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Doing things the Bears/Ravens way

GP

GP

Go Texans!
Both teams have clunky QBs, with Steve McNair being only a slightly better QB than Grossman.

Both teams have, IMO, average RBs in Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson and then Jamaal Lewis with the Ravens. Not exactly the most dynamic runners in the NFL right now.

But the common denominator for both teams, is this: An elite defense.

Frankly, I'd be happy with ANYBODY at QB, and ANYBODY at RB if it meant that we focused our draft and free agency on building one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Ryans and Williams are both a great start. Perhaps we could build off that success and continue to solidify our defense?

On the other hand, we see teams like Lions and Cardinals (consistently at the top draft spots) who attempt to stock their roster with potent offensive stars...and then only to sputter because they are always playing from behind.

When I saw Chicago do to Arizona what they did on Monday night, I was sold on the impact team-wide of a great defense.

It can mask so many weaknesses.

Bears and Ravens have been doing it with defense. And all the while, their offense is fairly inept if you ask me.

Kubiak strikes me as the kind of guy that will tolerate Carr-Lundy-Dayne-Taylor for at least one more year. He'll offer compeitition for those positions during camp, but I think he'll focus the draft and early free agency moreso on the d side of the ball.

And that means no AP, no Quinn, no flashy WR with our first round pick.

I'll go on record right now and say that we'll draft defense with our first round pick.
 
Jamal Lewis had 2000 yards a few years ago, he has had a few down years, but he isn't just an average RB
 
Top 10 defenses.....
Baltimore
Jacksonville
Oakland
Miami
Chicago
NewEngland
Carolina
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
SanDiego

6 of 10 are not in the playoffs.

It's not as easy or as one sided as you say.
two of those teams are better than Chicago defensively, and both will have top 10 picks. One of those teams will pick #1 overall.

Offense, defense, Special Teams, FA, Draft......... lets not be picky, and improve in all areas..
 
A time control offense does amazing things for a defense, the Colts' game is a perfect example. I think a talented RB could makes strides for our defense. With that being said, that kind of RB does not have to be found with the 8th pick. My number one choice for us is to pick Landry but I wouldn't be upset at all to see us going after Peterson or Lynch.
 
thunderkyss said:
Top 10 defenses.....
Baltimore
Jacksonville
Oakland
Miami
Chicago
NewEngland
Carolina
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
SanDiego

6 of 10 are not in the playoffs.

It's not as easy or as one sided as you say.
two of those teams are better than Chicago defensively, and both will have top 10 picks. One of those teams will pick #1 overall.

Offense, defense, Special Teams, FA, Draft......... lets not be picky, and improve in all areas..
Click to expand...


oakland a top defense?
mm


idk but last time their offense showed up was the AFC championship game vs the titans in 03'
 
thunderkyss said:
Top 10 defenses.....
Baltimore - AFC
Jacksonville - AFC
Oakland - AFC
Miami - AFC
Chicago - Nancy Football Conference
NewEngland - AFC
Carolina - Nancy Football Conference
Minnesota- Nancy Football Conference
Pittsburgh - AFC
SanDiego - AFC

6 of 10 are not in the playoffs.

It's not as easy or as one sided as you say.
two of those teams are better than Chicago defensively, and both will have top 10 picks. One of those teams will pick #1 overall.

Offense, defense, Special Teams, FA, Draft......... lets not be picky, and improve in all areas..
Click to expand...

It kind of is if you consider that 7 of those 10 teams are in the AFC which we all know is a tougher conference.

I like it when teams commit to one side of the ball for that off-season. Get one side of the ball relatively healthy instead of trying to patch-work the whole team... But I agree with you in that it really does take all 3 phases to be relatively and consistently good...
 
also, another thing those teams have in common is a pretty nasty Oline. having an average qb like those 2 teams do, takes the pressure of the Q to make the big play and instead they usually make long drives and punch it in near the goal line.

i agree with you that a good defense is an excellent place to start building (especialy our team) but its not all the simple. one dimentional teams just don't survive in the NFL. see: hou v colts, bears' close one w/ ari. teams with solid starters and a few playmakers on each side of the ball are the ones that will walk away with a :trophy: .

mark it down neither the bears, colts, or balt, will be in Miami come febuary.
 
thunderkyss said:
Top 10 defenses.....
Baltimore
Jacksonville
Oakland
Miami
Chicago
NewEngland
Carolina
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
SanDiego

6 of 10 are not in the playoffs.

It's not as easy or as one sided as you say.
two of those teams are better than Chicago defensively, and both will have top 10 picks. One of those teams will pick #1 overall.

Offense, defense, Special Teams, FA, Draft......... lets not be picky, and improve in all areas..
Click to expand...

carolina shouldnt be up there since they've given away more than a handful of 4th quarter leads this year. the steelers won the superbowl last season. miami's defense is the only reason they had more than 2 wins (and were 31st in passing td's allowed). oakland only has a strong pass defense, they're 23rd or lower against the run.

jacksonville's the only real anomoly to gp's rule because they have a strong defense, and even have a good offensive line & running game. probably why they were 12-4 last year and even after losing games they shouldnt have, went 8-8 this year.
 
Scooter said:
carolina shouldnt be up there since they've given away more than a handful of 4th quarter leads this year. the steelers won the superbowl last season. miami's defense is the only reason they had more than 2 wins (and were 31st in passing td's allowed). oakland only has a strong pass defense, they're 23rd or lower against the run.

jacksonville's the only real anomoly to gp's rule because they have a strong defense, and even have a good offensive line & running game. probably why they were 12-4 last year and even after losing games they shouldnt have, went 8-8 this year.
Click to expand...

I didn't make that list up. that's the way they are ranked on NFL.com for total defense.
 
thunderkyss said:
I didn't make that list up. that's the way they are ranked on NFL.com for total defense.
Click to expand...

sorry, i didnt mean to imply that you did. i just disagree with some of those being the top defensive teams because several were only strong in one area. oakland was pass only. miami was run only. carolina only played 3 quarters. denver should've been up there.
 
I am a defense guy all the way.

But, what I have come to realize is that if you want to compete with the elite on the college or NFL level on a consistent basis in this day and age, you have to able to score a lot of points on any given gameday.

I like the idea of building a superior defense, but that seems to a be a lot harder to do with a lot less guarantee if you build your team around scoring a lot of points.

The Bears and Ravens are great examples, like you described. But with 32 teams, free agency, and rookie contracts of 4 - 5 years, it seems to be tough to sustain over an extended of period time to always produce winning records. Just look at how the Ravens and Bears bounce around from year to year and some team usually has their number in the playoffs.

The Texans need to start scoring more points! And scoring points has been the problem all along...
 
ya i so agree with you gpshafer_1976 and thats why i am still gonna say keep carr cause 1st off the texans will MOSTdefinitly not get anything good for him imo and just keep build the D and make it the strong point the offince really is not too bad they just need a line IMO afterall D wins games
 
Having a feared defense would be even more fun to cheer than a prolific offense (IMO). Hitters, awesome rushers, speed...now that would be fun.
 
The main reason the Ravens have been able to maintain such a great defense for so long is because they do an excellent job of drafting players and developing talent. Just look at how many second day picks and undrafted players they have had turn into very productive starters.

Kelly Gregg (6th round pick of the Bengals who the Ravens picked up out of the scrap heap)
Bart Scott (undrafted)
Adalius Thomas (6th round pick)
Dawan Landry (5th round pick)
Will Demps (undrafted)
Ed Hartwell (4th round pick)
Marques Douglas (undrafted)
Ma'ake Kemoeatu (undrafted)


Then take a look at their defensive first round picks where they NEVER miss...

1996 Ray Lewis
1997 Peter Boulware
1998 Duane Starks
1999 Chris McAlister
2002 Ed Reed
2003 Terrell Suggs
2006 Haloti Ngata
 
Heres something else to consider:

Lovie Smith - Defensive guru
Brian Billick - Defensive guru

Gary Kubiak - Offensive guru

Don't expect to see a defense like either of those temas any time soon
 
I worry a lot about our defense.

Other than our linebacker and defensive line coach, I am non-fond of the rest of them.

If I were an elite FA, I would not want to come play for Richard Smith. It is hard enough to get people to come to a team with little success, much less to come play for a guy that his best supporters will say is "intense."

In a salary cap world, you can't just compete with paying the most dollars to someone. You compete partially by having coaches that players want to work with, someone with a track record of success, someone who you want to run through a brick wall for.

The Texans players do not usually dump coaches in the grease. The most they will do is publicly praise the guys they like, and just not say things publicly about the guys they don't care for.

I do not fault the Texans for hiring Smith as I am not sure that there were that many better options at the time. And I doubt that a defensive coaching change is something on their agenda for this offseason, but I can't say I saw much to feel confident about in the upcoming year. I hope I am completely wrong.
 
We should just make our defense a combinaton of Baltimore and Chicago's Defense and our offense a combination of Indi's passing game and Pittsburgh running game haha
 
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/4432067.html

Kalu's a big fan of his boss: coordinator Richard Smith

By MEGAN MANFULL
Copyright 2006 Houston Chronicle

As the season has progressed, the players have bought into the defensive scheme Richard Smith implemented. Veteran N.D. Kalu wants to see the players now adopt Smith's attitude, too.

"Coach Smith is a nut," Kalu said. "He's aggressive, and you want to take on his personality when you go out there. I feel we weren't doing it, and it was a slap in the face to him.

"When I first met him, I thought he was fake. Nobody can be this energetic all the time. But he's never changed in the whole six months. And he's one of those coaches that if you take on his personality, you're going to be a dominant defense.
Click to expand...

Sounds a little more complimentary than "he's intense" to me.
 
I would hope their more than just talented . I'm hoping for two All-Pro's for years to come . That and no state income tax .
 
aj. said:
http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/sports/fb/texansfront/4432067.html



Sounds a little more complimentary than "he's intense" to me.
Click to expand...

I saw that. Personally, I thought I was being kind as I would rather be described as intense than nuts, but I suppose I'm a bit of both.

It will be the only positive thing you read in the paper about him from his players, I bet. (The players are finally buying into his scheme. That's an endorsement). I've been looking on this point. I know John McClain is a big fan of RS, so I am hoping I am completely out to lunch on this.

Usually, the word players use to describe him is crazy if you talk to them.

I've heard unhappy player things through the grapevine, but you know how that is.

One way or another, I am not sure he is the type of DC that players will say that they came to the team specifically to play for. As a factual matter and not gossip, it is not like he has a long impressive track record to point to. The Texans settled when they hired him, and I am not sure that they could get anyone better, but that doesn't mean this isn't going to be an issue.

As I said, I hope to be totally and completely wrong about this.
 
gtexan02 said:
Heres something else to consider:

Lovie Smith - Defensive guru
Brian Billick - Defensive guru

Gary Kubiak - Offensive guru

Don't expect to see a defense like either of those temas any time soon
Click to expand...


Billick is an Offensive Guru and was brought in to Baltimore because they had a good defense and they wanted a high scoring offense like Billick put together at the Vikings.

I wouldn't mind Kubiak becoming another Offensive Guru who builds a team on defense.
 
Sunday, in the postgame, Dunta said they thought he was "fake" at first, that no one could be that intense all of the time, but now they see he is passionate about his defense and that brings the intensity on. He went on to say that the players are buying into the defense now.

I would think someone would go to the HC if, as a team, the defense doesn't like the DC.
 
I actually like the defense and the way they are headed. They need 3 glaring spots to shore up. A #1 cornerback and move Dunta to the #2 spot, a Safety that is as strong a presense as Polamalu, Dawkins, or Roy Williams, and a DT that is a beast.
We were way more aggressive in trying to get to the QB this year and the defense started to cause turnovers towards the end of the season. The biggest thing about them however is that they never let up on the system and even though were were not in contention for anything, they still held the Colts down and provided us with game breaking turnovers against the Browns when our offense was so horrible. That to me spoke volumes in how they are coming together. We just need more pieces to the pie because when your DT starters are guys that are 2nd or 3rd on the depth chart to start the season, other teams are going to try and exploit that.
 
thunderkyss said:
Top 10 defenses.....
Baltimore
Jacksonville
Oakland
Miami
Chicago
NewEngland
Carolina
Minnesota
Pittsburgh
SanDiego

6 of 10 are not in the playoffs.

It's not as easy or as one sided as you say.
two of those teams are better than Chicago defensively, and both will have top 10 picks. One of those teams will pick #1 overall.

Offense, defense, Special Teams, FA, Draft......... lets not be picky, and improve in all areas..
Click to expand...
Of course you have to make an exception for Oakland. Their Offense wasn't decent or even bad... It was atrocious.

That came as no suprise to me.

You pick up Aaron Brooks and expect to win. What a bum!
 
Texans_Chick said:
If I were an elite FA, I would not want to come play for Richard Smith.
Click to expand...

I don't have first hand knowledge of what the players think about Smith so I can't even comment on that...

We all hear these little whispers and can imagine things, but unless you're in that locker room and meeting rooms on a regular basis, there's really no way to know...

I don't treat the info I get from my media contacts as gold either, because I know it's sometimes as (or more) speculative and agenda driven than what we read here.

I certainly won't throw the guy under the bus because of the lack of positive news articles about him, or because of a limited track record.

And I'm glad he's a bit crazy (especially since it appears the gimmickery from the Glanville days is gone). It beats that deadbeat Fangio guy...

After the terrible first three games, the defense seemed to gel as much as they could, considering personnel. They were playing hard until the end which tells me a lot about how they feel about their system and their coaches.

And if I was an elite FA, I'd be looking at payday first, situation second. That would probably put me in the 90th percentile of NFL job seekers with more than 4 years of accrued service.
 
Texans_Chick said:
I worry a lot about our defense.

Other than our linebacker and defensive line coach, I am non-fond of the rest of them.

If I were an elite FA, I would not want to come play for Richard Smith. It is hard enough to get people to come to a team with little success, much less to come play for a guy that his best supporters will say is "intense."

In a salary cap world, you can't just compete with paying the most dollars to someone. You compete partially by having coaches that players want to work with, someone with a track record of success, someone who you want to run through a brick wall for.

The Texans players do not usually dump coaches in the grease. The most they will do is publicly praise the guys they like, and just not say things publicly about the guys they don't care for.

I do not fault the Texans for hiring Smith as I am not sure that there were that many better options at the time. And I doubt that a defensive coaching change is something on their agenda for this offseason, but I can't say I saw much to feel confident about in the upcoming year. I hope I am completely wrong.
Click to expand...


true.... true....

But we've also got some great charismatic guys on our team that might help to pull players in. Anthony Weaver is very well spoken, and very upbeat. If there's a young DT out there on the fence, about whether to come here or not, I think Weaver could persuade them.... especially with the way he talks about Mario.

Same could be said for Greenwood, Dunta, & Earl. Those are the kind of guys I'd like to hang around... guys I'd like to play with.

They might not bring your big name guys in... like Nate Clements, or Ray Lewis. But definitely less known solid players like themselves.
 
I kinda agree......I think we should build a powerful defense...I think with DW(formally DD) coming back healthy(i hope) and all the other running backs we should be ok. We definitely need to do something with the line and I think
Carr will be fine at least for one more season if we do something about are offensive line.
 
gtexan02 said:
Heres something else to consider:

Lovie Smith - Defensive guru
Brian Billick - Defensive guru

Gary Kubiak - Offensive guru

Don't expect to see a defense like either of those temas any time soon
Click to expand...

Not only that but if you look at the teams that win SBs the defense mantra isn't always the key. The Ravens did it one year and have a good team this year. The Bears have had one for years and it still hasn't paid off and honestly, may not this year because of the offense. You need a well rounded team. The NFL is an always changing league. The year after the Ravens SB they went down. After people were stunned by the Rams SB runs with all their offense, teams adjusted. You can't rely on one side or the other. I think the best team that is well rounded right now is SD. They have both O and D studs and guys in the right place running the show. They also have some players that don't need to take over a game but can if asked.

Fixing one side is too simplistic because the NFL is ever evolving and this years hard hitting safety or next big thing might be extinct in a year when people are running out faster receivers or changing offenses.
 
STEEL BLUE TEXANS said:
The main reason the Ravens have been able to maintain such a great defense for so long is because they do an excellent job of drafting players and developing talent. Just look at how many second day picks and undrafted players they have had turn into very productive starters.

Kelly Gregg (6th round pick of the Bengals who the Ravens picked up out of the scrap heap)
Bart Scott (undrafted)
Adalius Thomas (6th round pick)
Dawan Landry (5th round pick)
Will Demps (undrafted)
Ed Hartwell (4th round pick)
Marques Douglas (undrafted)
Ma'ake Kemoeatu (undrafted)


Then take a look at their defensive first round picks where they NEVER miss...

1996 Ray Lewis
1997 Peter Boulware
1998 Duane Starks
1999 Chris McAlister
2002 Ed Reed
2003 Terrell Suggs
2006 Haloti Ngata
Click to expand...


Please notice that all their players come from established football schools including the likes of Miami, Florida State, and the Arizona schools. All traditional hotspots for NFL talent. We counter this by drafting 1st round talent from the likes of Fresno State and Western Michigan...then we wonder why these guys are never worth where they were picked?

we have drafted some Mia-FL and FSU guys and have had our hits (AJ) and misses (TJ) but you just don't draft guys from 2nd tier and 3rd tier conferences in the 1st Round. Casserley has always been more concerned about trying to prove that he knows something that no one else knows and much less concerned about drafting quality NFL prospects and trying to win.

I know Smith isn't anything like Casserley and hopefully it shows in this offseason FA moves and in the 2007 NFL Draft. I believe in Smith and rest assured we wont draft anyone from a non-BCS conference in the 1st round....no doubt about it...that is something morons like Casserley do
 
I have been thinking this over for a long time and I support going for a balanced attack. At our spot we need to just pick the BPA whoever they are. If it is an offensive player then so be it.

I think we have a defense that will soon be a seen as one of the best in the NFL. We still lack many things on defense like a good Safety and a stud OLB, but those can be picked up.

Still, I think a balanced attack is better than focusing on one side of the ball. When you focus on one side there will come a day when that side is just not getting it done. Now you must depend on the offense or defense you have neglected.

In this draft I see a lot of opportunity. We have many holes to fill, as we did last year, but without the pressure of the #1 pick. I think that we need to take the BPA with our first selection. We have so many holes that anyone will be useful.

I am opposed to going only defense because of the steep learning curve. It will take several seasons to get a Bears style defense on the field unless we spend a lot of money on FAs.
 
CoogBull said:
I have been thinking this over for a long time and I support going for a balanced attack. At our spot we need to just pick the BPA whoever they are. If it is an offensive player then so be it.

I think we have a defense that will soon be a seen as one of the best in the NFL. We still lack many things on defense like a good Safety and a stud OLB, but those can be picked up.

Still, I think a balanced attack is better than focusing on one side of the ball. When you focus on one side there will come a day when that side is just not getting it done. Now you must depend on the offense or defense you have neglected.

In this draft I see a lot of opportunity. We have many holes to fill, as we did last year, but without the pressure of the #1 pick. I think that we need to take the BPA with our first selection. We have so many holes that anyone will be useful.

I am opposed to going only defense because of the steep learning curve. It will take several seasons to get a Bears style defense on the field unless we spend a lot of money on FAs.
Click to expand...

I agree man. get the best player available with an eye toward CB, FS, OLB/DE, and OL depth. You are right on that we are a few players away from having a very good defense. If we can fill those holes with quality players we can possibly mature into a dominant defense pretty rapidly.
 
SESupergenius said:
I actually like the defense and the way they are headed. They need 3 glaring spots to shore up. A #1 cornerback and move Dunta to the #2 spot, a Safety that is as strong a presense as Polamalu, Dawkins, or Roy Williams, and a DT that is a beast.
We were way more aggressive in trying to get to the QB this year and the defense started to cause turnovers towards the end of the season. The biggest thing about them however is that they never let up on the system and even though were were not in contention for anything, they still held the Colts down and provided us with game breaking turnovers against the Browns when our offense was so horrible. That to me spoke volumes in how they are coming together. We just need more pieces to the pie because when your DT starters are guys that are 2nd or 3rd on the depth chart to start the season, other teams are going to try and exploit that.
Click to expand...

The DT's that finished the season for us (Maddox, Thomas Johnson, Dalton, Killings) weren't even on the team to start the season. They were all picked up by Rick Smith as one by one our DT's went on IR. Most of these guys played ok during the season, and Maddox has probably earned a shot at making the team next season. This gives me a lot of hope for what Kubes and Rick Smith will do in this offseason. JMHO!
 
Insideop said:
The DT's that finished the season for us (Maddox, Thomas Johnson, Dalton, Killings) weren't even on the team to start the season. They were all picked up by Rick Smith as one by one our DT's went on IR. Most of these guys played ok during the season, and Maddox has probably earned a shot at making the team next season. This gives me a lot of hope for what Kubes and Rick Smith will do in this offseason. JMHO!
Click to expand...

I'd have to agree, Maddox played well for his role. But can you imagine if we actually had starters playing there. That right there gives me hope for this defense.
 
aj. said:
I don't have first hand knowledge of what the players think about Smith so I can't even comment on that...

We all hear these little whispers and can imagine things, but unless you're in that locker room and meeting rooms on a regular basis, there's really no way to know...

I don't treat the info I get from my media contacts as gold either, because I know it's sometimes as (or more) speculative and agenda driven than what we read here.

I certainly won't throw the guy under the bus because of the lack of positive news articles about him, or because of a limited track record.

And I'm glad he's a bit crazy (especially since it appears the gimmickery from the Glanville days is gone). It beats that deadbeat Fangio guy...

After the terrible first three games, the defense seemed to gel as much as they could, considering personnel. They were playing hard until the end which tells me a lot about how they feel about their system and their coaches.

And if I was an elite FA, I'd be looking at payday first, situation second. That would probably put me in the 90th percentile of NFL job seekers with more than 4 years of accrued service.
Click to expand...

Yup, not in the locker room, so maybe the team really truly wants to run through walls for the guy and respect the heck out of what he does.

With an offensive minded head coach, I personally would feel better having a defensive coordinator who has more of a respected track record over time. I understand that those guys aren't beating our doors down, nor are the Texans likely to throw RS to the side after one season.

At least short term, there were players who wanted to come to the Texans to play for Kubiak. I'm not sure the same thing will happen on defense, but I guess money will talk.

Given the switch to the 4-3, and the personnel issues and injuries, it is hard to judge Smith in year one. I am non-whelmed, and to be honest, not particularly more optimistic than I was here: link

As I said, I hope to be absolutely wrong.
 
Texans_Chick said:
At least short term, there were players who wanted to come to the Texans to play for Kubiak. I'm not sure the same thing will happen on defense, but I guess money will talk.
Click to expand...

It did for Weaver -- who happened to be one of the more sought after DLs in FA last March.
 
aj. said:
It did for Weaver -- who happened to be one of the more sought after DLs in FA last March.
Click to expand...

I just wish the Texans had something more to offer than gee we have no state income tax and here's a wheelbarrow of money.

Do you have concerns about the DC position? I truly would like to know your point of view about this.
 
gpshafer_1976 said:
Both teams have clunky QBs, with Steve McNair being only a slightly better QB than Grossman.

Both teams have, IMO, average RBs in Thomas Jones/Cedric Benson and then Jamaal Lewis with the Ravens. Not exactly the most dynamic runners in the NFL right now.

But the common denominator for both teams, is this: An elite defense.

Frankly, I'd be happy with ANYBODY at QB, and ANYBODY at RB if it meant that we focused our draft and free agency on building one of the best defenses in the NFL.

Ryans and Williams are both a great start. Perhaps we could build off that success and continue to solidify our defense?

On the other hand, we see teams like Lions and Cardinals (consistently at the top draft spots) who attempt to stock their roster with potent offensive stars...and then only to sputter because they are always playing from behind.

When I saw Chicago do to Arizona what they did on Monday night, I was sold on the impact team-wide of a great defense.

It can mask so many weaknesses.

Bears and Ravens have been doing it with defense. And all the while, their offense is fairly inept if you ask me.

Kubiak strikes me as the kind of guy that will tolerate Carr-Lundy-Dayne-Taylor for at least one more year. He'll offer compeitition for those positions during camp, but I think he'll focus the draft and early free agency moreso on the d side of the ball.

And that means no AP, no Quinn, no flashy WR with our first round pick.

I'll go on record right now and say that we'll draft defense with our first round pick.
Click to expand...

i would be fine with that.
 
Second Honeymoon said:
Please notice that all their players come from established football schools including the likes of Miami, Florida State, and the Arizona schools. All traditional hotspots for NFL talent. We counter this by drafting 1st round talent from the likes of Fresno State and Western Michigan...then we wonder why these guys are never worth where they were picked?

we have drafted some Mia-FL and FSU guys and have had our hits (AJ) and misses (TJ) but you just don't draft guys from 2nd tier and 3rd tier conferences in the 1st Round. Casserley has always been more concerned about trying to prove that he knows something that no one else knows and much less concerned about drafting quality NFL prospects and trying to win.

I know Smith isn't anything like Casserley and hopefully it shows in this offseason FA moves and in the 2007 NFL Draft. I believe in Smith and rest assured we wont draft anyone from a non-BCS conference in the 1st round....no doubt about it...that is something morons like Casserley do
Click to expand...

daunte is from south carolina and mario is from n.c. state. not exactly big nfl programs. unless your ready to call mario a bust then we are 1 and 1 on the big schools and 2 and 2 on the smaller programs.

randy moss and marshall faulk. jerry rice was out of mississippi valley. the list could go on forever.
 
Texans_Chick said:
I just wish the Texans had something more to offer than gee we have no state income tax and here's a wheelbarrow of money.

Do you have concerns about the DC position? I truly would like to know your point of view about this.
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dont think you were talking about my opinion but ill give it. i am fine with our dc right now. i think he wanted to get pressure with our front 4 but he realized that wasnt going to happen early in the season and after that we started playing together and by the end of the year i think we were in the top half in the leage. thats pretty good improvement for 1 year imo.

as for as what we got to offer players we have more than just money and our tax benifits. we have a new state of the art facility. we have one of the better owners in the league. and even though we havent started winning yet most impessions on our front office and ownership are positive. ive read more than one article that said we were doing things the right way and we would be a solid franchise for a long time. we also have a solid fanbase and still sell out even after 5 losing seasons(not sure about the end of this year). houston is also a bigger city and most of the players seem to like it. many athletes that dont even play here call houston home.

the biggest negative has been our play and i think the last couple of wins along with a lot of close losses could convince players we are turning things around. now after this year if we still play poorly and then lose a guy like andre or d-rob. then i would start to be worried about us being one of those perineal losers.
 
markbeth said:
as for as what we got to offer players we have more than just money and our tax benifits. 1) we have a new state of the art facility. 2) we have one of the better owners in the league. and even though we havent started winning yet 3) most impessions on our front office and ownership are positive. ive read more than one article that said 4) we were doing things the right way and we would be a solid franchise for a long time. we also have a solid fanbase and still sell out even after 5 losing seasons(not sure about the end of this year). houston is also a bigger city and most of the players seem to like it. many athletes that dont even play here call houston home.

5) the biggest negative has been our play and i think the last couple of wins along with a lot of close losses could convince players we are turning things around. now after this year if we still play poorly and then lose a guy like andre or d-rob. then i would start to be worried about us being one of those perineal losers.
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I don't agree with a few of items being big selling points for the team.

1) Yes, we have a state of the art facility for training and play, but we do that same training in possibly the worst conditions of any team in the league. I don't know of any player that would choose to have training camp in Houston, all other things being equal.

2) What does "one of the better owners in the league" mean to the players? Texans fans might like him for a variety of reasons, but I don't know that his presence would make the Texans more appealing to free agents. In fact, if the players suspect McNair protects Carr regardless of performance as many fans do then I doubt they respect that. I think the Texans may be perceived as rather cheap around the league too - more on that later.

3) Impressions of our front office are positive? That is certainly debatable for the first four years, and the new front office hasn't proven anything yet. Pre Rick Smith but post Kubiak they did pick Williams with the first pick this year. I'm sure that raised a few eyebrows with players around the league.

4) Doing things the right way in a corporate structure way or a football way? I think the team was built in such a corporate manner that it has sucked life out of some of the players. There are lots of players in the league that might hesitate to join a team that seems to cut players that speak their minds a little too much or don't march in corporate lockstep. The past staff and even this staff seem to have exhibited a certain pettiness with players. That gets discussed around the league when players get together.

5) Our play has certainly been poor, and the pathetic play within the six win season tells a bad story. I also wonder what will happen when some of our good players start experiencing free agency.

In the end the money is usually the biggest factor when a free agent chooses a team. The Texans do have the tax advantage for the players who understand that, but in other way the Texans have the reputation for being a team that nickel and dimes the players. As I understand it the previous regime made most of the players share hotel rooms during camp and travel; the new regime has reversed that for most players though. I'm also pretty sure the Texans have a fairly low per diem when the team is on the road when compared to other teams. Something like 60% of what some other teams offer. Is that money insignificant compared to what the players make? Sure - but it does its part in defining the franchise. The extra $30 per player per day would be a good investment by the team in my opinion.

Most fans here love the Texans football organization; I'm not sure the players on other teams see it the same way. The perspectives are far too different to make that assumption.
 
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