Bye week assessment

[Warren]

Originally Posted by Nconroe

And here are two GM rankings for your pleasure. Unless you win you are middle of the pack or worse.

http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/stor...mpson/slide/13

13 / 32 Rick Smith, Houston Texans
Last year’s meltdown stinks up his resume quite a bit. So does the fact that five of their draft picks from last year are already off the roster. On the other hand, he was on board for the back-to-back division titles, for Gary Kubiak’s hiring and the signing and drafting of the players that got them there. If the Texans turn things around fairly quickly with Bill O’Brien, Jadeveon Clowney and the core of this group, Smith's rep to an extent can be restored.

another http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nf...-best-gms?pg=2

16. Rick Smith - Texans
Smith has done it all as a general manager. There have been bad picks (Amobi Okoye) and brilliant ones (J.J. Watt). Arian Foster is one of the best undrafted free agent signings of the past 10 years, Matt Schaub one of the best trade acquisitions. But a largely competent reign has still produced a sub-.500 record (61-67), and only two playoff wins in eight years. That’s not a résumé you can coast on forever. That’s why Smith has to get the No. 1 overall pick in May’s draft right. The correct choice could buoy a talented roster back to the upper reaches of the NFL, and buy Smith another 3-4 years of job security. The wrong choice would likely be the straw that broke the camel’s back on a perfectly fine, but ultimately unmemorable era of GMing in Houston.

Smith wasn’t in on the Kubiak hiring since he himself wasn’t hired until several months later.

He deserves credit for picking JJ, but I don’t buy that he believed that JJ would turn into the dominant player he has. The Texans had a deal in place to trade up with the 49ers (#7) for Patrick Peterson. The Cardinals took Peterson at #5 so the Texans stayed put at #10 and “settled” for JJ.

Same for Foster – if Smith had a strong belief that Arian could become a franchise back, he would have drafted him instead of hoping that he’d be able to sign him as an undrafted free agent. And he wouldn’t have exposed him to waivers by cutting him at the end of that training camp, or kept him on the practice squad for most the season where someone could have signed him away.

[Arky]

Been hearing the rumors that the Texans are mulling a QB change (to Mallet) during the bye, in fact, Schefter came on at halftime of MNF and mentioned it, also.

If it happens, I expect the vertical game to see a noticeable improvement. However, the downside is Fitz (and his legs) has/have developed a Plan B and Plan C when pass protection breaks down which is quite often. Mallet won't be as mobile and he may take more sacks but there will be some home run opportunities that won't exist with Fitz in there.

Who can win more games the rest of the way? Dunno, but I think we have seen the best of Fitz.....

[Big Texas]

Concerning the whole Mallet vs. Fitz situation, we have got to get away from the whole "who is the better QB right now" thing. It's about who has the higher upside. Sure Fitz may have played more football and has a better understanding of NFL defenses, but what has that gotten him/us 4-5 with seemingly no room for growth. The NFL is all about RISK and REWARD. And if you are always going with the safe pick, you will always be a mediocre team. I am not saying Mallett is the savior but it's worth RISK.

[barrett]

Originally Posted by Warren

Smith wasn’t in on the Kubiak hiring since he himself wasn’t hired until several months later.

He deserves credit for picking JJ, but I don’t buy that he believed that JJ would turn into the dominant player he has. The Texans had a deal in place to trade up with the 49ers (#7) for Patrick Peterson. The Cardinals took Peterson at #5 so the Texans stayed put at #10 and “settled” for JJ.

Same for Foster – if Smith had a strong belief that Arian could become a franchise back, he would have drafted him instead of hoping that he’d be able to sign him as an undrafted free agent. And he wouldn’t have exposed him to waivers by cutting him at the end of that training camp, or kept him on the practice squad for most the season where someone could have signed him away.

I get what you're saying about JJ and Arian, but the same can be said of any draft pick. The Patriots passed on Brady 5 times. And they never would have played him if Mo Lewis hadn't put a hole in Bledsoe's chest.

Part of being a GM is luck, just like part of being a GM is bad luck (like making great picks that get derailed by injuries when there was no injury history, or having a RB with no history of trouble miss a season to child abuse).

I have no idea how much of the JJ pick was Smith and how much was Wade. I know we had other targets we wanted even more. The fact that Peterson was one of them actually reflects well on Smith since he might be the 2nd best player in that draft. But the bottom line is the card the Texans turned in said JJ Watt. Probably one of the best picks any GM has made the whole decade (Russell Wilson is the only one I can think of that comes close). So I will give Smith credit for that pick just like I'll blame him for any unlucky ones.

[Nconroe]

For me, frustrating, mainly because see some promise, but not success yet, could characterize season so far. And hope for improvement still there.

Want to see Mallett and maybe even Savage before season ends.

Hope for team to improve as games go by, new system to learn, quite a few new players and injuries to deal with.

Clowney and other 2014 draft picks, hope they get more involved and productive as gain experience.

Not sure if 3W-4L is realistic to expect now, if so, end up at 7-9 record.

I do expect team keeps positive attitude and continues to play hard and thus keep the entertainment value up there.

[Arky]

Bye week viewing in the Houston area:

Sunday early:

CBS = Tennessee @ Baltimore -- Andrew Catalon, Steve Tasker, Steve Beuerlein

FOX = Dallas vs Jacksonville (in London) -- Kenny Albert, Daryl Johnston, Tony Siragusa

Sunday late::

FOX = NY Giants @ Seattle -- Joe Buck, Troy Aikman

------------------------------------------

SNF (NBC) = Chicago @ Green Bay

MNF (ESPN) = Carolina @ Philadelphia

[Arky]

Early line for the upcoming Cleveland game has the Browns favored by 3 to 3.5.

Seems a little low to me... Given the 3 pt home field advantage, they are saying the teams are about even.. Cleveland, fresh off a nice TNF win over Cincinnati @ Cincinnati vs. the Texans who have trouble beating good teams and who are starting a new QB on the road, I would have made the line about 5 to 5.5. Makes me think that nationwide, the Texans have a bit of a following in the betting community because quite often, I see the odds makers giving the Texans a lot of "respect" - for lack of a better word....

[nunusguy]

Agree with all you say here about the line Arky, so it's also puzzling to me. Then there's the additional scenario of a Sunbelt team traveling up north to
play in what's forecast to be inclement weather conditions. But hope the line is in the ballpark which would mean we'll be in the game and that would give us a chance.

[HPF Bob]

I suspect the oddsmakers are not sold on the Browns yet but what I saw against the Bengals was a hungry team that seems loaded for bear. Just be glad we get this game now and not in a few weeks when some of their suspensions expire. We won't be seeing Josh Gordon.