradford will every be, and Pultzer is a better TE (I didn't say great) than Miller or whoever we have.. and IF Joppru is healthy, that would be HUGE for us this season..

When I hear about Joppru...I think of Chuck, Richie's older brother, from "Happy Days".

[Bobo]

Originally Posted by caspian

...he's right.

http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2...t&lid=tab1pos2

Mario has to be a pro-bowl, rookie-of-the-year impact player next year for this not to be an inferior selection in retrospect. And he'll be competing against Vince Young and, yes, Reggie Bush, for this.

For you real clever folks, if individual accolades are irrelevant and winning is all that matters, Houston had better execute a historical turn-around to even just get to the playoffs. And they'll have to beat the Saints and, yes, the division-rival Titans to do it.

Time will tell...

So you say that Williams is gonna have to be a Pro Bowler next year, yet you also say "Time will tell?" Seems to me that's contradictory, plus you aren't putting any requirements on Bush. Seems to me that it's NO who has a problem. They have three RBs -- one two-time Pro Bowler and another 1,000 yard rusher plus Bush -- and an inferior line. Ultimately, as did Buffalo when they traded Travis Henry due to drafting McGahee, they are going to have to get rid of McAllister for pennies on the dollar.

[Snapple]

Defensive and offensive players don't compete against each other for rookie of the year, smart guy. There are separate awards for that.

[houstonhurricane]

I totally agree. Fair or not, Williams is going to have to be competing for defensive rookie of the year to gain full acceptance...If VY and/or RB have standout years, it is going to be miserable.

[dwilt72]

Originally Posted by Wolf

Houston plummetted to 2-14 because of the defensive collapse.

So it didn't have anthing to do with the offense being 32nd?

[Wolf]

We got blown out in many games and gave up leads in others (hello St.Louis for example).. yes the offense stunk but i do believe that with offensive minded coaches and OL coaches that actually know what they are doing should help immediately.. Pendry? We award him for his "great" job on OL to become OC?

horrible.

[Wolf]

Originally Posted by dwilt72

So it didn't have anthing to do with the offense being 32nd?

we had more talent on offense in 2005 than we did in 2002 and yet were worse.

defensively.. our players didn't buy into the system and lost veteran leadership

[stone temple]

i agree with a lot of what is being posted here. mario definitely has more pressure on him to be an immediate impact player. i personally do not have high expectations of mario, but until he proves to be worthy of the #1 pick he'll have that monkey on his back.

[Cupps]

I can understand that Williams needs to have a solid year to offset all of the criticism, and this is especially true if Bush plays well.

However, Bush will be competing for time with two other starting-caliber backs and Young will not be playing next year, barring something crazy.

So the odds of Williams being blown away by two stellar offensive rookies is slim here, FYI.

[Scooter]

mario has to do little more than show up. when the texans have a better record than new orleans, all of this talk will end. even if bush rushes for 2200yds & 40td's, it wont mean squat if the texans are the better team.

the ones that forget that this is a TEAM sport with TEAM aspirations we're better off without.

[stone temple]

Originally Posted by Cupps

I can understand that Williams needs to have a solid year to offset all of the criticism, and this is especially true if Bush plays well.

However, Bush will be competing for time with two other starting-caliber backs and Young will not be playing next year, barring something crazy.

So the odds of Williams being blown away by two stellar offensive rookies is slim here, FYI.

i'm talking about over the course of the next few years. one season, good or bad, is not a true test of someone's worth.

[edo783]

Mmmm, let's see. In 2005 we scored the same amount of TDs as we did in 2004 when we went 7-9, but gave up TWICE as many TDs on defense. Anyone see where the problem might be? By the way, the number of TDs that we scored in 2005 were exactly the same as those scored by Chicago and they went to the playoffs. Granted, they play in a much weaker division, but I'm just pointing out how much our defense hurt us. Gave up something like 6 games in the 4th because we couldn't hold a lead.

[Texans_Chick]

I can't get the rows to line up right, but here goes:

Rookie Years:

Julius Peppers

Year Team................. G Total Tckl Ast Sacks Int Yds Avg Lg TD Pass Def
2002 Carolina Panthers 12 35 28.0 7 12 1 21 21.0 21 0 4

5 forced fumbles

NFL Rookie of the Year

That year he became only the third player in NFL history to amass three sacks and an interception in the same game

Went to the Super Bowl his second year in the league.

Dwight Freeney

Year Team................. G Total Tckl Ast Sacks Int Yds Avg Lg TD Pass Def
2002 Indianapolis Colts 16 41 40.0 1 13 0 0 0.0 0 0 1

9 forced fumbles

Runner up for defensive rookie of the year to Carolina's Julius Peppers

His 40 sacks in his first three seasons rank 3rd-most by a player to start an NFL career.

Reggie White

Stats for the old school folks aren't kept as well as current players.

Reggie launched his pro career with the USFL's Memphis Showboats (1984-85), posting 193 tackles (120 solo), 23.5 sacks and forcing 7 fumbles in 34 starts

Bruce Smith

YEAR TEAM .....G TOT SOLO AST PD SACK FF REC INT YDS TD
1985 BUFFALO 16 48 32 16 2 7 0 0 0 0 0

0 forced fumbles

He went from 7 sacks to 15 sacks from his rookie to second season. (This may be something to reflect about if people want to judge his performance based on his first season).

Hold the NFL record for most career quarterback sacks with 200

Played for 20 seasons.


Courtney Brown

Year Team .................G Total Tckl Ast Sacks Int Yds Avg Lg TD Pass Def
2000 Cleveland Browns 16 70 62.0 8 4.5 0 0 0.0 0 0 8

0 forced fumbles



I will finish up with some Julius Peppers draft notes.

Link: nfl.com

Prospect Profile

Julius Peppers
Position: Defensive End
College: North Carolina
Height: 6-6
Weight: 283
Hometown: Bailey, N.C.


ANALYSIS
Positives: Muscular athlete with a thick frame and well-defined upper torso … High-energy athlete who is very quick off the snap, easily slipping by blockers on stunts … Shows good arm power as he consistently outmuscles blockers in one-on-one situations … Very effective knifing through traffic, feeling pressure to react well while shedding blocks downfield … Chases hard to the opposite side of the field, determined to punish ball carriers with his forceful tackles … Shows a sharp short-area burst and is very comfortable making plays on the move … Displays the foot speed to get into the gaps, using his explosion to quickly flush the quarterback out of the pocket … Could shift inside to tackle at the pro level to take advantage of his agility and balance and punishing wrap-up tackling ability, but his quickness may be best served coming off the edge at end, especially in a 3-4 defensive alignment.


Negatives: Gets too upright at times, leading to misdirection as he tries to move through the pile … More of a straight-line charger, lacking the power to redirect inside, where he would be bounced around due to multiple blocks … Struggles to keep balance when sliding outside to contain the run … Poor hand usage will frequently see him get locked up by the blockers, as he allows them to get their hands into his chest.

[NederlandTexan]

Regardless how well Mario performs or the Texans improve, the media will NEVER admit they were wrong or that we drafted the best player for our team.

[TexanBacker93]

Originally Posted by dwilt72

So it didn't have anthing to do with the offense being 32nd?

We were actually 30th in offense. SF and the Jets were worse than us. That's for total yards. For scoring we were worlds better and finished 27th.

I realize it's still bad, but it could have been worse.

[Texans_Chick]

Originally Posted by edo783

Mmmm, let's see. In 2005 we scored the same amount of TDs as we did in 2004 when we went 7-9, but gave up TWICE as many TDs on defense. Anyone see where the problem might be? By the way, the number of TDs that we scored in 2005 were exactly the same as those scored by Chicago and they went to the playoffs. Granted, they play in a much weaker division, but I'm just pointing out how much our defense hurt us. Gave up something like 6 games in the 4th because we couldn't hold a lead.

This is a great point.

As for not holding a lead, it will be interesting to see what more depth does and the Denver philosophy of not over working the players will do.