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What Mallett brings as a (full-time) Starter

Everyone done exaggerating yet? I find it amusing that everyone expected us to get blown out, and then when we do, everyone loses their mind. Mallett is still the starter going forward in my mind. And anyone blaming yesterday's game on him, or applauding Hoyer has some issues. If O'Brien makes a change before the break at this point, it's pink soap time. IMO he just needs to ride Mallett out and then make whatever moves are necessary for next season.

I surely expected to see a game or two like this for Mallett. It's part of the process. It's not like we are out of the ACFS race or anything. FFS people get a grip. It was a bad football game on the road against what looks to be a championship team. Realistically what did you really expect?

The Texans are still in the playoff race, and one really bad game, on the road against a good team should not define the Texans.
 
leebigeztx said:
How many teams are relying on a 4th Rd qb as the dude? The Texans faced smith 1st rd, newton 1st rd, Winston 1st rd, and Ryan 1st rd. 3 were #1 overran and the other went 3rd.
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& those guys were playing against a 1st round defense. Watt, Clowney, Mercilus, Cushing, Wilfork, Kjo, Kjack, Jjo
 
Nitrofish said:
Everyone done exaggerating yet? I find it amusing that everyone expected us to get blown out, and then when we do, everyone loses their mind. Mallett is still the starter going forward in my mind. And anyone blaming yesterday's game on him, or applauding Hoyer has some issues. If O'Brien makes a change before the break at this point, it's pink soap time. IMO he just needs to ride Mallett out and then make whatever moves are necessary for next season.

I surely expected to see a game or two like this for Mallett. It's part of the process. It's not like we are out of the ACFS race or anything. FFS people get a grip. It was a bad football game on the road against what looks to be a championship team. Realistically what did you really expect?

The Texans are still in the playoff race, and one really bad game, on the road against a good team should not define the Texans.
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I didn't even expect them to look that non competitive.
 
Runner said:
So is it your opinion that O'Brien should show some fortitude and commit to Mallett the next couple of years to give him a chance to succeed? That would be interesting.
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I don't think he should commit to Mallett past this season.

First, I don't think he believes very much in Mallett. Not ponying up to trade for him early last offseason, not even matching whatever other offer he had this offseason, not even being in the mix as the starter until he had enough of Fitz, having him "compete" with Hoyer...

But, he brought him back anyway. Then he benched Hoyer in favor for Mallett. So, I expect him to be able to work with Mallett to put together a decent offense. Or Hoyer, whichever...

As the GM/VP of football operations, whoever, I'm looking at OB (an coach with an offensive background) to show me he can produce an NFL offense. If he can't, I'd fire him before I get him a first round QB to ruin.
 
leebigeztx said:
The entire draft is a risk. We're talking about 22 yr olds. All I'm saying is that it's easy to say there are no elite qbs and bypass. So, how was the Carr grade vs Sio Filu? Or someone is going to tell me they couldn't draft another Carr from the the same family?
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I looked at Derek Carr before the draft & honestly didn't see a franchise QB.

Even if XSF is a bust, it doesn't change my opinion. If I thought the Texans would draft Carr, but keep looking for a QB, like the Chargers did with Drew Brees/Phillip Rivers, I wouldn't have an issue.

But with our F.O. & our history with David Carr, no doubt in my mind we'd go six years of almost doing something. Yeah, we'll be lucky to "almost" do anything this year, but QB should be on the table next year. It wouldn't be if we drafted Derek Carr last year.
 
mridge01 said:
I can empathize. Very few on this forum seem to be able to grasp reality. I wonder if it set in at least a little bit today.
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You've got a reading comprehension problem. Most people who post here were not expecting play offs. Many, myself included, were hoping... but we knew it wasn't likely.
 
I did not expect the offense to be this bad, but knew they'd be the weakness of the team again this year. Coming into this year I was looking forward to watching a stacked (on paper) defense pick up where it left off at the end of last year. Honestly, the offense and STs are downright pathetic, but it's the defense that has been the biggest disappointment for me. The "talent" is abundant on that side of the ball, yet, they're horrible.

It's possible that all the TOs last years defense produced glossed over our weaknesses?
 
thunderkyss said:
You've got a reading comprehension problem. Most people who post here were not expecting play offs. Many, myself included, were hoping... but we knew it wasn't likely.
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No problem with reading comprehension. I'm not making up that many posters blasted my posts for being realistic only because they didn't agree with me.
 
I've seen enough of Mallet to know he is not an NFL QB.
Not a starter, not a backup, not a third stringer.

He can't throw a touch pass. He can't lead a receiver.
Hell, he can barely get a ball within arms length on
midrange passes.

He is not mobile, he throws into tight coverage _constantly_,
and he looks/sounds like he is "special needs" mentally.

I see now why BoB put such emphasis on bringing in
Hoyer. He saw the same stuff too.
 
The Mallet experiment is done. He seems to think that throwing a bullet all the time is the way to go. He has no touch with his passes which most are off target or thrown too hard for anyone to even catch.
 
Mallet still needs more time. Yeh he's looked bad but putting Hoyer back in is just a waste of time. He's an average journeyman at best. We aren't going to win anything with him and he is not the answer going forward.
 
HOU-TEX said:
I did not expect the offense to be this bad, but knew they'd be the weakness of the team again this year. Coming into this year I was looking forward to watching a stacked (on paper) defense pick up where it left off at the end of last year. Honestly, the offense and STs are downright pathetic, but it's the defense that has been the biggest disappointment for me. The "talent" is abundant on that side of the ball, yet, they're horrible.

It's possible that all the TOs last years defense produced glossed over our weaknesses?
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Just wondering why people think the talent is abundant on defense? Not asking in a condescending way. Just wondering.

It's better than the offense, but it's not all that to me. Beyond Watt (and potentially Clowney) every single one of those other guys could be upgraded or we could find a player to match or come close to what they do.

Wilfork isn't a difference maker at this point. Crick is a nice role player. Our ILBs are nothing to get pumped about. They aren't Patrick Willis and bowman. Hell they aren't even Cushing and Demeco from a few years ago. Mercilus is not anything special. Barely noticed the guy making any plays so far this season.

Kareem and Jjo are solid vets, but the rookie looks like he could be better than both. And then the rest of the corners??? Fungible. Kareem was playing safety yesterday. Raheem Moore is a good player I guess. We picked up demps off the street and he immediately jumped scrubs on the depth chart. Eddie pleasant...

I mean these are the normal guys that fill spots on your average NFL defense.

I just don't look at our defense and see a bunch of talent. I see a bunch of investment.

Despite that investment though, I don't see guys that pop.
 
mridge01 said:
No problem with reading comprehension. I'm not making up that many posters blasted my posts for being realistic only because they didn't agree with me.
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Well I'll disagree again here... most of us didn't "blast" you for saying we are a bad team, more so the fact that you came in guns blazing "this is a bad team and if you don't agree with me you are a moron". Free world and free message board, no one has to agree with anything you post.

Even though people were telling you "yep understand it is a bad team, let's discuss football" you and others like you post continuously that we are "fools" for supporting them, and we are wasting our money, and we should boycott yada yada yada....

Yeah they are bad, so we shouldn't still enjoy a win? They are a bad team, but they are MY bad team and I'll support them and be pissed when we get blown out and happy when we win. It is part of being a fan. Do I want a four time super bowl winning team? Yes, just like you I do, but I don't think anyone is a moron for supporting their team even if they are bad.

State your opinion, let others share theirs, discuss the points of why you agree or disagree. Leave the name calling and the "I told you so's" to yourselves.
 
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FuzzyLogic said:
Well I'll disagree again here... most of us didn't "blast" you for saying we are a bad team, more so the fact that you came in guns blazing "this is a bad team and if you don't agree with me you are a moron". Free world and free message board, no one has to agree with anything you post.

Even though people were telling you "yep understand it is a bad team, let's discuss football" you and other like you post continuously that we are "fools" for supporting them, and we are wasting our money, and we should boycott yada yada yada....

Yeah they are bad, so we shouldn't still enjoy a win? They are a bad team, but they are MY bad team and I'll support them be pissed when we get blown out and happy when we win. It is part of being a fan. Do I want a four time super bowl winning team? Yes, just like you I do, but I don't think anyone is a moron for supporting their team even if they are bad.

State your opinion, let others share theirs, discuss the points of why you agree or disagree. Leave the name calling and the "I told you so's" to yourselves.
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You all have the reading comprehension problem. Enjoy the win, awesome. My point was as fans, we are on the losing end of that Bucs win because it tricks us into thinking progress is being made when it is not. I never called anyone a "moron" or a "fool".
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
Just wondering why people think the talent is abundant on defense? Not asking in a condescending way. Just wondering.

It's better than the offense, but it's not all that to me. Beyond Watt (and potentially Clowney) every single one of those other guys could be upgraded or we could find a player to match or come close to what they do.

Wilfork isn't a difference maker at this point. Crick is a nice role player. Our ILBs are nothing to get pumped about. They aren't Patrick Willis and bowman. Hell they aren't even Cushing and Demeco from a few years ago. Mercilus is not anything special. Barely noticed the guy making any plays so far this season.

Kareem and Jjo are solid vets, but the rookie looks like he could be better than both. And then the rest of the corners??? Fungible. Kareem was playing safety yesterday. Raheem Moore is a good player I guess. We picked up demps off the street and he immediately jumped scrubs on the depth chart. Eddie pleasant...

I mean these are the normal guys that fill spots on your average NFL defense.

I just don't look at our defense and see a bunch of talent. I see a bunch of investment.

Despite that investment though, I don't see guys that pop.
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That's pretty much it. I had talent in quotes because that's what we're being sold. The team is paying several of these cats like they're really good. We're being ripped off.

We used to be nothing but a ZBS offense, yet our defense has it's sphincter ripped wide open vs ZBS. The 1st Falcon TD was embarrassing to watch. Both Wilfork and Crick washed inward with the ZB and McKinney fills, but whiffs on the tackle. I've always been a huge fan of Wilforks, but this is beginning to reek oh an Ahman Green type signing. A flash play then disappears
 
Well I would apologize for just trying to sum up your intent into "moron" and "fool" you were more about letting us all know we needed a "reality check" and you were here to deliver it, then expecting us to thank you for clearing the haze. I summarized that into we all must be blind, deaf, and or stupid for not seeing it until you pointed it out.

I think I am realistic and have a realistic view of the team... they are bad right now. I don't see many people trying to say that they aren't. I see people saying continue to ride with Mallet and see if he can develop. More reality...

This team is more than one QB away from being good (again my OPINION, I'm sure others disagree, let's discuss!).
How many games should a Mallet get to prove if he can be salvageable? He hasn't been great or even very good so far... but Aaron Rogers wasn't Aaron "Mother F'kin" Rogers his rookie year. I feel it is not realistic to think whoever we go with at QB (Mallet this year new rookie stud next year) isn't going to be great his first year.

Look at QB's drafted recently, outside Andrew Luck who has just torn the league up (and I would strongly debate Luck just tore it up his rookie season).

We draft your guy at QB and he has four crappy games, are we right back in this discussion?
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
Just wondering why people think the talent is abundant on defense? Not asking in a condescending way. Just wondering.

It's better than the offense, but it's not all that to me. Beyond Watt (and potentially Clowney) every single one of those other guys could be upgraded or we could find a player to match or come close to what they do.

Wilfork isn't a difference maker at this point. Crick is a nice role player. Our ILBs are nothing to get pumped about. They aren't Patrick Willis and bowman. Hell they aren't even Cushing and Demeco from a few years ago. Mercilus is not anything special. Barely noticed the guy making any plays so far this season.

Kareem and Jjo are solid vets, but the rookie looks like he could be better than both. And then the rest of the corners??? Fungible. Kareem was playing safety yesterday. Raheem Moore is a good player I guess. We picked up demps off the street and he immediately jumped scrubs on the depth chart. Eddie pleasant...

I mean these are the normal guys that fill spots on your average NFL defense.

I just don't look at our defense and see a bunch of talent. I see a bunch of investment.

Despite that investment though, I don't see guys that pop.
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I think usually when you see a whole pack of #1's on a unit the assumption is often that they'll be alright. You got JJ on the DL, Wilfork on the DL, Cushing, Clowney, and Mercilus in the LB's and then KJ, KJo, and JJo in the secondary. That's like 8 first rounders right there and while draft position doesn't always equate to success and it doesn't take into account age that's still a lot of 1's to have on a defense at any given time.

I think that's why a lot of people assume we're better than we are. Hell we should be better than we are!
 
mussop said:
Mallet still needs more time. Yeh he's looked bad but putting Hoyer back in is just a waste of time. He's an average journeyman at best. We aren't going to win anything with him and he is not the answer going forward.
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What this team needs is some kind of consistency on offense. We've had a new OL every week this season. We've had two QBs already. Graham was demoted to the third TE, but is now our primary TE since Griffin got hurt.

Now we go into Thursday's game with Mumph & Strong as our 2nd & 3rd WRs.

& maybe another change at QB.
 
thunderkyss said:
What this team needs is some kind of consistency on offense. We've had a new OL every week this season. We've had two QBs already. Graham was demoted to the third TE, but is now our primary TE since Griffin got hurt.

Now we go into Thursday's game with Mumph & Strong as our 2nd & 3rd WRs.

& maybe another change at QB.
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Lots of injuries you say?

Sounds like a lot of built in excuses which should help that ol' job security department.

No good QB was actually available - check
Arian got hurt - check
OL injuries - check
WR injuries -check
Young guys have to play sooner than expected - check


Now all we need is for some opposing coach or analyst that is respected to say we're on the right track. Then we'll rinse and repeat this **** next year.
 
I think the mallet era is over LOL we will prob never see mallet has the starter ever again I think they go with hoyer from here on out and wont yank him even if we are getting Stomped on
 
Norg said:
I think the mallet era is over LOL we will prob never see mallet has the starter ever again I think they go with hoyer from here on out and wont yank him even if we are getting Stomped on
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Why the **** would we do that? That would be stupid.
 
xtruroyaltyx said:
Lots of injuries you say?

Sounds like a lot of built in excuses which should help that ol' job security department.
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haha... I'm not looking for a built in excuse. When these guys get hurt, they need to stay hurt for a while. I'm just saying some consistency would be nice.

If Mumph & Strong are going to be our WRs for the next three weeks, great.

If Lamm was going to be our RT for a while, great. I'd have been fine with that. But we're plugging people in every week.

However it works out, whether it's young guys playing sooner than expected, or older guys staying healthy... we need some consistency.
 
Hervoyel said:
I think usually when you see a whole pack of #1's on a unit the assumption is often that they'll be alright. You got JJ on the DL, Wilfork on the DL, Cushing, Clowney, and Mercilus in the LB's and then KJ, KJo, and JJo in the secondary. That's like 8 first rounders right there and while draft position doesn't always equate to success and it doesn't take into account age that's still a lot of 1's to have on a defense at any given time.

I think that's why a lot of people assume we're better than we are. Hell we should be better than we are!
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I think the Texans have proved that they have no problem making a big investment in the defense. The problem to me is that they just take the "best" players that they can with no idea of how they are going to match them all together. Yea, we're talented. We have some good pieces, but there is no plan for how to use them as a cohesive unit.

JJ is special and can pretty much do whatever you ask him to. But that's insanely rare. Mercilus should be a 43 DE but we have him at LB. Clowney has looked good but he should be a 43 DE and we have him at LB. Cushing and McKinney are downhill players that we ask to play in space half the time.

Barely any of our players are used to their strengths. We just grab whoever we have the "highest rated" and then tell our coaches to make it work.
 
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xtruroyaltyx said:
Lots of injuries you say?

Sounds like a lot of built in excuses which should help that ol' job security department.

No good QB was actually available - check
Arian got hurt - check
OL injuries - check
WR injuries -check
Young guys have to play sooner than expected - check


Now all we need is for some opposing coach or analyst that is respected to say we're on the right track. Then we'll rinse and repeat this **** next year.
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Pretty much. Cushing getting trapped like he's running a dope house. Uncontested passes all over the place.
 
bah007 said:
I think the Texans have proved that they have no problem making a big investment in the defense. The problem to me is that they just take the "best" players that they can with no idea of how they are going to match them all together. Yea, we're talented. We have some good pieces, but there is no plan for how to use them as a cohesive unit.

JJ is special and can pretty much do whatever you ask him to. But that's insanely rare. Mercilus should be a 43 DE but we have him at LB. Clowney has looked good but he should be a 43 DE and we have him at LB. Cushing and McKinney are downhill players that we ask to play in space half the time.

Barely any of our players are used to their strengths. We just grab whoever we have the "highest rated" and then tell our coaches to make it work.
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Is Mercilus really a 43 DE? He had one good season coming out of college. Athletically, nothing to write home about. Not particularly strong, fluid, fast... has no killer instinct.

But we extended him.

Clowney.


Dude's talented & would make a mean 4-3 DE. But we've not only got him playing as a stand up LB, we're putting him in the A gap. He's not freakishly strong like Mario, or country strong like JJ... what are they thinking?
 
mussop said:
Mallet still needs more time. Yeh he's looked bad but putting Hoyer back in is just a waste of time. He's an average journeyman at best. We aren't going to win anything with him and he is not the answer going forward.
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The problem with this thought is that Mallett is not even an average journeyman. He should have been cut this morning. Don't trot out the lame injury excuses. He throws in the dirt and to every closely covered receiver and he throws just out of every receiver's reach and he has the IQ of salt, as is readily apparent every time he's at a microphone. He was great in high school. He seems to have remained there.
 
thunderkyss said:
Is Mercilus really a 43 DE? He had one good season coming out of college. Athletically, nothing to write home about. Not particularly strong, fluid, fast... has no killer instinct.

But we extended him.

Clowney.


Dude's talented & would make a mean 4-3 DE. But we've not only got him playing as a stand up LB, we're putting him in the A gap. He's not freakishly strong like Mario, or country strong like JJ... what are they thinking?
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We have the personnel to run a 43 but we're running a 34. I do think that both Mercilus and Clowney would be better off with their hand in the dirt on every snap.

I've said this a thousand times on here (maybe never as in depth as I'm about to) and I really believe it's true. There are two ways to make this thing work:

1) Live by your system. Only take players who fit it, even sometimes passing on "better" players to grab a guy who is a better fit. Never sacrifice your scheme to try to force a guy into a position he doesn't fit. This is not always easy at the start, but it is a successful long-term method. Seattle has done this to great effect and New England has been doing it for almost forever now. Every member of the organization is versed in the system (what players we're looking for, what types of players we're trying to avoid), so if you have someone leave for a better position elsewhere he can be replaced by the man right under him. This is my preferred method of building a program, because once you get all the pieces (scouts, GM, coaches) in place you can replicate it endlessly as long as the system continues to work.

2) Accumulate the best players that you can and then design the system around them. Take the best athletes and figure out what to do with them later. I would say that Green Bay, Baltimore, and Pittsburgh have all stayed successful over a long period of time by using this method. It is far easier to build up to initial success this way, but long-term success is harder to manage. Because you are always tweaking your system, you become more dependent on the talent that is plugged into each position. A missed evaluation hurts more. You have to have great scouts and you have to have coaches who are versatile enough to competently adapt on a sometimes yearly basis. This can lead to a lot of turnover in staffing, because your core scheme can be altered based on the pieces you have at your disposal.

IMO, the Texans' biggest problem for years has been that we hire coaches that want to do it the first way, but our upper management acquires talent in the second way.

In the end, you just have to pick one. You have to have a philosophy. How can you even begin to build something if you haven't even created a blueprint?
 
Interesting to hear the talk of culture and yet the same fan base wanted Koobs gone after one (granted, horrendous) season, AFTER establishing a winner. O'Brien inherited an overwhelmingly more talented team than did Kubiak. Ironic how sport can be.
 
TripleTap said:
The problem with this thought is that Mallett is not even an average journeyman. He should have been cut this morning. Don't trot out the lame injury excuses. He throws in the dirt and to every closely covered receiver and he throws just out of every receiver's reach and he has the IQ of salt, as is readily apparent every time he's at a microphone. He was great in high school. He seems to have remained there.
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So what you're saying is is that it was all his fault we lost that last game? Calm down and use your brain for a minute. Stop letting your emotions get the best of you. He stil needs more starts to evaluate whether he can be a competent NFL quarterback.

Show me one qb who's had to deal with this much adversity his first few games as a starter that has done any better. This year was never about winning a super bowl. It was about finding out if we can win with a below average journeyman qb like Hoyer or if Mallet can overcome his deficiencies and become a real qb. Hoyer showed he is trash just like most knew. The team isn't good enough to carry him. Mallet is not looking good but he's really all we have and needs more time to see if he can develop. People are giving up too soon because of one bad loss.

If he starts racking up losses and doesn't start showing signs of improving by the end of the year then oh well we know we need to address the qb situation one way or another.

Don't be surprised to see new Orleans look to trade Brees before next year. I would try and bring him in and draft a top qb for him to tutor for a couple of years.

But for this year, **** it let's see if he's capable of turning into something worth keeping. We really don't have any other choice.
 
bah007 said:
We have the personnel to run a 43 but we're running a 34. I do think that both Mercilus and Clowney would be better off with their hand in the dirt on every snap.
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Great post... except for this part. Clowney I get it. Back around draft time, I didn't want to take him because he's a 4-3 DE & we run a 3-4. I didn't see him as a LB at all.

I'd have much rather taken Greg Robinson (imagine if he were our starting LG) or Sammy Watkins... because we can use them.

But Mercilus is too small, imo, to play DE & doesn't have the speed to compensate. I haven't seen anything to suggests he plays stronger than he looks. I just don't see him as a 4-3 DE.
 
I just don't think Mercilus is a good player and I have no clue why we drafted him because he didn't look good in college to me despite the production.

Even more baffling was re signing him, though I get the thought process with clowney being hurt and not having any other olb's of note on the team. Still, I'd rather have gone a different direction. But I guess they needed to keep a draft pick around to not look as incompetent.
 
Uncle Rico said:
Interesting to hear the talk of culture and yet the same fan base wanted Koobs gone after one (granted, horrendous) season, AFTER establishing a winner. O'Brien inherited an overwhelmingly more talented team than did Kubiak. Ironic how sport can be.
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It's that whole "establishing a winner" part that doesn't really compute.

3 Winning seasons out of 8 with two regressions (2010 and 2014).
 
What Mallett brings as a full time Starter ..... Not Much.


Need to start looking under every rock for a QB ....
 
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