dalemurphy
Hall of Fame
With the 2011 draft approaching, I thought it would be an interesting exercise to look back at the previous Smithiak drafts to attempt to ascertain what went wrong and what went right. According to McNair, Smith, and Kubiak, they were going to do a lot of self-evaluation this off-season and re-examine the way they have been operating. I would assume reviewing their previous draft day decisions would be a crucial component of the eval.
Lets look first at 2007:
It would be ill-advised to simply stare at the draft picks and draw conclusions. We need to time travel back to the state of the team after the 2006 season and leading up to the draft. Gary Kubiak took over one of the worst football teams I have ever seen one year earlier. The 2006 draft, which he orchestrated with Charlie Casserly, turned out to be the foundation of the current team.
Kubiak believed he could turn David Carr into a quality NFL QB. In Kubiaks system, Carr completed a high percentage of his passes but consistently frustrated Kubiak with his inability/willingness to look downfield. Eventually, Sage Rosenfels would replace Carr.
Heading into the season, the organization was relying on Dominick Davis/Williams to carry the running game again. By early preseason, we learned that DD had a degenerative knee condition and would choose to retire rather than attempt surgery and rehab. Enter Ron Dayne. Dayne was reasonably effective for the squad but most remember him for destroying the career of rookie LT Charles Spencer, who reminded many of a young Erik Williams. The organization searched desperately for five seasons for a franchise LT and two games into his rookie season, the Dayne train shattered his leg.
The first month of football was ugly but the team steadily improved, winning six games (including a late season victory against the Indianapolis Colts). Rookies Mario Williams, Demeco Ryans, Eric Winston, and Owen Daniels all performed well as each became starters and heavy contributors by the seasons end. The Texans also had acquired Kevin Walter in a trade with Cincinnati and the staff was excited about his future along side Andre Johnson. Ephraim Salaam filled in admirably at LT after the Spencer injury and guards Chester Pitts and Fred Weary became a strength of the team.
The Texans entered the off-season with a lot of work to do:
Acquire a QB- the David Carr experiment was over they liked Sage Rosenfels but were not confident in him as a quality NFL starter.
Infuse talent on defense- All three levels of the defense lacked talent. At DL, the Texans were playing guys like Anthony Weaver, N.D. Kalu, Cedric Killings and Seth Payne. At LB, as excited as they were about Demeco Ryans, he was flanked by Morlon Greenwood and Shantee Orr. In the secondary, Dexter McCleon, Lewis Sander, Demarcus Faggins, Glenn Earl, and CC Brown were occupying space next to Dunta Robinson.
Offensively, the Texans needed youth at C and LT, and certainly needed help at RB, though rookie Chris Taylor had flashed some ability late in the season.
CONTINUE Article Here
Lets look first at 2007:
It would be ill-advised to simply stare at the draft picks and draw conclusions. We need to time travel back to the state of the team after the 2006 season and leading up to the draft. Gary Kubiak took over one of the worst football teams I have ever seen one year earlier. The 2006 draft, which he orchestrated with Charlie Casserly, turned out to be the foundation of the current team.
Kubiak believed he could turn David Carr into a quality NFL QB. In Kubiaks system, Carr completed a high percentage of his passes but consistently frustrated Kubiak with his inability/willingness to look downfield. Eventually, Sage Rosenfels would replace Carr.
Heading into the season, the organization was relying on Dominick Davis/Williams to carry the running game again. By early preseason, we learned that DD had a degenerative knee condition and would choose to retire rather than attempt surgery and rehab. Enter Ron Dayne. Dayne was reasonably effective for the squad but most remember him for destroying the career of rookie LT Charles Spencer, who reminded many of a young Erik Williams. The organization searched desperately for five seasons for a franchise LT and two games into his rookie season, the Dayne train shattered his leg.
The first month of football was ugly but the team steadily improved, winning six games (including a late season victory against the Indianapolis Colts). Rookies Mario Williams, Demeco Ryans, Eric Winston, and Owen Daniels all performed well as each became starters and heavy contributors by the seasons end. The Texans also had acquired Kevin Walter in a trade with Cincinnati and the staff was excited about his future along side Andre Johnson. Ephraim Salaam filled in admirably at LT after the Spencer injury and guards Chester Pitts and Fred Weary became a strength of the team.
The Texans entered the off-season with a lot of work to do:
Acquire a QB- the David Carr experiment was over they liked Sage Rosenfels but were not confident in him as a quality NFL starter.
Infuse talent on defense- All three levels of the defense lacked talent. At DL, the Texans were playing guys like Anthony Weaver, N.D. Kalu, Cedric Killings and Seth Payne. At LB, as excited as they were about Demeco Ryans, he was flanked by Morlon Greenwood and Shantee Orr. In the secondary, Dexter McCleon, Lewis Sander, Demarcus Faggins, Glenn Earl, and CC Brown were occupying space next to Dunta Robinson.
Offensively, the Texans needed youth at C and LT, and certainly needed help at RB, though rookie Chris Taylor had flashed some ability late in the season.
CONTINUE Article Here
