Uggggggh! Again with this? See if this bit by Michael Smith makes sense to you. (I couldn't say it any better.)
http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/draft06/columns/story?columnist=smith_michael&id=2426963
Williams right fit for Texans
By Michael Smith
If you read my column last Monday, then you already know my feelings -- and obviously the Texans felt the same way -- about Houston taking Mario Williams over USC's Reggie Bush. So the only thing that surprises me is that more people don't agree.
I guess people are just having a hard time comprehending how the Texans could take a player most fans and many in the media (including myself, in all honesty) never had heard of before the scouting combine over one who we had watched in amazement for two years. Nobody seemed to believe Houston, but it's obvious now that the Texans were serious about going one way or the other.
They went the right way.
It's not about Williams being a better player than Bush. That's debatable. It's about who's better for the Texans. That's been my point all draft week. It's about the more valuable, more impact position -- defensive end. It's about having a potentially explosive offense or a competitive defense. Houston gave up the most points in the league last year. Opposing quarterbacks put up MVP-type numbers against Houston: 65 percent, 24 touchdowns, seven interceptions, a 100.0 efficiency rating. Unless Bush was going to play cornerback, too, he wouldn't have helped the Texans in that department. And thus he wouldn't have helped Houston add a Super Bowl championship to the national title the state's university won this year anytime soon, because defense wins ... well, you know.
Houston never has beaten Indianapolis in eight tries. If the Texans are to ever overtake the Colts they have to start harassing Peyton Manning the way the Chargers, Patriots, and Steelers do. And now the Texans have to deal with Vince Young in the division. They see Byron Leftwich twice a year. Williams made more sense.
And while we're on the subject of cents (and dollars), believe me when I tell you that Williams over Bush was not a financial decision, either. Take that back, finances had a little something to do with it. The Texans had reservations about paying $9 million a year to a player who they weren't certain was going to carry the ball more than 15 times a game. Sure when he's on the field he has to be accounted for but, in Houston's mind, it's questionable accounting to invest so much in a player out of whom a team may get the most if his touches are limited. We'll soon see. And don't think the Texans didn't notice Bush standing on the sideline at key moments of the Rose Bowl.
Back to Williams. A lot of people like to point out that all but one of his 14½ sacks came in NC State's first four games and that he had a sack in only 16 of his 36 collegiate games. Well, how many players have a sack in every game? Production by an end can't always be measured in sacks. The Texans studied the film and saw how often Williams pressured the quarterback out of the pocket or drew double teams and extra attention or penetrated the backfield (52 tackles for loss along with 25½ sacks in his career). The Texans didn't have a defensive player that teams feared, and Williams' presence should make not just Houston's defensive line but also its young secondary better.