Legacy

[painekiller]

Originally Posted by Joshua

The Steelers just don't offer a good comparison to the Texans that Kubiak took over.

Strong points.

But they are the model we should strive to be. Agreed?

As for your question about rebuilding teams and roster turnover, I bet the Lions end up with one guy left over.

[Joshua]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Strong points.

But they are the model we should strive to be. Agreed?

As for your question about rebuilding teams and roster turnover, I bet the Lions end up with one guy left over.

Absolutely agree that a team like the Steelers is what we should strive to be.

I do think you raise an interesting question as to just how bare a cupboard Casserly and Capers left. I would be interested in knowing whether Kubiak was dealt a historically bad team or a typical bad team. How much of a roster the new regime turns over seems to be a pretty decent indicator of that. If only 5 or 6 players remaining is typical after 4 years or so, I must say I'm surprised that the turnover is that high.

As for the Lions, I suspect I know who the 1 player might be.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by painekiller

Strong points.

But they are the model we should strive to be. Agreed?

As for your question about rebuilding teams and roster turnover, I bet the Lions end up with one guy left over.

Absolutely. The steelers are a great model to follow in organizational terms. They do a great job of replacing players with home grown draft picks. Over and over (1) they have a guy become a star, (2) he leaves for more money, (3) they replace him with a 2-3 year vet who has contributed part time for them, (4) the replacement gives them the same production. This is what it takes to have long term success in the NFL without rebuilding.

[Joshua]

To me, the best lesson to be taken from the Steelers is that they know what they want to be on both offense and defense and then are successful at finding players who are good fits for them. This is their greatest strength. Simply put, they don't seem to evaluate guys generally. Instead, they seem to solely evaluate guys are their ability to succeed in the Steelers' scheme regardless of what anyone else thinks of them. Thus, I suspect they would pass on lots of highly regarded players for players that are perceived to be lower rated because they see a better fit. I really think this is key.

On offense, the Texans have already shown some ability to do this. Their zone blocking scheme requires certain attributes from its linemen and they seem to be looking for players who have those attributes, rather than just the highest rated. Same thing with running backs. As a result, we've seen excellent production from middle and late round picks (Winston, Slaton, Daniels, Anderson, etc.).

My primary complaint under Kubiak is that they haven't done this on D. The defense has consistently lacked an identity and no clear idea of what they are trying to be. Not only does this hurt on the field but it hurts at draft time because it's hard to find someone that's a specific fit for your system when you don't really have a system. Exhibit A on this front is Okoye. The only reason he was a 1st round talent was his gap shooting abilities. However, we draft him and then make him play "react" football which negates his one good skill. To date, he has been a very poor fit for us because it seems like they just drafted the highest rated player without any thought of how they would use him in our system. I'm hoping that this year the Texans D will have some type of identity and they can then start looking for players with the skills to execute their gameplans.

[HPF Bob]

If we're going to use the Steelers as a model, it should be noted that our original head coach was a product of the Steelers system. That's why he was dogmatic about the 3-4 defense and why he was so adamant about drafting Jason Babin.

So, I would conclude that trying to "be like the Steelers" was already tried.

Granted, the defense wasn't that bad for an expansion team but the offense, filled with rookies, was pathetic and by the time the offense found some players, the veteran defense collapsed.

Now, our offense is better than our defense so it all goes round in circles. If Kubiak gets the hook in the next year or two, expect the new HC to be a defensive coach. That's just the way the doggie-tail-chasing NFL goes.

[NBT]

HPF - I disagree with you on the NOLA comparison because they had a better fundamental core of players than we did, having had so many more years to accumulate it. To say that the Texans were similar is just too far of a stretch for me. We actually had a better core from the expansion draft than we did at the end of the C & C era.