DGDB&D: a Texans blog.

Cam Cameron is a savior

May 6, 2007 2007 Draft, Amobi Okoye is 19, Bad Idea Jeans, Gary Kubiak might be high, Ohio State makes baby Jesus cry, Teams that aren't the Texans

From Len Pasquarelli’s latest tip sheet (Insider only):

One slot can mean a significant financial difference in the first round. And from a perception standpoint, it apparently can mean a lot, too. The Miami Dolphins, and in particular first-year coach Cam Cameron, caught incredible grief from their fans and the media when they chose Ohio State wide receiver Ted Ginn Jr. with the ninth overall pick in the draft. Miami fans, of course, wanted the team to stop the free fall of Notre Dame quarterback Brady Quinn at that point. But had the Dolphins not taken Ginn, who is still recovering from the mid-foot sprain he suffered in the Fiesta Bowl after being mobbed by teammates when he returned the opening kickoff for a touchdown, Houston would have grabbed him with the No. 10 slot. And the guess is that long-suffering Texans fans, tired of seeing the team field a bunch of stiffs at the wide receiver spot opposite Pro Bowl pass catcher Andre Johnson, would have had a much kinder reaction.

Ginn was the guy the Texans wanted, and one look at the wide receiver depth chart after Johnson shows why. As was the case for the departed David Carr, there aren’t a lot of inviting targets for new starting quarterback Matt Schaub. Arguably the most surprising choice in the top 10 of the 2006 draft was another former Ohio State player: safety Donte Whitner, who was chosen by Buffalo with the eighth overall pick and had a marvelous rookie year for the Bills. The Dolphins can only hope their Buckeyes’ surprise in the top 10 this year turns out as well.

I am trying to figure out on just how many levels I would have been pissed had this happened. First, there’s the fact that they would have been passing on Manchild. Second, they would have been passing on him to take the modern incarnation of Jermaine Lewis. Third, they would have been drafting one of the players I absolutely despise. (Again, I realize that my hatred for all things OSU can be irrational at best some times. I do not apologize for this.) So, yeah… three levels. At least.

The irony here is that, while I was giving Kubiak mad props (as the kids say) for drafting Okoye, he really only did it because Ginn (who, I think we can all agree, would not have been a good pick in any sense of the word) was off the board. (I picture Kubiak looking at his assistants the first day of minicamp, saying, “Normally I wear protection, but then I thought, ‘When am I gonna make it back to Haiti?’”) Adding to this stupidity, drafting Ginn would have eliminated the need for Jacoby Jones, who is bigger and actually, you know, plays wide receiver in addition to being fast. So, thank you, Cam Cameron. By taking a player who completely pissed off your fan base, you managed to improve Houston’s first AND third round picks. Nicely done. Your fruit basket is in the mail.