joetexan said:There were a lot of Mario jerseys at the Texans preseason opener, I agree. People in Houston want him to succeed, and are pulling for him. That doesn't necessarily mean that everyone thinks it was a better idea to take him over Bush. And it doesn't mean that the majority of NFL football fans think it was a better idea either.
I don't disagree with you that a lot of folks thought picking RB was a better choice. But most of those folks have gotten over the decision and moved on. It's been 4 months already and no amount of moaning and groaning will change what is.
And honestly, I could care less what the rest of the NFL thinks of us, same as they could care less what I think of their teams.
joetexan said:As for the defensive line, they had already signed Weaver and were converting to a 4-3 where some of the other players could re-adjust from other positions to their native positions on the line. But at RB, they knew about Davis' knee before the draft and knew they were going in with nothing. They took Wali Lundy and are trying out him, Morency, and two undrafted rookie free agents for arguably the most important position on offense. That can be considered by some as a mistake, or by others as a correct move. I think most have the former view.
And guys, you just aren't getting my point about Bush's big-play ability - no, he's not going to do that on every play. But the thing is, he can eke out three and four yards just like Lundy. But he can be a gamebreaker too. Plus, he can line up at wideout without problems, and with all the motion out of the backfield from the Chiefs game, that would've been a plus too, with him, AJ, and Moulds.
These are valid points, and can be understood from a variety of perspectives.
Obviously Coach Kubiak didn't think just adding Weaver was enough to improve our d-line. And it's also obvious that Kubiak - an offensive minded coach - was not so impressed with Bush that he felt it was a no-brainer pick. I honestly believe that he comes from a franchise that has proven - time and time again - that good backs can be made from middle round picks, and this is his perspective.
As has been mentioned, control the line = control the game (Football 101). This choice of Williams over Bush indicates this is Kubiak's mentality, as well. Bring in Flanagan at center, and hire Sherman to teach these guys how to block. Offensive line, check. Then bring in Weaver and pick Williams to give our d-line a much needed boost.
I'm not a Bush (the player) basher. Dude is going to be a human highlight reel, and I honestly look forward to watching him develop (as well as his ESPN highlights). I might be more skeptical about Bush the person, but that's a different story for another day.
But you can score all the points in the world, and if your defense can't stop the other team, then you've got to have a philosophy of outscoring opponents. But this is a dangerous course, because you rely solely on your offense to always be on. By building a solid defense, it takes pressure away from the offense to have to win games by their lonesome.
joetexan said:My main point is, Lopez isn't off-base in his article. He's speaking what a lot of people are thinking.
You know, you're right....if this article had been written four months ago!
Lopez just seems like he's run out of ideas, and has to take issue with something that has been discussed ad naseum for months now. Why not go back and gripe about the Astros letting Nolen Ryan go? Or gripe about the Rockets picking Hakeem over Jordan? It's all the past to me, and serves absolutely no purpose to cry over spilt milk.