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Bob McNair Speaks

Vinny

Vinny

shiny happy fan
"(Fans) don't have the benefit of the depth of knowledge that we have as to what's going on with the team and what we need to do to remain a strong, competitive team" McNair said. "We're taking steps that allow us to be competitive long into the future."

McNair also said that the team is still considering free agents which remain on the market. But the Texans simply couldn't afford to retain all of their high-salaried players.

"There's a limit as to how many of those players you can afford to have without damaging your team," he said. "I want us to be a Super Bowl contender every year. That's why we have a plan.

McNair also confirmed what many believed in terms of the Texans' draft needs: "We know we need more help at wide receiver and we'd like to have more speed on the other side of Andre. And we'd like to have another pass rusher since we lost Mario."

The Texans will also look to add offensive linemen and defensive backs.

But in clarifying the thought process behind the offseason moves, McNair persistent point was that the team had to make decisions now to help secure the next offseason.

"You never want to lose good players but that's going to happen to us every year," said McNair. "You can't pay eight or ten players $10 million per year on each side of the ball. New England let (Richard) Seymour go and Seymour's made the Pro Bowl the last two years. I think that's the way it's going to be going forward in the NFL and every other team is going to face the same situation."

McNair added that he will discuss contract extensions for coach Gary Kubiak and General Manager Rick Smith after the draft but he's happy with job performance of both.
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http://www.foxsportshouston.com/04/...anding_texans.html?blockID=703372&feedID=3714


Um Bob....the Patiots traded Seymour for a first round draft pick....but we don't have the depth of understanding, so we have that going for us.

I'm posting this mainly to draw in twitter looks.
 
Vinny said:
http://www.foxsportshouston.com/04/...anding_texans.html?blockID=703372&feedID=3714


Um Bob....the Patiots traded Seymour for a first round draft pick....but we don't have the depth of understanding, so we have that going for us.

I'm posting this mainly to draw in twitter looks.
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Somewhat disingenuous presentation on the subject of Seymour. Only emphasizes why we have not been the "Patriots" and they have.

wheels-turning-in-brain.jpg


The Patriots brain trust



images

The Texans brain trust
 
CloakNNNdagger said:
Somewhat disingenuous presentation on the subject of Seymour. Only emphasizes why we have not been the "Patriots" and they have.

wheels-turning-in-brain.jpg


The Patriots brain trust



images

The Texans brain trust
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Bob likes his brain trust to think outside the brain box. :D
 
Oh YEA!!!!! He wants to extend Rick Smiths contract! Jumpin for joy!!:sarcasm:

Always a "contender," just like 31 other teams, but, never a winner! That's what we will remain as long as Daddy Bob keeps his head where the sun don't shine!! JMO!!
 
Take it easy on the kid, he's just getting this winning thing down.

The Seymour statement was another confidence killer.
 
Yesirree Bob, nothing like a little offseason to bring everybody's positive attitudes back.

God, I just love this place.
 
It's funny now that the Texans are having big boy problems for like the first time ever, most of the "fans" we have immediately go to a doom and gloom mode because you know, we lost Eric Winston, and Mike Brisel, and Mario Williams. Not Brian Cushing, not Arian Foster, not Chris Myers, not Andre Johnson, no the reason we are going into the toilet this year is because we lost a guy we basically didn't have last year, a RT whom most on here called "overrated", a guy who came out on 3rd downs, and an actual good guard. We lose 2 guys out of 4 that probably receive the most negative attention on this board, yet most of the people who were complaining about them are now saying we are screwed.
 
Words can't express how stupid the statement about Seymour that Bob made is. Does he really think the average fan swallows that garbage? He is out of touch with average everyday people.
 
bckey said:
Words can't express how stupid the statement about Seymour that Bob made is. Does he really think the average fan swallows that garbage? He is out of touch with average everyday people.
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It doesn't sound as bad as the 2010 comment "We're on the right track"
 
"(Fans) don't have the benefit of the depth of knowledge that we have as to what's going on with the team and what we need to do to remain a strong, competitive team"
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Bob has convinced me.

The next time I go to a fine restaurant and get (what I consider) a bad meal, I'll remind myself I'm not a chef and will convince myself to be pleased with it. Then I'll recommend it to everyone who asks, because they have a real, live, PROFESSIONAL chef back there.

Test drive a car? Don't like it? What do I know, I don't design cars. Buy it!

Go to the movies. Dare I suggest the movie was bad? Hell no! Who do I think I am, a director?



Life will be so much easier now, walking around in my "happy place" with a vacuous smile on my face...
 
b0ng said:
It's funny now that the Texans are having big boy problems for like the first time ever, most of the "fans" we have immediately go to a doom and gloom mode because you know, we lost Eric Winston, and Mike Brisel, and Mario Williams. Not Brian Cushing, not Arian Foster, not Chris Myers, not Andre Johnson, no the reason we are going into the toilet this year is because we lost a guy we basically didn't have last year, a RT whom most on here called "overrated", a guy who came out on 3rd downs, and an actual good guard. We lose 2 guys out of 4 that probably receive the most negative attention on this board, yet most of the people who were complaining about them are now saying we are screwed.
Click to expand...

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion. I guess we will see! I have faith in our remaining players, but, I have ZERO faith in the man that is expected to give them the help they will need to make it to the big show! I think he is a complete dumb*ss! CC was pretty bad, but, RS beats him to hell and back. The fact the Daddy Bob is even thinking about extending that man's contract makes me wanna cry. I'm gettin OLD, and I wanna see a SB before I go on to football heaven! Aint's gonna happen with RS running the show!! JMO!!
 
b0ng said:
It's funny now that the Texans are having big boy problems for like the first time ever, most of the "fans" we have immediately go to a doom and gloom mode because you know, we lost Eric Winston, and Mike Brisel, and Mario Williams. Not Brian Cushing, not Arian Foster, not Chris Myers, not Andre Johnson, no the reason we are going into the toilet this year is because we lost a guy we basically didn't have last year, a RT whom most on here called "overrated", a guy who came out on 3rd downs, and an actual good guard. We lose 2 guys out of 4 that probably receive the most negative attention on this board, yet most of the people who were complaining about them are now saying we are screwed.
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I've never had a problem with the necessity of these changes; something had to be done. Trying to make the case that the team's on-field performance won't be impacted negatively, or will even be better, seems far fetched to me.

I think Bob agrees:

But in clarifying the thought process behind the offseason moves, McNair persistent point was that the team had to make decisions now to help secure the next offseason.
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Just win the-season-after-this, baby.
 
b0ng said:
It's funny now that the Texans are having big boy problems for like the first time ever, most of the "fans" we have immediately go to a doom and gloom mode because you know, we lost Eric Winston, and Mike Brisel, and Mario Williams. Not Brian Cushing, not Arian Foster, not Chris Myers, not Andre Johnson, no the reason we are going into the toilet this year is because we lost a guy we basically didn't have last year, a RT whom most on here called "overrated", a guy who came out on 3rd downs, and an actual good guard. We lose 2 guys out of 4 that probably receive the most negative attention on this board, yet most of the people who were complaining about them are now saying we are screwed.
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I think most fans want 2 questions answered:

1. Why did we not trade Winston or Brisel? (all legit speculative answers I have heard involve the F.O. kind of dropping the ball)

2. Why did we not front load deals in the uncapped year like many other teams did t avoid where we are today?


I don't think anyone is saying doom and gloom because those guys are gone. They are saying 'I don't think our FO did this in a smart way.'
 
Yankee_In_TX said:
I think most fans want 2 questions answered:

1. Why did we not trade Winston or Brisel? (all legit speculative answers I have heard involve the F.O. kind of dropping the ball)

2. Why did we not front load deals in the uncapped year like many other teams did t avoid where we are today?


I don't think anyone is saying doom and gloom because those guys are gone. They are saying 'I don't think our FO did this in a smart way.'
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Winston, not Brisel.
 
The team will never be able to keep every player, and we the fans will never be sastified with the results that come out of that. That's just how it is.
 
Well Bob if you would tell us about your plan, give good cap info and step up when you make significant roster changes and tell us why immediately; we just might support you more. Reminds me of daddy saying "you know I love you and I will make the best decisions for you." except Mr. McNair you seem to be saying "I love your money and I will make the best decision for me because really, what else are you gonna do on Sundays?"
 
ObsiWan said:
What th'....?

I know what both phrases usually mean but what the hell are you two on about?
:hmmm:
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LMFAO!!! Bob said in a telephone interview... "It's not the first time I've seen an ox in a ditch" when discussing a disappointing season a couple of years ago.
 
badboy said:
Well Bob if you would tell us about your plan, give good cap info and step up when you make significant roster changes and tell us why immediately; we just might support you more. Reminds me of daddy saying "you know I love you and I will make the best decisions for you." except Mr. McNair you seem to be saying "I love your money and I will make the best decision for me because really, what else are you gonna do on Sundays?"
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I know from the armchair GM perspective people want detailed, accurate knowledge of their teams cap situation, its only natural. Its in the teams best interest however to keep that as secret as possible because when they're negotiating their deals in FA, and some guy wants 500k extra per year because their agent has accurate cap information for the team, and hey, we know you can afford it, suddenly the team is in a worse bargaining position.

What would you prefer? To have them tell us all the cap info so that we can endlessly talk all offseason about what we'd do with all that money, at the cost of having to pay players a bit extra to the effect of not being able to get as many quality guys in. Or let them keep their cards close to their chest and offer players what they're worth telling them its the best they could possibly come up with?

Compared to 12 months ago, I think we go into this draft with a stronger talent pool already on the team than we did then, and therefore we're drafting from our strongest position of all time.

We've lost Brisiel, Winston, DeMeco, and Williams, but we've gained JoJo, Manning, Watt, Reed, whilst Barwin, Cushing, Tate, Quin all look significantly more valuable than they did 12 months ago.

I'm fully behind Bob's plan right now, and frankly, if I'm proven wrong, I'll have spent 6 months less pissed off about it than anyone who's pissed off already, so its win-win for me.:kingkong:
 
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welsh texan said:
I know from the armchair GM perspective people want detailed, accurate knowledge of their teams cap situation, its only natural. Its in the teams best interest however to keep that as secret as possible because when they're negotiating their deals in FA, and some guy wants 500k extra per year because their agent has accurate cap information for the team, and hey, we know you can afford it, suddenly the team is in a worse bargaining position.

What would you prefer? To have them tell us all the cap info so that we can endlessly talk all offseason about what we'd do with all that money, at the cost of having to pay players a bit extra to the effect of not being able to get as many quality guys in. Or let them keep their cards close to their chest and offer players what they're worth telling them its the best they could possibly come up with?

Compared to 12 months ago, I think we go into this draft with a stronger talent pool already on the team than we did then, and therefore we're drafting from our strongest position of all time.

We've lost Brisiel, Winston, DeMeco, and Williams, but we've gained JoJo, Manning, Watt, Reed, whilst Barwin, Cushing, Tate, Quin all look significantly more valuable than they did 12 months ago.

I'm fully behind Bob's plan right now, and frankly, if I'm proven wrong, I'll have spent 6 months less pissed off about it than anyone who's pissed off already, so its win-win for me.:kingkong:
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Rep your way.

We are the defending AFC South champs. We need to be excited about that and see the positives.

Every team has something wrong with it: Some teams have zero talent, so they're grabbing guys in FA and drafting in the top 10 of the draft. Some teams have mediocre talent and could make bad moves or good moves, which would make them better or worse depending on the moves made. And some teams are coming off great years (such as ours) but are having to battle the inherent problems with success--Players want more money than what can be paid to them.

So therefore, every team has its own "problems" to overcome. I'd rather have our kind of problems than the problems a team like the Colts have. Outside of drafting Andrew Luck, they got zilch. OK, maybe Reggie Wayne. They're switching to a 3-4 and they have nobody on the nose in that 3-4 scheme. They are going to have to draft virtually "for need" all draft long. They lost their center, Jeff Saturday. No run game to speak of. Defense in flux. New head coach, and new GM. It's not impossible for them to succeed, but their problems are greater than ours...big time!
 
b0ng said:
It's funny now that the Texans are having big boy problems for like the first time ever, most of the "fans" we have immediately go to a doom and gloom mode because you know, we lost Eric Winston, and Mike Brisel, and Mario Williams. Not Brian Cushing, not Arian Foster, not Chris Myers, not Andre Johnson, no the reason we are going into the toilet this year is because we lost a guy we basically didn't have last year, a RT whom most on here called "overrated", a guy who came out on 3rd downs, and an actual good guard. We lose 2 guys out of 4 that probably receive the most negative attention on this board, yet most of the people who were complaining about them are now saying we are screwed.
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I'm not to "doom and gloom" yet, but very serious concern about sums it up.

Let's think about this. Last season, what were the team's two biggest strengths?

1) Offensive Line - Arguably one of the best in football. What do we do this offseason? We lose the entire right-hand side of the line. Hell, we just CUT Winston outright, and we didn't make much of a play for Briesel. I think it's fair to be really, REALLY concerned about our O-Line (which took awhile to "gel" in the first place). Expect to see one of these two guys to be in next year's Pro Bowl.

2) Defense - The defense took to Wade's new scheme with a vengeance. We lost Mario (on his best sack pace ever) early on and had to get Brooks Reed up to speed. We couldn't compete for Mario, he was "known to be gone". We've now traded Demeco who was a shell of his normal self until late last season when he rounded back into form. At least we got something in exchange, though it wasn't much. Expect to see BOTH of these guys back in the Pro Bowl.

We've lost some guys who were at /near the top of their game. Other than Mario, exactly who were we "expecting" to lose? I fully understand that most (if not all) of these moves were made more for the benefit of NEXT year's cap vs. helping any THIS year.

The question is, did we torpedo this season to get to where we wanted to be cap-wise for next year? I'm not sure we have, but I'm not exactly reassured by teh losses either.
 
disaacks3 said:
I'm not to "doom and gloom" yet, but very serious concern about sums it up.

Let's think about this. Last season, what were the team's two biggest strengths?

1) Offensive Line - Arguably one of the best in football. What do we do this offseason? We lose the entire right-hand side of the line. Hell, we just CUT Winston outright, and we didn't make much of a play for Briesel. I think it's fair to be really, REALLY concerned about our O-Line (which took awhile to "gel" in the first place). Expect to see one of these two guys to be in next year's Pro Bowl.

2) Defense - The defense took to Wade's new scheme with a vengeance. We lost Mario (on his best sack pace ever) early on and had to get Brooks Reed up to speed. We couldn't compete for Mario, he was "known to be gone". We've now traded Demeco who was a shell of his normal self until late last season when he rounded back into form. At least we got something in exchange, though it wasn't much. Expect to see BOTH of these guys back in the Pro Bowl.

We've lost some guys who were at /near the top of their game. Other than Mario, exactly who were we "expecting" to lose? I fully understand that most (if not all) of these moves were made more for the benefit of NEXT year's cap vs. helping any THIS year.

The question is, did we torpedo this season to get to where we wanted to be cap-wise for next year? I'm not sure we have, but I'm not exactly reassured by teh losses either.
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You are saying Briesel and Winston are going to make the Pro Bowl playing for the Raiders and the Chiefs? I don't see it, dissacks. I just don't.

Winston and Brisiel blocked for Arian Foster/Ben Tate/Derrick Ward and had the league's number 2 defense helping them out in 2011. It's Big Boy time for Winston and Brisiel now. If they make the Pro Bowl, then they sure as hell will have earned it by playing for two pretty bad teams in the Raiders/Chiefs.

So your first argument about how you're not doom-and-gloom, just merely "concerned," is that we lost two Pro Bowl OL players.

Your next argument is that the defensive guys we lost are going to make the Pro Bowl too. First of all, Mario has to finish a freaking season or he isn't going to get votes. Voters won't care if Mario "was on pace for ___ sacks" but was also in and out of the lineup throughout the year. You have to be on the TV cameras week in and week out or you're forgotten. And Ryans as a Pro Bowler? He was on the league's best defense last year and didn't get voted. Wasn't even an alternate, IIRC.

Sounds like you're more than just "concerned" to me. You've laid out how we lost four Pro Bowl players...for Pro Bowls that haven't even happened yet.
 
What do Arian Foster, Ben Tate, Derrick Ward have in common?

A) They are great/very good runners no matter who is blocking.
B) They were great/very good runners behind a great run blocking line last year.

I suspect if the Texans had kept the oline and lost Foster and/or Tate I'd be reading that their loss is OK, they were just a "product of the system" and the team would be fine because it was the line that counts.

For years I've read that running backs were plug and play commodities in the Kubiak system. Now it seems the athletic zone blocking lineman are the replaceable ones.

I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
 
disaacks3 said:
I'm not to "doom and gloom" yet, but very serious concern about sums it up.

Let's think about this. Last season, what were the team's two biggest strengths?

1) Offensive Line - Arguably one of the best in football. What do we do this offseason? We lose the entire right-hand side of the line. Hell, we just CUT Winston outright, and we didn't make much of a play for Briesel. I think it's fair to be really, REALLY concerned about our O-Line (which took awhile to "gel" in the first place). Expect to see one of these two guys to be in next year's Pro Bowl.

2) Defense - The defense took to Wade's new scheme with a vengeance. We lost Mario (on his best sack pace ever) early on and had to get Brooks Reed up to speed. We couldn't compete for Mario, he was "known to be gone". We've now traded Demeco who was a shell of his normal self until late last season when he rounded back into form. At least we got something in exchange, though it wasn't much. Expect to see BOTH of these guys back in the Pro Bowl.

We've lost some guys who were at /near the top of their game. Other than Mario, exactly who were we "expecting" to lose? I fully understand that most (if not all) of these moves were made more for the benefit of NEXT year's cap vs. helping any THIS year.

The question is, did we torpedo this season to get to where we wanted to be cap-wise for next year? I'm not sure we have, but I'm not exactly reassured by teh losses either.
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:um:


So you think out of Demeco, Winston, Briesel, and Mario 3-4 will be in next years probowl?


I don't see that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if none of them made it.
 
Runner said:
What do Arian Foster, Ben Tate, Derrick Ward have in common?

A) They are great/very good runners no matter who is blocking.
B) They were great/very good runners behind a great run blocking line last year.

I suspect if the Texans had kept the oline and lost Foster and/or Tate I'd be reading that their loss is OK, they were just a "product of the system" and the team would be fine because it was the line that counts.

For years I've read that running backs were plug and play commodities in the Kubiak system. Now it seems the athletic zone blocking lineman are the replaceable ones.

I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
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Probably depends on who you talk to because personally I've maintained (and a few others I've read) that Foster is what makes the running game tick and he is a special back.

Does that mean the line is worthless? No, it doesn't. What it means is that they work in unison together, but Foster makes it special.

If we had lost Foster I think it would have been a huge blow, but I think Tate is talented in his own right, so we would have still been a good running team.

But even though football is a team sport and it takes all the players to be successful, you can still look at individual performance and determine how much the team benefits from them and vice versa.
 
Runner said:
I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
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Well, if you doom and gloomers wouldn't call the rest of us homers or sunshiners, maybe you'd get cut a little slack.

As it is right now, there isn't any middle ground, so you can sleep in the beds you've made.

:evilb:
 
GP said:
You are saying Briesel and Winston are going to make the Pro Bowl playing for the Raiders and the Chiefs? I don't see it, dissacks. I just don't.

Good for you. For the record, I said one of them...I stand by that.

Winston and Brisiel blocked for Arian Foster/Ben Tate/Derrick Ward and had the league's number 2 defense helping them out in 2011. It's Big Boy time for Winston and Brisiel now. If they make the Pro Bowl, then they sure as hell will have earned it by playing for two pretty bad teams in the Raiders/Chiefs.

Exactly how did that defense help them block, I'm truly interested. :rolleyes:

So your first argument about how you're not doom-and-gloom, just merely "concerned," is that we lost two Pro Bowl OL players.

Your next argument is that the defensive guys we lost are going to make the Pro Bowl too. First of all, Mario has to finish a freaking season or he isn't going to get votes. Voters won't care if Mario "was on pace for ___ sacks" but was also in and out of the lineup throughout the year. You have to be on the TV cameras week in and week out or you're forgotten. And Ryans as a Pro Bowler? He was on the league's best defense last year and didn't get voted. Wasn't even an alternate, IIRC.

Wow, so you think if Mario wasn't injured last year, he wouldn't make the Pro Bowl...good luck with that. Demeco was a Pro Bowler previously, and was recovering from an injury until late in teh season (maybe you noticed the cast?)

Sounds like you're more than just "concerned" to me. You've laid out how we lost four Pro Bowl players...for Pro Bowls that haven't even happened yet.

Alright, how many of those guys have been to a Pro Bowl...count them and call me back.
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Rey said:
:um:


So you think out of Demeco, Winston, Briesel, and Mario 3-4 will be in next years probowl?


I don't see that. I wouldn't be surprised at all if none of them made it.

Actually, I didn't say NEXT year's Pro Bowl, but the point still stands. Where are these guys' replacements that can play at/above their level? They sure as hell aren't currently on the Texans roster.
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Responses in BOLD. What Bob is doing is called "sunshine pumping". While he may be right, comparing the Texans organization to the Patriots organization is self-congratulatory on his part to a rather extreme level. When we make the playoffs 7 of 10 years in a row, then I might buy in. As it stands now, Bob is spinning a bad story the best way he can.
 
Marcus said:
Well, if you doom and gloomers wouldn't call the rest of us homers or sunshiners, maybe you'd get cut a little slack.

As it is right now, there isn't any middle ground, so you can sleep in the beds you've made.

:evilb:
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Exactly. Well, not exactly. Change the "you've" to "we've" and the comment would be spot on.
 
Runner said:
I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
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You know what concerns me about our running game next year? It isn't that we lost 2 solid players who were paid more than we could possibly afford, who's replacements will be chosen between a couple of guys with years in the system + solid starting experience or a couple of rookies/less experienced guys who'll have to beat them out if they want to play.

The key is going to be can Schaub and AJ return to where they were before they got injured.

Because if we're playing with Yates/a hobbled Schaub, and the AJ we saw in the playoffs (great effort but clearly not himself) then we're going to be getting 8 guys stacking the box all season long, shutting down our running game no matter who we have in there, and be forced to throw it up to AJ regardless of how well covered he is late in the game.

We rely on the threat of our play action and bootlegs to open up the running game, if we can't establish that threat then everything else becomes so much more difficult in our system.
 
Runner said:
What do Arian Foster, Ben Tate, Derrick Ward have in common?

A) They are great/very good runners no matter who is blocking.
B) They were great/very good runners behind a great run blocking line last year.

I suspect if the Texans had kept the oline and lost Foster and/or Tate I'd be reading that their loss is OK, they were just a "product of the system" and the team would be fine because it was the line that counts.

For years I've read that running backs were plug and play commodities in the Kubiak system. Now it seems the athletic zone blocking lineman are the replaceable ones.

I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
Click to expand...

It also doesn't mean that Winston and Brisiel are going to be Pro Bowl OL this year, either. It's possible that other guys could do their jobs.

The RBs also were NOT very good at running when Caldwell replaced Brisiel at RG. So the theory that the RBs are gods among mere mortals is a myth. And I don't think the RG spot is Caldwell's just yet. Draft, other OL already on our roster, and other avenues (during camp) can mean Caldwell is not our RG when the season begins.

All in all, we just have to wait and see. But yeah, the woe-is-me attitude is a bit premature. I blame this on lack of substantial football activity...once the pads and helmets are cracking, clouds will lift and the sun will shine. Birds will chirp. We'll have more substantive things to discuss instead of this retread topic. Happens every time.

Right now, people are just "concerned" with no way of knowing if their concerns are valid or not.
 
GP said:
We are the defending AFC South champs. We need to be excited about that and see the positives.
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This is where I am at right now. Still high from January 7, when the Texans played and won their first playoff game.

I do not think our division will be that strong this year. The Titans could give us some trouble, but competition is desired to make the Texans a better team.

I am not the most optimistic person, but I just can't bring myself to get worked up over things right now. This off-season is 1000X better than last year, so just having some football issues to talk about is good.

It's all about choosing your perspective, and right now, I am expecting another playoff season and choose not to be unhappy as a Houston football fan.
 
disaacks3 said:
Responses in BOLD. What Bob is doing is called "sunshine pumping". While he may be right, comparing the Texans organization to the Patriots organization is self-congratulatory on his part to a rather extreme level. When we make the playoffs 7 of 10 years in a row, then I might buy in. As it stands now, Bob is spinning a bad story the best way he can.
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So fans cannot be confident UNTIL we've had 7 years of good fortune? At that point, it's kind of a Captain Obvious for all involved...isn't it?

The fun of this stage of our team's growth is that we have a choice: Choose to be encouraged at the previous year's success AND that we have a good shot to repeat in 2012...or, choose to see a multitude of holes that foretell a season of angst (wiping away any hope that we ARE turning a corner).

At the end of the day, I choose to be encouraged that we did all we could to keep as many of the gang together...we didn't keep 'em all together, but we also are not losers at the same time.

Things can exist independent of one another, ya' know. One thing doesn't automatically lead to another. Lots of factors exist that can mean success or failure, not just that we lost two OL and two guys on D.

Confession: I'm glad Mario Williams is gone. I was tired of the argument. At the end of the day, this defense needs to be a team and not about 1 guy. Our offense is also not about 1 guy, either. Kubiak has done a great job of building a team that survives obstacles and challenges. They're built for this, IMO. Colts lose Manning and they implode.
 
GP said:
Right now, people are just "concerned" with no way of knowing if their concerns are valid or not.
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Just as people "know" everything is just fine without knowing if their hopes will be fulfilled or not.

The doom and gloomers and sunshine club have one thing in common. Just about everything one of them says now immediately irritates the other side, and that side's "righteous" indignation then irritates the first poster, ad nauseum.

I am going to try to keep in mind that every word I utter irritates half the board, while thing to discuss middle of the road topics.

I'd like to see a reasonable discussion of a topic such as:

What is the net effect of Winston's loss? Is it probable that run blocking is worse? Is it probable that pass protection is better? Is the net effect a push, positive, or negative? I'd like to discuss such things in terms of the team's on field performance this season. Believe it or not, I understand the cap drove the move. I'd like to talk about the team the Texans field next year.
 
GP said:
It also doesn't mean that Winston and Brisiel are going to be Pro Bowl OL this year, either. It's possible that other guys could do their jobs.

The RBs also were NOT very good at running when Caldwell replaced Brisiel at RG. So the theory that the RBs are gods among mere mortals is a myth. And I don't think the RG spot is Caldwell's just yet. Draft, other OL already on our roster, and other avenues (during camp) can mean Caldwell is not our RG when the season begins.

All in all, we just have to wait and see. But yeah, the woe-is-me attitude is a bit premature. I blame this on lack of substantial football activity...once the pads and helmets are cracking, clouds will lift and the sun will shine. Birds will chirp. We'll have more substantive things to discuss instead of this retread topic. Happens every time.

Right now, people are just "concerned" with no way of knowing if their concerns are valid or not.
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You're not the first person to say this GP so I'm not picking on you. But since you just freshly brought this up again...

Exactly which games did Caldwell start. I'd like to compare the stats.

Right now I see three games where our running attack failed to bust 100 yds;
vs. Oakland (Foster 22 carries/68 yds),
@ Baltimore - reg. season (Foster 15 car./49 yds; Tate 9 car./41 yds), and
@ Jacksonville (when Leinart got hurt and we truly went conservative. Foster 22 car./65 yds; Tate 5 car./26 yds).

All other games our running game yielded 135 yds or better. Usually much better. I don't recall Briesel being hurt until sometime after that Jacksonville game when Leinart went down. So what games did Caldwell start?? Where's the data that says our running game sucked when he started?
 
GP said:
So fans cannot be confident UNTIL we've had 7 years of good fortune? At that point, it's kind of a Captain Obvious for all involved...isn't it?
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It wasn't ME comparing the long-hapless Texans to the Patriots, it was the Texans owner. Exactly ONE playoff appearance in a decade doesn't equal blind faith on my part in the "wisdom" of the owner. His comparison was overblown, and his example was poorly thought out at best.

Right now, I still think we're a good team in a bad division. Unfortunately, we've got a tough non-division schedule that could give us fits if the running game falters. (not to mention major injuries to our QB and WR1)

I'd like to see the Texans in the AFC championship game this year. I'm considerably LESS confident about that prospect than I was before FA began.

I'm praying the Texans have the right players fall to them in the draft. WR, LB & OL have to be a priority. If I see TE, RB & QB taken 1-2-3 by the Texans, I might have a breakdown.
 
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welsh texan said:
You know what concerns me about our running game next year? It isn't that we lost 2 solid players who were paid more than we could possibly afford, who's replacements will be chosen between a couple of guys with years in the system + solid starting experience or a couple of rookies/less experienced guys who'll have to beat them out if they want to play.

The key is going to be can Schaub and AJ return to where they were before they got injured.

Because if we're playing with Yates/a hobbled Schaub, and the AJ we saw in the playoffs (great effort but clearly not himself) then we're going to be getting 8 guys stacking the box all season long, shutting down our running game no matter who we have in there, and be forced to throw it up to AJ regardless of how well covered he is late in the game.

We rely on the threat of our play action and bootlegs to open up the running game, if we can't establish that threat then everything else becomes so much more difficult in our system.
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Rep coming your way.

I am not nearly concerned about the defense. Yes, we did lose MW, but honestly we still got VERY good production from Reed's rookie campaign and I think Barwin is only going to get better. I said it before his athletic skill set is SO much better suited to be a 3-4 OLB than undersized DE. Overall this defense has an identity. It's high motor guys flying to the ball. MW was a lot of things, but I don't ever recall that one thing you could say was the guy has a high motor. I do think we need to add a quality 3rd OLB and while Sharpton might be serviceable we could def upgrade his spot.

Offense is where all my real concern is. Will Matt REALLY be back 100% post Lisfrac? My real concern is that his already limited mobility will be hampered more and it could mean he could take more hits. Can he hold up for a full season?

I liked what I saw from Yates and he can only improve this off-season getting more reps and more time in the system as opposed to a short cut off-season last year. Physically he's got the tools that can make a QB in this system shine. The question is going to be does he get it between the ears. Seems like he can. If they do decide to go with him as the full fledged #2 this year, he NEEDS as many reps as possible this off-season, because if Matt's not 100% or if his mobility is even less....its very possible he will need to step in sooner than later.

On the OL, I think Butler will step in fine. We MIGHT lose something in run blocking which Winston excelled at, but often he seemed like a liability in pass blocking. Could be a push. My bigger concern is can Caldwell really step up at RG. I don't think Brisiel was not spectacular, but he was consistent which is what we needed him to develop into being. I think he got a major payday from Oakland, congrats. I just think guard play is more valuable right now than losing Winston, this includes can Wade Smith bounce back from a mediocre year at LG.

I think with a full offseason of rest AJ should be back to being AJ. My bigger concern is really what do we have past him at this point? The love affair this staff has with JJ is borderline dangerous. While Bob is saying they do need help at WR, how dedicated are they really? Will we see them take a WR in the first? I dunno but something must be done to really address the talent or lack off after AJ on this WR corps.

Is Graham ready to step up with the departure of Dressen? Could they decide to really have Casey as a full H back in shifting out to TE on more formations? Will they draft ANOTHER TE... most likely.

My bigger concern with what Bob said is getting Rick and Gary extended and being satisfied with their overall performance. To me it should be highly tied up with what happens this year. If we see a drop off like we did after the 9-7 season, both need to be fired. I still have lingering concerns about Gary's overall ability to be a HC.

My final point is Bob, what has the team done to get better this off-season? That is what fans are concerned about. Yes, we know you can point to getting Foster inked long term and resigning Myers. Congrats, that's called maintaining. Its what perennial playoff teams do. The biggest botch this off-season so far IMO was waiting on MW. While we set idle waiting for an answer we should have known was coming, there were other pieces we could have added with that money instead.

All that said....it's still early in the off-season thankfully. We still have the draft and June cuts for the team to get better.
 
disaacks3 said:
Actually, I didn't say NEXT year's Pro Bowl, but the point still stands. Where are these guys' replacements that can play at/above their level? They sure as hell aren't currently on the Texans roster.



Responses in BOLD. What Bob is doing is called "sunshine pumping". While he may be right, comparing the Texans organization to the Patriots organization is self-congratulatory on his part to a rather extreme level. When we make the playoffs 7 of 10 years in a row, then I might buy in. As it stands now, Bob is spinning a bad story the best way he can.
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Actually, with Winston and Briesel you did specify next years pro bowl so maybe I incorrectly assumed you meant the same for Mario and Demeco. And my point still stands. I wouldn't be surprised if none of these guys made a pro bowl next year and only one ever made it again.


As far as their replacements on the roster...I think that is where I disagree with you. I don't know how you can definitively say either way. You're saying that the replacements "sure as hell aren't on the roster", and I don't see any way you could know that.

I think it's more likely than not that AT LEAST one of the replacements will exceed our expectations and play at a level at or above the player they are replacing.

Not to mention that we actually have incoming draft picks.

We cut Winston, Traded Demeco and LOST Mario, Dreesen and Brisel to FA/higher bids.

I don't think we cut Winston or trade Demeco if the team felt like we couldn't manage without them or if we couldn't be successful without them.
 
welsh texan said:
I know from the armchair GM perspective people want detailed, accurate knowledge of their teams cap situation, its only natural. Its in the teams best interest however to keep that as secret as possible because when they're negotiating their deals in FA, and some guy wants 500k extra per year because their agent has accurate cap information for the team, and hey, we know you can afford it, suddenly the team is in a worse bargaining position.

What would you prefer? To have them tell us all the cap info so that we can endlessly talk all offseason about what we'd do with all that money, at the cost of having to pay players a bit extra to the effect of not being able to get as many quality guys in. Or let them keep their cards close to their chest and offer players what they're worth telling them its the best they could possibly come up with?

Compared to 12 months ago, I think we go into this draft with a stronger talent pool already on the team than we did then, and therefore we're drafting from our strongest position of all time.

We've lost Brisiel, Winston, DeMeco, and Williams, but we've gained JoJo, Manning, Watt, Reed, whilst Barwin, Cushing, Tate, Quin all look significantly more valuable than they did 12 months ago. I'm fully behind Bob's plan right now, and frankly, if I'm proven wrong, I'll have spent 6 months less pissed off about it than anyone who's pissed off already, so its win-win for me.:kingkong:
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Good post BUT don't you agree that teams could be much clearer in dealing with cap without giving up exact amounts? We have seen Texans dump players in the last few weeks to get what they want so another team knowing what Texans have to spend should do little to keep Texans or any team from getting a player. I am not talking about a bidding war where we are trying to sign Asomugha. Maybe it is just my personal feelings that Texans have not handled the cap well. The difference in the bolded above is your first group was lost for 2012 season and the second group played last season. Certainly we know more about them and hopefully each will be better but I want to see team add another bull to the herd not just hope that the one born last year is gonna one day develop into a great producer. Maybe this draft will put us over the top.

WT, can you explain what happened to the money that was set aside when Texans thought they might be able to sign Mario? That had to be a least $10m or more and now it is just gone?
 
GP said:
Rep your way.

We are the defending AFC South champs. We need to be excited about that and see the positives.

Every team has something wrong with it: Some teams have zero talent, so they're grabbing guys in FA and drafting in the top 10 of the draft. Some teams have mediocre talent and could make bad moves or good moves, which would make them better or worse depending on the moves made. And some teams are coming off great years (such as ours) but are having to battle the inherent problems with success--Players want more money than what can be paid to them.

So therefore, every team has its own "problems" to overcome. I'd rather have our kind of problems than the problems a team like the Colts have. Outside of drafting Andrew Luck, they got zilch. OK, maybe Reggie Wayne. They're switching to a 3-4 and they have nobody on the nose in that 3-4 scheme. They are going to have to draft virtually "for need" all draft long. They lost their center, Jeff Saturday. No run game to speak of. Defense in flux. New head coach, and new GM. It's not impossible for them to succeed, but their problems are greater than ours...big time!
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My fat ugly girlfriend is better yours. I'm still gonna hope she joins a President's First Lady, lays off the cream gravy and starts using hair conditioner. I mean I'm glad she won the wet Tshirt contest but I want more from our relationship.
 
Runner said:
What do Arian Foster, Ben Tate, Derrick Ward have in common?

A) They are great/very good runners no matter who is blocking.
B) They were great/very good runners behind a great run blocking line last year.

I suspect if the Texans had kept the oline and lost Foster and/or Tate I'd be reading that their loss is OK, they were just a "product of the system" and the team would be fine because it was the line that counts.

For years I've read that running backs were plug and play commodities in the Kubiak system. Now it seems the athletic zone blocking lineman are the replaceable ones.

I think there is ample reason to be concerned about the running game next year without being branded a doom and gloomer.
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You also should have read that weaker, smaller Olinemen with good balance and feet could be had at lower rounds for ZBS. Theoretically, you don't have to use a first or necessarily a second for RB or OL. As we've seen with Tate, Foster, Brown it sure helps. lol
 
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