Nick Caserio - New GM

[Lucky]

Looking back at when Caserio was first announced as the Texans new GM, it's curious that many of the same people that criticized his appointment because Belichick controlled virtually everything with the Patriots, are the same people that now make it sound as if he controlled virtually all the important decisions/mistakes.

And those that worship the ground Caserio walks on think everything good that happens for the Texans (whatever that was) is all Nick. The bad things? Someone else's screwup. Who knows where the truth lies?

 

[Double Barrel]

Bob Kraft also threw Caserio under the bus when he said the Patriots did not do a good job in the draft the last several years when Caserio was Director of Player Personnel.

All I see is a goat named Nick in Kraft's statement. God forbid he admits that Belichick without a HoF QB is just average.

 

[thunderkyss]

Looking back at when Caserio was first announced as the Texans new GM, it's curious that many of the same people that criticized his appointment because Belichick controlled virtually everything with the Patriots, are the same people that now make it sound as if he controlled virtually all the important decisions/mistakes.

And those that worship the ground Caserio walks on think everything good that happens for the Texans (whatever that was) is all Nick. The bad things? Someone else's screwup. Who knows where the truth lies?

I was on the Caserio train when he was hired. I'm ready to turn the page. Seen enough.

 

[TexansBull]

And those that worship the ground Caserio walks on think everything good that happens for the Texans (whatever that was) is all Nick. The bad things? Someone else's screwup. Who knows where the truth lies?

Who worships the ground Caserio walks on and says he hasn’t screwed up?

 

[Texian]

Looking back at when Caserio was first announced as the Texans new GM, it's curious that many of the same people that criticized his appointment because Belichick controlled virtually everything with the Patriots, are the same people that now make it sound as if he controlled virtually all the important decisions/mistakes.

I have always put Caserio in the same category as all the other failed Belichick assistants, admins, and facilitators. Nary one is prepared or trained in the responsibilities required to be an NFL GM. Explains the high degree of failure.

 

[badboy]

From Caserio's presser:





It's like Coach Culley is back in the building.

I did not know that optionality was a word but I do now.

 

[badboy]

Caserio compared himself to Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wallstreet “I ain’t going nowhere!” speech.

Message to Cal and Hannah?

When he said that I imagined I heard a toilet flushing in the background.

 

[Texian]

Nolan Smith = Vonn Miller

 

[badboy]

Has nothing to do with Texian. I’m just going by Caserio’s words.

If it were the QB, OC, director of pro scouting that said, “It doesn’t matter what I think.” That’s one thing. But this is the GM.

It is his job to think about what it takes to make this a winning team. It should be anyway.

If it doesn’t matter what he thinks (his words) then it obviously isn’t his job.

The man knows what he’s saying. He knows coach speak. If he didn’t believe this team could win without drafting a QB he’d have said something like, “it’s a process, we’re going to do what’s right for the Texans.”

If he thought they’re more than a QB away, or that they believe their QB would be taken before their pick, “It’s not really about one position.”

But to say, “it doesn’t matter what I think.” Says it’s not his decision.


sounds like GM in name only

Sounds like he is trying to ignore the background noise and focus the Attention on the team.

 

[badboy]

All I see is a goat named Nick in Kraft's statement. God forbid he admits that Belichick without a HoF QB is just average.

View attachment 11924

When a goat is not a GOAT

 

[Double Barrel]

When a goat is not a GOAT

Yep, that's the point. Nothing in that building happens without the direct approval of Belichick, so throwing shade at his underlings is just an obvious cop-out.

Caserio obviously has room for improvement, but expecting a HoF performance out of any GM walking into the fustercluck that was the 2021 Houston Texans is just delusional.

Truth be told, any obvious HoF GM probably wanted nothing to do with the 2021 Houston Texans, all things considered. Heck, we didn't want them and we're the fans! lol

 

[Lucky]

Truth be told, any obvious HoF GM probably wanted nothing to do with the 2021 Houston Texans, all things considered.

$36 million for 6 years. Someone was taking the job.

 

[Texansphan]

$36 million for 6 years. Someone was taking the job.

 

[Speedy]

$36 million for 6 years. Someone was taking the job.

Yes, I believe someone was about to take the job ...... then the preacher stepped in.

 

[The1ApplePie]

Yep, that's the point. Nothing in that building happens without the direct approval of Belichick, so throwing shade at his underlings is just an obvious cop-out.

Caserio obviously has room for improvement, but expecting a HoF performance out of any GM walking into the fustercluck that was the 2021 Houston Texans is just delusional.

Truth be told, any obvious HoF GM probably wanted nothing to do with the 2021 Houston Texans, all things considered. Heck, we didn't want them and we're the fans! lol

Said this in other posts. Brady won a Super Bowl without Bill or the Pats. The Pats have been a joke without Brady. The "Patriots Way" seems to have been "Ride Tom's Coattails." The fact that former Pats coaches and front office people flop like dying fish kind of adds to that.

 

[badboy]

$36 million for 6 years. Someone was taking the job.

I was actually 2nd in line.

 

[CloakNNNdagger]

I was actually 2nd in line.

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, huh?

 

[Lucky]

I was actually 2nd in line.

You're lucky. Look what the job has done to Nick.

Before

After

 

[steelbtexan]

By all accounts, Caserio is doing in Houston exactly what he did in New England for Bill Belichick. Evidence also clearly shows that Caserio has never been trained in Contract Negotiations and Salary Cap Management. Caserio pretty much does what the coaches want to be done, in New England and Houston. As was the case with Pep Hamilton's decision to draft Mills and Collins, Lovie's decision on Stingley, and Warhop's decision on Green. This is the same way it will be for DeMeco and his coaches. Apparently, Cal and Hannah are fine with this.

Getting the coaches the players they want to teach?

What a novel concept for the Kirby crew.

 

[Mr. White]

He's gone. Can't lie worth a ****.

 

[badboy]

Always the bridesmaid, never the bride, huh?

I could elaborate but choose not to.

 

[badboy]

You're lucky. Look what the job has done to Nick.

Before

After

I think I could do better with thirty six million dollars than he evidently did.

Edit

That is the best jacket he could buy?

 

[Xopher]

The thing for me re Stroud v Levis is that while both are likely even in performance behind the same Oline, Stroud is known for his accuracy - especially deep. Otoh, Levis is more athletic and also has a great arm albeit not as accurate.
Stroud has the runs on the board when it comes to wins.
Stroud's overall rating is 92.0 and Levis is 87.6.
The likely system here is projected to be QB friendly so theoretically that would elevate Levis' play and Stroud should also do well in it.
It is shortsighted to ignore the previous body of work regarding all the assessments and draft rankings for both players prior to this point.

I haven't done a whole lot of research, but is Stroud more accurate because he had much much better receivers?

 

[AcresHomesTexan]

I haven't done a whole lot of research, but is Stroud more accurate because he had much much better receivers?

Stroud's accuracy helps his receivers as those dudes help Stroud. (IMO, of course)

 

[sandman]

Has nothing to do with Texian. I’m just going by Caserio’s words.

If it were the QB, OC, director of pro scouting that said, “It doesn’t matter what I think.” That’s one thing. But this is the GM.

It is his job to think about what it takes to make this a winning team. It should be anyway.

If it doesn’t matter what he thinks (his words) then it obviously isn’t his job.

The man knows what he’s saying. He knows coach speak. If he didn’t believe this team could win without drafting a QB he’d have said something like, “it’s a process, we’re going to do what’s right for the Texans.”

If he thought they’re more than a QB away, or that they believe their QB would be taken before their pick, “It’s not really about one position.”

But to say, “it doesn’t matter what I think.” Says it’s not his decision.


sounds like GM in name only

Pointing out that you are doing some creative editing. Here is the question and answer, not just the six words you are choosing to focus on:

One last quarterback question: If you guys don't do anything before next season to upgrade the quarterback position, do you believe that team can be successful?

“Doesn't really matter what I think or believe. I think in the end it's about the players. This is a players' league. It's going to be about the players' performance on Sunday, what they do with their opportunities."

He was asked what he believes about the team's success. And he is correct in stating that it doesn't matter what he believes, all that matters is if the players can get it done on the field.

But you found a six-word sound bite that meets your agenda, and you're going to ride that "he doesn't make the decisions" horse into the ground. This is NSZ spin level work right here.

 

[thunderkyss]

Successful orgs have a GM and HC that can work together competently.

Successful organizations pick one guy & stick with him. In Houston the new guy gets the owners ear & he changes the direction of the whole shebang.

Rick Smith should never have won an argument if they decided Kubiak was steering the ship. O’Brien should never have won an argument if Smith had supplanted Kubiak. Easterby should never have decided anything if they chose to follow O’Brien.

Since firing O’Brien we’ve gone from Easterby to Cal to Lovie & now Hannah & all Caserio’s done is cash his checks.

 

[thunderkyss]

Pointing out that you are doing some creative editing. Here is the question and answer, not just the six words you are choosing to focus on:

One last quarterback question: If you guys don't do anything before next season to upgrade the quarterback position, do you believe that team can be successful?

“Doesn't really matter what I think or believe. I think in the end it's about the players. This is a players' league. It's going to be about the players' performance on Sunday, what they do with their opportunities."

He was asked what he believes about the team's success. And he is correct in stating that it doesn't matter what he believes, all that matters is if the players can get it done on the field.

But you found a six-word sound bite that meets your agenda, and you're going to ride that "he doesn't make the decisions" horse into the ground. This is NSZ spin level work right here.

I’m just imagining if I were the owner & just before the season starts I say to Caserio, “We did a lot of work since January. Do you think we’ve done to have a successful season?”

& Nick says, “Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s all about the players now.”

I’m thinking. Dude, we did all this based on what you thought & now you’re telling me it doesn’t matter what you think?

 

[JB]

I’m just imagining if I were the owner & just before the season starts I say to Caserio, “We did a lot of work since January. Do you think we’ve done to have a successful season?”

& Nick says, “Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s all about the players now.”

I’m thinking. Dude, we did all this based on what you thought & now you’re telling me it doesn’t matter what you think?

So Caserio is supposed to talk to the media as if they were the owners to make you happy?

 

[sandman]

I’m just imagining if I were the owner & just before the season starts I say to Caserio, “We did a lot of work since January. Do you think we’ve done to have a successful season?”

& Nick says, “Doesn’t matter what I think. It’s all about the players now.”

I’m thinking. Dude, we did all this based on what you thought & now you’re telling me it doesn’t matter what you think?

I mean, I can see where you could interpret it that way? It clearly says to me that he can hope and wish and think and believe that he has a Super Bowl contender but unless the players actually get job done on the field it really doesn't matter what he "thinks" they are.

Remember, he was asked if he believed this team could be successful without addressing the QB position this off-season. Not if he thinks the team is going to be successful this year. Which actually isn't a valid question because even if all the 1st/2nd rounders from last year get healed up and ball out, and they hit on every 1st/2nd rounder this year as a legit starter, this team isn't competing for a playoff position in 2023.

 

[TexansBull]

Successful organizations pick one guy & stick with him. In Houston the new guy gets the owners ear & he changes the direction of the whole shebang.

Rick Smith should never have won an argument if they decided Kubiak was steering the ship. O’Brien should never have won an argument if Smith had supplanted Kubiak. Easterby should never have decided anything if they chose to follow O’Brien.

Since firing O’Brien we’ve gone from Easterby to Cal to Lovie & now Hannah & all Caserio’s done is cash his checks.

That’s why I like Caserio.

Dude comes into a **** show - does his job the best way possible navigating Cal, Watson, Culley, Easterby, Lovie, and now Hannah. (The funny part she ain’t the worst out of the bunch. She is an improvement so far.)

Keeps cashing million dollar checks and doing the best he can do under those circumstances. And the outcome ain’t as bad what you expect under those circumstances.

He knows he is a dead man walking. The voice of reason. They tell him it doesn’t matter what he thinks and he can be gone if the HC wants him gone.

And he just keeps on working.

Just like Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wallstreet.

 

[thunderkyss]

So Caserio is supposed to talk to the media as if they were the owners to make you happy?

Yup. That’s exactly what I said. Thank you JB for breaking it down so even a layman can understand the words coming out of my mouth.

 

[thunderkyss]

I mean, I can see where you could interpret it that way? It clearly says to me that he can hope and wish and think and believe that he has a Super Bowl contender but unless the players actually get job done on the field it really doesn't matter what he "thinks" they are.

Remember, he was asked if he believed this team could be successful without addressing the QB position this off-season. Not if he thinks the team is going to be successful this year. Which actually isn't a valid question because even if all the 1st/2nd rounders from last year get healed up and ball out, and they hit on every 1st/2nd rounder this year as a legit starter, this team isn't competing for a playoff position in 2023.

I think his standard nonanswer would have been sufficient.

But this time he said something different.

 

[JB]

But this time he said something different.

Only because you're reading it different. Did you want it to say more? I thought it a pretty good evasive answer to a silly question

 

[leebigeztx]

That’s why I like Caserio.

Dude comes into a **** show - does his job the best way possible navigating Cal, Watson, Culley, Easterby, Lovie, and now Hannah. (The funny part she ain’t the worst out of the bunch. She is an improvement so far.)

Keeps cashing million dollar checks and doing the best he can do under those circumstances. And the outcome ain’t as bad what you expect under those circumstances.

He knows he is a dead man walking. The voice of reason. They tell him it doesn’t matter what he thinks and he can be gone if the HC wants him gone.

And he just keeps on working.

Just like Leonardo DiCaprio in Wolf of Wallstreet.

Culley, Esterbe, and Lovie is on him right? Along with the Cooks situation. He only gets a pass on Watson to me. He could've hired a more competent coaching even with Watson situation looming but either chose or let Jack persuade him into the mud.

 

[TexansBull]

Culley, Esterbe, and Lovie is on him right? Along with the Cooks situation. He only gets a pass on Watson to me. He could've hired a more competent coaching even with Watson situation looming but either chose or let Jack persuade him into the mud.

No.

Easterby was there prior and Lovie was a McNair hire. Culley was hired to possibly bring back in Watson. Culley wasn’t a big problem. Cooks trade could have been better.

 

[Texansballer74]

Getting the coaches the players they want to teach?

What a novel concept for the Kirby crew.

Welcome back Steelb.

 

[Texansballer74]

Culley, Esterbe, and Lovie is on him right? Along with the Cooks situation. He only gets a pass on Watson to me. He could've hired a more competent coaching even with Watson situation looming but either chose or let Jack persuade him into the mud.

No Lovie and Easterby is on Cal not Caserio. The Cook situation is on Cooks. Dude quit all because Easterby was fired.

 

[leebigeztx]

No Lovie and Easterby is on Cal not Caserio. The Cook situation is on Cooks. Dude quit all because Easterby was fired.

C'mon , look at who Caserio interviewed for 2 coaching cycles. How was Culley going to help keep Watson? Because they're both black and you're buying that narrative that Watson wanted everyone around him to be black? Culley hiring put thr nail in the coffin because it showed the incompetent nature of this team. You don't remember hearing Cal saying he would be more involved in the head coaching search? To me, that implies he wasn't involved in the previous 2. Don't get me started on Esterbe.

 

[TexansBull]

You don't remember hearing Cal saying he would be more involved in the head coaching search? To me, that implies he wasn't involved in the previous 2. Don't get me started on Esterbe.

You fell for the marketing play to make Cal look competent.

First two coaching searches he was involved in. They didn’t turn out well. Fans stop coming to games. Holding signs for Cal to sell the team.

Then the team starts looking attractive for head coaches. Draft picks and salary cap cleaned up. Demeco Ryans and Sean Payton available. Plus last years finalist that made it to the Super Bowl.

Cal comes out and says he will be more involved.

Now he looks like a genius.

You know what was smart?

Identifying an assistant head coach as talented enough to lead a team the year before he helps his team make it to the Super Bowl and then becomes HC for another team.

But that didn’t happen because of Easterby and then Brian Flores lawsuit.

I am happy the way it turned out though.

 

[Texansballer74]

C'mon , look at who Caserio interviewed for 2 coaching cycles. How was Culley going to help keep Watson? Because they're both black and you're buying that narrative that Watson wanted everyone around him to be black? Culley hiring put thr nail in the coffin because it showed the incompetent nature of this team. You don't remember hearing Cal saying he would be more involved in the head coaching search? To me, that implies he wasn't involved in the previous 2. Don't get me started on Esterbe.

Because of Watson’s demands for a black HC. The McNair’s overreacted to his outlandish demands. Then no other coach was taking this job with the crap that was going on at that time.
No I don’t recall him saying that. But with the power struggle on the HC search he did step in and hired Lovie.

 

[leebigeztx]

Because of Watson’s demands for a black HC. The McNair’s overreacted to his outlandish demands. Then no other coach was taking this job with the crap that was going on at that time.
No I don’t recall him saying that. But with the power struggle on the HC search he did step in and hired Lovie.

You're falling for the banana in the tailpipe again. Those so called rumors of painting the white house black are about as true as a $3 bill. As a black man, the last thing you want is an incompetent black man as a token hire. If that were the case, they could've given Bienemy the job. Stop falling for the okie doke.

 

[Texansballer74]

You're falling for the banana in the tailpipe again. Those so called rumors of painting the white house black are about as true as a $3 bill. As a black man, the last thing you want is an incompetent black man as a token hire. If that were the case, they could've given Bienemy the job. Stop falling for the okie doke.

Watson said that himself. I’m not going to post something that’s not true bro.

 

[leebigeztx]

You fell for the marketing play to make Cal look competent.

First two coaching searches he was involved in. They didn’t turn out well. Fans stop coming to games. Holding signs for Cal to sell the team.

Then the team starts looking attractive for head coaches. Draft picks and salary cap cleaned up. Demeco Ryans and Sean Payton available. Plus last years finalist that made it to the Super Bowl.

Cal comes out and says he will be more involved.

Now he looks like a genius.

You know what was smart?

Identifying an assistant head coach as talented enough to lead a team the year before he helps his team make it to the Super Bowl and then becomes HC for another team.

But that didn’t happen because of Easterby and then Brian Flores lawsuit.

I am happy the way it turned out though.

Cal wasn't involved in Culley nor Lovie. Cal let Jack and his buddy Nick run the clown show and give a guy like McCown 3 or 4 interviews. He let the clown show continue when the only interview Culley ever got in 20 yrs of coaching were from the Texans. Not only that, they wanted to pick the staff and do everything for Culley. They had Lovie already in town knowing that Frazier wouldn't ever hire Lovie after what went down in Tampa.

 

[leebigeztx]

Watson said that himself. I’m not going to post something that’s not true bro.

No he didn't! Show me the receipt. Why every team that was in the Watson sweepstakes, none had a black head coach? None. He'll, none had even so much as a black OC, but he only wants a black head coach? C'mon, those were lies. There is also a reason why the Texans wouldn't trade in the division no matter what the compensation was. None have black coach either.

 

[cuppacoffee]

Successful organizations pick one guy & stick with him. In Houston the new guy gets the owners ear & he changes the direction of the whole shebang.

Rick Smith should never have won an argument if they decided Kubiak was steering the ship. O’Brien should never have won an argument if Smith had supplanted Kubiak. Easterby should never have decided anything if they chose to follow O’Brien.

Since firing O’Brien we’ve gone from Easterby to Cal to Lovie & now Hannah & all Caserio’s done is cash his checks.

Wow...

So blinders / blinkers really work.

 

[Texian]

Cal wasn't involved in Culley nor Lovie. Cal let Jack and his buddy Nick run the clown show and give a guy like McCown 3 or 4 interviews. He let the clown show continue when the only interview Culley ever got in 20 yrs of coaching were from the Texans. Not only that, they wanted to pick the staff and do everything for Culley. They had Lovie already in town knowing that Frazier wouldn't ever hire Lovie after what went down in Tampa.

Caserio was also in the coach's box wearing headphones directing Culley and the game while Easterby was parading the sideline.

 

[Double Barrel]

$36 million for 6 years. Someone was taking the job.

The McNairs have never had a problem paying people. Their glaring flaw has mostly been paying the wrong people for the job. It remains to be seen if Nick is just another one on that list.

 

[TexansBull]

Cal wasn't involved in Culley nor Lovie. Cal let Jack and his buddy Nick run the clown show and give a guy like McCown 3 or 4 interviews. He let the clown show continue when the only interview Culley ever got in 20 yrs of coaching were from the Texans. Not only that, they wanted to pick the staff and do everything for Culley. They had Lovie already in town knowing that Frazier wouldn't ever hire Lovie after what went down in Tampa.

Wrong. Cal wanted Lovie to remain as DC. That’s why Gannon pulled out.

Easterby was the one behind McCown and at that time Easterby had Cal’s ear.

Culley was the perfect tank coordinator. Had he remained we would have the #1 pick this year.

 

[zshawn10]

A People's History of First-Guessing the Houston Texans - riversmccown.com

I’ve been pretty quiet of late on the Texans Daily Draft Frenzy because there’s not a lot of reason to log in to what is being shared. Nothing you consume will change the fact that the team will do what it will do. But I have a thought that I need to share, and it’s … Continue reading "A...

www.riversmccown.com

I’ve been pretty quiet of late on the Texans Daily Draft Frenzy because there’s not a lot of reason to log in to what is being shared. Nothing you consume will change the fact that the team will do what it will do. But I have a thought that I need to share, and it’s about the idea of passing on a quarterback in this draft.

That thought is: I sure would love it if the Texans stopped trying to believe they were smarter than the room.
To say that being a fan of this team has been made needlessly difficult by the people in charge over the past decade would be an understatement. We have been eating football gruel since Deshaun Watson filed a trade request. J.J. Watt’s prime was wasted with quarterbacks who weren’t able to get him to the promised land. Not only is this team nationally irrelevant, they are so irrelevant that even trying to talk them up as being a year away over the last couple seasons has been a waste of time. They lacked the talent to have a good team, and they also lacked a coach who could lead the team in a manner of play from this decade. I couldn’t tell you a damn thing about how Derek Stingley’s 2022 play would matter for his future because how he was used in 2022 was so obviously never going to be the long-term play here.

But I want to put that aside for a second and make sure I focus on the one thing I need you all to get out of this: None of the things that got the Texans to where they are today were all that hard to see coming.

I have pointed out many of them along the way since I started actually putting Texans stuff back on the radar in 2018. I’ve been bringing up stuff like this since 2009. I don’t say this to feed an ego — I know I’m not always right, and also that I shouldn’t always be right, as I don’t have the information that teams have — I say this because if someone like me, with little to no inside sources or deeper organizational knowledge can see it happening, then anybody can.

So I sat down and thought about it for twenty minutes last night. This is just a list of things I’ve written about at some point in the past 10 years that were fairly easy to see coming. They are things that weren’t about second-guessing a problem that occurred after the fact, but about first-guessing from the moment it became clear that this would happen. Several of these things have been written about on this very website!

OK, no more stalling:

-Lovie Smith was not fit to be an NFL head coach in 2022.
-Nick Caserio’s free agency strategy would never deliver long-term value to this roster.
-David Culley was not a worthwhile head-coaching candidate. (Did you know, non-Texans fans, that Culley has not even coached at another stop since being fired? He hasn’t even coached for a high-school team!)
-Keeping Jack Easterby would drive this team into the ground as he focused on character and chemistry instead of accumulating talent. Keeping him when he was supposedly a main reason that the franchise quarterback wanted out — despite the fact that said franchise quarterback would go on to ill fame — was patently idiotic.
-The DeAndre Hopkins trade would be a boondoggle.
-The Laremy Tunsil trade would be a boondoggle.
-Bringing in Randall Cobb had a whiff of desperation. (Did you remember that Randall Cobb was on this team? It happened!)
-Re-signing Whitney Mercilus in late 2019 didn’t bring the team any upside.
-The team failed to effectively maximize it’s cap window with Watson on a rookie contract by bringing in star-level talent in free agency.
-The Brock Osweiler signing would be a debacle.
-Not drafting a quarterback in 2014 would be a major mistake and set the team up for years of cascade mistakes.

Now I could have gone deeper on this list. You probably have your own that I left off — that’s the beauty of a 20-minute list. I did not mention, for instance, looking at this the morning after, that they literally just gave away Brandin Cooks for beans because they pissed him off. I did not mention that it was extremely easy to see that Matt Schaub was falling apart late in 2012 and that relying on him going forward was an iffy proposition. I didn’t bring up firing Brian Gaine out of nowhere! This was quick and from the gut.

OK, so now a much shorter list. This is the 20-minute list of things that I can remember the Texans doing that were widely praised by the national media over the past 10 years.
-Hiring DeMeco Ryans.
-Signing Tyrann Mathieu before the 2018 season.
-Trading up for Deshaun Watson.

With some hindsight and some research, I think you could add something like “extending J.J. Watt” and “extending Watson,” which were easy calls even if Watson would later use the no-trade clause to destroy the franchise’s leverage. I think people were excited about hiring Bill O’Brien at the time, but I wasn’t sure if that hit the widespread attention that these other things did.

My point here isn’t to say that the Texans should run themselves through the lens of what the national media believes. I think there’s plenty of room to believe different things and evaluate differently through the context of scheme fits than what a former player says in a suit in front of a camera. I also believe they have a lot more information than we do.

What I am saying is … if there is one team that I don’t think has any benefit of the doubt, on any level, from anyone in the damn building, about bucking national consensus … it’s this goddamn team. This team would have been in a markedly better position today than it actually is if they ran the team via fan poll for the last five years.
So when I write what I write about the quarterbacks in this class after the next section, spare me the fan explanations about how they know better than I. The last thing I want to be is the one with a better record on seeing this team’s moves for what they are than the team itself. I want them to succeed. I would love to feel stupid in the service of this team actually being good.
But they can’t get out of their own way, and being “bold” has not been a good look for this franchise.

Houston’s general manager isn’t leaving, per his own words. That does not mean that he won’t be fired. And it doesn’t mean that we believe he’s got much rope left. Lance Zierlein said he doesn’t see Caserio getting out of next year with a job unless things go well and Ryans takes to him. And even in the midst of a ton of gratitude expressed by Caserio on Monday, here was the quote that showed he doesn’t know where he stands with ownership in the long-term:

Nick Caserio: 'As long as ownership approves of what we're trying to do, certainly their support is welcome.' @KPRC2
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 17, 2023

But there was another answer I wanted to talk about that did not get much public play, and it did not get much public play because a) the answer was longer than a Twitter-length clip and b) because it is a depressing thing to take in all at once.

“If we do that, and with enough people, then … hopefully we put ourselves in a position to have some modicum of success. It doesn’t guarantee success, nothing is guaranteed. Like, we’re not guaranteed tomorrow … there’s only so many things you can control … when you look at some of the things that are going on societally, it kind of puts things in perspective … we have to read Sunday morning about another mass shooting that’s taking place in our country … when you just put it in the perspective of football, I mean I’d say it kind of shows you it pales in comparison.”

Here’s what drives me up the wall about Caserio in a quote. He’s smart enough to understand a lot about being an NFL general manager. By all means, he should be doing better than he is if this were purely about how much he knows. He’s a good human who is aware of his place in the world.

But look at what he said … he says there are no guarantees. It takes ego to be a general manager. It really does. You have to believe that your way is best. Just as it takes some ego for me to write this piece because I believe it is the best interpretation of how this team should run.
Your job isn’t to take in all the world’s information, but to take in all that information, suss out what is the best way to run a team from your research, and act on it. But he has no belief about that, or anything of that sort. He is a man who has taken in all the information of the world and drowned in it. Now the only way he can build a roster is vaguely shrugging his shoulders and saying “if this works out, great, and if not this contract isn’t onerous and I can try again next year.” He sees the downside in every contract and every risk. But building a team is an act of ego that entails risks! The egoless general manager that runs the Texans has made a team that has risked nothing and has gained nothing for it.

The capper is bringing up mass shootings. He did something like that early in the Deshaun Watson Requests A Trade Era, at the Culley inaugural presser I believe, where he wistfully kind of ruminated on the fact that there are bigger things in the world than being mad about what happens with his football team. I understand the sentiment, but … my dude … it’s literally your job to run the football team. It might make you a better citizen of the world to put that perspective out there, but do you know what I care about? You making the football team good. That’s all. I’m here to enjoy my brain watching football get solved by the best minds in the sport.

If Bryce Young was the only quarterback you liked, why — why? — did you not find a way to get the first pick? Lose the final game or have some urgency in a trade up. But even this conviction that Young is the guy is not enough of a conviction to demand a risk.
What I find instead is a man who has more questions than answers. Someone who has so little confidence in what he’s doing that he can’t even say that finding the right people means he’ll have a “modicum” of success.

 

[Porky]

YES YES a million times yes! Thanks for posting Shawn. Rivers McCown knocked it out of the park. I like Nick the man, but as a GM, he treads too lightly in so many different ways. I cannot praise this article enough.