Bye Week GDT

[ET80]

Greatest week this season - we don't have to watch the Texans play football!

(One could argue that we haven't seen the Texans play football since W1, to be honest... ha!)

Whatcha planning on watching this week? Any good college games for any of you?

I'm going to be grading a few people in the organization over the next few posts. I say we turn it into a drinking game - take a drink every time I give someone an "F" (so, just chug the bottle wholesale...)

[candyman93]

Join us ET

 

 

[ET80]

Let's get some grades out, shall we?

Owner Cal McNair: F-

Leaving his father's empire in the hands of the people he left it in has led to some disasterous results. The Texans are in the midst of their 3rd rebuild in 20 years, and this tear down feels much more barren when you think of Gary Kubiak rebuilding on Dom Capers, or Bill O'Brien building on Kubiak. This team is in a very deep hole and really doesn't look to have an easy way out. It CAN be done, but this current cast of characters in the organization are the last people you want to entrust with this sort of effort (in a nutshell, it's not like they can ride on Tom Brady/Bill Belicheck's coattails again...)

Executive Vice President of Football Operations Jack Easterby: A

Seems odd I'd give this grade out, right? Easterby's job is to build a culture, and this franchise has an absolutely toxic culture that has key guys/starters pretty much in open rebellion. However, Easterby gets top marks for his actual job... which is promoting and protecting Jack Easterby. In that respect, we haven't heard anyone talk about him since the Deshaun Watson lawsuits started rolling in. So, he's doing well in what he does, which runs counter to what this franchise needs.

General Manager Nick Caserio: C

I will concede that Caserio was dealing with a bad hand. No cap space, no draft picks, a locker room that was fractured, a franchise QB demanding a trade, bloated contracts... it was bad. Thing is, Caserio hasn't made it better with his decisions. He's traded away draft capital for what essentially amounts to an extended tryout for bad players, he's pushed cap liabilities into next season with some of his questionable moves (Bernardrick McKinney, Whitney Mercilius) and - if you believe the press - he had a sweetheart deal in place for Deshaun Watson, but then pushed for more once it was rumored Watson would settle. (I don't believe this, but want to list it nonetheless). Between the believability of the "Watson to Miami" story and the horrible state of the franchise, Caserio gets a curve... but the moves he HAS oversaw have all been pretty bad, so he's lucky to walk away with a barely passing game.

Head Coach David Culley: F-

You ever been on a job website and see a role you are nowhere near qualified for... and still click on the 'Apply Now!' button? What would happen if you actually got the job? I'm sure the new title would feel great and the money would be phenomenal, but truth is, you'd probably be in over your head immediately and sink like a stone pretty much within 90 days. This feels like what happened when David Culley got the top gig for the Texans. His football IQ has to be measured with an electron microscope, he has absolutely zero feel for a game; It's not a shock that oversaw a WR group that went an entire season without catching a TD. I'm only semi-joking when I say a kid playing Madden would be an improvement. Perhaps he was brought in to be a "feel good" guy, but you still have to have SOME sort of football acumen for this job, and he's demonstrated he doesn't have any whatsoever. I think we all know he's going nowhere, he's the HC during the toughest parts of the rebuild - but even in that respect, this team he has is completely undisciplined and his lack of football IQ is present on this entire roster.

Offensive Coordinator Tim Kelly: F-

It's easy to look like a good playcaller when Deshaun Watson is your QB. Take that out and Kelly is out over his skis on this. He's not long for the NFL as a coordinator. Might not even be a competent position coach, either.

OL Coach James Campen: F-

He was supposed to be an improvement over Mike Devlin. He's not, he actually might be worse; At least Devlin's guys could run block.

QB Coach Pep Hamilton: C-

Hard to get a read on a guy when Tyrod Taylor is the best possible option.

Defensive Coordinator Lovie Smith: D

While I don't think the defense has looked much better than last seasons' debacle, I would be remiss that this defense is getting more turnovers and pressuring the QB a lot more. There are a ton of bonehead errors and penalties, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

Fans: A

"Sell outs" are empty buildings, season tickets/ticket packages are going unsold, jerseys sit unsold, fans call up local sports talk radio either irate or apathetic, people bash and meme the team on social media... it's beautiful, everyone is seeing the incompetency for what it is. Hopefully the McNair family loses several hundred million on this sham of a season.

 

Now, onto some player awards:

MVP: QB Tyrod Taylor. For six quarters, it looked like the Texans had something there. Then, Tyrod's hammy started to act up and Davis Mills proved he's a 3rd round pick. By the time Tyrod came back, the season was effectively over.

OPOY: WR Brandin Cooks. The only offensive player with actual talent, Cooks was getting a ridiculous amount of targets and doing something with em. However, Cooks isn't the sort of guy who can carry an offense, as we can see.

DPOY: S Justin Reid/ S Lonnie Johnson. Both S are playing some sound football, and look like a solid combo to rely on. Reid is a UFA next season and Johnson is not on Easterby's good side, it seems... So it's probably the last time we see these two work together.

Newcomer of the Year: DT Maliek Collins. In a year of prove it deals, Collins is proving it. I could see Collins and Ross Blacklock could be a solid rotational tandem to build around.

Rookie of the Year: DT Roy Lopez. He was a 7th round pick because people figured he wasn't a good athlete, but he's got a non-stop motor and can hit the gaps. I would say our DT unit gets the job done, feels like it could be something that can be a staple...

 

 

Feel free to comment/critique.

[tab]

 

[ET80]

1 hour ago, tab said:

 

Heard that on the radio - seriously, what? Why?

Nick Caserio, once again at his best. Could have cut Driskel, signed him to the PS and let him move to TE - but nooooooope, he's keeping the guy on the 53 man roster, bringing the TE count to 5 (Pharoah Brown, Jordan Akins, Brevin Jordan, Anthony Auclair and Driskel).

Yes, I get it - tank, whatever. But you can still prep your cap and do a better job WHILE tanking.

This franchise is a tire fire inside a dumpster fire. You couldn't convince me that Georgia wouldn't beat this team by two scores.

[tab]

i guess part of it is probably because watson is eating a roster spot and at least this way we have a guy who can play QB and ... idk block or whatever he's going to do

[ET80]

3 hours ago, tab said:

i guess part of it is probably because watson is eating a roster spot and at least this way we have a guy who can play QB and ... idk block or whatever he's going to do

Just hold four QBs then. No need to window dress this nonsense...

[ET80]

23 hours ago, tab said:

 

You know it's a very stupid FO when they look at a failed roster decision by Urban Meyer and think "...hmm, I bet you we could do it..."

At least Tim Tebow would get headlines, nobody cares about moving a perennial 3rd string QB to TE...

[tab]

imho who cares. put watson out as safety at this point. who really cares

[ET80]

4 hours ago, tab said:

imho who cares. put watson out as safety at this point. who really cares

I don't disagree, but there is something to be said by doing stupid stuff like this while you're tanking.

It doesn't really seem like those in charge of this process know what they're doing, they're just guessing at this point. That does not give me any sort of confidence for year 3/4/5 of this process.

[tab]

2 hours ago, ET80 said:

I don't disagree, but there is something to be said by doing stupid stuff like this while you're tanking.

its already been said, multiple times 

 

everybody's been saying it

Edited November 20, 2021 by tab

[Pastor Dillon]

On 11/14/2021 at 12:25 PM, ET80 said:

Let's get some grades out, shall we?

Owner Cal McNair: F-

Leaving his father's empire in the hands of the people he left it in has led to some disasterous results. The Texans are in the midst of their 3rd rebuild in 20 years, and this tear down feels much more barren when you think of Gary Kubiak rebuilding on Dom Capers, or Bill O'Brien building on Kubiak. This team is in a very deep hole and really doesn't look to have an easy way out. It CAN be done, but this current cast of characters in the organization are the last people you want to entrust with this sort of effort (in a nutshell, it's not like they can ride on Tom Brady/Bill Belicheck's coattails again...)

Executive Vice President of Football Operations Jack Easterby: A

Seems odd I'd give this grade out, right? Easterby's job is to build a culture, and this franchise has an absolutely toxic culture that has key guys/starters pretty much in open rebellion. However, Easterby gets top marks for his actual job... which is promoting and protecting Jack Easterby. In that respect, we haven't heard anyone talk about him since the Deshaun Watson lawsuits started rolling in. So, he's doing well in what he does, which runs counter to what this franchise needs.

General Manager Nick Caserio: C

I will concede that Caserio was dealing with a bad hand. No cap space, no draft picks, a locker room that was fractured, a franchise QB demanding a trade, bloated contracts... it was bad. Thing is, Caserio hasn't made it better with his decisions. He's traded away draft capital for what essentially amounts to an extended tryout for bad players, he's pushed cap liabilities into next season with some of his questionable moves (Bernardrick McKinney, Whitney Mercilius) and - if you believe the press - he had a sweetheart deal in place for Deshaun Watson, but then pushed for more once it was rumored Watson would settle. (I don't believe this, but want to list it nonetheless). Between the believability of the "Watson to Miami" story and the horrible state of the franchise, Caserio gets a curve... but the moves he HAS oversaw have all been pretty bad, so he's lucky to walk away with a barely passing game.

Head Coach David Culley: F-

You ever been on a job website and see a role you are nowhere near qualified for... and still click on the 'Apply Now!' button? What would happen if you actually got the job? I'm sure the new title would feel great and the money would be phenomenal, but truth is, you'd probably be in over your head immediately and sink like a stone pretty much within 90 days. This feels like what happened when David Culley got the top gig for the Texans. His football IQ has to be measured with an electron microscope, he has absolutely zero feel for a game; It's not a shock that oversaw a WR group that went an entire season without catching a TD. I'm only semi-joking when I say a kid playing Madden would be an improvement. Perhaps he was brought in to be a "feel good" guy, but you still have to have SOME sort of football acumen for this job, and he's demonstrated he doesn't have any whatsoever. I think we all know he's going nowhere, he's the HC during the toughest parts of the rebuild - but even in that respect, this team he has is completely undisciplined and his lack of football IQ is present on this entire roster.

Offensive Coordinator Tim Kelly: F-

It's easy to look like a good playcaller when Deshaun Watson is your QB. Take that out and Kelly is out over his skis on this. He's not long for the NFL as a coordinator. Might not even be a competent position coach, either.

OL Coach James Campen: F-

He was supposed to be an improvement over Mike Devlin. He's not, he actually might be worse; At least Devlin's guys could run block.

QB Coach Pep Hamilton: C-

Hard to get a read on a guy when Tyrod Taylor is the best possible option.

Defensive Coordinator Lovie Smith: D

While I don't think the defense has looked much better than last seasons' debacle, I would be remiss that this defense is getting more turnovers and pressuring the QB a lot more. There are a ton of bonehead errors and penalties, so it's not all sunshine and rainbows.

Fans: A

"Sell outs" are empty buildings, season tickets/ticket packages are going unsold, jerseys sit unsold, fans call up local sports talk radio either irate or apathetic, people bash and meme the team on social media... it's beautiful, everyone is seeing the incompetency for what it is. Hopefully the McNair family loses several hundred million on this sham of a season.

 

Now, onto some player awards:

MVP: QB Tyrod Taylor. For six quarters, it looked like the Texans had something there. Then, Tyrod's hammy started to act up and Davis Mills proved he's a 3rd round pick. By the time Tyrod came back, the season was effectively over.

OPOY: WR Brandin Cooks. The only offensive player with actual talent, Cooks was getting a ridiculous amount of targets and doing something with em. However, Cooks isn't the sort of guy who can carry an offense, as we can see.

DPOY: S Justin Reid/ S Lonnie Johnson. Both S are playing some sound football, and look like a solid combo to rely on. Reid is a UFA next season and Johnson is not on Easterby's good side, it seems... So it's probably the last time we see these two work together.

Newcomer of the Year: DT Maliek Collins. In a year of prove it deals, Collins is proving it. I could see Collins and Ross Blacklock could be a solid rotational tandem to build around.

Rookie of the Year: DT Roy Lopez. He was a 7th round pick because people figured he wasn't a good athlete, but he's got a non-stop motor and can hit the gaps. I would say our DT unit gets the job done, feels like it could be something that can be a staple...

 

 

Feel free to comment/critique.

You have to give Greenard some kind of award