Rick Smith looks smarter every day

[TexanBacker93]

Originally Posted by Dutchrudder

Haha, drunk posting on a phone often leads to grammatical mistakes...

I do think it's hilarious that we have a few "Trust in Rick Smith" threads, and then we find out Rick offered Barwin what the Eagles just overpaid. Just wait, in a year or so when Barwin doesn't live up to his contract, Rick Smith will be hailed for not overpaying him to stay, even though he tried to after one good year.

Didn't we offer that during preseason, though? At least our offer was coming off of a very good season.

[dc_txtech]

Originally Posted by TexanBacker93

Didn't we offer that during preseason, though? At least our offer was coming off of a very good season.

That's a good point, if Barwin had entered free agency last year coming off a great season, he would have been paid much more than he made this off-season.

[tru80texan]

Originally Posted by TexanBacker93

Didn't we offer that during preseason, though? At least our offer was coming off of a very good season.

So by Barwin choosing not to sign the contract Smith offered...somehow how that was a smart move on Smith's behalf? I think Smith lucked out on that one courtesy of Barwin's self confidence or else Smith would easily be taking more heat on top of his resigning of Schaub imo. It seems despite Barwin's down season Smith chose to still pursue him until the end as he allowed Quin to walk w/out offering an official offer & Quin supposedly being the #1 priority this offseason. Needless to say Smith does keep us guessing.

[steelbtexan]

Originally Posted by tru80texan

So by Barwin choosing not to sign the contract Smith offered...somehow how that was a smart move on Smith's behalf? I think Smith lucked out on that one courtesy of Barwin's self confidence or else Smith would easily be taking more heat on top of his resigning of Schaub imo. It seems despite Barwin's down season Smith chose to still pursue him until the end as he allowed Quin to walk w/out offering an official offer & Quin supposedly being the #1 priority this offseason. Needless to say Smith does keep us guessing.

When it comes to how Rick operates I'm not doing alot of guessing. If signing 2 top tier FA's every 5 yrs put a team in cap hell, then how do teams like the Pats/Eagles etc.... continue to operate? I think our GM is in over his head a little.

[Ole Miss Texan]

Matt Schaub
Arian Foster
Andre Johnson
Owen Daniels
Chris Myers
Duane Brown
Eric Winston
Antonio Smith
Demeco Ryans
Johnathan Joseph
Danieal Manning

These are all guys that received notable contracts from us by Free Agency, Trade and/or Extension(s) from their rookie draft deals with the Texans. Lets not pretend we're in cap hell. We've got a ton of great talent and they all can't be paid. Period. That's why Winston was cut and Demeco was traded. We've got Cushing and Watt coming up. We recently took care of some core players last year. While I really wish we could have retained Glover Quin, we didn't. It's not the end of the world. We're going to be losing a good player or two every year. That's the nature of being a good team.

I wish people would stop saying we're in cap hell. Just about half of our starters are legitimate pro bowlers. Call it a problem if you want but it's a good problem to have. It means we've drafted well and the players have produced on the field to warrant significant money. We just have to continue drafting well to stay good. Getting guys to produce during their rookie contract is the name of the game in managing the NFL Salary Cap.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by dalemurphy

Smith, as GM, can only acquire the pieces. He has done that. Does anyone disagree that he has assembled a very talented and young team? It is a team that has won the division and a playoff game each of the past two seasons without any beneficial anomalies like abnormally good team health or inordinate amount of close wins. This is a team where the bulk of the talent is on the front side of its career. Given Smith's success in the draft the past 4 years and the team's ability to acquire extra compensatory picks the next few seasons, the expiring veteran contracts and cap-friendly contracts, I don't expect the talent level or production to drop... do you? why?

You aren't listening to anything here.

I as well as others have agreed that he has drafted pretty well when you look back on the last 5 years. It is no secret, nor can it be denied that those picks are just as much to be credited to Kubiak and more importantly Wade over the last two years on the defense. Please don't tell me that it was Rick Smith's genius that built this defense instead of Wade Phillips, because before Wade Phillips got here Rick Smith didn't have a clue who to hire for defense, nor did he have a clue on what guys to bring in to this defense. Wade came in and cleaned up Rick's mess. How you can completely ignore this and push it to the side is ridiculous.

And as far as his off season moves outside of the draft, the more you talk and bring up his history you are making the opposite case for Smith. You are proving that he hasn't done hardly anything as far as trades and free agency goes, because you keep bringing up one off season out of like seven.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

Wade came in and cleaned up Rick's mess. How you can completely ignore this and push it to the side is ridiculous.

A little nit-picky here, I don't know that Wade cleaned up his mess, but he made a hell of a stew with the ingredients Smithiak bought. I think the worst tomato of the bunch, we can all agree was probably Kj & he turned out just fine.

Smithiak was already improving the talent on our defense; Mario, Demeco, Cushing, Barwin, Quin, McCain, Sharpton, Cody, Antonio, Jamison,

Maybe they didn't have the gnads to get rid of Okoye had Wade not come along. Maybe they'd have paid Mario $100M had Wade not come along. But Cushing & Demeco were as dynamic a player as Watt their first two years & had that same kind of impact.

[steelbtexan]

Originally Posted by Ole Miss Texan

Matt Schaub
Arian Foster
Andre Johnson
Owen Daniels
Chris Myers
Duane Brown
Eric Winston
Antonio Smith
Demeco Ryans
Johnathan Joseph
Danieal Manning

These are all guys that received notable contracts from us by Free Agency, Trade and/or Extension(s) from their rookie draft deals with the Texans. Lets not pretend we're in cap hell. We've got a ton of great talent and they all can't be paid. Period. That's why Winston was cut and Demeco was traded. We've got Cushing and Watt coming up. We recently took care of some core players last year. While I really wish we could have retained Glover Quin, we didn't. It's not the end of the world. We're going to be losing a good player or two every year. That's the nature of being a good team.

I wish people would stop saying we're in cap hell. Just about half of our starters are legitimate pro bowlers. Call it a problem if you want but it's a good problem to have. It means we've drafted well and the players have produced on the field to warrant significant money. We just have to continue drafting well to stay good. Getting guys to produce during their rookie contract is the name of the game in managing the NFL Salary Cap.

Yep

This seems to be the trend that the Pats/Broncos/49ers/Seahawks/Colts/Falcons etc... seem to be following. (Sarcasm////)

[Uncle Rico]

"Smithiak" also didnt have a clue as to who to run that defense other than close friends and cheap 'yes men'.

Wasnt until Bobby Mac grew a pair and decided to step in and hire a competent coordinator in Philips that these picks blossomed. Smith would have shown something if it was his guy running the defense and producing, but its not.

[Jules Winnfield]

every dale murphy post looks dumber every day.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

A little nit-picky here, I don't know that Wade cleaned up his mess, but he made a hell of a stew with the ingredients Smithiak bought. I think the worst tomato of the bunch, we can all agree was probably Kj & he turned out just fine.

Smithiak was already improving the talent on our defense; Mario, Demeco, Cushing, Barwin, Quin, McCain, Sharpton, Cody, Antonio, Jamison,

Maybe they didn't have the gnads to get rid of Okoye had Wade not come along. Maybe they'd have paid Mario $100M had Wade not come along. But Cushing & Demeco were as dynamic a player as Watt their first two years & had that same kind of impact.

It really isn't disputable that Wade had to come in and clean up Rick's mess, because that's what is was. Did you forget that the Texans defense were in the running for being the worst defense of all time from a scoring average against them? They were atrocious the season before Wade came in. Smithiak had trusted their buddies to run the defense before Wade, and both were a disaster. What Wade was able to accomplish in one off season from a turn around time standpoint is amazing and I think a lot of people forget that. Our defense may not be perfect as of now, but it's a pretty damn good one and it got pretty good much faster than any of us expected. Wade did a great job, but their is no question that it was mess that needed to be cleaned up when they were the worst defense in the entire league.

[GP]

Originally Posted by Jules Winnfield

every dale murphy post looks dumber every day.

Signed,

The Guy Who Thinks Re-Structures Are Unconstitutional

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

Did you forget that the Texans defense were in the running for being the worst defense of all time from a scoring average against them?

Yes they sucked but they weren't even the worst scoring defense that season. The Cardinals, Cowboys and Broncos all beat them out in that regard. The season before there were also three teams with worse scoring averages than the 2010 Texans. This internet myth needs to die.

Yes Wade's turnaround has been fantastic.

[Texecutioner]

Originally Posted by infantrycak

Yes they sucked but they weren't even the worst scoring defense that season. The Cardinals, Cowboys and Broncos all beat them out in that regard. The season before there were also three teams with worse scoring averages than the 2010 Texans. This internet myth needs to die.

Yes Wade's turnaround has been fantastic.

Well I remember in here that it kept getting talked about almost all season long how they were staying in some pace to be the worst defense ever. I didn't remember the exact numbers it was, but it was a talking point for a while. But I think we agree that it can't really be argued that Wade wasn't brought in to clean up a mess.

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by Texecutioner

Well I remember in here that it kept getting talked about almost all season long how they were staying in some pace to be the worst defense ever. I didn't remember the exact numbers it was, but it was a talking point for a while. But I think we agree that it can't really be argued that Wade wasn't brought in to clean up a mess.

I agreed the D sucked and Wade pulled off a miraculous turnaround. I think that quote came from McClain (pretty sure I was listening when he said it) and then it became internet truth.

[JamesBill]

Originally Posted by sandman

Um, you do know that this team is barely over .500 and not considered a contender right? They missed the playoffs for the last three years with barely .500 records, so while they didn't tank, he made them *just good enough to get screwed out of decent draft picks to accelerate the rebuilding process. That may actually be a worse decision than tanking.

No it isn't because he did it by drafting well and then cashing in those players for more draft picks before they got expensive. This accumulation of good but cheap players gets you the youngest team in the league with the second most cap room and a gold vault full of assets to make a move for a top ten player in James Harden.

Originally Posted by sandman

The potential is there for future seasons with a few more key additions, but this team as built right now is not a championship caliber team. They have improved from a mediocre team not making the playoffs to a decent team barely making the playoffs.

The potential is readily apparent with zero additions. The starting lineup has 4/5 guys starting for the basically the first time in their career. Parsons is locked into a 4 year sub-million dollar contract and can put up 25+ on any given night and this is only his second season in the NBA. Plus they have max+ cap room to add any free agent they want this off season.

Originally Posted by sandman

Funny how that is considered success for the Rockets, but failure for the Texans.

Since 2002:


Number of above .500 seasons
Rockets = 9 (plus this year)
Texans = 3

Number of playoff appearances
Rockets = 5 (plus this year)
Texans = 2

The arrow is point:
Rockets = up
Texans = down

[Nawzer]

Originally Posted by JamesBill

No it isn't because he did it by drafting well and then cashing in those players for more draft picks before they got expensive. This accumulation of good but cheap players gets you the youngest team in the league with the second most cap room and a gold vault full of assets to make a move for a top ten player in James Harden.


The potential is readily apparent with zero additions. The starting lineup has 4/5 guys starting for the basically the first time in their career. Parsons is locked into a 4 year sub-million dollar contract and can put up 25+ on any given night and this is only his second season in the NBA. Plus they have max+ cap room to add any free agent they want this off season.


Since 2002:


Number of above .500 seasons
Rockets = 9
Texans = 3

Number of playoff appearances
Rockets = 5 (plus this year)
Texans = 2

The arrow is point:
Rockets = up
Texans = down

Boom! Down comes the hammer. Rep coming your way.

[JamesBill]

Originally Posted by Mr teX

Lol with all the qualifiers...building a team that can make the playoffs in 3-4 years is not hard to do guy....especially in the NBA. it's getting to that next level that's hard. Indiana put their core together and made the playoffs in about 3 years and made it to the 2nd round easily...Golden State's core took about 3 years as well. All these teams really lacked was a HC.

Pacers and Warriors had 4 sub .500 seasons in a row, not 3. The Rockets are 3-0 against the Warriors this season BTW. Harden is a better player than anyone on those rosters and in the NBA, superstars win championships.

Originally Posted by Mr teX

yeah we're 1 of the youngest teams in the NBA, so what. With the way Morey flips rosters we'll never see any of this young talent stay here and develop either. Harden is the only guy guaranteed to be here in the next 3 years. Everyone else may very well be gone in 1 of Morey's not-so blockbuster deals.

THE youngest team. He flips rosters to cash in on guys before they become expensive, and uses those picks and cap space to acquire superstars. Now that he has a young team, draft picks in the bank, tons of cap space, and a 23 year old superstar locked up for 6 years, his strategery will shift slightly. The recent patrick patterson trade got us a 5th overall pick rookie, future cap space, for a soon to be free agent player we had no intention to resign. So those types of moves will continue.

Originally Posted by Mr teX

We're over-simplifying it b/c at the end of the day, that's all that matters...It's the same standard that people here use when talking about Smith. & thus far Morey's end results haven't yielded much of anything to say that he's so much better than Smith.

Morey had to shift from building a team around Yao, to starting over in 2011. People think he has been rebuilding for 5 years or something. Kevin Martin was brought here specifically to play with Yao, and he was here until the Harden trade. The owner said no tanking, and in 2 years he has done miracles. Smith had since 2007 to implement his vision, and he got to the playoffs once before the team started losing free agents.

[Uncle Rico]

Some people dont see the awesomeness that is Dork Elvis.

They really think Rick Smith is a good GM.

[Jules Winnfield]

Originally Posted by GP

Signed,

The Guy Who Thinks Re-Structures Are Unconstitutional

You didnt actually believe that did you?

Originally Posted by Uncle Rico

Some people dont see the awesomeness that is Dork Elvis.

They really think Rick Smith is a good GM.

A sabermetric/analytic approach is the best approach in football even more so than in the nba.

It would be a disservice and competitive disadvantage if the texans didnt have a sabermetric/analytic centered philosophy and GM.