Schizophrenia is a bitch
Oct 17, 2007 2006 Draft, 2006 Season, 2007 Season, Houston Chronicle, McTard, Reggie Bush, Super Mario, Teams that aren't the Texans, Vinsanity
Reader VincentRobert Vega points me in the direction of John McClain’s latest “column.” While I am all in favor of making up conversations in the name of humor (see here), McClain seems to be using the approach to make the same short-sighted, asinine, revisionist points about Mario Williams that he has been vomiting into cyberspace for 22 regular season games.
I was lying in bed Monday night, reading the Chronicle sports section and trying to watch a late edition of SportsCenter, when the spirit of Joel Buchsbaum visited me.
All this lede is missing is “Dear Penthouse Forum” and a reference to “throbbing member” and/or “dripping honeypot.”
Perhaps it was a dream, but it just seemed so real. I could swear I had a conversation with the late, great Buchsbaum about Mario Williams.
“Mario? You just scared the bejabbers out of me to talk about Mario Williams?”
Joel turned up his nose.
I like him, but I don’t love him.
Yeah, but do you LIKE HIM like him? Also, why am I not surprised that John McClain has imaginary conversations with people who agree with him about Mario?
I didn’t want to insult him, because Buchsbaum, as the NFL editor and draft guru for Pro Football Weekly, was the greatest personnel geek in the country.
He left a legacy that hasn’t been matched and probably never will be.
And yet, I am reasonably sure that he is rolling over in his grave right now. Good job.
“You’re being kind, Joel. Most Texans fan would evaluate his performance with the kind of colorful descriptions that would cause me to be fired if I tried to use them in the Chronicle. But I know you want me to ask: Why don’t you love Mario?”
Not true. Most fans who don’t understand football and the learning curve for defensive ends would describe him that way, but those fans are generally mouth-breathing retards. Fans with any sort of football IQ recognize how well Mario is playing right now. But I am getting ahead of myself.
Because he looks like Tarzan and hits like Jane.
“Wow, I’ve never heard that one. Is that the best you can do?”
Did you just make a stupid joke and then rip on your imagination in response to it? Sounds like someone ran out of lorazepam today.
I don’t like his mo-ta.
“His what?”
His mo-ta. You know, his mota doesn’t always run full speed.
Your hu-ma seems to be running a little below top end as well. Just a suggestion from an idiot blogger, but if you are going to use the fake conversation construct to make some sort of point, you might want to get near the point in the first half of the article.
Also, saying his “mo-ta” doesn’t run at full speed is dumb. Have you seen him play this year? Did you see him get a one-handed sack while being blocked? That looked to me like someone who absolutely did not give up on a play. Or how about teams running away from him, yet Mario frequently being in on the tackle or in the picture when the tackle is made on the other side of the field? No, he doesn’t go 100% on every play, but I don’t know too many defensive linemen who do, especially on running plays. Hell, look at Julius Peppers–he seems to be taking entire series off this year.
“Oh, now I get it. Well, that’s nothing new, either.”
Neither is anything you’ve said so far.
I mean, he’s got a Lamborghini body with a go-kart mo-ta. He reminds me of Mamula.
“Mike Mamula? Now that’s hitting below the belt, Joel. Mario is playing much better than in his rookie year, when he played hurt the second half of the season. He’s got three sacks. He’s played the run well at times. I admit he’s been inconsistent. With all due respect, Joel, even you have to admit he’s playing better this season.
Wait a second. Did you just defend Mario? I’m getting dizzy. Still, you seem to be ignoring the almost universal truth that the learning curve for defensive ends is generally three years. In fact, now that I think about it, I don’t know that I’ve ever seen you mention that. Ever. Though that’s probably just because you are pandering to the lapdogs who leave you “Grate articul, jeneral!” comments after everything you post. But I digress.
“If you want to see his motor run full speed, you just watch him Sunday, and — hey, I just thought of something: You didn’t appear to me because this is ‘You Know Who Week’ in Houston, did you?”
You know who?
Ah-ha! There we go. This entire column was a way for you to rehash the “Vince is great, he’s a winner, I want to kiss him on the mouth and possibly bear his children” spiel that you drop on us every couple months. Brilliant. Wait until the week of the game–quite possibly the most important game this franchise has played for a number of reasons–to stir the pot and get your least-common-denominator readers to whine about who we “shoulda” drafted. What a lame, chickenshit, yet utterly unsurprising move.
Here’s an idea–and, again, this is just a dipshit blogger talking–maybe you should spend this week talking about how well Mario has played and how poorly Reggie Bush has played. You know, considering that no one outside of UT fans who are also Texans fans were really considering Vince Young. This revisionist shit, where you talk about Vince being the “obvious” draft pick is irritating beyond belief. The ONLY decision (and the team has since admitted as much) was between Mario and Eric Metcalf, Jr. That’s it. Would Vince have made sense? From a marketing standpoint, definitely. But if we’d taken him and he wasn’t a “winna” with legs of gold and balls of brass, I’m reasonably sure that you and your cronies would be faulting us for not taking Reggie Bush.
Also, I find it humorous that you rehash the poor decision in taking Mario Williams, yet you yourself said it was a good pick right after the draft. Oh, yes you did, John. Houston’s Clear Thinkers preserved your words for posterity.
“Yeah, ‘You Know Who.’ At Reliant Stadium this week, we’re not allowed to speak his name. You better not be here to blast Bob McNair for taking him over the other guy. That’s so tiresome and, frankly, Joel, just out of style. Not that you were an out-of-style guy or anything.”
Call the quarterback — can I call him the quarterback this week? — anything you want, but the guy’s a leed-a. Where I’m from, everybody agrees the kid’s special because all he does is win. And if you don’t believe me, you should come to one of our tailgate parties. We’ve got Lombardi, Landry, Unitas, Van Brocklin, Graham, Gillman, and they all agree: The kid’s a winna.
I have to admit–this approach of having your imaginary friend make your arguments is novel, if not particularly entertaining. Do you really think it’s Vince Young delivering that team to victory? Because I think–and maybe I’m just an asshole–that it might have a little something to do with that Titan defense playing ridiculously well. Haynesworth and Bulluck deserve WAY more credit for the winning being done in Tennessee this year, just like Pacman Jones was far more instrumental in winning games than was Vince last year.
And, you know what, I don’t even think that Vince is an awful QB. Just an overrated QB, who happens to have landed with a team and a system that works for him AND with a defense that can make up for his frequent fumbles and INTs. He’s not all that different from a Rex Grossman, circa 2006. More consistent (who isn’t?) and more entertaining to watch, but a very similar situation. He might develop into the next Steve Young, but for now, he’s a QB with the ability to make the occasional big play and a good enough defense to rescue him when he doesn’t.
“Wow, Joel, that’s some tailgate party you guys have up there. What an honor that would be. But hopefully, it’ll be a couple of more decades before I can hang with you, assuming I’m headed in your direction, of course.
“Not to be disrespectful, because you know I always considered you the best. I seldom missed your weekly show on KTRH, and if you remember, I was the only writer you invited to visit you in your Brooklyn apartment. But I have to be honest: I’ve heard it all before. It’s like a broken record. Just e-mail my blog like everybody else. What’s done is done.”
You’ve heard it all before because you’ve said it all before, ad nauseum. God, I feel like I am beating my face against a brick wall.
Look, Mario Williams was the ultimate workout warrior, a combine freak, but what’s he done to prove he’s worth $28 mil guaranteed? Didn’t they draft him to get to Peyton Manning? Has he gotten close enough to see what num-ba Manning wears?
“But Joel, they’re only six games into their second season, and so much can happen.”
Exactly! But look at what has already happened–Mario has emerged as a good enough pass rusher to draw double-teams nearly all the time. Watch Amobi’s sacks. Three of the four came when Mario was not just being double-teamed, but was practically being gang-raped.
As for the Manning reference, Peyton has only been sacked three times all year…and one of those was courtesy of Amobi Okoye. Do you honestly think a rookie DT gets Manning if Mario is not being targeted by multiple blockers? If so, there is no convincing you that Mario was the right pick, regardless of facts. If not, then this whole “conversation” is somewhat hypocritical.
Yeah, but ‘You Know Who’ is up 2-0, right? Let me tell you something: If Mario wants to be known for something besides breaking the speed barri-a in North Carolina, Sunday would be the time to do it. Everybody will be watching. And I do mean everybody.
Again…if your only measure of Mario’s impact is his sack total, then this is a pointless debate. Opposing offensive coordinators already know that Mario can be dominant. That is why they game plan with a focus on slowing him down. Which is a huge reason why Manchild is looking dominant at times–he’s getting single blockers in the form of a guard or center (big mistake). And if your measure of whether Mario is successful hinges on the TEAM’S record against Tennessee, then I don’t even know where to start.
“Fine, Joel, but Kerry Collins might play. Haven’t you heard? The quarterback’s hurt, and he’s day-to-day.”
Oh, he’s going to play, all right. Trust me on this.
“Oh, yeah? Why should I trust you on this? You got inside information or something?”
Well, as a matter of fact, I do. The quarterback’s leg will be touched and healed this week. And I don’t mean by Lombardi or Landry.
Look, it doesn’t matter who plays QB for the Titans in this game. The only important thing is that we win. If we can win against Vince, I suppose that’s all the better for shutting up you and your ilk, but it’s still only important to someone with an ounce of sense because it’s a win and not because of Young.
[Insert noise of exasperation here.]
Reading back over this post, I realize that it is almost as pointless as your article. I mean, everyone gets it: You think they should have taken Vince Young, I think Mario was a good pick and I don’t think that Vince was ever really an option. Whatever.
Still, coming out with this article–especially in a format that let’s you say “see, I was defending Mario” should he do well on Sunday–during the week of the Titans game smacks of something unseemly. It looks like you are actively rooting for Mario to fail so that you can say “See! See! I told you!” for the next 15 years (assuming you live that long). But considering you defended the pick when it was made and that you profess to be a Texans fan, rooting against Mario now just makes you a crawfishing asshole.
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October 17th, 2007 at 1:55 pm
The legacy of the late great Joel Buchsbaum is that you can’t trust what newspaper guys tell you about players, you have to look at them with your own eyes and do your own homework.
His column perpetuates three myths about Mario (or at a minimum, he sets up some straw men arguments and then doesn’t adequately discuss them):
1. That Mario is just a combine freak.
2. That Mario doesn’t play with a motor.
3. That it was a choice between Mario and Vince.
As for the first myth, Mario Williams career and junior stats are very similar to Julius Peppers, a player who was picked #2 in the draft and a player that Carolina ended up going to the SB with. (I’m not saying they are the same type players, but I am just making the point that Mario actually had a good college career).
As for the second myth, I think no one who is watching the games says that Mario Williams has no motor or an inconsistent motor. I think a better critique is that he plays hard but sometimes does not play smart. That is not uncommon for young players.
As for the third myth, Vince Young could have never been an option on draft day unless you wanted the biggest salary cap joke ever and a bigger QB controversy than Carr v. Testaverde.
Texans consultant Dan Reeves and Charlie Casserly convinced ownership that “David Carr was not the problem.” That with better coaching, you could keep him and use your pick on a different position. It was an error for them not to judge that Carr had lost the locker room, that he had questions about his work habits, and that he had some fundamental problems with his ability to quarterback that would be difficult if not impossible to fix.
Whether they knew that he wasn’t fixable, they SHOULD HAVE KNOWN he had lost the locker room and that he had questionable work habits for an NFL quarterback.
By persuading ownership to extend Carr’s time in Houston for THREE years in February, roughly the time they were required to do it, there is no sensible way they could have picked Vince Young for the draft.
To characterize the decision as Vince v. Mario is misleading but non-surprising for someone who works at a newspaper that ran a graphic of The 5 Worst Draft Busts the day Williams was drafted, and never provided any information about him other than he was a physical specimen.
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October 17th, 2007 at 2:08 pm
It sometimes amazes me that you are able to discuss media stupidity without resorting to dick jokes or name-calling. Nicely done.
Oh, that’s my way of saying that I absolutely agree with your post. Those three myths are bandied about more and more. Especially the one re: Vince, now that people see Bush as a the overrated turd he is.
By the way, not only were Mario and Peppers’ college stats similar, but Mario actually had better combine numbers. Which is to say that all signs were pointing to yes when it came to Mario’s upside.
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October 17th, 2007 at 3:02 pm
Well done. But you kind of glossed over one of my favorite parts.
I seldom missed your weekly show on KTRH, and if you remember, I was the only writer you invited to visit you in your Brooklyn apartment.
There are a lot of directions you could take this one. From the PG rated “nice job throwing in some self promotion” to the X rated… well you get the idea.
Anyway, you both make excellent points and it amazes me how the debate has shifted from Reggie to Vince. Vince is a tremendous athlete, but I live in Florida and was in Boston at the time of the draft. I can assure you that NOBODY in either of those places had Vince as an option for the top pick.
All we can really say is that in hindsight, Mario has outplayed Reggie, and AT WORST is a draw with Vince. I don’t fully buy the VY wins games. Yes he’s been the key component to a couple of victories, but more often than not, he’s not been the main reason for those wins — he just happens to be on the winning team.
But even worse, I can’t imagine how there are people out there who claim to be Texans fans, but root for Vince. If he was drafted by the Seahawks — ok. But as a Titan, I gotta hate him. This just doesn’t compute with me.
Anyway, this shit gets me fired up and nobody else within 100 miles of me gives a fuck about the Texans. I think if I lived in Houston, I’d have been arrested by now.
-Vega
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October 17th, 2007 at 3:04 pm
I have nothing rational or logical to say here…
Mario has played much, MUCH better than last year, and while he had an offweek in week 6 (he was just being a team player since *everyone* played like shit in JAX and he had no need to show off), Mario has been a consistent force on the D-line since the start of the year!
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October 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
I think we’ve had this discussion a few times before Matt, but I can’t think of a better time to rehash it considering it’s Vince Bowl Week.
Mario is a good pick for the Texans or any other team for several reasons, and that being that monster specimen like him come along only so often. Lots of folks beat up the Lions for taking WR after WR, but when they had a shot a Calvin Johnson no one said boo because he was and is a monster specimen. You have to take him if you get the chance, even if you don’t need a WR. The same could apply for Mario two years ago.
The only argument against his pick, which I still maintain is that in the AFC south you need to have weapons on offense if you’re going to keep up with Indy, because they are going to score. A lot. The game the Texans beat Indy they got 150 yards out of Ron Dayne (yeah, I looked that one up too) and were able to match Indy scoring until the end. Besides Andre, I don’t see anything on the Texans sideline that could be considered a serious offensive weapon. Schaub is a great upgrade, but hardly an offensive weapon.
Vince Young is an offensive weapon. Admittedly he has struggled early this year getting in synch, but when he has all cylinders working he is a load to defend. His arm is getting better, and he is staying in the pocket longer this year, as teams are stacking 8-9 guys in the box. The mistakes he is making hardly put him in Grossman territory. Last week before he went down he was 11-14 for around 150 and really beginning to settle down.
The argument I made to you before Matt was that you could pass on Reggie as I agree he is overhyped, but the Texans needed an offensive weapon, and I can’t begin to imagine Andre Johnson and Vince on the same team (shudder). I won’t use any of the “hometown hero” crap because it’s irrelevant in the NFL, but from purely a football strategy standpoint, I think Vince would’ve helped the Texans more than Mario.
However, I still believe it is too early to pass final judgement one way or the other as both of them have barely played a full years worth of games in the NFL at this point.
But I will fully disagree with the comments about Vince’s contributions in our victories, and I can gauruntee you that every guy to a man on the Titans roster would back me on this.
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October 17th, 2007 at 3:16 pm
Vega, I can’t believe I forgot that part. I laughed at it when I was reading the story, then got so pissed as I was writing it that I missed a number of little nuggets. Live and learn, I guess.
gd, precisely.
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October 17th, 2007 at 5:18 pm
This Texans team, as it currently stands, has four good to great WRs, a fantastic TE, no RB that is worth a turd, and an offensive line that pass blocks much better than it run blocks. Knowing that, which QB is going to be a better fit–one who is extremely accurate, does a very good job of distributing the ball, and gets rid of the ball extremely quickly; or one with a bigger arm, but much less accuracy, and a desire to tuck-and-run at the first sign of trouble?
Am I saying that Vince would not succeed in Houston? Not exactly, but I don’t think he would fare as well as he does behind the Titans’ line that seems to excel at run blocking. The idea of him trying to thread the needle to Andre and OD with the consistency of Schaub seems unrealistic at best.
More importantly at this juncture, though, Young was never really an option, so it’s pretty pointless to discuss whether he should have been. That’s why articles like McClain’s bug me. But, for the purpose of this conversation, I’ll suspend my disbelief.
It’s also worth noting that, protestations of Titans fans aside, the fact remains that Vince seems to get all of the credit when the team wins and take nearly none of the blame when they lose. He’s teflon. Other than the Texans OT game last year, can you think of a game that Young more or less won on his own? I can’t. But I can think of two or three that Pacman did. And this year, as the team has been winning ugly, is it Vince leading them to victory or is it the pass rush of Haynesworth and the fact that no one can run on TN? Because you would almost have to say it was the latter. Of course the guys on the team are going to say that it’s Vince–he’s charismatic and he is a leader, not to mention he’s the high-profile QB–but ask any football guy not affiliated with the team, and most all of them will point to the defense. Vince helps the team win, of course, but he’s far from the main reason.
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October 17th, 2007 at 5:49 pm
Matt,
Knowing that, which QB is going to be a better fit
Point taken, although Vince is not the “tuck-and-run at the first sign of trouble” QB that you make him out to be. In fact, there have been several times this year that we wish he WOULD have ran and didn’t. He is truly making an effort to stay in the pocket and let things develop more this year. As far as the draft is concerned, I stand by my comment that you guys needed an offensive weapon and Vince is clearly one of those.
I don’t think he would fare as well as he does behind the Titans’ line that seems to excel at run blocking
Mm, I don’t think our O-Line actually excells at one over the other. They are good at both equally IMO. Our biggest problem from a passing perspective is getting Vince to settle down and make plays, which he is getting better at. I agree with you that Schaub is a better passer, but I believe Vince is a bigger offensive threat. And I think over time Vince will continue to prove that he is more of a threat as time goes on.
the fact remains that Vince seems to get all of the credit when the team wins and take nearly none of the blame when they lose.
Not true at all. One thing we’ve been happy about with Vince this year is that when he screws up he’s taking the blame. And he is the first one to say that defense wins games when they do win the game. The Atlanta game this year was the best example. Vince was god-awful and he admitted it. No excuses, no back talking, and he gave the defense the credit for the win.
Here is his quote after the Atlanta game-
“QB VINCE YOUNG
(on how he would characterize today’s win)
Great win as a team, but overall our defense as well as our fans did a great job. The screaming and shouting getting the guys going and motivated like that. I know they were tired. As an offense I think the guys played good, myself I played real bad, but you know it happens as a quarterback. I’ve got to get ready for Tampa Bay, a good team. “
can you think of a game that Young more or less won on his own?
Several. I was at the Buffalo game (in Buffalo no less) where he kept bailing the defense out, the Giants game was a human highlight reel, and the Colts win at home was set up primarily by Vince using his legs to convert some enormous third and longs. But I don’t ever believe “one guy” wins the game on his own, so the point is moot to me. And Pacman never “won a game on his own”. Pacman almost lost a couple by fumbling punts a few times, and then made up for it elsewhere, but I would never put him in that sentence.
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October 17th, 2007 at 6:12 pm
Point taken on Vince taking the blame himself, but you have to admit it’s rare to hear the media get on him for poor play. I do think it’s good that he will step up and admit it when he played like shit, though.
Point also taken that no person wins a game totally by himself. Still, I don’t think you can dismiss Pacman like that. He had two picks and a huge punt return in the second half against New York Giants. He also had 3 punt return TDs and one 83-yard INT TD. He also didn’t lose a single fumble on punts, so I don’t think you can say he almost lost anything with those. In fact, his fourth quarter punt return TD against Houston in the first game provided the margin of victory.
This season, you have the #1 rushing defense in football and the #6 overall defense. Your scoring defense is #4. On the other side of the ball, your overall offense is #24 and your passing offense is #30. Your scoring offense is #25. Hell, you said yourself that Young’s 11-15 for 150 yards was “good.” No other team would consider that a good showing for their QB.
Is he better than Grossman? Yes, because he is more consistent and doesn’t have the “fuck it, I’m going deep” attitude all the time. At the same time, it is pretty clearly the defense that is winning games for this team. That is what creates the parallel to Rex.
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October 18th, 2007 at 8:13 am
T-man
As a Longhorn alum and someone who had and wore 2 Draft Vince shirts prior to Carr’s option being picked up, I think I can speak about VY fairly objectively.
First of all, and as a matter of just talking obvious reality, you can never say the decision was a Vince v. Mario thing ever. Once they made the decision on Carr in February, it would be beyond stupid to pick a QB with the first pick.
But even suspending reality, after 2005, the Texans had Dunta Robinson and Mr. Nobody on their roster for defense.
If you look at that 2005 defensive roster, it will make you laugh as a Titan fan or cry as a Texan fan. One of the reasons why the Texans were particularly awful in 2005, instead of regular awful, was the defense was a joke.
Most of the defensive roster has been remade since 2005, and last year’s draft was pretty much the key to it.
Given that the Texans had no defense to speak of in 2005, I am not sure VY would have had the same ability to win in Houston.
Given Gary Kubiak’s obvious talents with coaching and scheming quarterbacks, I think that getting Vince Young would be a waste, because what Kubiak is good at (helping smart quarterbacks put the ball where it needs to go), doesn’t fit with what Vince Young does best (turning chicken shit into chicken salad by improvising).
I like when a head coach drafts to his weakness. That he figures he can put together a system offense to be good enough to win in the league, to make it pretty much plug and play. But that he needs to get some playmakers on defense.
Young’s stats are ungood for a quarterback, but he does things that stat guys don’t see. He can convert third downs out of nothing, especially late in games. He opens up the running game more than any quarterback because teams can’t play aggressive and still have to account for him.
The problem about him is also his benefit. If he gets hurt, it is hard to keep an offense plug and play. That basically, your offense is designed to suit the QBs special abilities, and if that guy gets hurt, you have to change what you do. (This is what got Dan Reeves fired from his job in ATL).
Personally the biggest benefits I see of Vince Young being in Houston would have been on the marketing side. As it is, there are a certain number of folks in Texas who are angry at the team for not drafting Vince and will never root for the Texans because of that.
It also helped Bud Adams mend fence with some in Texas because he care more what folks in Texas think than he cares what people in Tennessee care about. They are just the people who give him money, but Texas is his home.
The biggest concern that I had for Vince Young as a Texan was that he would be bigger than the team, the coach, and the owner because of his popularity. When a player has that much leverage over a team, he can become a coach killer if things don’t go well.
Personally, I think that those people who will always hate the Texans because they didn’t draft Vince can go fornicate with themselves. The 2006 draft culled the herd. Taking out the lame people who are only fans of one guy, and keeping the dedicated fans.
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October 18th, 2007 at 8:58 am
I’m just excited because I’ll actually get to watch a Texans game in Austin!
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October 18th, 2007 at 11:05 am
Steph,
Your comments sound very reasonable, and I understand the idea that once the team inexplicably decided to stick with Mr. Glovey McJazzhands that a QB draft choice was somewhat out of the question, as well as the urgent need to upgrade defensively. But this is sort of my point. You can’t convince me that anyone with an ounce of sense thought that Carr was the long term QB choice, and considering he was dumped like an old newspaper the following year (for which the Texans received in compensation approximately, um, nothing) shows that the people who knew what they were doing finally got their hands on the wheel.
As I said above, Marios pick is defensible from a “he’s just a freak of nature” standpoint, but I don’t think you can say he was even your best defensive pick in that draft. I agree that Vince and Kubiak would be a tough fit, but even Norm Chow has been able to adjust his mindset to accomodate Vince’s skills. And the transition between Vince and Collins hasn’t been that big a deal either.
If you’re making the “Kubiak could only draft a pocket passer anyways” argument, I would still have wondered why you didn’t take Cutler or Leinart, primarily because I believe that offensive threats are a premium in the AFC south.
But we Titans fans thank you anyways.
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October 18th, 2007 at 1:43 pm
As for Cutler/Leinart, there is no way that either one of those QBs could excel in Houston because if the Texans took another QB other than Vince, the stadium would have burnt down.
Fans would have patience watching VY develop, but little patience with a different rookie QB.
I wasn’t making the argument that Kubiak could only draft a pocket passer, but rather that instead coming to a new team, and focusing his efforts on creating a new offense to feature a different sort of QB, he could put together his system offense, and give the defensive coordinator something to work with other than Dunta Robinson and a bag of smelly gym socks.
The Texans did the conventional football move. They kept a quarterback that they believed was fixable with decent QB coaching/scheme (something they never had), and then were able to use the first pick on another position on the field.
I do not think that there were too many people nationally that criticized picking up Carr’s option and using the pick on another position. What they criticized was taking Williams over Bush. Something I never had a problem with other than the way that the Texans handled that publicly.
Dan Reeves and Charlie Casserly were convinced that David Carr wasn’t the problem (they STILL believe that, BTW), and told management that. Kubiak with his background thought he could fix Carr based on what he saw on tape and what he was told. He had no idea exactly how stunted Carr was between his ears as far as his ability to read defenses. I give him credit for pulling the plug when he saw firsthand what Carr’s habits, lack of competitiveness and abilities were.
At the end of the day, it is still too early to evaluate the 2006 draft, and I would try not becoming too smug about getting- over with taking Young. He has his good points and his liabilities, and notably wasn’t even hit when he had his quad problem. Over time, the type of injury he has could easily become a chronic one, an injury that takes away his best asset.
Vince Young has been put in the perfect situation in that his owner thinks he can do no wrong because just VY as a Titan is such a screw you to Houston. And ultimately, I think the Texans as a young team are better off with a team that is focused on being a team, and not dependant on one specific person to make it work.
I’m not saying that the Titans can’t function without Vince, but Vince as a Texan with as popular as he is in Texas, it would have been the Houston Vinxans. And the whole franchise would depend on him having good character sense and ongoing health. More so than Vick in ATL because of Vince’s connection here.
As for the transition between Vince and Collins, let’s see how that works out if VY has to miss much time.