Let's stay on topic. I was responding to one of your post, where you said the patterns indicate Kubiak would give Wade one high priced player.
The pattern actually indicates Kubiak has invested damn near his entire draft to fix the defense.
As stubborn as the guy is, he knows there is a problem on defense. He knows the defense needs talent. He's been trying to do just that from day one.
The difference, & I agree, the clowns he had on that side of the ball didn't know what to do with the talent they were given, or didn't know what talent looked like. I see some very fine defensive players, Quin, Mario, Demeco, Cushing, even Pollard & Kjax........ so I don't think we are hurting as much from a talent stand point as many here want to believe. I think the coach (Wade) will make a huge difference.
I also don't understand why anyone would think Kubiak/Smith will stand in the way of Wade picking the top talent available.
If it's a money thing, we'll find out. I don't know why that's lingering out there, with the amount of money we've thrown away on bad players. But this off-season should be the definitive answer.
Bottom line, the pattern indicates Wade will have his say, and get his players.
I didn't stray from the topic. I was addressing free agency and you are talking about draft picks. Similar, yet vastly different.
You're trying to point to draft picks as proof of something so I'll go with the flow for a second here. I think it's possible that those draft picks that were made over the past 5 years, for the defense, were likely Gary and/or Rick's doing and not as much a result of the d-coord. In short: I think Gary and Rick were living vicariously though their d-coords in terms of acquiring defensive talent, with Gary and Rick ultimately using their bully pulpit to influence who Richard Smith and later on Frank Bush would ultimately select as their picks on defense. Not that the d-coord had "zero" say in the matter, but I think Gary and/or Rick would do their best to either narrow the field to the guys THEY felt were the best picks in a round or at a position of need on defense, and in some way Smithiak would find a way to get the d-coord to get the guy Smithiak wanted all along.
I can see Kubiak's success at building a good offense bleeding over into other areas, whereby he now uses his success on offense to be a bully pulpit so that he can influence his two past d-coords into trusting what Gary says about the matters on defense. In essence, our HC was trying to be responsible for the whole thing. He saw it as his duty to oversee and manage offense AND defense, with the coordinators serving mostly as assistants to him (Gary). This is certainly true on offense, and it doesn't take much imagination to think it could be extended to the defense as well. I'm not saying that Kubiak was calling defensive plays. I'm saying that the overall structure and the acquisitions were likely something that Kubiak had a huge hand in building.
I say this because the 5-year drought was marked by Kubiak giving HIS d-coordinators time to do their work, which is why Kubiak was so gosh-darned supportive of his d-coords (because Gary was truly the one running the show!!!) and then all of a sudden BAM! here's a McNair hiring (Wade Phillips) which breaks from the 5-year tradition we've had going on with Kubiak's methods. We now have, theoritically, a Senate and a House and McNair in the Executive branch--Checks and balances that I don't think were there before. It was Kubiak's ship on both sides of the ball. Those defensive draft picks, those defensive free agent acquisitions, and that overall defensive philosophy was Smithiak through and through. Their little experiment and dabbling in the defense is (or maybe I should say "should be" since I will believe it when I see it) over and done with.
We have a guy in place (Wade) who SHOULD be his own self-sufficient and self-governing entity and get whatever he wants and do whatever he wants. That's how it appears. I have learned that appearances can be deceiving. Intentions are funny little creatures. McNair might intend for it to play out a certain way, but when the real bullets start flying (as opposed to the Texans P.R. division's simulated war games) all roads paved by good intentions might lead straight to hell.
I think Kubiak's tenure is two-fold: It's marked by (a) creating a very efficient and potent offense, but is also marked by (b) stubborn "control" issues pertaining to the defense that wasted five years of said offense mastery.
It doesn't matter if the guy made a great offense. Football is a game of offens AND defense. Have we found a solution? Maybe. It's up to Kubiak and his ego, though.
THEREFORE, in reply to your statement that Kubiak has been "trying to address the problem" I say this: He never should have been trying to do something he's certainly and obviously unqualified to do, but he tried it anyway and it has cost us for 5 years. That makes me mad, TK. Mad at McNair for not stepping in and doing this 5 years ago like he should have. Mad at Kubiak, if my theory is right, for not being man enough to tell McNair he needs the best d-coord he could get his hands on (and I seriously doubt Richard Smith was that man at the time. Gene Chizik was available and went on to coach at Iowa State...but he was available at the time we hired Richard Smith. Such is life, though). The frustration level is deserved. The lack of trust some fans have, as well as the borderline "crazy conspiracy theory" mentality some of us have, is also deserved because of the epic failures of Gary Kubiak, Rick Smith, and Bob McNair on the defense side of the ball. Total fail. Not even 1% win, IMO.
