What moves would you make to right this mess?

[ObsiWan]

After thinking about what I would do, I would write this yr off. Moves I would make this yr. New England's 1st for Mercilus. Tyler Lockett for DB.
Next yrs FA signees Ty Nsehke and Santreal Henderson in FA.

Then I would use the Mercilus 1st on an OT like Connor Williams who will fall due to his recent knee injury (Fairly minor) and a bad 1st game and let him play OG to begin with.

Offense would look like this.

OL
Nsekhe/Williams/Martin/Mancz/Henderson.

Reserves OT Davenport/Reid/Fuller/Allen

QB's Watson, whoever the new HC wants

RB's Miller/Foreman/Ervin/Late draft pick

TE's Fiedo/Anderson/Griffin/Bayliss

WR's Hopkins/Fuller/Lockett/Davis/Hamilton

You can pickup Nsekhe who I really liked when he replaced Williams for the Redskins last yr on the cheap he's playing on a vet min contract this yr. Henderson has been suspended for smoking the refer but should be a great FA get for the vet min. Lockett would be a huge upgrade in the slot and can also play outside. He immediately upgrades the KR/PR positions.

Ricky just needs to be committed to doing whatever it takes to upgrading/protecting Watson and giving him as many weapons as possible.

Thing is that your first move should have been to hire an offensive coordinator and find out what scheme he wants to install and what personnel he needs to make his scheme successful. *I* would call Charlie Weis. He made Brady and that offense what it is today. Someone else brought up Norv Turner; kinda meh as a head coach but his offenses always seem to produce. Hell, I'd even give Peyton a shot at OC. I think he's better suited for OC than GM. Much, much better.

Point is until you pick a "chef", how do you know what "groceries" to shop for. So you don't know if all those moves you've listed will work in the new offense or not. I don't have to tell you how many times guys have looked great in one scheme and sucked when moved to a different one.

Also, whichever one of those two (or anyone else of note) I managed to hire, I'd let him bring his own QB coach to bring up young Watson. Again, this is where Peyton would be invaluable.

So I'd actually keep O'Brien because he seems to be a decent leader and motivator. But he just flat cannot call an offense.

 

[Scooter]

I think it's interesting both baby Shanny & Vance Joseph are HCs now. Imagine what could have been.

We had coaching perfection. Houston legends, Superbowl rings and a century of experience. The arrow took a dip in 2010, and the fair-weathers got impatient, but then continued to point up. With that much coaching prowess, and even as the worst team in the league we still ranked highly in many categories ... I wonder WHERE it went wrong? Only someone as high as a godfather could know.

 

[JB]

We had coaching perfection. Houston legends, Superbowl rings and a century of experience. The arrow took a dip in 2010, and the fair-weathers got impatient, but then continued to point up. With that much coaching prowess, and even as the worst team in the league we still ranked highly in many categories ... I wonder WHERE it went wrong? Only someone as high as a godfather could know.

The inability to get a decent backup for Schaub since he got injured. I can't believe that he didn't know that Schaub's injury would lead quickly to a shortened career. And the end of 2012 Schaub was horrible and yet the only backup plan was TJ Yates?

 

[thunderkyss]

The inability to get a decent backup for Schaub since he got injured. I can't believe that he didn't know that Schaub's injury would lead quickly to a shortened career. And the end of 2012 Schaub was horrible and yet the only backup plan was TJ Yates?

& what's wrong with that plan?

I'd argue they expected Schaub to make at least eight games before signs of decline reappeared. Similar to the season before. Yates would have been a fine bridge to the 2014 draft.

Yates was ready to go & we'd have probably won a few games. But McNair wanted to find out about Case, who was not ready.

I fault Kubiak for not going to Yates as an option sooner. In my mind he "forced" McNair to make a decision, then he fought him on that decision.

 

[Scooter]

The inability to get a decent backup for Schaub since he got injured. I can't believe that he didn't know that Schaub's injury would lead quickly to a shortened career. And the end of 2012 Schaub was horrible and yet the only backup plan was TJ Yates?

Shaub's injury was an issue, but it was one that Kubiak was willing to ride out regardless of the outcome because (until management got involved) Kubiak had done one hell of a job building long term. And the team would've rode with him - if they weren't confused on who they're supposed to listen to. Keenum wasn't ready, he was groomed to take over the following season, with a draft that I'm 9000000% certain would've included a first or second round quarterback that Kubiak could 'create'. Seriously, what would you give at this point to have Kubiak "CREATE" a quarterback? The last first rounder he worked with (off the top of my head) is Elway. He's turned everyone else into a probowler. We had to be patient for one friggin year (McNair, know how the Pats and Steelers you idolize have patience with great personnel?) - and we could have had everything.

Even on defense we're seeing the dropoff. RAC is a great coach. Vrabel might be a great coach eventually. But the scouting and evaluation and teaching and scheme talent of Wade and Joseph? Sorry, they just don't have it. They're relying entirely on Wade's people to carry the team, and eventually they're just not Wade. Unless Wade keeps us alive from the metaphorical grave (like Kareem Jackson winning the Bengals' game), we're going to see a decline defensively.

 

[infantrycak]

I fault Kubiak for not going to Yates as an option sooner. In my mind he "forced" McNair to make a decision, then he fought him on that decision.

Kubiak started putting Yates in game 5 then Yates got hurt game 6.

Seriously, what would you give at this point to have Kubiak "CREATE" a quarterback? The last first rounder he worked with (off the top of my head) is Elway. He's turned everyone else into a probowler. We had to be patient for one friggin year (McNair, know how the Pats and Steelers you idolize have patience with great personnel?) - and we could have had everything.

What's mind boggling about that is many folks who didn't want to give Kubiak a year to reboot the QB position are now patiently waiting in year 4 of OB, even saying they should have waited another year to get a QB.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

& what's wrong with that plan?

I'd argue they expected Schaub to make at least eight games before signs of decline reappeared. Similar to the season before. Yates would have been a fine bridge to the 2014 draft.

Yates was ready to go & we'd have probably won a few games. But McNair wanted to find out about Case, who was not ready.

I fault Kubiak for not going to Yates as an option sooner. In my mind he "forced" McNair to make a decision, then he fought him on that decision.

In regards to CK, it was never that cut-n-dry. CK played some pretty good ball behind a bad OL and no Arien Foster. He had the team up at halftime on a few occassions only to be let down by Kubiak's desire to never alter his plan by making in-game adjustments and the defense's inability to hold a lead. That 0-8 start still showed CK more than apt at hitting the long pass since he finished the season in the Top 8 in connections at 20+ yards. A couple of wins sprinkled in at the start might have gone a long way to writing a different story in regards to his first 8 games as a starter.

One thing I will never forget...when Kubiak didn't like CK improvising from outside the pocket and mentioned that he must coach him up even more on being a Pocket Passer....heck, CK wa only 5-10 maybe and he did his best work outside the pocket. Why would Kubiak think that was the important tweak at the time. Might've been more prudent to look at the OL and running game since CK was getting killed in the 2nd half of most of the games.

 

[JB]

Our men were trained, we had an enemy, we knew how to adjust and attack every situation ... but a 19 year old officer and his dog saw the team's success as their own by default, and predictably effed it up. After 2011 command had been taken away from competents, General Gomer Pile was running the show because Jerry Jones and Robert Craft said he was doing such a great job, and Lassie (now extended through 2020) was gladly on scene to drop a turd in the stadium at his master's command.

I ain't near drunk enough to get in the same universe as that statement... which 19 yr old and dog are you talking about?

 

[infantrycak]

One thing I will never forget...when Kubiak didn't like CK improvising from outside the pocket and mentioned that he must coach him up even more on being a Pocket Passer....heck, CK wa only 5-10 maybe and he did his best work outside the pocket. Why would Kubiak think that was the important tweak at the time. Might've been more prudent to look at the OL and running game since CK was getting killed in the 2nd half of most of the games.

Because when CK got outside of the pocket he got stupid and half the time ran toward his own endzone. CK got worse the longer he played. 1st 2 games he had ratings of 110 and 123. Last 2 he had ratings of 68 and 42.

 

[thunderkyss]

Kubiak started putting Yates in game 5 then Yates got hurt game 6.

Yeah, I'm sure I'm probably remembering it wrong. I'm convinced Yates wasn't given an opportunity to mount a come back in week 5. I felt Kubiak didn't want to risk a QB controversy.

I could be wrong, but that's what I'm referring too. Not trying to win the SF game.

 

[Scooter]

edit: too drunk

 

[JB]

edit: too drunk

not fair

 

[Scooter]

not fair

Very fair, you have a bad habit of quoting my nonsense.

 

[steelbtexan]

Thing is that your first move should have been to hire an offensive coordinator and find out what scheme he wants to install and what personnel he needs to make his scheme successful. *I* would call Charlie Weis. He made Brady and that offense what it is today. Someone else brought up Norv Turner; kinda meh as a head coach but his offenses always seem to produce. Hell, I'd even give Peyton a shot at OC. I think he's better suited for OC than GM. Much, much better.

Point is until you pick a "chef", how do you know what "groceries" to shop for. So you don't know if all those moves you've listed will work in the new offense or not. I don't have to tell you how many times guys have looked great in one scheme and sucked when moved to a different one.

Also, whichever one of those two (or anyone else of note) I managed to hire, I'd let him bring his own QB coach to bring up young Watson. Again, this is where Peyton would be invaluable.

So I'd actually keep O'Brien because he seems to be a decent leader and motivator. But he just flat cannot call an offense.

Love the Weiss thought.

I would be all in on a hire like that if Ricky got him the players he needs to make the offense work. We don't know if BOB can coach an offense because of the talent deficiencies on offense. I tried to tell everybody the offense was going to look like crap after FA/draft because Ricky didn't choose to improve the talent level on the OL. The question should be if Ricky/BOB are equal partners did BOB say screw the OL we need to get Watson at all costs?

 

[Scooter]

Because when CK got outside of the pocket he got stupid and half the time ran toward his own endzone. CK got worse the longer he played. 1st 2 games he had ratings of 110 and 123. Last 2 he had ratings of 68 and 42.

Keenum was close, so close. I believe 110% that if given the following offseason to work as #1 going into the season (with the inevitable first/early second pick behind him) that Keenum would be what most expected, instead of a wandering backup. He wasn't ready, Kubiak knew that and it was infinitely smarter short and long term to ride it out with Schaub for better or worse. Worse happens sometimes, and you grow from it, but finality doesn't happen like 2013 without McNair and Smith Ufcking it up as much as possible on their end.

 

[cuppacoffee]

The inability to get a decent backup for Schaub since he got injured. I can't believe that he didn't know that Schaub's injury would lead quickly to a shortened career. And the end of 2012 Schaub was horrible and yet the only backup plan was TJ Yates?

Without even doing a search I would bet my wifes poodle against a donut that our good Doc cnnnd forcast this at the time.

 

[steelbtexan]

Because when CK got outside of the pocket he got stupid and half the time ran toward his own endzone. CK got worse the longer he played. 1st 2 games he had ratings of 110 and 123. Last 2 he had ratings of 68 and 42.

CK's best games happened when Kubiak was sidelined by the stroke. I'm not saying CK is a NFL winning level QB.

 

[steelbtexan]

Without even doing a search I would bet my wifes poodle against a donut that our good Doc cnnnd forcast this at the time.

You would be correct sir.

 

[JB]

Without even doing a search I would bet my wifes poodle against a donut that our good Doc cnnnd forcast this at the time.

I remember it distinctly. He did forecast that to a T. Played out almost exactly how he predicted

 

[JB]

Very fair, you have a bad habit of quoting my nonsense.

Only because it's so fun

 

[steelbtexan]

Keenum was close, so close. I believe 110% that if given the following offseason to work as #1 going into the season (with the inevitable first/early second pick behind him) that Keenum would be what most expected, instead of a wandering backup. He wasn't ready, Kubiak knew that and it was infinitely smarter short and long term to ride it out with Schaub for better or worse. Worse happens sometimes, and you grow from it, but finality doesn't happen like 2013 without McNair and Smith Ufcking it up as much as possible on their end.

Gotta do what the boss wants or you get fired.

That's what BOB's doing and we're seeing the results.

Gotta give it to Kubiak he stuck to his guns.

 

[steelbtexan]

Keenum was close, so close. I believe 110% that if given the following offseason to work as #1 going into the season (with the inevitable first/early second pick behind him) that Keenum would be what most expected, instead of a wandering backup. He wasn't ready, Kubiak knew that and it was infinitely smarter short and long term to ride it out with Schaub for better or worse. Worse happens sometimes, and you grow from it, but finality doesn't happen like 2013 without McNair and Smith Ufcking it up as much as possible on their end.

Gotta do what the boss wants or you get fired.

That's what BOB's doing and we're seeing the results.

Gotta give it to Kubiak he stuck to his guns.

Schaub was a small fluke among much greater flukes, his greatest attribute was his mind and his accuracy - teams feared blitzing Schaub the same way they do Brady. Between his injuries and mental breakdown however, he could've broken the pick-6 record twice in as many games and we should've been able to handle the outcome. We weren't 22-6 the previous two seasons by accident. Our men were trained, we had an enemy, we knew how to adjust and attack every situation ... but a 19 (85) year old officer and his dog saw the team's success as their own by default, and predictably effed it up by trying to undermine successful subordinates and bring in people who answer only to him (Ed Reed for the noobs). After 2011 command had been taken away from competents, General Gomer Pile was running the show because Jerry Jones and Robert Craft said he was doing such a great job, and Lassie (now extended through 2020) was gladly on scene to drop a turd in the stadium at his master's command.

Shaub's injury was an issue, but it was one that Kubiak was willing to ride out regardless of the outcome because (until management got involved) Kubiak had done one hell of a job building long term. And the team would've rode with him - if they weren't confused on who they're supposed to listen to. Keenum wasn't ready, he was groomed to take over the following season, with a draft that I'm 9000000% certain would've included a first or second round quarterback that Kubiak could 'create'. Seriously, what would you give at this point to have Kubiak "CREATE" a quarterback? The last first rounder he worked with (off the top of my head) is Elway. He's turned everyone else into a probowler. We had to be patient for one friggin year (McNair, know how the Pats and Steelers you idolize have patience with great personnel?) - and we could have had everything.

Even on defense we're seeing the dropoff. RAC is a great coach. Vrabel might be a great coach eventually. But the scouting and evaluation and teaching and scheme talent of Wade and Joseph? Sorry, they just don't have it. They're relying entirely on Wade's people to carry the team, and eventually ... THEY'RE NOT WADE. Unless Wade keeps us alive from the metaphorical grave (like Kareem Jackson winning the Bengals' game), we're going to see a severe decline defensively.

I would've like to see Kubiak develop a 1st rd QB before 2-14.

This post = Kubiak HOF'er. LOL

He** Kubiak is a god.

 

[infantrycak]

CK's best games happened when Kubiak was sidelined by the stroke. I'm not saying CK is a NFL winning level QB.

Not even close to true. His 1st 2 starts were 110 & 123 ratings with Kubiak on the sideline. He never went over 90 after that, only the next game was over 80.

 

[Scooter]

edit

 

[steelbtexan]

Not even close to true. His 1st 2 starts were 110 & 123 ratings with Kubiak on the sideline. He never went over 90 after that, only the next game was over 80.

I didn't look up the numbers but I guess sometimes numbers lie.

Although 2-14 certainly wasn't a lie.

 

[Scooter]

I didn't look up the numbers but I guess sometimes numbers lie.

Although 2-14 certainly wasn't a lie.

Was 10-6 a lie? Was 12-4 a lie? Was a Superbowl win with the same coaching staff a lie? Pick one. Did McNair and Smith ufck up something good? Or were Kubiak and Wade (tops in league numbers) incompetent?

 

[JB]

I didn't look up the numbers but I guess sometimes numbers lie.

Although 2-14 certainly wasn't a lie.

2-14 wasn't any more of a lie than 12-4 was. 2-14 took some freakishly bad luck, as did 6-10 in 2010

 

[infantrycak]

I didn't look up the numbers but I guess sometimes numbers lie.

Although 2-14 certainly wasn't a lie.

Please don't start the stupid 2-14 mantra again.

CK started off 7 TDs, 0 INTs in his 1st 3 games. He then went 2 TDs, 6 INTs.

 

[Texian]

In regards to CK, it was never that cut-n-dry. CK played some pretty good ball behind a bad OL and no Arien Foster. He had the team up at halftime on a few occassions only to be let down by Kubiak's desire to never alter his plan by making in-game adjustments and the defense's inability to hold a lead. That 0-8 start still showed CK more than apt at hitting the long pass since he finished the season in the Top 8 in connections at 20+ yards. A couple of wins sprinkled in at the start might have gone a long way to writing a different story in regards to his first 8 games as a starter.

One thing I will never forget...when Kubiak didn't like CK improvising from outside the pocket and mentioned that he must coach him up even more on being a Pocket Passer....heck, CK wa only 5-10 maybe and he did his best work outside the pocket. Why would Kubiak think that was the important tweak at the time. Might've been more prudent to look at the OL and running game since CK was getting killed in the 2nd half of most of the games.

Kubiak managed CK based on CK's knowledge and grasp of the playbook and the system. In was in much the same way he managed Osweiler in Denver. It was McNair who thought CK was the future of the Texans not Kubiak.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

Kubiak started putting Yates in game 5 then Yates got hurt game 6.



What's mind boggling about that is many folks who didn't want to give Kubiak a year to reboot the QB position are now patiently waiting in year 4 of OB, even saying they should have waited another year to get a QB.

Patient my arse!! Before I would've jumped at retooling the QB position by trading away what RS did to get a QB, I would've green lighted trading back and re-tooling the OL, WR, and TE so a QB would have a chance at survival during his development period taking actual first team game snaps.

 

[infantrycak]

Patient my arse!! Before I would've jumped at retooling the QB position by trading away what RS did to get a QB, I would've green lighted trading back and re-tooling the OL, WR, and TE so a QB would have a chance at survival during his development period taking actual first team game snaps.

Exactly. Year 4 and you want to put off QB to year 5. QB mind you being the glaring omission in 2013 making 12-4 go to 2-14. Now that 12-4 team is virtually all gone pissed away waiting to build OL, WR, TE, etc. before inserting the most important player on the field.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

Exactly. Year 4 and you want to put off QB to year 5. QB mind you being the glaring omission in 2013 making 12-4 go to 2-14. Now that 12-4 team is virtually all gone pissed away waiting to build OL, WR, TE, etc. before inserting the most important player on the field.

Absolutely!!! If Watson doesn't pan out...which is very possible given the state of the OL, then you skip doing anything in 2018 and hope the team is in a position to start over in 2019. Expected returns probably happen by 2021 provided RS has suddenly become a stellar GM and savvy draft day wheeler dealer.

Also worth mentioning, Watson is possibly learning a new offensive system next season while playing behind this OL. Which coach could RS name as HC that would bring along an OC which could elevate Watson's play/accuracy? Bear in mind that this may be happening behind the current OL since RS obviously sees nothing wrong with the unit....unless he "suddenly" realizes the shortcomings of the teams OL and sets out trying to improve the unit for the new HC. Maybe, RS would pursue Dabney as an opportunity to unite the Clemson HC with Watson and Hopkins.

 

[infantrycak]

As if OB has no say on OL.

 

[thunderkyss]

Bear in mind that this may be happening behind the current OL since RS obviously sees nothing wrong with the unit....unless he "suddenly" realizes the shortcomings of the teams OL and sets out trying to improve the unit for the new HC.

Eh... maybe Rick & Bob saw the same issue you do. Maybe they saw other issues as well.

Keep in mind the Texans were obviously pleased with our OTs... both were on their second contract. Our guards & center however were not. They started trying to upgrade there from O'bs first year. Then Newton got hurt. Then Brown held out.

I also think it's clear they saw Lamm as just as good an answer to RT as anyone in the draft. So much so, they moved him to LT when they realized Brown ain't coming back. Just like we'd have done had we drafted Ramcyk, or Bolles, or Robinson.

But QB... QB is an issue we've been crying about two years before O'b.

Had Brown not held out & they were able to play Lamm at RT Tom Savage may still be our starter.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

Eh... maybe Rick & Bob saw the same issue you do. Maybe they saw other issues as well.

Keep in mind the Texans were obviously pleased with our OTs... both were on their second contract. Our guards & center however were not. They started trying to upgrade there from O'bs first year. Then Newton got hurt. Then Brown held out.

I also think it's clear they saw Lamm as just as good an answer to RT as anyone in the draft. So much so, they moved him to LT when they realized Brown ain't coming back. Just like we'd have done had we drafted Ramcyk, or Bolles, or Robinson.

But QB... QB is an issue we've been crying about two years before O'b.

Had Brown not held out & they were able to play Lamm at RT Tom Savage may still be our starter.

Newton was awful before his injury...that injury probably saved him from the fate of being traded or reduced to the pine rider. Based on this mess of an OL and knowing that both RS and O'Brien should've identified this as a shortcoming from O'Brien's second year thru this past draft, then I hold them both accountable and should be fired in tandem.

 

[thunderkyss]

Newton was awful before his injury...that injury probably saved him from the fate of being traded or reduced to the pine rider. Based on this mess of an OL and knowing that both RS and O'Brien should've identified this as a shortcoming from O'Brien's second year thru this past draft, then I hold them both accountable and should be fired in tandem.

Accountable... They drafted an OG year one. An OC in year three, they sign an OG day one of FA year three. They picked up a developmental OT year two & year four. They picked up a developmental Center (actually they gambled on an injured player) in year two & four.

Granted, they don't look great right now. But more time together, no Geno Atkins or Malik Jacksons... for a little while, maybe they can get back to middle of the pack like last year.

 

[JPPT1974]

Yeah as really think that hopefully they can get some chemistry going as well as that of bonding and just be a powerhouse. Will take time.

 

[Texansphan]

There are things we can do for the long and short term.
Hopefully the short term things can help solve the long term ones as well.
It seems too many Texans are getting injured so some FA's who show some skill and durability should be a priority.
Obviously the oline needs some attention.
Put Mancz back at center as he was excellent there last season. Bringing Brown back at this point likely won't do much for the team as he will take several weeks to get back up to speed. More help is needed on the line so you have to keep taking chances at FA's. Unfortunately, olines take time to gel but moving Mancz back to where he was good last season would be a good start.
Bring in some more help at receiver that will be a threat on the opposite side to Nuk.
Get Foreman more reps.
Long term, well, that is an even bigger lottery - get rid of Smith or Bill, but Smith might be the fly in the ointment as Bill would likely do much better with better personnel management/appropriation.
Somehow, this team just does not seem to have that winning mentality/killer attitude - they are slow starting and hot and cold.

 

[dwight pugoy]

IMHO we need to rid ourselves of Rick Smith. He is just not good. Stand up guy and all, but I think he is a little slow in reacting to the future needs of the team.

Look at the investment and who we let walk on the o-line. Football games are won in the trenches and he let linemen walk to Brooks Philly and Jones to Tennesse and paid the guy from Kasas city and he absolutely stinks.

 

[infantrycak]

IMHO we need to rid ourselves of Rick Smith. He is just not good. Stand up guy and all, but I think he is a little slow in reacting to the future needs of the team.

Look at the investment and who we let walk on the o-line. Football games are won in the trenches and he let linemen walk to Brooks Philly and Jones to Tennesse and paid the guy from Kasas city and he absolutely stinks.

So you know RS wanted to get rid of Brooks and Jones? Wasn't part of the OB transition to power run scheme/rid Kubiak pogram? It was RS wanted to rid successful players he had found? Yeah, this plot doesn't work for me.

We had a classic Gibbs/Shanahan/Kubiak OL and OB f'ked it up.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

Accountable... They drafted an OG year one. An OC in year three, they sign an OG day one of FA year three. They picked up a developmental OT year two & year four. They picked up a developmental Center (actually they gambled on an injured player) in year two & four.

Granted, they don't look great right now. But more time together, no Geno Atkins or Malik Jacksons... for a little while, maybe they can get back to middle of the pack like last year.

Unfortunately...all those moves equal the product that is currently on the field. Somewhere in this organization lies another mistake waiting to happen. This team cannot be that successful identifying defensive talent but be so far wide right that the FG attempt bounced off the line judges head in regards to finding offensive talent.

The RS/O'Brien era has produced a team only slightly better than Cleveland in record only. Like Ricky Bobby's daddy said, "If you ain't first, you're last!!". Those 9-7 seasons have only done one thing, pushed the Texans further back in the draft and with a combination of RS and O'Brien at the helm...have done more harm than good, especially if you look at the talent drafted from RD4 and beyond. What's even worse, it would seem that they've actually found more talent via UDFA than in those rounds. That talent isn't exactly anything to jump for joy over, since they would represent roster or PS fillers on most other top teams.

 

[infantrycak]

So now it's not just a talent issue, it has to be brought in the right way. Finding UDFA talent turned into a fault. Now I've seen everything.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

So now it's not just a talent issue, it has to be brought in the right way. Finding UDFA talent turned into a fault. Now I've seen everything.

See, for this organization I'd love to believe that was just awesome talent evaluation and execution by the the GM but sadly, where's the same process during the draft? Based on the current results, the Texans might've been better off trading all their 2017 draft picks for 2018 picks and loaded up on UDFA this past draft (which is their strength).... then firing RS and O'Brien and bring in a new regime to enjoy the 14+ picks they may have in the 2018 draft. That could have the makings of a big turnaround for the Texans.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

Stupid iPad

 

[infantrycak]

The Texans need 2 guys right now and one doesn't go on the roster/cap. They need Duane Brown back on the line and they need an actual offensive mind. OB sucks goat gonads on O.

As for talent, it is irrelevant whether it comes in the 5th or UDFA.

There's never 'enough' talent. Belichick wants more talent, more depth, etc. But he and other coaches make the best of what they have. OB and many Texans fans sit around pining over the puppy in the window that they don't have. Get over it and use what you've got.

 

[thunderkyss]

This team cannot be that successful identifying defensive talent but be so far wide right that the FG attempt bounced off the line judges head in regards to finding offensive talent.

Agreed. So I go back to day after the draft & assess how I & others felt after the selection. The overall feeling about the selections have been good.

There was some confusion about the redundancy of Tyler Ervin (in relation to Akeem Hunt). There was concerns about Nix's medical issues... & general concerns about Strong. None of those broke our way.

As a matter of fact, I think it was a blunder to cut Akeem Hunt & keep Tyler Ervin. But that's not on the GM.

XSF, is that on the GM or the coach? I believe both.

Not getting Garoppolo... They built a board, they stuck to their board, it didn't work out. I doubt every team gets every player they set out to get when the draft starts. Just like you & your fantasy draft. How often do you get all the players you wanted?

 

[chicagotexan2]

I don't think BoB is the biggest problem on this team even though his offense is lousy. Having said that if he were gone I'd be ok with that.

The personnel and so many of the moves made by the front office show where the bigger issue is. Rick Smith should not be the GM of this team.

despite the many Eff-ups during Rick Smiths tenure his position is safe as can be which means the biggest problem is with the ownership. I wish Bob McNair would put aside his personal feelings for Smith and do what's best for the team which means letting him go or transferring him to executive director of Toro Appearances.

 

[Texansphan]

Agreed. So I go back to day after the draft & assess how I & others felt after the selection. The overall feeling about the selections have been good.

There was some confusion about the redundancy of Tyler Ervin (in relation to Akeem Hunt). There was concerns about Nix's medical issues... & general concerns about Strong. None of those broke our way.

As a matter of fact, I think it was a blunder to cut Akeem Hunt & keep Tyler Ervin. But that's not on the GM.

XSF, is that on the GM or the coach? I believe both.

Not getting Garoppolo... They built a board, they stuck to their board, it didn't work out. I doubt every team gets every player they set out to get when the draft starts. Just like you & your fantasy draft. How often do you get all the players you wanted?

Great obvious point.
I think it was obvious last draft when Texans seemed to panic and move up to nab Watson - possibly a knee jerk reaction after KC moved up to grab Mahomes. Was Mahomes the actual target, and Texans had to "settle" for Watson?
It was at least obvious Texans wanted a top three QB but we may never know who the original one was Texans had highest on their board.
I also think they got skated when Vikings jumped them in Teddy Bridgewater's draft.
Moves happen all the time and screw up draft boards for every team and who saw Jags taking Bortles in '14?
Surprise moves must be FO nightmares on draft day.
I bet every team has at least 6-7 top choices in the first round and the further down the board you are, the more choices you may have to have.

 

[OptimisticTexan]

The Texans used self-tapping screws when they took "X" (moved up) instead of drafting D. Carr. I actually wanted Carr even more than Garoppolo. It's a shame the team put David's lineage ahead of common sense.

 

[Flyingfish]

Simple fact is that two different coaching regimes, two different offensive concepts, same GM, same talent evaluations and approach to the draft, and the Texans still haven't reached near where they, or the fans, want to be. The common factor is the Rick Smith. Until he and his philosophy is changed out (whatever the hell it is), the end result will not change. A blind hog can only find so many acorns.