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Top 5 Best and Worst Draft picks in Texans History

Vinny

shiny happy fan
I think this franchise just started off with a doofus draft philosophy. Taking skill guys before linemen was just a brutal way to start a franchise. The first two picks could have set the tempo for a team building inside-out but instead we have to go for two shiny objects in year one. Chester Pitts was the only decent pick on the first day of that draft. So, I think the worst draft picks were the first two picks in franchise history.

David Carr - should have taken LT Bryant McKinnie or DE Julius Peppers
Gabbar Gaffney - Andre Gurode or LeCharles Bentley would have solidified our offensive line in year ONE. The Texans should have been more patient, but it is what it is.

Boselli got us Walker (he went to the Pro Bowl with us) and Payne so I don't consider him a "worst draft pick". I think the Texans ended up 16th in defense that year so those guys were important cogs. Boselli didn't cost us anything (since it was an expansion pick) except perhaps the consideration of drafting linemen early and often in our inaugural draft.
 

eriadoc

Texan-American
What's that got to do with him being a bad pick ?
Don't know how you picked my post to argue with, since I was essentially arguing that he doesn't deserve to be on a top 5 worst pick list. I have said more than once that the Texans misused him, and as a result of that film, it took a while for some team to finally cast him in a different role. At that point, he had success. And I argued as much while he was still a Texan.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
Why is Joppru a bad pick ? He had miserable luck because of his injuries, but that was misfortune, terrible luck, whatever. The guy had no history of being chronically injured in college.
Now on the other hand, you got Hollings right, he was a really bad pick.
With Joppru, I think it all depends on how the individual making up the list defines "bust".

If your definition of a "bust" is someone who is drafted high but never produces at the expected level, then Joppru is a bust because he was drafted relatively high and never saw the field.

If your definition of a "bust" is when the FO makes a bonehead mistake and drafts someone at a bad spot or if the guy was injured and not producing wasn't his "fault", then Joppru isn't a bust.

To me, it doesn't make any difference how talented the guy was or whether he had the potential to be great. If he doesn't produce anything on the field and he was drafted high, then he was a bust.

For me "bust" is mostly about the 1st 2 rounds. When you get down to the 3rd round, it's more iffy because on a good team, those guys aren't necessarily expected to move right in and be great. But also, a guys not a bust until he's given a few years to produce. So no one drafted from 2010 on should be classified as a bust. (I also wouldn't include expansion draft guys.)

So... with that definition, we really don't have a lot to work with. Only 30 picks. When I put all that together, I've got 6 guys I consider complete busts, 3 guys that are knocking on the door, and 2 guys on the bubble.

1. Charles Hill
2. Bennie Joppru
3. Dave Ragone
4. Tony Hollings
5. Travis Johnson
6. Vernand Morency

7. David Carr
8. Charles Spencer
9. Amobi Okoye

10. Seth Wand
11. Antwaun Molden

It hurt me to put Charles Spencer in there because he COULD have been a great tackle for us. But we only got a game out of him.

The thing that burns me the most about the Dave Ragone pick is that we took TWO QBs in the draft that year: Ragone and Henson. We couldn't have used those picks for guys who could have played? Really?
 

El Tejano

Hall of Fame
Seems to me you need to distinguish between best and worst choice v. result. There was nothing wrong with the choice to draft Joppru but the result sucked.
The thing that was wrong about drafting Joppru was that Jason Witten was right there waiting for us at the time we drafted Joppru.
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
I don’t consider a pick a bad pick if it’s used on a player with no previous history of injury who later gets hurt. That’s why I can’t look at Bennie Joppru or Charles Spencer as bad picks. They weren’t bad picks. They were picks that turned out bad due to factors no one could have foreseen.

Honorable Mention: Dave Ragone

So exactly why did we need to take a QB in the 3rd round in our second year of existence when the team was filled with holes and any pick, at any position other than QB would have made more sense? And why exactly did we take this guy? Not only was he not capable of playing at this level (went to camp with the Rams and didn’t catch on with anyone, ever again) but we needed so much more help in so many more places. 3rd round picks were too valuable to pull this bull**** with in 2003. This is one of those early decisions that made you wonder about the Texans brain trust.

5. Antwaun Molden

Even as I type this I’m tempted to drop him down to 5 and bring Ragone up to 4. Molden was the guy you could never be sure about. Never sure about anything. Did he not pan out with the Texans or did the Texans fail to develop him? The world will never know but when we needed help in the defensive backfield as badly as we ever had and the cupboard was as empty as it possibly could have gotten Antwaun Molden couldn’t do jack **** here. He’s bounced from New England, to the Giants, and to Jacksonville since then so I’m inclined to think it’s Molden and not us. Granted he was a never could stay healthy guy and I said that I didn’t want to penalize picks for that but it’s not like he had a monster career-killing injury. Instead he had a collection of dings and dents that he couldn’t play through. In a league where everyone plays hurt when it matters he couldn’t. He hasn’t done anything anywhere else either. Waste of a 3rd round pick and an enormous disappointment.

4. Tony Hollings

This is what desperation does to people. They blow a 2nd rounder in a supplemental draft on a guy who goes on to knock out 149 yards total for a 3.0 yard average and never even sniffs the end zone. We picked up Hollings in 2002 when James Allen and Jonathan Wells proved incapable of reaching 4 yards per carry. Hollings didn’t even get on the field until 2003 and when he did he was nothing special. One year later Domanick Davis proved to be about 10 times the running back Hollings was and he came from the 4th round. Look at the second round of the 2003 draft and take in some of the guys who were still waiting to be picked. Guys like Osi Umenyiora, Anquan Boldin, Charles Tillman, Jon Stinchcomb, and E.J.Henderson were taken in that round. We ourselves took the ill-fated Bennie Joppru but we’d have had another shot at 2nd round success that year if we hadn’t stupidly blown our other pick on Tony Hollings. The 2002 line was a train wreck in pass protection and it was just as bad at run blocking. The answer was building an offensive line that could have made a difference (Stinchcomb) or drafting a stable mate for Andre Johnson (Boldin). Instead we put another mediocre back behind a lousy line. Good move.

3. Travis Johnson

What a pathetic scrub we managed to find in Travis Johnson. I remember screaming at the radio when Derrick Johnson was somehow still available with the 13th pick. Instead Charlie traded back to 16, gave up a shot at Jammal Brown (Texans didn’t need a LT did they?) and Derrick Johnson for the chance to pick up a guy who couldn’t bust out on a line as lousy as the Texans were in 2005. He did nothing the entire time he was here. A first round pick who gave us 2 sacks in 38 starts. Honestly now, was anyone excited when we drafted Travis Johnson? Anybody?

2. Amobi Okoye

Okoye being picked in 2007 was very much in the same vein as Travis Johnson in that we left a lot of talent on the board and instead took this guy. Unlike TJ though Okoye was a huge project. If memory serves he was only 11 years old when he started his first game for the Texans and every year he played here we got an update explaining that he wasn’t done growing and should really be in his “junior year of college” for example. He gave us 4 years, 11 sacks, and we got to watch him grow up and fall farther behind other players from his draft every year. This is why you don’t waste first round picks on projects who aren’t done growing up. Okoye was weak when compared to other NFL players and was easily pushed around by offensive linemen. I used to call him “The shopping cart”. What’s worse is he was taken before very obvious stars like Patrick Willis and Darrelle Revis. Watching the Texans take him when so many “ready to play” players were waiting there was truly an epic WTF? Moment.

1. David Carr

Worst pick in franchise history. Set the team back easily 5 years and his inability to read a defense, remember where the line of scrimmage was, or sense pressure kept the Texans building and rebuilding their offensive line the entire time he was here. You build a football team from the lines out and Julius ****ing Peppers was standing there for the taking. It’s not possible to screw that up worse than the Texans did. Then they started him from day one no less. Assuming that David Carr could have ever become even half the player that the Texans seemed to think he was putting him out there from the very beginning was like buying an expensive Ming vase and then using it to decorate your local preschool playground. This is why I think Casserly, Capers, and Palmer should never again be able to make decisions on personnel in the NFL. Someone should always be there next to them with a “No, we’re not doing that” card. You know you have no offensive line. You know that they suck more than anyone could have ever imagined. You still put the most valuable asset you own (the guy that crap line is supposed to protect) out there and think he’s going to be ok? Then when it’s obvious that he’s not going to be ok you leave him there. Incredible.
 

Blake

MMQB
Worst and or Most Hated Draft Picks:
1.) Bennie Joppru (Dissapointing to say the least)
2.) David Carr (Gave new meaning to the fetal position)
3.) Travis Johnson (Probably the reason the Texans want high class individuals ever after)
4.) Jacoby Jones (Never became the threat he was drafted to be.)
5.) Tony Hollings (Lost a 2nd round pick because of this no-show.)
6.) Jason Babin
7.) Seth Wand
8.) Charles Hill
9.) Matt Stevens
10.) Antwaun Molden


Best and or Favorite Draft Picks:
1.) Andre Johnson (The BP in Texans franchise history. Period)
2.) J.J. Watt (Is more than a great football player, a great person for the city)
3.) Duane Brown (Turned all nonbelievers into believers)
4.) Mario Williams (A stud when he wants to be. Potentially unblockable.)
5.) Domanick Davis (Made the early Texans offense watchable)
6.) Aaron Glenn (Made the early Texans defense watchable)
7.) Brian Cushing (Insane on the field. 3 down linebacker who always works hard)
8.) Drew Henson (Turned his sorry 6th round ass into a 3rd, Thanks Cowgirls)
9.) Brice McCain (6th round pick becoming a damn good cover corner)
10.) DeMeco Ryans (Captain of our defense during some tough years)
 

Dread-Head

Hall of Fame
:thinking: Okay...I have to say the WORST draft decision the Texans ever made was a few years ago when they let me and Bill play special teams. Dumbest mistake they EVER made. I regret NOTHING!
 

tru80texan

Waterboy
Babin has been cut by the Texans, Seahawks, Chiefs, Eagles, played for 5 teams in 9 years and has had only 2 good seasons.

Babin is a bust.
Babin was not "cut" by the Texans or Chiefs. He was traded by the Texans to the Seahawks & left the Chiefs as a free agent after they signed him in November. It's hardly fair to say that he got a true opportunity in KC after being signed with the season nearly being over. Babin has gone on record that Seahawks never intended to give him an opportunity & he doesn't care for that franchise because of it. I feel the same was done here by Kubiak as Babin was not his player, per se, & it did seem there was a bit of a house cleaning here as kubiak & Smith tried to establish their identity w/ their players. So to be fair it seems Babin was misused by Capers, discarded by Kubiak for a mediocre player from Seatle, & then was never in Seatles plans. His time in KC was extremely short. He finally got a real opportunity in Tennessee, Philly, & Jacksonville & has had decent seasons producing 2 Pro Bowl seasons while being named an All Pro once. When used properly, 4-3 DE, & given an opportunity, Babin has produced & that hardly says "bust" to me. Even when he was cut by a Philly team that was obviously in disarray & then being picked up by the Jags he still produced 7 sacks. That's not to shabby for a "bust".
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
Babin was not "cut" by the Texans or Chiefs. He was traded by the Texans to the Seahawks & left the Chiefs as a free agent after they signed him in November. It's hardly fair to say that he got a true opportunity in KC after being signed with the season nearly being over. Babin has gone on record that Seahawks never intended to give him an opportunity & he doesn't care for that franchise because of it. I feel the same was done here by Kubiak as Babin was not his player, per se, & it did seem there was a bit of a house cleaning here as kubiak & Smith tried to establish their identity w/ their players. So to be fair it seems Babin was misused by Capers, discarded by Kubiak for a mediocre player from Seatle, & then was never in Seatles plans. His time in KC was extremely short. He finally got a real opportunity in Tennessee, Philly, & Jacksonville & has had decent seasons producing 2 Pro Bowl seasons while being named an All Pro once. When used properly, 4-3 DE, & given an opportunity, Babin has produced & that hardly says "bust" to me. Even when he was cut by a Philly team that was obviously in disarray & then being picked up by the Jags he still produced 7 sacks. That's not to shabby for a "bust".
I always liked Babin and I thought that in the right environment he'd be productive.

But he really burned some bridges with me when there was the DC change in Philly and he basically refused to do what they wanted him to do. They originally wanted him in that wide formation they were using but they were getting gouged in the run and wanted him to line up in a more standard way... and he refused.

But he's not a bust.
 

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
Worst and or Most Hated Draft Picks:
1.) Bennie Joppru (Dissapointing to say the least)
2.) David Carr (Gave new meaning to the fetal position)
3.) Travis Johnson (Probably the reason the Texans want high class individuals ever after)
4.) Jacoby Jones (Never became the threat he was drafted to be.)
5.) Tony Hollings (Lost a 2nd round pick because of this no-show.)
6.) Jason Babin
7.) Seth Wand
8.) Charles Hill
9.) Matt Stevens
10.) Antwaun Molden


Best and or Favorite Draft Picks:
1.) Andre Johnson (The BP in Texans franchise history. Period)
2.) J.J. Watt (Is more than a great football player, a great person for the city)
3.) Duane Brown (Turned all nonbelievers into believers)
4.) Mario Williams (A stud when he wants to be. Potentially unblockable.)
5.) Domanick Davis (Made the early Texans offense watchable)
6.) Aaron Glenn (Made the early Texans defense watchable)
7.) Brian Cushing (Insane on the field. 3 down linebacker who always works hard)
8.) Drew Henson (Turned his sorry 6th round ass into a 3rd, Thanks Cowgirls)
9.) Brice McCain (6th round pick becoming a damn good cover corner)
10.) DeMeco Ryans (Captain of our defense during some tough years)
I totally agree with your "Best/Most Favorite" list. Can't really argue with a single one of them. I might quibble with and remove Henson and put Kareem Jackson in his place. Reason?: K.J. is in the same category as Duane Brown as he went from prematurely declared bust (i.e., "bad pick") into a very solid player at his position.

Regarding your "worse" list I'd have to add Dave Ragone in there somewhere. I mean, we just picked Carr #1 overall the year before. We had an experienced backup in Tony Banks (I think he should have started for at least a year while Carr learned the ropes - but that's a different discussion). We're trying to make an expansion team more solid. Why the hell did we waste a third round pick on a guy who was never going to start?!? Dave Ragone, not David Carr is my all-time, number one, Worst Texans' draft pick. The pick itself made no sense and the guy never really saw the field. WTF??

At first I was thinking that Jacoby wasn't an awful a pick until you realize I realized that James Jones was picked by Green Bay about 5-6 picks later. This was another, "what were they thinking?" pick. Why take a chance on a track guy from a small school when there were other WRs out there with, arguably, better pedigrees. In addition to James Jones, Yamon Figurs and Jason Hill were just as fast (or faster) as Jacoby and were from Div I schools. The last thing a two-year old expansion team needed was to burn a first day pick on a long shot from a small school.

Not to rag on Jacoby because I wanted him to succeed as I want all Texans picks to succeed. But this is a look-back exercise, and looking back, this pick - given who else was available - was definitely questionable.
 

Lurvinator11

Veteran
Thank you everyone for this discussion. I am enjoying all of this debate over who is a bust and not. I obviously take the point of view that if a pick is taken high, and doesn't work out, it will be a bust. I never really considered the other views, but now it is something to take consideration of.

I still stand by my choices, but I do enjoy reading your opinions. I just want to say thanks again, because of all of this discussion, and users reading my post, it is my most viewed blog so far. Thanks again for that.
 

The Pencil Neck

Hall of Fame
Alex Brink was a WTF PICK if u ask me even if it was a 7th round pick right ..???
He wasn't who I expected and there were better guys available BUT... it's a 7th round flyer on a guy they thought they saw something they might be able to develop. That doesn't bother me at all.

Of course, the next pick was Steve Johnson of the Bills. I'd love to have him on our team at this point.
 

Goldensilence

hipster elite
1. By far Picking Charlie Casserly as the GM of the franchise and his smarter than you "scouting"

2. Carr. Guy set the franchise back so long and really did not have the fire you would've liked to see in franchise QB.

3. Okoye, bar none the FO whiffed taking a 19 year old DL as opposed to a no brainer pick in Willis. I still remember the disappointment of this pick at the time like...just...wow.

4. Travis Johnson, massive reach and TERRIBLE fit, while there are picks I would've taken after TJ including DJ, none were clearly a non brainer like Willis.

5. For my money Molden, another high pick small school smarter than you pick.

For the record I don't get the Joppru bad pick, guy had some serious skills and it's really a tragedy the injuries he had prevented him from becoming anything more than a sideline cheerleader.

Honorable Mention: Hollings and Ragone.

5.
 

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
He wasn't who I expected and there were better guys available BUT... it's a 7th round flyer on a guy they thought they saw something they might be able to develop. That doesn't bother me at all.

Of course, the next pick was Steve Johnson of the Bills. I'd love to have him on our team at this point.
yeah... it makes one wonder who the hell scouts our WR prospects. We pass on Steve Johnson to pick up Alex Brink. We chose Jacoby Jones over James Jones and Mike Sims-Walker (although this may be a push). We pick David Anderson and the Saints grab Marques Colston with the very next pick....

I guess that's the old hindsight thing at work again....
 

htownfan32

Hall of Fame
What about Jabar Gaffney? I realize he wasn't a bust, but... he never did anything for the Texans when he played.
 

ChampionTexan

Hall of Fame
What about Jabar Gaffney? I realize he wasn't a bust, but... he never did anything for the Texans when he played.
The reason I hated the Gaffney pick was because I was screaming for Clinton Portis when they made it. Believing you know more about NFL football players than your team's GM does isn't a fun way to be a fan.
 

eriadoc

Texan-American
What about Jabar Gaffney? I realize he wasn't a bust, but... he never did anything for the Texans when he played.
In four years with the Texans, Gaffney had 171 catches for 2009 yards, for an avg of 11.75 yards. One of those years was the dreadful 2005 season, his last as a Texan. In 2004, he caught 41 balls for 642 yards. AJ caught 79 for 1142. That's not a half bad tandem, considering who they had at QB. Gaffney could have been a decent #2, IMO. He shouldn't have been drafted in the 2nd round, but if you look at what Gaffney has gone on to do, he's kind of a prototypical second fiddle guy. Two years ago, he had 68 catches for 947 yards. Three years ago, he had 65 for 875. He had 21 catches in the playoffs alone for NE one year.

If you take Gaffney's best five years and Walter's best five years, you pretty much have the same WR. People around here say that Walter was a good #2 for a couple years and then just fell off. Well, consider this:

Walter's best 5 years - 270 rec, 3449 yards, 12.8 avg, 21 TD, 175 first downs. Schaub all 5 years, with some Rosenfels and Yates. He only had one more year worth noting.

Gaffney's best 5 years - 264 rec, 3635 yds, 13.8 avg, 16 TD, 183 first downs. Gaffney had two to three other seasons that were roughly comparable with his 5th best season, by my estimation. In 11 years, he has two seasons with less than 34 catches. His QBs for the five years I counted were Carr x1, Brady x1, and Orton x3, injuries and subs notwithstanding. I'm sure there were some Tony Banks games and Matt Cassel games.

The only significant difference I see is C&C spent a 2nd round pick on Gaffney and Smithiak spent a 6th rounder (IIRC) on Walter in a trade. Guys can't help what teams spend on them, so I tend not to hold that against the players that much.
 

TEXANRED

Texan-American
How the Hell do you have a top 5 Texans draft list and include Ryans and Daniels but no AJ? WTF? Who ever wrote this article should be drug out in the streat and beaten.
 

eriadoc

Texan-American
Here's the list on NFL.com. They have commentary for each pick. The bare bones list is:

Brown
Daniels
Ryans
Cushing
Watt

I would assume that Watt is #1 and Brown is #5, but it's hard to assume anything when they left off AJ. They do mention AJ in the Daniels summary:

If the David Carr experiment was ever going to work for the Texans, they needed to (a) protect him better and (b) give him offensive weapons. Grabbing receiver Andre Johnson in the franchise's second-ever draft was a great start, and had he not been the third-overall pick he would have made this list.
 

TEXANRED

Texan-American
Here's the list on NFL.com. They have commentary for each pick. The bare bones list is:

Brown
Daniels
Ryans
Cushing
Watt

I would assume that Watt is #1 and Brown is #5, but it's hard to assume anything when they left off AJ. They do mention AJ in the Daniels summary:
That commentary doesn't even make sense. What does being the 3rd overall pick have anything to do it with it? By that logic Carr should be disqualified.
 

Rey

Guest
Looks like they are going off of value in regards to where they were picked.

AJ was probably a no brainer. I think most people could have made that pick....I think the list is aiming at truly working to find players...

The guys that made the list didn't have to be chosen where they were and they weren't virtual locks to be chosen where we took them.
 

ThaJokaa

True Texans Fan
Looks like they are going off of value in regards to where they were picked.

AJ was probably a no brainer. I think most people could have made that pick....I think the list is aiming at truly working to find players...

The guys that made the list didn't have to be chosen where they were and they weren't virtual locks to be chosen where we took them.
Not the lions...
 

Dutchrudder

Hall of Fame
That commentary doesn't even make sense. What does being the 3rd overall pick have anything to do it with it? By that logic Carr should be disqualified.
No it's the opposite. Carr should be listed as a bad pick because the higher the pick, the more likely the player is to be a great player. That's why all of their bad picks are first rounders, the failure is magnified in higher rounds. AJ being third pick and becoming who he is now isn't as significant as Duane Brown at #27 becoming a great LT (though I think AJ should be listed over Ryans). Teams are supposed to hit on top 10 picks, so it lessens the greatness of the pick. The Colts aren't exactly geniuses for picking Peyton and Luck #1 overall, but the Raiders are morons for taking Jamarcus Russell #1.
 

Vance87

All Pro
Looks like they are going off of value in regards to where they were picked.

AJ was probably a no brainer. I think most people could have made that pick....I think the list is aiming at truly working to find players...

The guys that made the list didn't have to be chosen where they were and they weren't virtual locks to be chosen where we took them.
No, they're just stupid. Indy's list has Peyton AND Luck in the top 5 best picks.
 

ObsiWan

Hall of Fame
Contributor's Club
No, they're just stupid. Indy's list has Peyton AND Luck in the top 5 best picks.
Well in that case, at a minimum, they're being inconsistent. The Luck pick was considered as much of a "no-brainer" as A.J. was when he was picked. Now you could make a very weak argument that there was somewhat of a choice between Peyton and Leaf back then.

But I'm with you, they're just stupid.
 

Txn_in_FL

All Pro
I can't make Carr my number one worst because in a different situation he may have been okay.

Not Joppru's fault he was hurt all the time. Wasted talent and never know what we might have had.

Okoye is my number one worst pick. Sorry, but you don't burn your first round pick on a prospect. Who we passed on is always a kick in the balls as well. Travis Johnson runs a close second for me.

Number one best has always be Andre. Watt is making a serious run at the spot though.
 
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