O'Brien vs. Kubiak

[maverick512000]

They worked together as has been reported many times. He is now gm because he wants the power to make incredibly dumb decisions others would sensibly oppose. He wants "consensus" which means anyone who disagrees with an idea is fired

Actually RS himself said that they had different visions for the team and he planned to go to Bob McNair and lay out his vision. The implications there are he expected OB to either be fired or at best made into a HC in name only.

 

[Texansballer74]

Almost as fascinating as seeing people posting the same thing only slightly reworded no matter what threat it is.

Almost everyone including yourself is guilty of of this Mav.

I agree OP Kubiak was very good at developing his players to play his brand of football. They had a true identity.

O’Brien on the other hand is having a difficult time getting his scheme across. We’re shuffling players in and out every year. Next season will be the first time our offense stays the same. Mainly the offensive line.

 

[maverick512000]

He made osweiler look good enough for O'Brien to gizz his pants and give him a massive contract.

Peyton barely had an arm and he managed to get enough out of him.

He called it perfectly. The offense looked better with those guys than obrien's with Watson, which is really sad

Your opinion, personally I don’t think OB wanted Osweiler, to much dislike between them from day one for him to have been his guy, but I don’t blame RS and McNair for taking the decision out of his hand.

Not sure where you are getting this idea that OB came in and within 2-3 years was making all the decisions on contracts even though RS had been here for years and had a well established power base.

And I agree he called it perfectly because his call was the offense would play support to the defense and that’s it. Manning is famous for calling and changing things from the line and he knew his only job was to be a game manager and for one more shot at a ring he was fine with that.

 

[JB]

He made osweiler look good enough for O'Brien to gizz his pants and give him a massive contract.

Oh please stop! OB had nothing to do with that ludicrous contract

 

[maverick512000]

Foster did fine under O'Brien. Were he younger & healthier I think he'd have been fine

He did fine because by that point everyone knew who Foster was and what he was about. If he had come in new under OB then he would have been used primarily as a power back. He might still have been fine, Foster was no delicate flower, but I don’t think he would have been what we saw under Kubiak.

 

[Texansballer74]

What O’Brien has over Kubiak is he’s one helluva talker. Dude smooth talked Cal into giving him full power of it all.

 

[76Texan]

He did fine because by that point everyone knew who Foster was and what he was about. If he had come in new under OB then he would have been used primarily as a power back. He might still have been fine, Foster was no delicate flower, but I don’t think he would have been what we saw under Kubiak.

An example of developing and utilizing players.
Foster became quite a weapon in the passing game as well.

 

[Texansballer74]

You and @maverick512000 need to pound it out and have a bbq. We've got something like 6 more months of real offseason to go. Sh*TS going to get way more trivial then this.

Come to West Texas, I have the rig location smelling good with these spare ribs on the pit. Super Bowl Sunday

 

[Earl34]

Speaking of O'Brien and Osweiler. Here is an article on Osweiler signing with the Texans. In typical Brock fashion, he blames his agent for him not signing with the Broncos and lack of instruction in Houston.

"He started 14 games for the Texans, winning eight, falling short of 3,000 yards and registering more interceptions (16) than touchdowns (15). The contract came to define him in ways he never expected. He still needed to develop, but the emphasis on instruction in Houston wasn’t the same as in Denver, and perception turned quickly, with the contract’s size serving as an accelerant.

"For weeks, Elway didn’t call. Kubiak did, telling him, “Dude, I know you’re our guy,” and “I want to coach you for a long time.” The quarterback’s agents eventually told him not to answer any call from Elway after a certain cutoff date near the start of free agency. Osweiler wishes he hadn’t listened. While out at dinner one night, he saw Elway’s number blink across his home screen. His thumb lingered over the “talk” button, but he let it go. Elway left a message, saying he wanted to come to Scottsdale and talk. He sent an offer to CAA: three years, $39 million."

Free agency started. The Texans called. So did the Browns, but they would guarantee only one year. “Then Houston went there,” Osweiler says. The Texans offered that princely sum, with $37 million guaranteed. That was more than anyone expected, even Osweiler. So he did what any reasonable human being would do, taking the money, forever attaching the contract to his name. He wishes he had made other choices. “I wouldn’t even have picked up John’s call,” he says. “I would have called John two weeks before that and told him, Listen I want to be a Bronco until I die. If you want me, let’s get this done

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/01/29/b...s-super-bowl-texans-contract-early-retirement

 

[HouTx11]

That 2011 squad was pretty darn good, especially at RB, OL and a healthy Schaub. How I wish that Albert Haynesworth hadn't done what he did. We will never know what the rest of that season would have been like had Schaub not gotten injured. It does make me wonder, though.

 

[Texecutioner]

Kubiaks playcalling was good enough for several top 10 offenses and a super bowl, should be noted

It's really sad when you have to reach onto other teams history to argue about how a guy's tenure here wasn't bad.

That would be like me trying to use O'Brien's tenure on the Patriots as an OC to suggest that he's an offensive genius Coach based on what he did in other places.

And Kubiak was ran out of Denver one yr after Wade Phillip's got the Broncos a SB. It's actually a pretty bad example to bring up period.

 

[Texecutioner]

When the Texans won with defense, was that Crennel play calling that was good enough or was it O'Brien?




Likewise how?

What I read from these paragraphs are that:
You "think" Hoyer and Mallett were OB's hand pick guys, and you "hear rumor" that O'Brien wanted Jimmy G but Rick Smith took Savage instead.
You "guess" that Kubiak didn't have much say who was brought in after round 10 or 11.

I don't SEE any facts.

Your entire schtick is fake news. You claim you want facts, but completely ignore the main fact that O'Brien has had a much better record here with the Texans than what Kubiak did. More playoff appearances as well.

This was a failed mission from the jump. Those two facts will Trump pretty much everything else.

PS: O'Brien stinks.

 

[Big Lou]

No comparison, Kubiak won a Super Bowl, that is something O’Brien will never do.

If O’Brien had coached the 72 Dolphins they would have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

 

[Texansballer74]

Come to West Texas, I have the rig location smelling good with these spare ribs on the pit. Super Bowl Sunday

 

[welsh texan]

I just checked back over our 1st round draft history.
We haven’t made an irrefutably good 1st round draft pick since Gary Kubiak left. (I’ll accept Watson could still come good).
That has to be on coaching,

 

[leebigeztx]

When the defense won the game it was RAC, when the defense lost the game it was RAC. Same applies to OB and the offense.



Really, now you are going to start requiring facts. So should I go back through all your posts and point out every time you gave an opinion and not facts. None of us are in the Texans .org so none of us have “facts” and neither do any of the reporters everyone likes to quote. If hard facts are the requirement then here is then here is one.

Kubiak with the Texans: 8 seasons with the Texans. 3 winning seasons, 2 division titles, 2 playoff wins.

O’Brien with the Texans: 6 seasons with the Texans. 5 winning seasons, 4 division titles, 2 playoff wins.

Does that tell the whole story, hell no but those are the only “facts” we have and if you look at them they say OB is the better coach.

So we're going to ignore that Kubes had a prime Peyton Manning in the division?

 

[RGV82]

I just checked back over our 1st round draft history.
We haven’t made an irrefutably good 1st round draft pick since Gary Kubiak left. (I’ll accept Watson could still come good).
That has to be on coaching,

Agree 100 percent.

 

[maverick512000]

So we're going to ignore that Kubes had a prime Peyton Manning in the division?

Yes because you can't factually prove that Kubiak would have done better without Manning or OB wouldn't have done worse with manning here. Remember the thing pounded on like a drum in this thread was "facts" and the "facts" are that OB has won more in a shorter amount of time.

 

[maverick512000]

I just checked back over our 1st round draft history.
We haven’t made an irrefutably good 1st round draft pick since Gary Kubiak left. (I’ll accept Watson could still come good).
That has to be on coaching,

To a certain point I agree with you but if you break it down more its not so clear.

First lets remove a couple of outliners. In particular Mario Williams and Clowney because if you can't hit on a good player with the 1:1 pick you have no business in football never mind the NFL. Stat wise they are about equal anyway in pro bowl and all pro selections. Next lets remove Watt because he is the kind of player that I think would be great no matter what team or what coach. Plus he had great years under both Kubiak and OB so its hard to say which one of them had more influence.

So that leaves Okoye, Brown, Cushing, Jackson, Mercilus, Hopkins, Johnson, Fuller, Watson and Howard.

Okoye: Don't know what they were thinking, I said then and I say now they just wanted the story of drafting the youngest player ever. 0-0

Brown: Great player, win in Kubiak's book. 0-1

Cushing: See above. 0-2

Jackson: Solid player under both coaches, had his best year under Kubiak but also his worst under him the very next year. A wash for both. 0-2

Mercilus: Mostly a wash as well though he has been somewhat better under OB baring 17 when he was injured, who wasn't that year. No points. 0-2

Hopkins: This is where it gets interesting and him and Watt are what most people think of when they say "we drafted better under Kubiak" but if you look at it his rookie year in 13 was good but not great. It was actually under OB when he became what we see today. Now part of that was Schaub couldn't decide which was lamer his foot or his arm but he still was no worse than Hoyer, Mallet, Osweiler and Savage. This one you have to give to OB if you are being fair. 1-2

Johnson: Might have been a solid player if he could stay off the damn IR list. No points 1-2

Fuller: See above only might even be a pro bowl or even all pro if he could finish a season. Came in with a history of dropping passes but has actually improved a lot on that each season. Still because he can't finish a season no points. 1-2

Watson: Oh boy, I'm going to have to just go no points on this one because hell if we know what we've got. He might be, and is if you ask some posters, the greatest QB ever or he might be one of the worst cases of "good player but never quite a franchise guy" ever. Hard to say and I wish we could know for sure before signing the big money but we won't so let us pray. 1-2

No draft pick next year due to trading for Watson.

Howard: Way to soon to tell though shows lots of promise as a long term answer to RT. If that's the case then drafting at 1:23 was a steal. 1-2

So really its not as far off as you might think. The trouble with saying "irrefutably good" is you have to have hind sight to do it in most cases. If we keep Fuller and he, by the grace of God, stays on the field next year and has a pro bowl season or even all pro season did he just become irrefutably good? We won't even know what we have in Howard for at least 2-3 years and we may never really know what we have in Watson so should those count against or for?

 

[JB]

I just checked back over our 1st round draft history.
We haven’t made an irrefutably good 1st round draft pick since Gary Kubiak left. (I’ll accept Watson could still come good).
That has to be on coaching,

Clowney was a good (consensus 1-1) but coaching screwed that up
Fuller was a good pick- can't predict injury
Watson was a great pick, but costly
Howard was a good pick .

 

[RGV82]

No comparison, Kubiak won a Super Bowl, that is something O’Brien will never do.

If O’Brien had coached the 72 Dolphins they would have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

They wouldn’t have even made the playoffs.

 

[TheKDog]

Oh please stop! OB had nothing to do with that ludicrous contract

?

It's a quintessential O'Brien contract.

 

[TheKDog]

It's really sad when you have to reach onto other teams history to argue about how a guy's tenure here wasn't bad.

That would be like me trying to use O'Brien's tenure on the Patriots as an OC to suggest that he's an offensive genius Coach based on what he did in other places.

And Kubiak was ran out of Denver one yr after Wade Phillip's got the Broncos a SB. It's actually a pretty bad example to bring up period.

Obrien's tenure in new England sucked. It was the only two times Brady was one and out in the playoffs (before this year)

No wonder they wanted Josh McDaniels back

 

[TheKDog]

Actually RS himself said that they had different visions for the team and he planned to go to Bob McNair and lay out his vision. The implications there are he expected OB to either be fired or at best made into a HC in name only.

I'm sure everyone has a different vision which is why everyone is fired

 

[TheKDog]

Your opinion, personally I don’t think OB wanted Osweiler, to much dislike between them from day one for him to have been his guy, but I don’t blame RS and McNair for taking the decision out of his hand.

Not sure where you are getting this idea that OB came in and within 2-3 years was making all the decisions on contracts even though RS had been here for years and had a well established power base.

And I agree he called it perfectly because his call was the offense would play support to the defense and that’s it. Manning is famous for calling and changing things from the line and he knew his only job was to be a game manager and for one more shot at a ring he was fine with that.

So, complementary football? How do you think obrien's offense would look with osweiler and a broken Peyton? Well we know the answer to the osweiler one

It's been reported multiple times that O'Brien and Rick worked together. Not that they agreed on everything but they both had input, and any disagreements get taken to ownership which never had to happen regarding roster moves

 

[TheKDog]

Speaking of O'Brien and Osweiler. Here is an article on Osweiler signing with the Texans. In typical Brock fashion, he blames his agent for him not signing with the Broncos and lack of instruction in Houston.

"He started 14 games for the Texans, winning eight, falling short of 3,000 yards and registering more interceptions (16) than touchdowns (15). The contract came to define him in ways he never expected. He still needed to develop, but the emphasis on instruction in Houston wasn’t the same as in Denver, and perception turned quickly, with the contract’s size serving as an accelerant.

"For weeks, Elway didn’t call. Kubiak did, telling him, “Dude, I know you’re our guy,” and “I want to coach you for a long time.” The quarterback’s agents eventually told him not to answer any call from Elway after a certain cutoff date near the start of free agency. Osweiler wishes he hadn’t listened. While out at dinner one night, he saw Elway’s number blink across his home screen. His thumb lingered over the “talk” button, but he let it go. Elway left a message, saying he wanted to come to Scottsdale and talk. He sent an offer to CAA: three years, $39 million."

Free agency started. The Texans called. So did the Browns, but they would guarantee only one year. “Then Houston went there,” Osweiler says. The Texans offered that princely sum, with $37 million guaranteed. That was more than anyone expected, even Osweiler. So he did what any reasonable human being would do, taking the money, forever attaching the contract to his name. He wishes he had made other choices. “I wouldn’t even have picked up John’s call,” he says. “I would have called John two weeks before that and told him, Listen I want to be a Bronco until I die. If you want me, let’s get this done

https://www.si.com/nfl/2020/01/29/b...s-super-bowl-texans-contract-early-retirement

The other mind-blowing thing is the overpay.

An offer of $39 million total from Denver... $37 million GUARANTEED from the texans.


A common theme of the O'Brien era is panic overpays

 

[TheKDog]

That 2011 squad was pretty darn good, especially at RB, OL and a healthy Schaub. How I wish that Albert Haynesworth hadn't done what he did. We will never know what the rest of that season would have been like had Schaub not gotten injured. It does make me wonder, though.

Easily the best Texans team and the only time they were a true super bowl contender. They were set up pretty well until ownership went over Kubiak and extended a broken schaub

 

[maverick512000]

I'm sure everyone has a different vision which is why everyone is fired

So, complementary football? How do you think obrien's offense would look with osweiler and a broken Peyton? Well we know the answer to the osweiler one

It's been reported multiple times that O'Brien and Rick worked together. Not that they agreed on everything but they both had input, and any disagreements get taken to ownership which never had to happen regarding roster moves

Smith does admit that he and O’Brien didn’t always agree on fundamental issues, starting with their organizational philosophies. He also says he approached McNair in recent years to lay out his vision for how the team should operate, and that some of his suggestions—he declines to discuss specifics—did not align with O’Brien’s vision. But Smith also describes any feud as “overblown” and characterizes his relationship with the Texans’ coach as “fine.”

Rick Smith’s Football Sabbatical

A classic front-office grinder—passionate, ambitious, driven—Rick Smith lived football 24/7 as he dedicated himself to building the Texans into a contender. That changed last fall when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Stepping away for a year, the man who was once the NFL’s youngest GM has...

www.si.com

That's pretty much all there is to say, the RS and OB didn't agree on "fundamental issues" and "organizational philosophies" yet you believe Smith was letting OB pick the players that were signed and drafted and give out the contracts? I don't like a lot of the things OB has done as the HC but blaming him for all of our draft and F/A problems, the Osweiler contract in particular, is asinine.

 

[TheKDog]

Smith does admit that he and O’Brien didn’t always agree on fundamental issues, starting with their organizational philosophies. He also says he approached McNair in recent years to lay out his vision for how the team should operate, and that some of his suggestions—he declines to discuss specifics—did not align with O’Brien’s vision. But Smith also describes any feud as “overblown” and characterizes his relationship with the Texans’ coach as “fine.”

Rick Smith’s Football Sabbatical

A classic front-office grinder—passionate, ambitious, driven—Rick Smith lived football 24/7 as he dedicated himself to building the Texans into a contender. That changed last fall when his wife was diagnosed with cancer. Stepping away for a year, the man who was once the NFL’s youngest GM has...

www.si.com

That's pretty much all there is to say, the RS and OB didn't agree on "fundamental issues" and "organizational philosophies" yet you believe Smith was letting OB pick the players that were signed and drafted and give out the contracts? I don't like a lot of the things OB has done as the HC but blaming him for all of our draft and F/A problems, the Osweiler contract in particular, is asinine.

Obviously we are seeing the philosophy play out now. O'Brien wants full power. Of course Rick didn't agree with to that an no sane person should.

As far as individual players, as has been reported they worked it out and never took it to the McNairs. For example look at the reporting on how they decided on Watson.

 

[maverick512000]

Obviously we are seeing the philosophy play out now. O'Brien wants full power. Of course Rick didn't agree with to that an no sane person should.

As far as individual players, as has been reported they worked it out and never took it to the McNairs. For example look at the reporting on how they decided on Watson.

Actually I've never really seen a report on how they decided on Watson. Can you link that please?

 

[Toro Bravo]

Gary kubiak had a regular season record of 61-64 (.488) and 2-2 (.500) playoff record in 8 years as head coach of the Texans.
Bill O'Brien has a regular season of 52-44 (.542) and 2-4 playoff record (.333) in 6 years as HC.

I consider Kubiak a much better offensive coach. However, I believe BOB is a better head coach overall. That said, they both have the same deficiency in that neither one has a clue about the defensive side of the ball. RAC has been terrible as DC the last few years and Kubiak never had a winning season until Wade Phillips was forced on him by McNair (whom he hired as DC in Denver and is the reason they won a Super Bowl) .

I would be OK with firing BOB and finding a real GM and let him hire a head coach. I really hate the current structure of the organization with BOB being in charge of every thing because he can't, or won't, delegate certain duties to someone else (OC, GM, etc...). BOB is probably the worst "in game" manager in the NFL and it concerns me that there are no checks and balances in the organization to correct any of the problems.

 

[steelbtexan]

I know it will come to this, but I will still lay it all out for you, brother.

Regarding the no. 1 RB, he's like a car that you need to go to places, right?

Kubiak got saddled with a car loan that he never took out, and still didn't have a car to drive.

OB got a good car for cheap without having to do anything.
This car was in the shop basically for the whole 2013, which contributed to 2-14.

With Foster, the Texans wouldn't have been 2-14; there were many close losses.

So, NO.
O'Brien only inherited 2-14 on paper.

2-14 is alot like 2-14

The rest is excuses.

 

[steelbtexan]

For the first year with the Texans, yes.

But I don't see the footwork in Tunsil to reach the All-Pro level.

I need to spend more time studying him before I make a final call though.

Yep those feet allowed 3 sacks last yr and atleast 1 of them was because DW4 held onto the ball to long.

 

[AcresHomesTexan]

No comparison, Kubiak won a Super Bowl, that is something O’Brien will never do.

If O’Brien had coached the 72 Dolphins they would have been eliminated in the first round of the playoffs.

And this the crux of why people wish to make Kubiak versus O'Brien a thing. Very few people gave a darn about Kubiak when he left and there were plenty of discussions that Kubes would never get another HC gig and maybe even the sillier idea that no one would hire Kubiak as an OC.

The ready-made SuperBowl victory refurbished Kubiak's legacy in the minds of a lot of people apparently, but he was not a good HC with THE TEXANS. and congrats to Gary in learning enough not screw up a golden 2nd chance.

 

[steelbtexan]

They worked together as has been reported many times. He is now gm because he wants the power to make incredibly dumb decisions others would sensibly oppose. He wants "consensus" which means anyone who disagrees with an idea is fired

Link?

 

[steelbtexan]

Actually he does. The OL still sucks. Only LT is good. You want him to trade 8 first rounders to fix the other 4 spots?

SMDH

I'm not going to waste my time.

 

[TheKDog]

Actually I've never really seen a report on how they decided on Watson. Can you link that please?

Rick said he wanted to trade up for Watson, asked obrien about it, and O'Brien agreed. Link has been posted several times

 

[TheKDog]

SMDH

I'm not going to waste my time.

Of course not. Nothing to debate. OL sucks.

 

[maverick512000]

Rick said he wanted to trade up for Watson, asked obrien about it, and O'Brien agreed. Link has been posted several times

Has it, I can't recall ever seeing it. Mind telling me where it was posted several times? Also "Rick said" is a very important part of that statement. Well Bill said he just coaches the players he's given. So what proof is there that Rick is being honest and Bill is lying or vice versa?

 

[TheKDog]

Has it, I can't recall ever seeing it. Mind telling me where it was posted several times? Also "Rick said" is a very important part of that statement. Well Bill said he just coaches the players he's given. So what proof is there that Rick is being honest and Bill is lying or vice versa?

 

[maverick512000]

Well first, thank you for finding and posting that. Second you could make an argument that him saying "go for it" is like when someone tells you they are about to do something you think is stupid but that is just opinion and not backed by anything so I'll just take him at his word. My one question, which we don't know and will never know is when did Smith say he wanted to go for Watson? Was it before draft night, after Mahomes was taken, the combine? If it was after Chiefs moved up then yeah you have to have a QB and Watson was the only one left even close to worth a 1st. If it was before the draft then I will agree it was a fully united decision. Again though we will never know for sure.

 

[banned1976]

It’s getting pretty deep in here...

 

[Texansballer74]

Yep those feet allowed 3 sacks last yr and atleast 1 of them was because DW4 held onto the ball to long.

Mahomes was sacked several times last night for holding onto the ball too long. It happens to all QBs. Part of the game. Time to move on. That horse been dead.

 

[Speedy]

.

 

[TheKDog]

Well first, thank you for finding and posting that. Second you could make an argument that him saying "go for it" is like when someone tells you they are about to do something you think is stupid but that is just opinion and not backed by anything so I'll just take him at his word. My one question, which we don't know and will never know is when did Smith say he wanted to go for Watson? Was it before draft night, after Mahomes was taken, the combine? If it was after Chiefs moved up then yeah you have to have a QB and Watson was the only one left even close to worth a 1st. If it was before the draft then I will agree it was a fully united decision. Again though we will never know for sure.

O'Brien doesn't sound sarcastic there not when he said the same thing to Meltser

 

[maverick512000]

O'Brien doesn't sound sarcastic there not when he said the same thing to Meltser

Sarcastic there I agree, sarcastic when he said it to Smith we'll never know. Ultimately it doesn't matter, OB is here for at least through his contract and there is nothing to be done about it because I don't see this team going 2-14 or 4-12 again baring major injury to certain players. To much talent and even with the Titans making a come back Jags are to weak and Colts to up and down to really stop us from at least being 9-7. So even if you say he mortgaged the teams future for the next 2-3 years well he's the one that's going to have to pay that mortgage.

 

[TheKDog]

Sarcastic there I agree, sarcastic when he said it to Smith we'll never know. Ultimately it doesn't matter, OB is here for at least through his contract and there is nothing to be done about it because I don't see this team going 2-14 or 4-12 again baring major injury to certain players. To much talent and even with the Titans making a come back Jags are to weak and Colts to up and down to really stop us from at least being 9-7. So even if you say he mortgaged the teams future for the next 2-3 years well he's the one that's going to have to pay that mortgage.

And the next coach too. Obrien's contract only goes through 2022

 

[maverick512000]

And the next coach too. Obrien's contract only goes through 2022

As of right now whoever is coach and/or GM will have his full selection of draft picks in 22 even if OB's contract isn't renewed.

 

[TheKDog]

As of right now whoever is coach and/or GM will have his full selection of draft picks in 22 even if OB's contract isn't renewed.

First round picks from this year will have contracts beyond 2022. The next coach will probably not start in a good place roster contract wise

 

[disaacks3]

It's been proven that all they really spent on Tunsil was an extra 1st. Well worth it for a player of Tunsil's ability.

I'll agree if/when he signs a contract extension with the Texans. If it ends up a short-term rental, we got screwed.

Kubiak also improved the offense every year. In fact with Carr he had an average offense... Same as obrien with Watson

Unfortunately we are going to go through a very long rebuilding period with the next coach as he works through obrien's terrible contracts and limited draft picks

Please don't compare Carr to Watson. He's not even in the same area code statistically.

I just checked back over our 1st round draft history.
We haven’t made an irrefutably good 1st round draft pick since Gary Kubiak left. (I’ll accept Watson could still come good).
That has to be on coaching,

"Could still come good"? lol
Watson has already earned his #12 overall, and he still has room to improve.