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Why are people so upset with Cushing and Barwin?

T

TheRealJoker

Hall of Fame
I'll admit that Cushing wasn't my first choice at 15 (wanted Clay Matthews if Jenkins was off the board) but I will admit that he was the safest pick if we couldn't trade down.

Matthews is a better fit for a 3-4 or WILL backer and Cushing fits like a glove in our SAM slot which is where we have more question marks. He might not project to have as high of a ceiling as Matthews but Peyton Manning didn't project to have a ceiling over Ryan Leaf. Let this guy play, he's gonna be our Lance Briggs to go with the Urlacher (DeMeco) we already have on the roster.

The pick I am really puzzled as to why people dislike him is Connor Barwin. After we made that pick I literally creamed my pants and started screaming that we got the steal of the draft. Then I come on here and people are like, "Meh, I dont watch enough football to make a valid opinion of this player so i'm gonna assume he was a terrible pick."

We got Mike Vrabel 2.0, Adalius Thomas baltimore era, pick a comparison to a versatile defender that can get after the QB and Barwin is that guy!!!

We just solved the # 1 problem on this team this offseason (pressuring the QB) with the additions of Antonio Smtih, Brian Cushing, and Connor Barwin and the 3rd round hasn't even started yet!!! WOOHOO!!!
 
stingray said:
Because people usually don't like what they don't know. I like the picks.
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Heh, so true...but I'd say that they usually don't like what they don't know, and they only like those they know provided they don't know them too well. (see: Cushing, Brian)

Cushing is too familiar and was talked about for so long that I suspect his selection was too anti-climactic to be received with anything but a room-temp "meh."
 
Mailman said:
Heh, so true...but I'd say that they usually don't like what they don't know, and they only like those they know provided they don't know them too well. (see: Cushing, Brian)

Cushing is too familiar and was talked about for so long that I suspect his selection was too anti-climactic to be received with anything but a room-temp "meh."
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Yep... Totally agree.
 
The only reason I don't like Cushing is his history of injuries. I know he is a rookie, but he has a lot of miles on him. Love his attitude, approach, desire, etc., but if you are not healthy it doesn't matter.
 
TheRealJoker said:
I'll admit that Cushing wasn't my first choice at 15 (wanted Clay Matthews if Jenkins was off the board) but I will admit that he was the safest pick if we couldn't trade down.

Matthews is a better fit for a 3-4 or WILL backer and Cushing fits like a glove in our SAM slot which is where we have more question marks. He might not project to have as high of a ceiling as Matthews but Peyton Manning didn't project to have a ceiling over Ryan Leaf. Let this guy play, he's gonna be our Lance Briggs to go with the Urlacher (DeMeco) we already have on the roster.

The pick I am really puzzled as to why people dislike him is Connor Barwin. After we made that pick I literally creamed my pants and started screaming that we got the steal of the draft. Then I come on here and people are like, "Meh, I dont watch enough football to make a valid opinion of this player so i'm gonna assume he was a terrible pick."

We got Mike Vrabel 2.0, Adalius Thomas baltimore era, pick a comparison to a versatile defender that can get after the QB and Barwin is that guy!!!

We just solved the # 1 problem on this team this offseason (pressuring the QB) with the additions of Antonio Smtih, Brian Cushing, and Connor Barwin and the 3rd round hasn't even started yet!!! WOOHOO!!!
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I agree on Barwin. I dont know much about him, but I like what Ive seen/read since the pick. I dont understand why everyone is calling him Jason Babin part 2. Do some research.
 
The draft gurus/fans always focus on what they hear, some tape they watch and what popular opinion suggests.

I'm confident in our GM and scouts when it comes to the draft. We've done very well over the last few years. Cushing wasn't the sexy pick, neither was Mario. Barwin is a bet on potential, worse case we have a guy who fills several roles on the team and contributes.

I think our defense just got a series shot in the arm of attitude. Some nastiness is exactly what we needed and although others wanted someone else, our FO/Coaches get paid to make the best pick for OUR team.

I say, have some faith and gives these young men a chance.
 
spurstexanstros said:
I dont think 2nd pick addressed immediate need, that is what bothers me. Depth at DE was not our most pressing need.
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I disagree. The defense is built around the line, and if they can get consistent pressure from the front seven, Jacques Reeves will look like a Pro Bowl CB imo. I love what we are doing with our line. Acquiring playmakers opposite Mario is always a good thing.
 
I'm good with both of 'em. I think Smith and Kubiac are taking this team in the right direction.

Jesus folks, the draft is just sometimes a crap shoot anyway. Everyone is crapping on Oakland right now (and I can understand that) but what if those so-called crappy picks turn out for them? And no one knows they won't until the season gets underway. That's goes for all teams.
 
they aren't sexy names that people have jotted down in their mocks for 6 months, so naturally the picks must be wrong.
 
Because we just spent our first 2 picks on whiteboy's to play defense... I'm not saying anything I'm just saying... I'm on board, people fall in love with guys and get upset when those guys are passed up by the texans
 
TheRealJoker said:
I'll admit that Cushing wasn't my first choice at 15 (wanted Clay Matthews if Jenkins was off the board) but I will admit that he was the safest pick if we couldn't trade down.

Matthews is a better fit for a 3-4 or WILL backer and Cushing fits like a glove in our SAM slot which is where we have more question marks. He might not project to have as high of a ceiling as Matthews but Peyton Manning didn't project to have a ceiling over Ryan Leaf. Let this guy play, he's gonna be our Lance Briggs to go with the Urlacher (DeMeco) we already have on the roster.

The pick I am really puzzled as to why people dislike him is Connor Barwin. After we made that pick I literally creamed my pants and started screaming that we got the steal of the draft. Then I come on here and people are like, "Meh, I dont watch enough football to make a valid opinion of this player so i'm gonna assume he was a terrible pick."

We got Mike Vrabel 2.0, Adalius Thomas baltimore era, pick a comparison to a versatile defender that can get after the QB and Barwin is that guy!!!

We just solved the # 1 problem on this team this offseason (pressuring the QB) with the additions of Antonio Smtih, Brian Cushing, and Connor Barwin and the 3rd round hasn't even started yet!!! WOOHOO!!!
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You must have not been around for the early drafts here when people were all indignant and idiotic getting kicked out left and right when "their guy" wasn't selected. Everyone was great yesterday (on both the official board and here) and I only perceived a mild let down from only a few fans. My perception is that these picks have been pretty well received by the fans if you gauge it against the previous 7 years.
 
the Texans Draft team is way ahead of anyone on this board and I am happy with what I have seen. We are building and I like it. New Center for the O line and wham we have some depth on the O as well. I cannot wait to get this over with and get on with practicing. Practice make perfect, See ya I am going Alligator hunting.
 
People need to realize that this is NOT a sexy draft class. This is a really weak draft and overall, I'm super happy with our picks so far. I thought they would go RB or CB/Saf in the 3rd, but they're addressing another need at center (one of the unsexiest positions to fill).

Let's see...2 front seven D picks and one O line pick. We're getting stronger in the trenches and from everything I've heard, two guys with a high work ethic in Barwin and Cushing. These guys could bring a lot of heart and excitement to a D that really needs an identity.
 
If the Texans would have given up a 4th to move up and get Orakpo, it would have been a better draft.

Seen Cush play his whole career, he will be a solid starter, just not a Pro-Bowl guy

Zero help in the secondary and no new offensive weapons is the killer for me.

Cush will be good, Barwin is basically Clay Matthews without the "Luv Ya Blue" hard-on from alot of fans here
 
The1ApplePie said:
If the Texans would have given up a 4th to move up and get Orakpo, it would have been a better draft.

Seen Cush play his whole career, he will be a solid starter, just not a Pro-Bowl guy

Zero help in the secondary and no new offensive weapons is the killer for me.

Cush will be good, Barwin is basically Clay Matthews without the "Luv Ya Blue" hard-on from alot of fans here
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Much of that is true - I would have used the top pick on the highest rated corner available. And personally I would have taken a CB besides Jenkins even if he hadn't gone at 14 to NOLA. CBs are just so much more important than SAMs. On the other hand, the #4 overall in this years Draft was a SAM, so who knows ?
But I absolutely love the Barwin selection, even though I recognize there's
a definite downside and don't necessarily disagree with the Matthews comparison. Barwin is one of the most interesting prospects in this years Draft, which I admit doesn't automatically translate into success. But I think there's real upside there, and we have a real need to improve our pass rush.
 
I like the Cushing pick, cant comment on the 2nd round pick as I dont know enough about him.
From a positional point of view I though we'd better off looking at a CB or Safety.
 
The more I read and hear about Cushing the more I like him. Gives the Texans defense are real edge. His attitude and intensity are something this team needs.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
We just got bigger , faster , and more athletic .
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Yep! Rick Smith went the safe route in the first round and got second-guessed, he took more chances with the second pick and gets second-guessed...it's simply impossible to make EVERYBODY happy.

-nice seeing you at the Draft party yesterday (I do think we'd met before, but can't remember when)
 
disaacks3 said:
Yep! Rick Smith went the safe route in the first round and got second-guessed, he took more chances with the second pick and gets second-guessed...it's simply impossible to make EVERYBODY happy.

-nice seeing you at the Draft party yesterday (I do think we'd met before, but can't remember when)
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I wouldn't have minded trading down and taking Barwin in the 1st

Cushing has skills , he is a big fluid guy who lives and breathes the game . Probably borderline to a fault which brings in the Romonowski comparisons . Of course Romo played 17 years and won like 5 rings .

Barwin is a freakish athlete who played college basketball . He is fast and fluid and got 12 sacks his first year at DE by getting up the field and attacking . I'm pleased with both .

Yep ... it's always nice putting names to faces . Oh yea ... cute baby .
 
I wanted them to take Barwin and Sidbury.

I didn't think Barwin would fall to the 2nd rd.

I like the Cushing & Barwin picks more than the Barwin Sidbury senario.

I believe we came out of this draft with 5 first year contributors.
Cushing, Barwin, Caldwell (Best pick) Casey & Hill(who is going to help the run game tremendously)
 
Vinny said:
You must have not been around for the early drafts here when people were all indignant and idiotic getting kicked out left and right when "their guy" wasn't selected. Everyone was great yesterday (on both the official board and here) and I only perceived a mild let down from only a few fans. My perception is that these picks have been pretty well received by the fans if you gauge it against the previous 7 years.
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I agree. Cushing wasn't the guy I wanted really, but he is the kind if guy they need. I just hope he can stay healthy and that none of the steroid stuff was true.

I thought most people were okay about our draft. I bitched a little bit, but mainly because we didn't draft a RB by the 4th. If we can find some quality guys in free agency it won't really matter though.

I've got no problem with the Cushing and Barwin picks at all. I really like the Barwin pick and think he'll be able to make some plays. I think we'll finally start seeing pressure on the other side of Mario this season.
 
Hope they're much better than the players who previously had the numbers 56 and 98. Which shouldn't be hard to do. :)
 
My problem with Cushing(aside from injury history) is that he's just not a huge upgrade over Diles. They're both 240 4.7 guys so all you're getting there is 3" of height. Cushing is stronger at the point of attack, but Diles is better in coverage.

The biggest difference between the two isn't what they can do on the football field. It's that we already had Diles and Cushing cost us the 15th pick in the draft. If my choice is Diles and another mid first round prospect as starters or just Cushing as a starter, I'm taking Diles +1 every single time, 10,000 times over.

I'm good with Barwin. I had him in the second round when Mel Kiper still thought he was a TE.
 
Goatcheese said:
My problem with Cushing(aside from injury history) is that he's just not a huge upgrade over Diles. They're both 240 4.7 guys so all you're getting there is 3" of height. Cushing is stronger at the point of attack, but Diles is better in coverage.

The biggest difference between the two isn't what they can do on the football field. It's that we already had Diles and Cushing cost us the 15th pick in the draft. If my choice is Diles and another mid first round prospect as starters or just Cushing as a starter, I'm taking Diles +1 every single time, 10,000 times over.

I'm good with Barwin. I had him in the second round when Mel Kiper still thought he was a TE.
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Diles is 6'0 240 lbs . Cushing is 3" taller and almost 10 lbs heavier and I'll bet he's much stronger . Cushing ran a 4.67 at his pro day which is faster than Adibi and Diles . I'll also bet that Cushing is much better in coverage especially vs tall TEs .

I'm not drooling over Cushing but I do think that LB was a position that needed to be upgraded and we did that . No one else in the league would want Diles starting over Cushing . Diles is a reason the Jags and Titans run all over us and the Colts pass all over us .
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Diles is 6'0 240 lbs . Cushing is 3" taller and almost 10 lbs heavier and I'll bet he's much stronger . Cushing ran a 4.67 at his pro day which is faster than Adibi and Diles . I'll also bet that Cushing is much better in coverage especially vs tall TEs .
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Cushing is 6'3" 243 vs Diles 6'0 240+. Diles' 40 during the draft process was 4.71, while Adibi's was 4.62.

Cushing is better in coverage because of 3" of height the same way that Fred Bennett is better than Aaron Glenn.

I'm not drooling over Cushing but I do think that LB was a position that needed to be upgraded and we did that . No one else in the league would want Diles starting over Cushing . Diles is a reason the Jags and Titans run all over us and the Colts pass all over us .
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Except when Diles was in there they didn't run all over us. The Jags went absolutely no where against the Texans run defense in the first meeting, and the Titans were held under their season average.

Go back and look at MJD and Taylor's running totals against Houston in week 4. They combined for 17 carries for 57 yards(3.3 ypc). Yeah they ran all over us. Lard and Tard combined for 32 carries for 123 yards(3.8 ypc). They're a run first team that was running the clock. That was a bellow average game for them.

Manning was held in check untill the 4th quarter in the first Colts game.

Diles was not the problem.

Would a team rather have Cushing than Diles? Probably. NFL teams worship measurables. I guess Derrick Brooks(6'0 235) isn't very good either.

Would a team rather have Cushing over Diles and their choice of players at the 15th pick? Probably not.
 
Goatcheese said:
Cushing is 6'3" 243 vs Diles 6'0 240+. Diles' 40 during the draft process was 4.71, while Adibi's was 4.62.

Cushing is better in coverage because of 3" of height the same way that Fred Bennett is better than Aaron Glenn.


Except when Diles was in there they didn't run all over us. The Jags went absolutely no where against the Texans run defense in the first meeting, and the Titans were held under their season average.

Go back and look at MJD and Taylor's running totals against Houston in week 4. They combined for 17 carries for 57 yards(3.3 ypc). Yeah they ran all over us. Lard and Tard combined for 32 carries for 123 yards(3.8 ypc). They're a run first team that was running the clock. That was a bellow average game for them.

Manning was held in check untill the 4th quarter in the first Colts game.

Diles was not the problem.

Would a team rather have Cushing than Diles? Probably. NFL teams worship measurables. I guess Derrick Brooks(6'0 235) isn't very good either.

Would a team rather have Cushing over Diles and their choice of players at the 15th pick? Probably not.
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Cushing is a better athlete than Diles , he's also bigger and faster . I've seen Cushing make a fingertip interception that looked like Kellen Winslow jr dragging his toes on the sideline before he went out of bounds .

The Jags were playing with new guards because the starters were hurt the first game , that's why they couldn't run .

Diles may not have been the problem but he wasn't the solution either and if he's one of the three best LBs ... he'll play . The Texans LBs were average at best and good teams usually have above average LBs .

Would Diles start on a SB contending team is the question . Because if that's where you want to go then an upgrade is needed . Also how many sacks did Diles have ?
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Diles is 6'0 240 lbs . Cushing is 3" taller and almost 10 lbs heavier and I'll bet he's much stronger . Cushing ran a 4.67 at his pro day which is faster than Adibi and Diles . I'll also bet that Cushing is much better in coverage especially vs tall TEs .

I'm not drooling over Cushing but I do think that LB was a position that needed to be upgraded and we did that . No one else in the league would want Diles starting over Cushing . Diles is a reason the Jags and Titans run all over us and the Colts pass all over us .
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No... Cushing is not faster than Adibi. It's not that important since they will be competing for different positions but Adibi is a quicker and more agile athlete. He should be because he's about 20 lbs lighter.
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Cushing is a better athlete than Diles , he's also bigger and faster . I've seen Cushing make a fingertip interception that looked like Kellen Winslow jr dragging his toes on the sideline before he went out of bounds .

The Jags were playing with new guards because the starters were hurt the first game , that's why they couldn't run .

Diles may not have been the problem but he wasn't the solution either and if he's one of the three best LBs ... he'll play . The Texans LBs were average at best and good teams usually have above average LBs .

Would Diles start on a SB contending team is the question . Because if that's where you want to go then an upgrade is needed . Also how many sacks did Diles have ?
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Diles played very well for a good chunk of the season. Hypothetically speaking, of course a team could go to the Superbowl with Diles in the lineup. Unless Cushing flops, he has improved the team. He has immediately improved the depth and the diversity of what we can do at LB.
 
dalemurphy said:
No... Cushing is not faster than Adibi. It's not that important since they will be competing for different positions but Adibi is a quicker and more agile athlete. He should be because he's about 20 lbs lighter.
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Adibi's times were 4.69 , 4.68 , and 4.62 . That's one of the reasons he lasted until the 4th .

Cushing ran a 4.67 at his pro day ... so if he isn't faster ... he's right there with him .
 
Honoring Earl 34 said:
Adibi's times were 4.69 , 4.68 , and 4.62 . That's one of the reasons he lasted until the 4th .

Cushing ran a 4.67 at his pro day ... so if he isn't faster ... he's right there with him .
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Adibi certainly didn't last until the 4th because of questions over his speed. Despite running a slower than expected 40 he was still regarded as one of the fastest and also maybe the best coverage LB in last year's draft. He fell to the 4th because of his size and questions about whether he could be a full time LB in the NFL.
 
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TheRealJoker said:
Adibi certainly didn't last until the 4th because of questions over his speed. Despite running a slower than expected 40 he was still regarded as one of the fastest and also maybe the best coverage LB in last year's draft. He fell to the 4th because of his size and questions about whether he could be a full time LB in the NFL.
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I'm going to go out on a limb and assume that Cushing trained harder and hyper-focused on running his best 40 time. Clearly, watching the guys play, Adibi is the quicker and faster player. I'm not trying to criticise Cushing- he has plenty of speed to do what we need him to.
 
OK, I'm going to say it.

A pass rush specialist out of Cincinnati in the second round?
 
My favorite thing about Brian Cushing? He isn't from Kansas State!!! We have a winner!

Seriously though, there is no comparison in talent to Cushing and Diles. Diles was a 7th round flier pick for a reason. Cushing was a first round pick for a reason. The real difference? Talent.
 
YoungTexanFan said:
My favorite thing about Brian Cushing? He isn't from Kansas State!!! We have a winner!

Seriously though, there is no comparison in talent to Cushing and Diles. Diles was a 7th round flier pick for a reason. Cushing was a first round pick for a reason. The real difference? Talent.
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This argument falls into the tom brady/joe montana/STEVE SLATON argument.

Once ur actually in the league..its about what you do in there. Not about what round u were drafted in.

Every single team passed on DeMeco, who became the DROY.
 
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