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Sporting News says "Mario's a 'Hit'"

ObsiWan

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
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found this yesterday in TSN.com, Mario was at the top of the list of "hits".
Please delete if its a repeat...

Hits and misses from '07: defensive players

Yesterday, I reviewed my offensive breakout players for the 2007 NFL season and tallied how many hits and misses I had. Today, let's look back at my defensive picks.

Mario Williams, DE, Houston Texans. His selection as the league's defensive player of the week in the opening game was a harbinger. Williams started all 16 games at right end, recorded 14 sacks (tied for third in the league) and was picked as a Pro Bowl alternate. Maybe the Texans knew what they were doing after all when they selected Williams instead of Reggie Bush with the No. 1 pick in the 2006 draft. Hit or miss: Hit.
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I think its becoming fashionable to admit "they knew what they were doing after all..."

I need a "smug" smiley right now
:shades:
 
I will never forget how I was derided for supporting the pick of Mario Williams.

My wife bought me a Battle Red Mario Williams jersey for a Christmas present that first year, as I had told her that I wanted that more than anything else that year.

I wanted to show all of those Vince Young crybaby supporters that I was a Mario Williams fan.

I was angry at how they booed the pick of Mario Williams

Now those same individuals don't want to admit that they were wrong about Mario, instead they pretend that they were always for the Mario pick.

Well, I know who some of them are, and they might be able to fool some people, but they'll never be able to make me forget.
 
I was anti-bush and anti-young. I was actually more in favor of D'brickshaw Fergueson, but was supportive of Mario. I was aprehensive about his sporadic production though I loved his physical ability. I was happy with the pick, and would have been happy with D'brick as well at the time. Those were my two guys.
 
The only thing worse than the thousands of threads that criticized the Williams pick, are the thousands of "I told you so" posts we now have to endure.

i guess the bright side is that it means Williams worked out :)
 
I just wish I did a screen print of the threads on this board a day after that 2006 draft, just to show what what some of you were saying then.

"I knew the Mario pick was the right one from the very beginning". ?????

Some of you "revisionist historians" ought to be jailed.
 
Marcus said:
I just wish I did a screen print of the threads on this board a day after that 2006 draft, just to show what what some of you were saying then.

"I knew the Mario pick was the right one from the very beginning".

Some of you "revisionist historians" ought to be jailed.
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Seriously? Who cares any more. Williams is great, and hes a Texan, so thats even better.

All of you who supported Vince, but now support Williams, I say welcome aboard!
To all of you who supported Reggie, but now support Williams (me included) I say Go Texans!
To all of you who supported Williams and want to say "I told you so" I say who cares, we all cheer for the same team anyway!
 
gtexan02 said:
Seriously? Who cares any more. Williams is great, and hes a Texan, so thats even better.

All of you who supported Vince, but now support Williams, I say welcome aboard!
To all of you who supported Reggie, but now support Williams (me included) I say Go Texans!
To all of you who supported Williams and want to say "I told you so" I say who cares, we all cheer for the same team anyway!
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That sounds nice, but when you are called names for wearing a Mario Williams Jersey by a Vince Young fan, then you aren't quite so ready to join hands, sing kum bay ya with them, and say welcome a board to these people.
 
gtexan02 said:
The only thing worse than the thousands of threads that criticized the Williams pick, are the thousands of "I told you so" posts we now have to endure.

i guess the bright side is that it means Williams worked out :)
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No, this is not about enduring "I told you so"s.

If you said that you didn't like the Mario pick back then, admit that you were wrong. Don't come back here 3 years later, and say that you liked the pick from the beginning. That's pure BS.
 
Before the draft, I wanted the Texans to send Carr packing so they could draft Vince after the 2005 NCAA National Football Championship for The University Of Texas. We could have signed the DE Julian Peterson away from SF with the money we would have saved not having Carr's superstar salary, kept two 2nd Round picks and we would have been fine.

imho Petersen (Carr's Salary), Young, and two 2nd Round picks > Mario, Schaub and Carr

i am happy where we are at, but I am left wondering what could have been...that was a magical year and momentum would have been sky high. Everyone knew Carr sucked except Kubiak and a few stragglers.

obviously on a Texans board, everyone is gonna bash VY, but I think the guy has done as good as just about any of the QBs drafted recently outside of Eli and Rivers. Trent Edwards has looked OK at times, but I would take VY over him. Obviously VY over Carr is a no-brainer. Alex Smith. Jason Campbell. The Titans have the 2nd lowest payroll in the NFL and have managed to have an 8-8 and a 9-7 season since VY came to Tennessee. They had two sub .500 seasons the previous two years. They were the 3rd worst team before he got there. It's not all been Vince but he has helped their team take some small steps towards respectability...and has done so while playing for one of the cheapest owners in existence. He has a long way to go to be a star, but he is already a viable and winning NFL QB and that is a fact.
 
I supported the pick right out of the gate. I was never pro-VY despite being a UT fan, I had accepted that it was going to be Bush, I really wanted to trade back or D'brick. But when the news came out we signed Mario the day before, I was totally okay with. No lashing out, no anger, and thought it was a solid move. I started learning more about him, and the more I did, the more I thought he was a stud. Soon after, when the Texans were being ragged on day in/ day out and people were bashing Mario as a rookie. I invested in this sweet little purchase at a charity auction:

Mariofootball.jpg


I showed it off to a few of my friends and they picked on me about it and said it was a waste of money and blah, blah, blah. I am guessing the value of this is going up a little more everday, although I would never part with it.
 
Second Honeymoon said:
obviously on a Texans board, everyone is gonna bash VY, but I think the guy has done as good as just about any of the QBs drafted recently outside of Eli and Rivers.
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Vince did fine his rookie year. Went to the Pro Bowl even.

But last year was different. Either someone convinced Vince, or Vince convinced himself, that he no longer wanted Vince to be Vince. Vince now wants to be drop back passing quarterback. Now the reasoning behind that might indeed be a valid one. If he remains a running style quarterback, statistics show he won't be around long in the NFL.

Problem is that, as a drop back passing quarterback, Vince isn't even a mediocre quarterback.
 
Marcus said:
Vince did fine his rookie year. Went to the Pro Bowl even.

But last year was different. Either someone convinced Vince, or Vince convinced himself, that he no longer wanted Vince to be Vince. Vince now wants to be drop back passing quarterback. Now the reasoning behind that might indeed be a valid one. If he remains a running style quarterback, statistics show he won't be around long in the NFL.

Problem is that, as a drop back passing quarterback, Vince isn't even a mediocre quarterback.
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Vince didn't do fine his rookie year. He was terrible, and the only thing that was worse was the NFL's PR machine trying to create a new cash cow by putting him in the Pro Bowl. All they did was cheapen the meaning of the Pro Bowl forever.
 
Marcus said:
I just wish I did a screen print of the threads on this board a day after that 2006 draft, just to show what what some of you were saying then.

"I knew the Mario pick was the right one from the very beginning". ?????

Some of you "revisionist historians" ought to be jailed.
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I didn't see the old draft threads in the draft section or archived, but if you REALLY want to relive that time - go back to around (currently) pages 300-315 in the Texans Talk section. I checked it out, and it was a good flashback of what was happening at that time. I'd link one - but there were about a zillion threads over and over and over (kudos to the mods that worked through that time).

Remember all the new trolls that infiltrated around that time - that's what your gonna see alot of. Funny thing is, quite a few that were leading the "OMG" threads - I don't see many of them posting here anymore. It's also around the same time of bringing on Sage and Demeco, among others, along with Casserly's last hurrah.

I'll admit - I was all into the Bush bowl and was thinking that would be the first pick, but I didn't go all psycho when we got Mario - I went the direction assuming "Kublak" (yeah, someone titled a thread spelled like that back around that same time) and his crew knew more what they were doing than Capers and since Casserly was on his way out....

Anyway - kudos to Mario. I like the players like that, keep your mouth shut - take what they say, and prove yourself by the actions on and off the field. Better for someone else to pat you on the back than to pat yourself... thanking teams that passed on you in the draft.
 
BattleRedToro said:
You forgot about Jay Cutler. I believe he has outperformed Vince Young, as well.
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I don't think that is the case. Cutler has had a lot of talent around him and he has pretty much failed with the Broncos. He could be good and has an OUTSTANDING arm. great arm but I don't think he has shown much other than that. Coming out of Vanderbilt, I thought he would be a smart guy but he makes a lot of bad decisions.

anyone who says that Vince sucked his rookie year, just doesnt know football. Vince was an incredible playmaker his first year. He lost a little of that last year, but look at who he has around him...that's right. no one. That rookie guy made play after play late in the game. He took a team that was 0-3 and they went 8-5 the rest of the way with him. How does that suck? You woudl think that some of those that were so enamored by Carr's smile and stats would realize that its all about winning and making plays...not fantasy football stats, garbage time TDs, and completion %. VY had a miserable Week 17 in New England in his rookie year but if he wins that game he is 2-2 for the playoffs...and after all that is all that matters. Carr had decent stats and everyone now knows that dude sucked balls.

I understand where the VY hatred/ignorance comes from, but the guy is a good football player and he has already shown the ability to make plays....and that is what its all about. It's just so funny how a fanbase that was so blind to Carr sucking is so eager to say someone sucks after just 2 years....it took you 6 for Carr.
 
BattleRedToro said:
Vince didn't do fine his rookie year. He was terrible, and the only thing that was worse was the NFL's PR machine trying to create a new cash cow by putting him in the Pro Bowl. All they did was cheapen the meaning of the Pro Bowl forever.
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Ahhh, now you're letting your 'Vince hate' bias get the better of you. I'm no Vince fan by a long shot, but even I admit that he won those games with his feet the latter half of that season.

Last year, he decided that he wanted to win with his arm instead of his feet. He wants to be like Peyton or Brady.
 
Marcus said:
Ahhh, now you're letting your 'Vince hate' bias get the better of you. I'm no Vince fan by a long shot, but even I admit that he won those games with his feet the latter half of that season.

Last year, he decided that he wanted to win with his arm instead of his feet. He wants to be like Peyton or Brady.
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No, I believe he was statistically worse than many other QB's that were passed over for ProBowl consideration that year and he got far too much credit for winning games with his feet than he deserved. PacMan Jones and the Titans Defense won many of the games he was often credited for winning, in my opinion.
 
Here's a link to Dillon's breakout players article from the 2007 preseason.

Don't rush to judge Mario Williams, last year's No. 1 overall draft pick. Sure, it would be easy to brand him as a bust based on his rookie season. But we're putting him on our defensive all-breakout team for 2007:

Mario Williams was unable to practice for more than half of the 2006 season because of plantar fasciitis. Also, the Texans moved him around a lot; he played both right and left end and moved inside on third downs. Now that he is anchored at right end, his development should accelerate. In the off-season, Williams pushed himself during running and conditioning drills by working with the linebackers, a faster group.
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Amobi Okoye will probably get on a lot of breakout players list this preseason. And he should be. But, I like Jacoby Jones to breakout. He's healthy, he's more experienced, he's had a full year with the trainers. Plus, Jones is electric with the ball in his hands. Maybe more so than any other Texan. I think Jacoby will make a run at the Pro Bowl as a returner and as a starting WR by the end of the season.
 
False Start On # 69 said:
I had someone tell me at the doc's office one day Demeco Williams was their favorite player , and they knew he was the right pick from the start . :elle: :ok:
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If you think about it.. Demeco Williams is a bad a******* He will lead the league in tackles and sacks almost every year.

Can I get a #59 Jersey with Williams on the back?? Sweeeettt
 
BattleRedToro said:
I will never forget how I was derided for supporting the pick of Mario Williams.

My wife bought me a Battle Red Mario Williams jersey for a Christmas present that first year, as I had told her that I wanted that more than anything else that year.

I wanted to show all of those Vince Young crybaby supporters that I was a Mario Williams fan.

I was angry at how they booed the pick of Mario Williams

Now those same individuals don't want to admit that they were wrong about Mario, instead they pretend that they were always for the Mario pick.

Well, I know who some of them are, and they might be able to fool some people, but they'll never be able to make me forget.
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Yeah i hear ya.....I know some in my section that still don't want to admit that Mario was the right pick.
 
Lucky said:
Here's a link to Dillon's breakout players article from the 2007 preseason.

Amobi Okoye will probably get on a lot of breakout players list this preseason. And he should be. But, I like Jacoby Jones to breakout. He's healthy, he's more experienced, he's had a full year with the trainers. Plus, Jones is electric with the ball in his hands. Maybe more so than any other Texan. I think Jacoby will make a run at the Pro Bowl as a returner and as a starting WR by the end of the season.
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That would be great, and I could see him doing some major damage as a return man if he can stay healthy. However I'm doubtful he'll supplant Davis or Walter with any sort of permanence at WR. He looked very raw at WR to me last year. Bobbled/deflected catchable passes, lackluster route running, and looked unsure once he had the ball in his hands IMO. He has great tools but he'd have to make a pretty big jump from year 1 to year 2 to be polished enough to play a large role at WR this year. It'll be interesting to watch, I hope you're right!
 
gtexan02 said:
The only thing worse than the thousands of threads that criticized the Williams pick, are the thousands of "I told you so" posts we now have to endure.

i guess the bright side is that it means Williams worked out :)
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(Please forgive this shameless promotion of another thread)
This is exactly why I started a thread asking folks to go on record with their second-guesses of this year's draft crop. If somebody does believe that, say, we should have taken Antoine Cason instead of Brown, then put it on the thread. If Cason turns out to be a Pro Bowler while Brown busts out, then all an "I told you so" need do is pull up that thread to demonstrate his superiority to the rest of us sloths.

On the flip side, if someone lacks the courage today to declare that a particular pick/decision was wrong, then we can safely presume he either supports completely the Texans' choices or did not know enough to question the picks. And when that poster starts crowing the "I told you so" tune down the road, we can unearth the thread and see if he really was telling us all along that the Texans made an incorrect pick.

Sorry, again, for the shill.
 
Fox said:
That would be great, and I could see him doing some major damage as a return man if he can stay healthy. However I'm doubtful he'll supplant Davis or Walter with any sort of permanence at WR.
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The reason I like Jones as the eventual #2 WR is that he has the look of a true WCO wideout. Davis can stretch the field as a vertical receiver. Walter can find the open spots in the zone. But, neither can do much after the catch. That should be Jacoby's strength. And taking the 7-yard slant and turning it into a big play is what the WCO is about.

Two things to remember about Jacoby is (1) he came from Division II football and (2) he was injured early in the season. Jones injury cost him reps not only in games, but in practice. And coming from Lane College, Jacoby needed a lot of reps. He'll get those in these OTAs, training camp, and preseason. Because of that, and his physical ability, I expect big things out of Jones this season.
 
Out of the Kubiak era drafts I can only quibble with one pick - this year's selection of Alex Brink... yeah, it was only a 7th round "flyer" ...but so was Zack Diles last year and now Diles has a shot at starting.

And, to be clear, my objection is more because we were already stuffed at QB more than anything against Brink. Weren't there any DEs we could have taken a shot at?

But like I said on draft day, I guess Kubiak likes to have a "project" QB...
 
did i like the williams pick at the time? yes.

Did i want williams? No.

If you guys remember, I was an A.B.B. guy...as in ANYBODY but Bush. I liked VY the best. No denying it...but first and foremost, I was anti-reggie. thats about as honest as my history gets. no revision from me
 
I was doing most of my posting on the hpf board at that time. But IIRC it was about the same number of Reggie Vs. Vince, Vs. Mario debaters here as there. I was against Reggie because I thought he was too one dimensional, and didn't have enough lead in his butt to go off tackle. To me he was strictly a 3rd down type of back, which is what he has proven to be. Vince was a run first type of QB, and it has been proven every time that you can't win the big one with a one dimensional QB. At the last minute the Texans decided to go with Mario even though he was somewhat inconsistant in college. Well events have shown that Mario was the real deal. Whether or not the other two are, is still to be determined. Thank goodness for Kubiak and Smith. Best thing to ever happen to the Texans.

Ah yes "revisionist history" always has 20-20 vision! :splits:
 
Lucky said:
Here's a link to Dillon's breakout players article from the 2007 preseason.

Amobi Okoye will probably get on a lot of breakout players list this preseason. And he should be. But, I like Jacoby Jones to breakout. He's healthy, he's more experienced, he's had a full year with the trainers. Plus, Jones is electric with the ball in his hands. Maybe more so than any other Texan. I think Jacoby will make a run at the Pro Bowl as a returner and as a starting WR by the end of the season.
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I agree Lucky. If he puts it together he could really blow up in our offense.

His injury really set him back. he ran so fearless pre-injury, he seemed to be a little tentative after that. he looked really nice finding the seam in the preseason though and had a few moments in the regular season. the way he would burst through a seam was very reminiscent of Deion Sanders...no hesitation and quick feet with his size and skill set could make him a monster.

If he can recapture that devil may care attitude he had pre-injury, he could be a monster for us. That would be two big WRs with insane athletic ability. Couple that with possession receiver Walter and the down the field/Special Teams talent of Andre Davis, I could really see our WR corps with Daniels at TE being something special. Add the possible Split End threat of Slaton with Green and Brown in the backfield....that aint a bad unit at all. By far the most talent we have ever had on our offensive squad....hopefully Gibbs can whip this ship up into something special.

It's just so refreshing having hope and optimism going into a season...just 2 years ago we had no chance at being anything other than average...now if a few guys step up and play to their talent level, we could be really impressive.
 
ObsiWan said:
Out of the Kubiak era drafts I can only quibble with one pick - this year's selection of Alex Brink... yeah, it was only a 7th round "flyer" ...but so was Zack Diles last year and now Diles has a shot at starting.

And, to be clear, my objection is more because we were already stuffed at QB more than anything against Brink. Weren't there any DEs we could have taken a shot at?

But like I said on draft day, I guess Kubiak likes to have a "project" QB...
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hated the wasted 7th Rounder on Brink. the guy isn't a scrub and has some upside but why are they spending 7th Rounders on a QB that we don't need when we arent willing to deal our backup, Sage, for a 3rd Rounder? If your so damn high on your backup, why the hell are you drafting other QBs? Couldn't we have probably gotten him via post-draft Free Agency? I don't know. Maybe the value of having quality QB play in practice and developmental squad is hard to put a price on..i dont know. It just seems like flawed logic from a fan's point of view.

I grew up right down the street from The Sporting News in St. Louis. I was happy to hear they were pimping Mario. He deserves everything he gets because the pressure was really on the guy. Mario truly is a HIT.
 
Second Honeymoon said:
hated the wasted 7th Rounder on Brink. the guy isn't a scrub and has some upside but why are they spending 7th Rounders on a QB that we don't need when we arent willing to deal our backup, Sage, for a 3rd Rounder? If your so damn high on your backup, why the hell are you drafting other QBs? Couldn't we have probably gotten him via post-draft Free Agency? I don't know. Maybe the value of having quality QB play in practice and developmental squad is hard to put a price on..i dont know. It just seems like flawed logic from a fan's point of view.
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The Brink pick is about 2010, not 2008. If, in the interim, Schaub stays healthy and performs as Smithiak expects, there is no way that either Rosenfels or Gray (both of whom harbor dreams of starting) will still be around as backups. Where, then, do we go for a creditable second-stringer? We could go the rout of the established veteran on the downside of his career (e.g. Kurt Warner), but that will cost some money and we'll need to teach the old dog the new tricks of our offense. As an alternative, we could try to develop a young guy for a couple of years on the practice squad. QBs take years to develop (unless they are absolutely top-shelf talents), and we have a couple of years to work with Brink.

Only time will tell if Brink was the right guy to take, but a seventh-round draft pick is about the closest thing the NFL has to compare with the coins in the cushion of your couch. Seventh round picks who actually contribute are rare; that we hit with our last two (Anderson and Diles) has more to do with our once-dire talent level than our late-round prowess. So even if Brink bombs, a seventh round pick is about the cheapest investment a team can make. On the other hand, scoring a creditable backup (even if he takes 3 years to develop into one) with a seventh-rounder is a minor coup.

I know almost nothing about Brink other than that he was a four-year starter who tended to feast on his weaker opponents. But I am sure we had our guys studying him intently to see if was someone who could, with the proper development, play in our system. For that reason, I'm willing to wait to see what he can do.
 
Hooston Texan said:
The Brink pick is about 2010, not 2008. If, in the interim, Schaub stays healthy and performs as Smithiak expects, there is no way that either Rosenfels or Gray (both of whom harbor dreams of starting) will still be around as backups. Where, then, do we go for a creditable second-stringer? We could go the rout of the established veteran on the downside of his career (e.g. Kurt Warner), but that will cost some money and we'll need to teach the old dog the new tricks of our offense. As an alternative, we could try to develop a young guy for a couple of years on the practice squad. QBs take years to develop (unless they are absolutely top-shelf talents), and we have a couple of years to work with Brink.

Only time will tell if Brink was the right guy to take, but a seventh-round draft pick is about the closest thing the NFL has to compare with the coins in the cushion of your couch. Seventh round picks who actually contribute are rare; that we hit with our last two (Anderson and Diles) has more to do with our once-dire talent level than our late-round prowess. So even if Brink bombs, a seventh round pick is about the cheapest investment a team can make. On the other hand, scoring a creditable backup (even if he takes 3 years to develop into one) with a seventh-rounder is a minor coup.

I know almost nothing about Brink other than that he was a four-year starter who tended to feast on his weaker opponents. But I am sure we had our guys studying him intently to see if was someone who could, with the proper development, play in our system. For that reason, I'm willing to wait to see what he can do.
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great argument. welcome to the boards.
 
I wasn’t on this board for the 2006 draft; I was on some other board that I think got merged in with this one. All I know is the board I was posting on went away. I do remember the reaction at work though among the Texans fans and not a single one of them weren’t upset. Almost every one of them wanted Bush and was rabid about it saying the Texans threw away their chance at greatness. I was in the minority of folks that wanted VY, and I was already (before the signing of Mario) accepting the idea that we wouldn’t take VY so I wasn’t really that shocked, but I was still upset. I honestly felt that VY was really the man to take us to the Promised Land. I took up defending Mario at work just to have something to argue with folks about, but at the time I felt he was vastly overrated to be the number one pick in the draft. I’ve gotten a few “you were right all along” comments from some of the guys since then, but little do they know that at that time I was just defending Mario for fun and arguments sake. LOL

Oh well. History is always a better judge of today than we are. At the time the Mario pick didn’t look like the right one, now it does. Nothing new there.
 
Thorn said:
I do remember the reaction at work though among the Texans fans and not a single one of them weren’t upset. Almost every one of them wanted Bush and was rabid about it saying the Texans threw away their chance at greatness.
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Of course, that was the case all over town. The most casual fans were very familiar with Bush & Young. Williams was a true junior from a middle of the pack school in the ACC. A conference that doesn't get much play here. You pretty much had to be a draftnik to know who Mario Williams was, and you still may have never seen him play. If decisions were made by the fans & the media, a guy like Mario Williams would never have a chance to go #1.
 
Congrats to Mario. I was skeptical and even more so after his first year but, I'm very happy he is proving me wrong.

Steelers 20 Texans 13

:fans:
 
Okay, we get it, the media is now backing off of what they said in 2006. In all seriousness though, what'd you expect from them?

can we please stop with the mario "i told u so" threads?
 
Mr teX said:
Okay, we get it, the media is now backing off of what they said in 2006. In all seriousness though, what'd you expect from them?

can we please stop with the mario "i told u so" threads?
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I told u that there would be "I told u so" post in a Mario thread!!

Mario will have a monster year!!
 
Second Honeymoon said:
hated the wasted 7th Rounder on Brink. the guy isn't a scrub and has some upside but why are they spending 7th Rounders on a QB that we don't need when we arent willing to deal our backup, Sage, for a 3rd Rounder? If your so damn high on your backup, why the hell are you drafting other QBs? Couldn't we have probably gotten him via post-draft Free Agency? I don't know. Maybe the value of having quality QB play in practice and developmental squad is hard to put a price on..i dont know. It just seems like flawed logic from a fan's point of view.

I grew up right down the street from The Sporting News in St. Louis. I was happy to hear they were pimping Mario. He deserves everything he gets because the pressure was really on the guy. Mario truly is a HIT.
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speaking of Brink- http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4340

what everyone here has lost in translation is how to build a team in the salary cap era (at least two more years). this is something I failed to consider when they picked Mario Williams. A big time RDE on the free agent market is a hot commodity requiring millions to sign. just look at this last draft where premeir defensive linemen litter'ed the top 10 picks. Mario was a cornerstone pick not the sexy pick to build a franchise around. good move.

regarding Brink, I would rather invest minimal in the QB position to develop a prospect than pay one 60-70 million like Atlanta did for Matt Ryan. Doesn't hurt my appreication for Alex Brink to make this team longterm either since we graduated from the same High School :cool:
 
Nice find, I hope he continues to exceed all the naysayers expectations and becomes better with age. Hard to believe he will be 23 this year, and in his 3rd year.
 
Now the pressure is on, because if Mario Williams does anything to not impress (Not get double digit sacks, get injured blah blah blah) then it's going to go back to the same old "trash Mario for easy story" again. Especially at the chronic. I know a few of those writers are just waiting for Williams to falter so they can head straight to their paper to say "I told you so!"
 
Quite a few high profile, "can't miss" DEs didn't get double digit sacks last year. Jevon Kearse didn't. Julius Peppers didn't. Strahan didn't. Are they suddenly busts?

Let the naysayers come.
 
beerlover said:
speaking of Brink- http://www.houstontexans.com/news/Story.asp?story_id=4340

what everyone here has lost in translation is how to build a team in the salary cap era (at least two more years). this is something I failed to consider when they picked Mario Williams. A big time RDE on the free agent market is a hot commodity requiring millions to sign. just look at this last draft where premeir defensive linemen litter'ed the top 10 picks. Mario was a cornerstone pick not the sexy pick to build a franchise around. good move.

regarding Brink, I would rather invest minimal in the QB position to develop a prospect than pay one 60-70 million like Atlanta did for Matt Ryan. Doesn't hurt my appreication for Alex Brink to make this team longterm either since we graduated from the same High School :cool:
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Another reason I'm glad they didn't take Mendenhall. I'd rather they invest the money in OT than RB.
 
ObsiWan said:
Quite a few high profile, "can't miss" DEs didn't get double digit sacks last year. Jevon Kearse didn't. Julius Peppers didn't. Strahan didn't. Are they suddenly busts?

Let the naysayers come.
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Strahan had Umenyiora, Tuck and others to bring the heat to the quarterback. Peppers got freaking killed by his fans and media last year when he didn't produce. Jevon Kearse hasn't produced, or been thought of as, a top flight DE for awhile now.

Pretty much, all of this Mario hype means if he fails, he's going to get slaughtered by lots of people from all sides this year. Which isn't too much different than when he was a rookie, but, it still can effect somebody's play. If I had my druthers, I would rather the Sporting News, or ESPN or Sports Illustrated would wait just one year or so before declaring somebody the next big thing, but I know the sports journalism world operates on a "whomever can guess the best wins" sort of angle. I just wouldn't want a young player like Mario let a lot of people get in his ear telling him he's the greatest, and then he starts to believe it rather than proving it.

Just so that nobody mistakes me for a hater, I think Mario will have another really good year this year. I don't know if he'll match 14 sacks, but I think double digit sacks is doable again.
 
i still believe that pressures are more important than sacks, mario just needs to make the qb uncomfortable. also, does 10+ sacks matter if he opens things up for okoye, okam, tj, etc?
 
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