Ok, in lieu of the williams/bush/young debate, i am posting a thread that will show no personal opinion of who should have been picked number one, but rather a critical evaluation of why the texans picked williams. Over the past 10-12 NFL seasons, the obvious holds one thing (except in 1 case, St. Louis Rams)... defense wins championships. I am not making that statement to justify the texans for picking mario, but rather to portray the trend over the past decade, and most of the life of professional football. In fact, most sports hold the same vintage that defense wins championships. For Example, in regards to professional football, basketball, and baseball champions over the past several seasons whom played tough and consistent defense: Football: Steelers, Pats (III superbowls), Ravens, Buccaneers, Cowboys, and Broncos. Basketball: Spurs, Bulls, Rockets, and Lakers. Baseball: White Sox, Marlins, Angels, Diamondbacks, and Yankees (most years) Thus, in all three of these sports, only a few teams have won it all without a strong, reliable defensive presence. These teams include: Rams, Red Sox, and the Heat. In trying to figure out, or understand why the texans would pass up on the likes of reggie bush, vince young, or even matt leinhart, one must look at the personel that made the decision. As we all know, Gary Kubiak was hired to replace Dom Capers & Co. following the disasterous 2005 season; in which the texans finished with a 2-14 record, and allowed 431 points (NFL high). Our offense was nothing special, but it certainly was not the worst. Most of our offensive problems were mandated by poor play calling, ill preparation, and a weak, weak offensive line. So,... here comes Gary Kubiak, with 3 superbowl rings (i think??), only 2 losing seasons in his 23 years of NFL service, and fresh off an AFC championship loss to the eventual champs (steelers). Based on Kubiak's track record, and nothing else.. this guy knows how to be successful. Kubiak knows that no matter what you do in the NFL, you will be always judged by superbowls and consistency (in which i think judging NFL players by superbowls is not fair, because of the fact that football is such a team sport). Furthermore, his goal entering his first season as a head coach is a simple one, it holds championships and respectability. He is asked the unbelievable task of turning a 2-14 franchise around, and he was given the number 1 pick in a very, very talented draft class. Someone of his experience, and intelligence knows that you cannot turn a 2-14 football team into a superbowl champ over night. Once again, his goal is to win championships in houston, but he is attempting to do it the right way. Not only does he want to win, but he wants a consistent product year end, year out. It is very improbable and pretty much impossible to win multiple superbowls in a short period of time, but with consistency you can usually make the playoffs and wish for the best. With that in mind, he did what was best (in his opinion) for the Houston Texans. He passed on the "sexy" draft pick in reggie bush, and the hometown favorite vincent young, to draft super mario williams. He has a plan, and that includes building up a superbowl caliber defense that will significantly help the offense through: time of possession, field position, and the demoralization/intimidation of the opponent. This proposed defense has to have a ridiculous, monster like specimen, defensive end to cause the opposing offense to make their game plan around him. There has not been a DE like this since Peppers, and in this past draft, Kubiak was looking at a Peppers/LT caliber end in Mario Williams. Wisely, they continued their committment to defense by drafting demeco ryans. All in all, as it has been said by a few people, Kubes did what he thought was best for the Texans... not espn, not richard justice or john mclain, and not even us!!! Based on the money the texans are paying him, and his very successful track record, we have no option but to trust and believe in the tough, gutsy decision he made. What it all might boil down to is, what do we want: the texans to be a true superbowl contender in a few years?? or for the texans to have reggie bush thus giving us the top slot on espn for our team's highlights?? I am a firm believer in the notion that defense wins championships in football, and history proves that statement inherently correct. We may never know if mario was the correct draft day decision, but if he does pan out to be the player he potentially can be, me might be looking at a power house team in the league for many years to come. Where the additions of reggie or vince to our offense might inable us to score 450 points, our defense would most likely continue to give up a ridiculous 431 points. As history tells us, that will not cut it, that is, if we want to be Champions one day...
