Nick Caserio - New GM

[steelbtexan]

We are in the midst of a trifecta-

A top tier GM. A top tier QB. A top tier HC.

And an owner that learned to stay the f*ck out of the way.

(Ok. That is actually 4 and not 3 but trifecta sounds more smarter.)

Ownership is the biggest thing, even though Janice had the last say, she allowed Cal to hire Caserio. Then she had a stroke which allowed Cal to have the final say and Cal allowed Caserio to bring in guys like Diggs, Mixon.

Caserio's biggest deal was fleecing the Browns. He also listened to Pep and McDaniels and traded up for Collins..


Caserio ability to work with Ryans and get the types of players Ryans wants although Ryans wasn't Caserio's first choice speaks volumes about Caserio's selflessness. It's quite different from the RS era.


Yes, Caserio got lucky when he drafted Stroud, but usually people who work really hard are the people who seem to get lucky. At least this has been my experience.

 

[thunderkyss]

How would y'all feel if Mills was our starter last year? Everything else the same. Would we have made the playoffs?

What if Mills wasn't the QB & we brought in any other QB not named Stroud? Richardson, Levis... Flacco, Cousins? Would we still be talking about the great job he did?

I'm not saying he didn't, but I don't think Nico would be Nico & I don't think we'd have brought in Diggs, Hunter, or Mixon.

 

[Sweech]

How would y'all feel if Mills was our starter last year? Everything else the same. Would we have made the playoffs?

What if Mills wasn't the QB & we brought in any other QB not named Stroud? Richardson, Levis... Flacco, Cousins? Would we still be talking about the great job he did?

I'm not saying he didn't, but I don't think Nico would be Nico & I don't think we'd have brought in Diggs, Hunter, or Mixon.

If my grandma had wheels she would have been a bike.

Your argument is hinging on a bunch of hypotheticals and then building further hypotheticals off of that.

The fact is Caserio did land the coach, he did nail the QB and he did all those other things.

If we're taking away hitting on the QB I hate to tell you but there's probably no good GMs right now.

 

[thunderkyss]

If my grandma had wheels she would have been a bike.

Your argument is hinging on a bunch of hypotheticals and then building further hypotheticals off of that.

The fact is Caserio did land the coach, he did nail the QB and he did all those other things.

If we're taking away hitting on the QB I hate to tell you but there's probably no good GMs right now.

Rumor is, & many people believe it, he & DeMeco were going to take Anderson & only Anderson. That's the basis of my "what if"

I explicitly stated I'm not saying Caserio didn't do a good job, though I admit at the time of some of the moves he made I wasn't happy & still believe they could have been done better.

He nailed the QB decision. Heck, we're lucky Carolina botched the QB decision. I really like what he's done since he saw what we saw last season. But many of the moves he made between taking the job & drafting Cj are still questionable.

 

[TexansBull]

How would y'all feel if Mills was our starter last year? Everything else the same. Would we have made the playoffs?

What if Mills wasn't the QB & we brought in any other QB not named Stroud? Richardson, Levis... Flacco, Cousins? Would we still be talking about the great job he did?

I'm not saying he didn't, but I don't think Nico would be Nico & I don't think we'd have brought in Diggs, Hunter, or Mixon.

That’s the point. Caserio didn’t do those things. He drafted players well ahead of having the necessary pieces to complement the incoming players that weren’t on the the roster. Then one player complements another player so that acquiring players like Diggs, Hunter and Mixon makes sense.

Thats roster building at its finest.

I can’t believe your argument is a scenario of “but what if it didn’t work? Would you like him then?”

Like -what?

That’s like saying “What if your wife had a penis? Would you marry her then? Well then maybe you shouldn’t be married to her now.”

 

[TexansBull]

But many of the moves he made between taking the job & drafting Cj are still questionable.

What are these many moves that are questionable?

 

[chenjy9]

What are these many moves that are questionable?

Extending Howard off the top of my head. Green is looking like he's panning out though.

 

[thunderkyss]

I can’t believe your argument is a scenario of “but what if it didn’t work? Would you like him then?”

That's not my argument. Did Hana put pressure on Nick to draft a QB? We argued about that until Stroud started kicking but.

It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time.

My point is a QB like Stroud hides a bunch of warts. So let's say he lucked into Stroud. That decision drove the decision to go get Diggs, Mixon, Autry, Hunter & Fatakusi.

We'd still be arguing about the job he's doing if he did what we believed he was going to do.

 

[NitroGSXR]

What are these many moves that are questionable?

Don’t bother responding. It’s redundant.

Lol.

Personally I have a hard time with Caserio hate. When I see people hate on him… I seem to read Caserio as Casserly. They be stuck in the ice age.

 

[Dejaview]

Delete

 

[Dejaview]

We are in the midst of a trifecta-

A top tier GM. A top tier QB. A top tier HC.

And an owner that learned to stay the f*ck out of the way.

(Ok. That is actually 4 and not 3 but trifecta sounds more smarter.)

Foreplay sounds smarter than trifecta.

 

[TexansBull]

Extending Howard off the top of my head. Green is looking like he's panning out though.

You know if I asked someone who didn’t like Rick Smith’s GM moves I am sure they could name more than one off the top of their head.

Or Casserly’s.

Or OB the GM.

That’s the crazy thing. No one is going to bat 1000. And Caserio makes a ton of moves all season. He doesn’t sit pat. He works the waiver. He picks players off practice squads. He makes trades. Dude is always wheeling and dealing.

So if you can only think of one of the top of your head that is a head scratcher. Because for Caserio that is one out of ten moves when the typical GM, especially the ones we have had the misfortune of having, make 3 or 4 I would suspect.

 

[TexansBull]

Foreplay sounds smarter than trifecta.

You won the internet today.

 

[TexansBull]

That's not my argument. Did Hana put pressure on Nick to draft a QB? We argued about that until Stroud started kicking but.

It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time.

My point is a QB like Stroud hides a bunch of warts. So let's say he lucked into Stroud. That decision drove the decision to go get Diggs, Mixon, Autry, Hunter & Fatakusi.

We'd still be arguing about the job he's doing if he did what we believed he was going to do.

“Hannah (McNair) and I don’t make the picks. We’ll make it clear there,” McNair told ESPN. “We have a great group of scouts led by Nick [Caserio] and James Lippert, and they did a lot of work on the draft board, and then they followed that on draft day, and they moved up when they saw the value was there and moved back.”

'I Don't Make The Picks!' Texans Cal McNair Denies Rumor of Forced C.J. Stroud Pick

Texans owner Cal McNair made sure to set the record straight about the possibility of him forcing the selection of C.J. Stroud.

www.si.com

They didn’t make the pick. And Nick got a promotion from that draft.

Rumor had it Caserio was going to be fired. Or he wanted to leave to go back to New England. Rumor has it I got a big Johnson.

What are you to believe? You cherry pick the rumors you want to believe based on bias.

 

[TexansBull]

Foreplay sounds smarter than trifecta.

Texans fans are experiencing the best and only foreplay they have the ever had!

Texans are in the midst of a foreplay!

Texans have executed the hardest thing to do - the perfect foreplay.

Texans fans are experiencing the joy of the foreplay.

 

[thunderkyss]

They didn’t make the pick.

Who said they made the pick?

 

[TexansBull]

Who said they made the pick?

That's not my argument. Did Hana put pressure on Nick to draft a QB? We argued about that until Stroud started kicking but.

It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time.

Is that you or just the rumor?

 

[cland]

People, for the love of football, we're finally here! Reading this post, it's like browsing the Carolina Panthers message board after they figured out they got the wrong guy.

Put your damn I told-you-so's/I'm smarter than you's/you said-they said in a damn box so you don't miss the NOW!--that we've been waiting for since 2002: Star QB, star HC, and a star GM with several healthy years ahead of us.

 

[Sweech]

You know if I asked someone who didn’t like Rick Smith’s GM moves I am sure they could name more than one off the top of their head.

Or Casserly’s.

Or OB the GM.

That’s the crazy thing. No one is going to bat 1000. And Caserio makes a ton of moves all season. He doesn’t sit pat. He works the waiver. He picks players off practice squads. He makes trades. Dude is always wheeling and dealing.

So if you can only think of one of the top of your head that is a head scratcher. Because for Caserio that is one out of ten moves when the typical GM, especially the ones we have had the misfortune of having, make 3 or 4 I would suspect.

He also has the key ability of being able to swallow his own ego and correct his own mistakes. Rather than trying to drag them out and act like he was right and others are wrong.

 

[TheRealJoker V2]

He also has the key ability of being able to swallow his own ego and correct his own mistakes. Rather than trying to drag them out and act like he was right and others are wrong.

That’s his biggest strength. The ability to recognize a sunk cost.

 

[thunderkyss]

Is that you or just the rumor?

That's saying they told Nick to draft a QB, not telling him which QB to take.

 

[steelbtexan]

That’s the point. Caserio didn’t do those things. He drafted players well ahead of having the necessary pieces to complement the incoming players that weren’t on the the roster. Then one player complements another player so that acquiring players like Diggs, Hunter and Mixon makes sense.

Thats roster building at its finest.

I can’t believe your argument is a scenario of “but what if it didn’t work? Would you like him then?”

Like -what?

That’s like saying “What if your wife had a penis? Would you marry her then? Well then maybe you shouldn’t be married to her now.”

Haters gonna hate


Some struggle to admit they are wrong.

 

[steelbtexan]

He also has the key ability of being able to swallow his own ego and correct his own mistakes. Rather than trying to drag them out and act like he was right and others are wrong.

Unlike RS and BOB.

 

[steelbtexan]

That’s his biggest strength. The ability to recognize a sunk cost.

So different from past GM's.

 

[TexansBull]

That's saying they told Nick to draft a QB, not telling him which QB to take.

lol.

We are going to the length to say Nick isn’t a good GM because the McNairs may have told him to draft a QB based on a rumor, and that QB was good enough to make all the other pieces he drafted prior like WRs, OL, TE, etc and then enabled him to make FA acquisitions and trades that worked out so really Nick hasn’t done anything of value.

Cool story bro.

 

[The Pencil Neck]

lol.

We are going to the length to say Nick isn’t a good GM because the McNairs may have told him to draft a QB based on a rumor, and that QB was good enough to make all the other pieces he drafted prior like WRs, OL, TE, etc and then enabled him to make FA acquisitions and trades that worked out so really Nick hasn’t done anything of value.

Cool story bro.

I don't understand the problem.

There was a file.

He clerked the hell out of it.

 

[Texansballer74]

“Hannah (McNair) and I don’t make the picks. We’ll make it clear there,” McNair told ESPN. “We have a great group of scouts led by Nick [Caserio] and James Lippert, and they did a lot of work on the draft board, and then they followed that on draft day, and they moved up when they saw the value was there and moved back.”

'I Don't Make The Picks!' Texans Cal McNair Denies Rumor of Forced C.J. Stroud Pick

Texans owner Cal McNair made sure to set the record straight about the possibility of him forcing the selection of C.J. Stroud.

www.si.com

They didn’t make the pick. And Nick got a promotion from that draft.

Rumor had it Caserio was going to be fired. Or he wanted to leave to go back to New England. Rumor has it I got a big Johnson.

What are you to believe? You cherry pick the rumors you want to believe based on bias.

Lmao exactly. I posted that article way back then and was told by one particular member that it was a lie. He heard a rumor from a trusted source on here and ran with it as truth. Shoots I posted the darn interview with Cal saying they don’t make those picks and he leave it up to those that are capable of doing so.

But this is so darn factual around these parts. lol

[What are you to believe? You cherry pick the rumors you want to believe based on bias.]

 

[thunderkyss]

We are going to the length to say Nick isn’t a good GM

Where did I say that? You're confusing criticism for hate. I'm happy with Caserio


Now

Moreso for what he's done since drafting Stroud & Anderson but stand by everything I said before.

 

[steelbtexan]

lol.

We are going to the length to say Nick isn’t a good GM because the McNairs may have told him to draft a QB based on a rumor, and that QB was good enough to make all the other pieces he drafted prior like WRs, OL, TE, etc and then enabled him to make FA acquisitions and trades that worked out so really Nick hasn’t done anything of value.

Cool story bro.

That's the definition of a hater

 

[Mr teX]

Thread should be dead…dude has made nothing but prudent necessary moves. Some may have hurt a little, others, you may not have understood them at the time, but at the end of the day, we got to where we were trying to get to & we got here faster than some if not most everyone would’ve thought.

Just goes to show how much fans…& media types really don’t know.

 

[Dejaview]

Texans fans are experiencing the best and only foreplay they have the ever had!

Texans are in the midst of a foreplay!

Texans have executed the hardest thing to do - the perfect foreplay.

Texans fans are experiencing the joy of the foreplay.

Lol, I tried to play golf before but it just dissolved into a Fore!play. I once hit my brother and he was standing almost at a right angle to me . Our only rule when teeing off is that you couldn’t physically touch the one teeing off. Anything else was fair.

 

[Texansballer74]

The only time I was a little upset with Nick was when he kept dropping and adding players. I didn’t understand the reasoning behind those moves. But since he has his HC and QB, he’s not doing that as much.

 

[thunderkyss]

The only time I was a little upset with Nick was when he kept dropping and adding players. I didn’t understand the reasoning behind those moves. But since he has his HC and QB, he’s not doing that as much.

& there's nothing wrong with saying that. Some people act like he walks on water or something.

 

[Mr teX]

The only time I was a little upset with Nick was when he kept dropping and adding players. I didn’t understand the reasoning behind those moves. But since he has his HC and QB, he’s not doing that as much.

My whole thing was we couldn’t really judge him until the DW4 thing resolved itself. It just held so many things up and hamstrung him. Some in here believed that he would be graded SOLELY on how we came out of that from a draft capital standpoint, but I wasn’t so sure as we couldnt really control that; the market was gonna dictate that.

The bedrock of any GM is how well he drafts and whether he has his qb or not. The HC is interchangeable imo simply b/c the QB and HC are usually joined at the hip. But just based on that, NC hit it out the park. The 2022 & 2023 drafts have provided us key foundational guys with Green, Stingley, Pitre, Stroud and Anderson. Hell we didn’t even have a 1st or 2nd in 2021 and it’s still looking like a pretty good class with Nico emerging and Mills solidifying the backup qb role. Rumor was he was all set to ink Gannon as the HC which probably would’ve been pretty solid as well but settling for Meco was a nice consolation prize.

The guy knows what he’s doing and He imo is already the greatest GM in Texans history.

 

[TexansBull]

But many of the moves he made between taking the job & drafting Cj are still questionable.

What are these many moves that are questionable?

I guess there weren’t as many as we thought.

 

[thunderkyss]

My whole thing was we couldn’t really judge him until the DW4 thing resolved itself. It just held so many things up and hamstrung him.

I wanted a fire sale. I wanted to stack cash & roll it over year after year. I wanted to trade down & stack future picks & add whatever he got from a DW4 deal & build from there.

But the main thing that upset me about Nick was that he couldn't persuade Cal to his side of issues, opposed to Easterby about football issues.

Things worked out fine, Hannah took care of Easterby & gave Nick an Alpha to follow in DeMeco, so alls well that ends well.

 

[thunderkyss]

I guess there weren’t as many as we thought.

Sorry didn't know you were asking me. Go back through the threads. We argued this stuff for years. It all ended after Stroud. Anything else is revisionist history.

 

[AggiebyMarriage]

That's not my argument. Did Hana put pressure on Nick to draft a QB? We argued about that until Stroud started kicking but.

It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time.

My point is a QB like Stroud hides a bunch of warts. So let's say he lucked into Stroud. That decision drove the decision to go get Diggs, Mixon, Autry, Hunter & Fatakusi.

We'd still be arguing about the job he's doing if he did what we believed he was going to do.

This is a response to the statement: "It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time."

This is a partial "Re-Post" of a post I did last year. But I think the logic behind this post is still valid. I still cannot think of another reason that the Texans would have hired Jerrod Johnson as the new QB coach back in February 2023, if they did not already have their eyes on CJ Stroud as their future QB. Follow my logic and see what you think.

"I think that Caserio/Ryans were in on CJ Stroud from the very beginning of the Draft process.

Why do I think these facts are true, you ask? If you pay close attention and follow the bread crumbs, there is a definite line of reasoning, that strongly suggests that CJ Stroud was the Texan's "GUY" all along.

After Demeco got hired the first thing he did was hire Bobby Slowick. Bobby Slowick is a card carrying cititzen of the Kubiackishannahanistanian Nation of offensive systems. But on the same day that they announced Slowicks hiring (Feb 12th), they announced the hiring of the Texans new QB coach Jerrod Johnson. So why did they hire Johnson along with Slowick? Jerrod Johnson basically had no experience in the Shannahan offensive system, he had been an assistant coach with the Colts and the Vikings, neither of which which ran the Shannahan offensive system. So why did they hire Jerrod rather than someone that already knew the system? Why did they hire a QB coach that had no experience with the offensive system that Slowick was going to run? This seems like a major disconnect.

So why hire Jerrod Johnson, even though Jerrod had no experience in the Shannahan system, he was a well thought of, up and coming coach. However, you could apply that same label "well thought of, up and coming coach" to a lot of other guy's in the NFL, so again why Jerrod Johnson?

The answer is very simple. Of all, of all the potential QB coaches that the Texans could have hired, Jerrod Johnson had something that absolutely no one else had. A history of personally coaching and improving CJ Stroud's QB skills and technique.

Jerrod's history with CJ goes back to CJ's High School days, back when CJ was thought of as a good, but not elite QB talent. There is an annual High School showcase QB competition called the "Elite 11". In 2019 CJ as a High School Senior, was not selected to attend the Elite 11 competition but instead was pick as an alternate. CJ at this time did not have any scholarship offer's from any big time schools. As it turned out one of the selected candidates suffered a late injury, and CJ was picked up as a participant. However they did not have a coach to handle CJ's squad. So the Elite 11 people, called a little known ex-Aggie QB by the name of Jerrod Johnson, and asked him if he would coach the the stray dog they had added to the participants. They thought that even though Jerrod was not a high profile QB coach, he was only coaching an alternate so what damage could be done. Well as it turns out under Jerrod's coaching tutelage, CJ Stroud the alternate, ended up as the Elite 11 MVP. Based on the Elite 11 Showcase results, CJ Stroud received a scholarship offer from Ohio State and the rest is history. Thus, Jerrod Johnson was a major influence on CJ Stoud's football career.

Now the whole point of this diatribe, is the fact that the Texans hired Jerrod Johnson as the new Texans QB Coach, all the way back on Feb 12th rather than any of the numerous Shannahan System guy's that they could have hired. This hiring is strong circumstantial evidence that CJ Stroud was the Texans QB draft target all the way back on Feb 12th.

Yes this is only circumstantial evidence, as to what actually happened we will never know for sure until everyone retires. But the fact that they hired Jerrod Johnson as QB Coach out of no where, and then drafted CJ Stroud when no one had a clue they were considering CJ with the 2nd pick, seems awfully coincidental, considering the history those two had."

 

[thunderkyss]

This is a response to the statement: "It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time."

This is a partial "Re-Post" of a post I did last year. But I think the logic behind this post is still valid. I still cannot think of another reason that the Texans would have hired Jerrod Johnson as the new QB coach back in February 2023, if they did not already have their eyes on CJ Stroud as their future QB. Follow my logic and see what you think.

"I think that Caserio/Ryans were in on CJ Stroud from the very beginning of the Draft process.

Why do I think these facts are true, you ask? If you pay close attention and follow the bread crumbs, there is a definite line of reasoning, that strongly suggests that CJ Stroud was the Texan's "GUY" all along.

After Demeco got hired the first thing he did was hire Bobby Slowick. Bobby Slowick is a card carrying cititzen of the Kubiackishannahanistanian Nation of offensive systems. But on the same day that they announced Slowicks hiring (Feb 12th), they announced the hiring of the Texans new QB coach Jerrod Johnson. So why did they hire Johnson along with Slowick? Jerrod Johnson basically had no experience in the Shannahan offensive system, he had been an assistant coach with the Colts and the Vikings, neither of which which ran the Shannahan offensive system. So why did they hire Jerrod rather than someone that already knew the system? Why did they hire a QB coach that had no experience with the offensive system that Slowick was going to run? This seems like a major disconnect.

So why hire Jerrod Johnson, even though Jerrod had no experience in the Shannahan system, he was a well thought of, up and coming coach. However, you could apply that same label "well thought of, up and coming coach" to a lot of other guy's in the NFL, so again why Jerrod Johnson?

The answer is very simple. Of all, of all the potential QB coaches that the Texans could have hired, Jerrod Johnson had something that absolutely no one else had. A history of personally coaching and improving CJ Stroud's QB skills and technique.

Jerrod's history with CJ goes back to CJ's High School days, back when CJ was thought of as a good, but not elite QB talent. There is an annual High School showcase QB competition called the "Elite 11". In 2019 CJ as a High School Senior, was not selected to attend the Elite 11 competition but instead was pick as an alternate. CJ at this time did not have any scholarship offer's from any big time schools. As it turned out one of the selected candidates suffered a late injury, and CJ was picked up as a participant. However they did not have a coach to handle CJ's squad. So the Elite 11 people, called a little known ex-Aggie QB by the name of Jerrod Johnson, and asked him if he would coach the the stray dog they had added to the participants. They thought that even though Jerrod was not a high profile QB coach, he was only coaching an alternate so what damage could be done. Well as it turns out under Jerrod's coaching tutelage, CJ Stroud the alternate, ended up as the Elite 11 MVP. Based on the Elite 11 Showcase results, CJ Stroud received a scholarship offer from Ohio State and the rest is history. Thus, Jerrod Johnson was a major influence on CJ Stoud's football career.

Now the whole point of this diatribe, is the fact that the Texans hired Jerrod Johnson as the new Texans QB Coach, all the way back on Feb 12th rather than any of the numerous Shannahan System guy's that they could have hired. This hiring is strong circumstantial evidence that CJ Stroud was the Texans QB draft target all the way back on Feb 12th.

Yes this is only circumstantial evidence, as to what actually happened we will never know for sure until everyone retires. But the fact that they hired Jerrod Johnson as QB Coach out of no where, and then drafted CJ Stroud when no one had a clue they were considering CJ with the 2nd pick, seems awfully coincidental, considering the history those two had."

As we argued back then, that only makes sense if the Texans were drafting #1 overall. David Tepper could have had a revelation at any moment & drafted or traded the pick to a team who would draft Stroud.

Then what were we going to do, draft Young & six degree him to Jerod Johnson?

 

[AggiebyMarriage]

As we argued back then, that only makes sense if the Texans were drafting #1 overall. David Tepper could have had a revelation at any moment & drafted or traded the pick to a team who would draft Stroud.

Then what were we going to do, draft Young & six degree him to Jerod Johnson?

In February of 2023 it was a forgone conclusion by EVERYONE (except the Texans) that Bryce Young was going to be the 1st pick, no matter who made that pick. There was some chatter about the Texans trading up to the 1st pick with the Bears.

If the Texans would have done that deal. who would have they picked? I would say based on the Johnson hiring, the Texans would have picked CJ with the 1st pick. The Texans backed off that trade when they realized that the idiot known as the Panther's owner, was going to give up a "King's ransom" for the right to pick the 2023 winner of the S2 test contest, with the 1st pick in the draft.

But, I think CJ would have been Texans pick no matter where they made the pick.

 

[Porky]

To be fair, the Texans tried to trade up to #1 in 2023. At the time I thought it was for Bryce but perhaps it was to ensure they get CJ.

Edit - Aggie posted at the same time as me, but our thoughts are the same. They were trying to get to #1 to get their QB.

 

[mws]

All I can say is I'm glad Caserio is our GM, Ryans is our HC, Slowik is our OC & Stroud is our QB. We are 2-0 for the first time since 2016 and we are even hearing superbowl & Texans in the same sentence. Right now is a great time to be a Texans fan.

 

[Sweech]

All I can say is I'm glad Caserio is our GM, Ryans is our HC, Slowik is our OC & Stroud is our QB. We are 2-0 for the first time since 2016 and we are even hearing superbowl & Texans in the same sentence. Right now is a great time to be a Texans fan.

It's such a good time to be a fan that I now occasionally get accused of being a bandwaggonner when it's not even like they've won anything - That's when you know the team is good.

 

[Mr teX]

To be fair, the Texans tried to trade up to #1 in 2023. At the time I thought it was for Bryce but perhaps it was to ensure they get CJ.

Edit - Aggie posted at the same time as me, but our thoughts are the same. They were trying to get to #1 to get their QB.

If Tepper doesn’t **** the bed and he takes CJ instead I think that we would’ve take Anderson 2 and then kinda waited to see how far Young would’ve fallen before we traded up to get him…which would’ve likely been somewhere between 5 and Tennessee’s pick at 11 b/c I think Indy was locked in on Richardson at 4 as Ballard’s a measureables guy. That’s comforting …..and scary at the same time considering what has happened to Young up to this point in his career.

But I say all that to say, Anyone making any grand pronouncements about what NC and the Texans would’ve done or who they liked etc etc..based on draft day rumors and chatter…when we know a lot of it is put out there for misdirection…it’s nonsensical imo. Especially when you consider that there were NO rumors floating out there about us possibly moving up to the 3 spot to get Anderson.

But………For the record, I think the Texans & NC would’ve been comfortable with either Young or Stroud and they knew they were guaranteed to get a shot at taking at least 1 of them. The rumored move up to 1…I just don’t believe that they were head over heels enough to give up a ton of draft capital to move up 1 spot…even if it was for CJ.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

That's not my argument. Did Hana put pressure on Nick to draft a QB? We argued about that until Stroud started kicking but.

It's likely that his plan was to draft Will Anderson, & address QB at some other time.

My point is a QB like Stroud hides a bunch of warts. So let's say he lucked into Stroud. That decision drove the decision to go get Diggs, Mixon, Autry, Hunter & Fatakusi.

We'd still be arguing about the job he's doing if he did what we believed he was going to do.

In all honesty, I think Caserio and Ryans had their plan put together before the draft and got the green light to pursue by Cal and Hannah if the draft fell into place. No way they made this decision last second. Even in their post draft interview…..Caserio and Ryan’s alluded to their plan of attack.

 

[AggiebyMarriage]

If Tepper doesn’t **** the bed and he takes CJ instead I think that we would’ve take Anderson 2 and then kinda waited to see how far Young would’ve fallen before we traded up to get him…which would’ve likely been somewhere between 5 and Tennessee’s pick at 11 b/c I think Indy was locked in on Richardson at 4 as Ballard’s a measureables guy. That’s comforting …..and scary at the same time considering what has happened to Young up to this point in his career.

But I say all that to say, Anyone making any grand pronouncements about what NC and the Texans would’ve done or who they liked etc etc..based on draft day rumors and chatter…when we know a lot of it is put out there for misdirection…it’s nonsensical imo. Especially when you consider that there were NO rumors floating out there about us possibly moving up to the 3 spot to get Anderson.

But………For the record, I think the Texans & NC would’ve been comfortable with either Young or Stroud and they knew they were guaranteed to get a shot at taking at least 1 of them. The rumored move up to 1…I just don’t believe that they were head over heels enough to give up a ton of draft capital to move up 1 spot…even if it was for CJ.

There were "NO rumors floating out there" because Nick and Demeco run their draft room tighter than a tick. The famous Stonewall Jackson quote "If I thought that it would keep my hair from finding out my plans, I would cut it off and be bald", completely applies to NC.

All the NFL insiders acknowledged this fact last year. NOBODY outside of the Texans inter circle had any clue as to what the Texans were doing in the draft. the situation This year the situation was the same. nobody had a clue that the Texans had the Kamari Lassiter. in their sights in the 2nd round.

 

[thunderkyss]

In all honesty, I think Caserio and Ryans had their plan put together before the draft and got the green light to pursue by Cal and Hannah if the draft fell into place. No way they made this decision last second. Even in their post draft interview…..Caserio and Ryan’s alluded to their plan of attack.

Even if that was the case no one expected Stroud to play the way he does, his rookie season was record setting.

I'm not going to say Nick did a great job when we argued about the construction of this team until week 1 2023. There was a lot of questionable ish back then that are moot because he knocked the QB position out the park.

& like I said, he's been perfect since drafting Stroud. I'm on board with everything he's done since.

 

[badboy]

People, for the love of football, we're finally here! Reading this post, it's like browsing the Carolina Panthers message board after they figured out they got the wrong guy.

Put your damn I told-you-so's/I'm smarter than you's/you said-they said in a damn box so you don't miss the NOW!--that we've been waiting for since 2002: Star QB, star HC, and a star GM with several healthy years ahead of us.

Hey! What about me?
Danielle Hunter

Nico Collins

Will Anderson
Stefon Diggs
Laremy Tunsil
Joe Mixon
Derek Stingley

 

[badboy]

& there's nothing wrong with saying that. Some people act like he walks on water or something.

I think that was a different guy

 

[Sweech]

If Tepper doesn’t **** the bed and he takes CJ instead I think that we would’ve take Anderson 2 and then kinda waited to see how far Young would’ve fallen before we traded up to get him…which would’ve likely been somewhere between 5 and Tennessee’s pick at 11 b/c I think Indy was locked in on Richardson at 4 as Ballard’s a measureables guy. That’s comforting …..and scary at the same time considering what has happened to Young up to this point in his career.

But I say all that to say, Anyone making any grand pronouncements about what NC and the Texans would’ve done or who they liked etc etc..based on draft day rumors and chatter…when we know a lot of it is put out there for misdirection…it’s nonsensical imo. Especially when you consider that there were NO rumors floating out there about us possibly moving up to the 3 spot to get Anderson.

But………For the record, I think the Texans & NC would’ve been comfortable with either Young or Stroud and they knew they were guaranteed to get a shot at taking at least 1 of them. The rumored move up to 1…I just don’t believe that they were head over heels enough to give up a ton of draft capital to move up 1 spot…even if it was for CJ.

I always have a lot of skepticism about the Tepper forcing Bryce thing. Firstly it's Tepper so any negative story or rumour gets gobbled up as fact. Secondly MOST organizations, draft analysts, etc had Bryce as #1 - It's such weird revisionist history to act like a team taking Bryce #1 was only because of owner interference. Fact is most teams probably would have taken Bryce #1. And lastly those rumours all seemed to come out AFTER CJ was having a lot of early success and Bryce wasn't. That to me just screams a coach or GM trying to save face rather than there being much truth to the matter. If Tepper was that hard for Bryce I doubt he would have accepted them benching him this early.