Mario Williams may have been a great pick after all.

[Phil C]

I know I have been singing the blues about the Texans not drafting Vince Young and then not even drafting Reggie Bush but it may turn out that Mario Williams is a great draft pick after all. Don't get me wrong I still say they should have got VY but if Mario keeps playing like he did this past Sunday and keeps improving this is going to be great for the Texans. I hope so.

[Sweetwater Red]

If ten years from now they're debating who was better...
Reggie White, Bruce Smith or Mario Williams....the Texans can
say they knew what they were doing all along....otherwise.

[crzyjournalist03]

Originally posted by Sweetwater Red
If ten years from now they're debating who was better...
Reggie White, Bruce Smith or Mario Williams....the Texans can
say they knew what they were doing all along.

yet still nobody will believe them...

[big daddy russ]

Williams' biggest sin is that he was drafted in front of Reggie Bush and Vince Young, so he's always going to be compared to those two. Even though I still think that Adrian Peterson will be a MUCH better pro than Bush, everyone looks at Bush's athleticism and (at least last year) compared that to a big defensive end that didn't do much in the passing game.

Houston will always have a love affair with Young, and a year after the Texans' had a chance to draft a stud, LOCAL QB, David Carr was shipped off.

Back to Williams, one of those sacks was due to pressure from another lineman, but he looked good out there on Sunday. He was a lot more explosive than last year, and KC was throwing double teams at him at different points in the game to try to slow him down. ND Kalu, Travis Johnson, Amobi Okoye, and Anthony Maddox were loving life because of the attention he attracted, and even though their numbers didn't jump out at you, they were giving the Chiefs problems all day long. And maybe, just maybe, Johnson's confidence will start to climb and he'll start showing some flashes worthy of a number one pick?!?!

A man can dream, can't he?

[BMOC]

Would have loved to see VY stay close to home, but Mario Williams is going to be great...heck, its not his fault he was chosen 1st.

[IHStangFan]

guys.....calm down...until this past week all anyone could do was badmouth the guy and he had been a non-factor. One game does not define a career. Should he continue to produce thoughout the season..then I'll be inclined to jump on the Mario ban wagon...until them.......

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by IHStangFan
guys.....calm down...until this past week all anyone could do was badmouth the guy and he had been a non-factor. One game does not define a career. Should he continue to produce thoughout the season..then I'll be inclined to jump on the Mario ban wagon...until them.......
Barrett, he had been a non-factor in the passing game, which is what most sports columnists look at. He was a hoss in the run game, though, and was the third-best player on that defense last year. That isn't a bad thing considering that the two guys ahead of him were DeMeco Ryans and Dunta Robinson. He didn't have much explosion last year, but he was the Texans' entire run defense. Remember, a defensive end isn't just measured by his sacks, no matter what Richard Justice tries to tell you.

I talked to Houston defensive line coach Frank Bush back in May (I worked with the Texans here and there this summer) and he told me that he's expecting a completely different Mario this year. He's healthy for the first time in his NFL career, he's quicker off the ball, and that he would "definitely get more than four sacks."

If you have TiVo, re-watch the Sunday game. It's all there. His explosion, his ability to put pressure on an offense, his lateral quickness (which is an often-overlooked quality in NFL defensive linemen), and his ability to make room for the other d-linemen. And don't underestimate what he means to a banged-up, already-subpar secondary.

I'm not crowning him a future-Hall of Famer and I don't expect him to record two sacks every game, especially when he goes up against teams like San Diego or Philly. But I do think that if he keeps playing at this level, even if he doesn't record another sack for the next seven games, he's the Texans' best defensive player and will be worth that #1 pick.

[burnet44]

foot problems slowed him last year
he is a good pic
Bush is the sexy pic
he is a weener
cant play tb cant play wr
you have to be creative to use him
Vince will be ok
but he needs to mature, Yes I know its his second year
I still think in the long run barring injury Mario will be the best of the 3 by a lot

[Txbroadcaster]

Originally posted by burnet44

Bush is the sexy pic
he is a weener
cant play tb cant play wr


Just cause Bush cant play one position does not mean u have to call him a weener..that is just wrong :D

[Macarthur]

MW is going to be a good player, maybe even make a pro bowl or two, but even then, it will be the wrong pick. they made the wrong pick and nothing is going to change that short of MW becoming the all-time sack leader.

What you have to factor in, outside of the on field production, is the buzz and energy Bush or Young would have created with the fan base. As it stands now, the organization has a ton of ground to make up to regain any credibility.

[Maroon87]

If he can cause havoc against Carolina's line that will be a true eye-opener, because their line is much better than KC's right now IMO. But I was at the game Sunday and he was giving KC all kinds of problems.

[JasperDog94]

Here's the deal. Williams would've been the 3rd pick at best with Bush and Young. They should have traded down. Even if you only got a snickers bar in return, at least you would have been satisfied.

[Old Tiger]

Reggie Bush is over-rated!

2006
Rushing 155 attempts/565 yards/3.6 ypcarry/18 longest run/6 td's
Recieving 88 catches/742 yards/8.4 ypcatch/74 longest catch/2 td's
Returning 28 punt returns/216 yards/1 td

Only 9 touchdowns for a guy who was supposed to be the best runningback ever or so they made it seem.

2007(So Far)
Rushing 12 attempts/38 yards/3.2 ypcarry/ 0 td
Recieving 4 catches/7 yards/ 1.8ypcatch/0 td
Returns1 punt return/2 yards/0 td


Now Adrian Peterson

2007(So Far)
Rushing19 carries/ 103 yards/5.4 ypcarry/15 longest/0 td
Recieving1 catch/60 yards/60.0 ypcatch/60 longest/1 td

[zebrablue2]

[QUOTE]Originally posted by IHStangFan
guys.....calm down...until this past week all anyone could do was badmouth the guy and he had been a non-factor. One game does not define a career. Should he continue to produce thoughout the season..then I'll be inclined to jump on the Mario ban wagon...until them....... [/QUOTE



agreed.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by JasperDog94
Here's the deal. Williams would've been the 3rd pick at best with Bush and Young. They should have traded down. Even if you only got a snickers bar in return, at least you would have been satisfied.
Actually, the consensus by most scouts was that Williams was the second-best prospect in the draft. The Saints were planning on taking him at number two until RB fell to them.

Vince Young, by most scouts' standards, was NOT one of the top five prospects.

Mike Mayock was the only big name with Young in the top five. He rated Young at number two, while Kiper put him at six and Scott Wright dropped him to seven.

Wish I could find the links to Mayock's and Kiper's board, but this is what I came up with.

Scott Wright's prospect list (http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/archive/2006/top300.html)

Draft Ace's prospect list... Young rated the number 3 QB behind Cutler and Leinart (http://www.draftace.com/draft2006/playerrankings.htm)

Fox Spots w/NFL Draft Scout... Vince falls to 11 (http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5503168)

Very few NFL teams had him top five on their draft boards, the Titans just happened to be one. And apparently it was a argument between Titans' coaches Jeff Fisher and OC Norm Chow (who wanted Leinart) vs. GM Floyd Reese and Owner Bud Adams (who wanted Young).

Since we're in Texas and he's a native Houstonian, the cries for Young from Texans' fans were especially loud. Because the Titans opted for upside over Matt Leinart and pulled a small surprise by drafting Young, the thought that he was one of the top two or three draft picks became even more widespread.

The truth is, Young wasn't the 11th-best prospect and he wasn't the second-best. He was largely-regarded as the seventh-best prospect in the draft behind:

1. Reggie Bush
2. Mario Williams
3. Matt Leinart
4. D'Brickasaw Ferguson
5. AJ Hawk
6. Vernon Davis

Him and Vernon Davis swapped spots in some scouts' notebooks, but for the most part he was earmarked at seventh.

[burnet44]

I ment tweener not weener

[Diocletian]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
Williams' biggest sin is that he was drafted in front of Reggie Bush and Vince Young, so he's always going to be compared to those two. Even though I still think that Adrian Peterson will be a MUCH better pro than Bush, everyone looks at Bush's athleticism and (at least last year) compared that to a big defensive end that didn't do much in the passing game.

Houston will always have a love affair with Young, and a year after the Texans' had a chance to draft a stud, LOCAL QB, David Carr was shipped off.

Back to Williams, one of those sacks was due to pressure from another lineman, but he looked good out there on Sunday. He was a lot more explosive than last year, and KC was throwing double teams at him at different points in the game to try to slow him down. ND Kalu, Travis Johnson, Amobi Okoye, and Anthony Maddox were loving life because of the attention he attracted, and even though their numbers didn't jump out at you, they were giving the Chiefs problems all day long. And maybe, just maybe, Johnson's confidence will start to climb and he'll start showing some flashes worthy of a number one pick?!?!

A man can dream, can't he?



Peterson is already showing signs of being better then Bush, his first game he out performed Bush who's had 19 already... I think they 100% screwed up with that pick on purpose, the GM who left the franchise right after making it, had other things on his mind.... like getting an easy contract to sign so he could concentrate on getting out of dodge. Signing Williams was easy for him and he knew it wouldn't be a hold out situation cause of his position. I would put my money on Young to win the super bowl first out of all of the high picks in that draft..... he's the only one on a team with a good defence and a great running game that drafted high that year, once he molds in and as long as they don't have to play the Jags in the playoffs that is...

[big daddy russ]

PS: The correct pick was actually D'Brickashaw Ferguson. Dee-Brickasahaw Ferguson.

He's an offensive linemen for all you Texans fans who've never seen one before.

[bulldogman06]

Originally posted by Diocletian
Peterson is already showing signs of being better then Bush, his first game he out performed Bush who's had 19 already... I think they 100% screwed up with that pick on purpose, the GM who left the franchise right after making it, had other things on his mind.... like getting an easy contract to sign so he could concentrate on getting out of dodge. Signing Williams was easy for him and he knew it wouldn't be a hold out situation cause of his position. I would put my money on Young to win the super bowl first out of all of the high picks in that draft..... he's the only one on a team with a good defence and a great running game that drafted high that year, once he molds in and as long as they don't have to play the Jags in the playoffs that is...

Come on, i stopped reading when i saw the i think VY will win a big one before any of the other ones. the saints are by far better, have less off field problems, and can afford to lose bush because of their depth. vy goes down, so does the entire franchise. great running game? what? seriously?...... good "defence"? yea, the titans had a good d, but they lost pacman jones, a huge reason why their d was so good. and their number one wr, bennett, left. no way will the titans make it back to the super bowl in the next few years, meanwhile, the saints are seriously in the hunt

[BILLYFRED0000]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
Actually, the consensus by most scouts was that Williams was the second-best prospect in the draft. The Saints were planning on taking him at number two until RB fell to them.

Vince Young, by most scouts' standards, was NOT one of the top five prospects.

Mike Mayock was the only big name with Young in the top five. He rated Young at number two, while Kiper put him at six and Scott Wright dropped him to seven.

Wish I could find the links to Mayock's and Kiper's board, but this is what I came up with.

Scott Wright's prospect list (http://www.nfldraftcountdown.com/archive/2006/top300.html)

Draft Ace's prospect list... Young rated the number 3 QB behind Cutler and Leinart (http://www.draftace.com/draft2006/playerrankings.htm)

Fox Spots w/NFL Draft Scout... Vince falls to 11 (http://msn.foxsports.com/nfl/story/5503168)

Very few NFL teams had him top five on their draft boards, the Titans just happened to be one. And apparently it was a argument between Titans' coaches Jeff Fisher and OC Norm Chow (who wanted Leinart) vs. GM Floyd Reese and Owner Bud Adams (who wanted Young).

Since we're in Texas and he's a native Houstonian, the cries for Young from Texans' fans were especially loud. Because the Titans opted for upside over Matt Leinart and pulled a small surprise by drafting Young, the thought that he was one of the top two or three draft picks became even more widespread.

The truth is, Young wasn't the 11th-best prospect and he wasn't the second-best. He was largely-regarded as the seventh-best prospect in the draft behind:

1. Reggie Bush
2. Mario Williams
3. Matt Leinart
4. D'Brickasaw Ferguson
5. AJ Hawk
6. Vernon Davis

Him and Vernon Davis swapped spots in some scouts' notebooks, but for the most part he was earmarked at seventh.

I think the scouts were wrong on VY. The will to win and to take a team on your back and make it happen is to me the biggest intangible of the QB position. Some are great technicians like Matt
Leinart. But will he win games all by himself. Brett Favre and John Elway kind of quaterbacks do not come along that often. VY while not technically as capable falls into that category of player.

[big daddy russ]

Originally posted by BILLYFRED0000
I think the scouts were wrong on VY. The will to win and to take a team on your back and make it happen is to me the biggest intangible of the QB position. Some are great technicians like Matt
Leinart. But will he win games all by himself. Brett Favre and John Elway kind of quaterbacks do not come along that often. VY while not technically as capable falls into that category of player.
I know where you're coming from. While I still think D-Brick should've been the pick, he didn't look like a first-round pick last year. Marcus McNeill, they've been saying, should've been the first lineman taken knowing what we know now. Same with DeMeco Ryans. The Texans nabbed him at the top of the second round, but he would be a top five pick if they had the draft to do over.

I'm still up in the air on VY. I want to see if he goes the way of Donovan McNabb or if he goes the way of Mike Vick. I want to see him take the next step in his development--forcing himself to stay in the pocket and letting his receivers work for him.

He can do a lot of things just from his natural ability, but this is the NFL. If he doesn't adapt, these defensive coordinators will. They're the sharpest minds in the game and they have no problem letting QB's run and turning them into a one-trick pony.

You saw it with Michael Vick. His first two years, he was unstoppable. Then DC's decided they couldn't take away his running game, so they eliminated the passing game.

It's great if you run for 1,000 yards as a QB, but it's not going to win you many games.

McNabb, on the other hand, forced himself to be a pocket QB. If you remember back to the early-00's, all the sportswriters were criticizing him for not running enough. He stuck to Andy Reid's plan, and look where he is today.

I think VY's instincts will help him out more than Vick's, but I don't think he can keep up at this pace and remain one of the top five QB's in the league. The more I hear about him, the more I like him, so I hope he stays on the horse.

[BILLYFRED0000]

Originally posted by big daddy russ
I know where you're coming from. While I still think D-Brick should've been the pick, he didn't look like a first-round pick last year. Marcus McNeill, they've been saying, should've been the first lineman taken knowing what we know now. Same with DeMeco Ryans. The Texans nabbed him at the top of the second round, but he would be a top five pick if they had the draft to do over.

I'm still up in the air on VY. I want to see if he goes the way of Donovan McNabb or if he goes the way of Mike Vick. I want to see him take the next step in his development--forcing himself to stay in the pocket and letting his receivers work for him.

He can do a lot of things just from his natural ability, but this is the NFL. If he doesn't adapt, these defensive coordinators will. They're the sharpest minds in the game and they have no problem letting QB's run and turning them into a one-trick pony.

You saw it with Michael Vick. His first two years, he was unstoppable. Then DC's decided they couldn't take away his running game, so they eliminated the passing game.

It's great if you run for 1,000 yards as a QB, but it's not going to win you many games.

McNabb, on the other hand, forced himself to be a pocket QB. If you remember back to the early-00's, all the sportswriters were criticizing him for not running enough. He stuck to Andy Reid's plan, and look where he is today.

I think VY's instincts will help him out more than Vick's, but I don't think he can keep up at this pace and remain one of the top five QB's in the league. The more I hear about him, the more I like him, so I hope he stays on the horse.

Well the thing about VY is that coming out of college he did have a
60 percent plus completion average to go along with his legs. He is already a better passer than vick but will he let them coach him and teach him or will his ego get in the way is my question.

[themsu97]

you only find what you are looking for... people who want to find the bad in Mario will and those who want to find the good will... I am going to say that Kubiak knew what he wanted and knew what he was doing when he gave the OK on Mario...
Terrence Newman did not play this past Sunday with the same injury that Mario played with for most of last year, speaks volumes about Mario...
there were several games last year where VY stunk it up but he had a good enough defense to bail him out, I think in 3 of the wins they only had one offensive td and in one of them the Titans did not score an offensive td... no knock on either of them, but one went to a lot better team than the other and that says volumes... the addition of Ahman Green will help more than anything else and most think that Jacoby Jones is just as electric as Bush, just came from a college nobody knew of... but it is just one game, I remember a few years ago the Texans looked great by beating Dallas in their opener... this is a different team, but be patient...