My questions would be along the lines of was there not enough conclusive evidence at the combine or pro day or any check up Clowney went through prior to the draft? Besides his lack of strong play the year prior and the not so ringing endorsement given by his HC... Did they just buy into the hype and thought he was worth the gamble?
I know you're asking the coaches & not me, but since everyone else threw in their 2 cents...
We've seen nothing yet that "proves" all the crap they were saying about Clowney before the draft. As far as I can tell, he's as hard a worker as anyone. He suffered from a few injuries that maybe the Texans should have foreseen... maybe not. The last injury, no one could have seen. & while we Texans fans myoptically look at NRG's field & our own players, there were two other players experience similar injuries last year on different fields. While Jd was trying to make a play, those other two guys were "celebrating"
It's just one of those freak things that happen.
Next I'd ask about why or what was their scouting on Bridgewater? It wouldn't have been a huge move up back into the first and would've been a smaller gamble than on Nix. Granted I think Teddy probably projects closer to Matt Ryan than anything, bit bottom of the first round on Matt Ryan? Most GMs would say yes.
I was among the more vociferous voices against drafting Bridgewater anywhere near the top 10... however, when he fell below 20 I kept waiting for the Texans to make a move. They never did.
Still, when the draft was through, I had no problem with what appeared to be the Texans MO. Dominate on the ground, dominate on defense & simply manage the game from the QB position.
With our schedule, I figured 8-10 wins if OB was worth a sht. So with 9 wins & only one game we had no chance of winning, I'm happy... more or less with what we have. If OB is right on Mallett (or Hoyer for that matter), I think we'll all be pleasantly surprised.
Bridgewater may be the next great QB of our time, but I wouldn't bet on it.
Granted only thing I can think is they had Mallet on their radar prior to draft and that's why they targeted things the way they did.
Speaking of Mallet... Why didn't they turn to him a lot quicker when it was beyond obvious that Fitz was struggling bad?
I never thought Fitz was struggling. I felt he was either holding himself back, or being held back. Either he was too timid to "push" or the coaches had no faith in him. That's why I was all, "Might as well start the rookie."
But when you're around .500 all year, it's not so easy to make a change. Had we started 0-3 like the Jags, or got three games under .500 at any time, I'm sure they would have made the switch sooner.
Still, I like that we got to see what OB could do with a "Fitzpatrick/Keenum" it gives me confidence that when we do find our franchise QB he won't end up looking like Sam Bradford or Matthew Stafford.