What Are They Thinking?

The Houston Texans and Charley Casserley will be the laughing stock of the NFL after taking Mario Williams with the number one pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.One hour and 20 minutes after the pick was announced, I am still sitting on my couch thinking, “Why?”

I spent all of last night with my girlfriend thinking that the Houston Texans would at least be picking one of the two most prolific players from this college football season, if not ever.  Upon checking the internet after rolling out of bed, I spent this morning calling my parents in Houston telling them not to renew our Texans season tickets for this season.  Too bad they already sent in the check two weeks ago.

We knew the Texans would not take a chance on picking Vince Young.  The hometown hero and former University of Texas quarterback was the popular choice among Texans fans, especially after leading his Longhorns to a victory over Southern California in the Rose Bowl.  The Texans would have easily increased ticket sales, as well as creating many new fans of Houstonians and Texas alums.

For some strange reason the Texans did not try to shop the pick at all.  Even though they could have gotten more draft picks, not to mention staying high enough to draft D’Brickashaw Ferguson, who would have shored up an offensive line that has given up over 200 sacks since the franchise’s inception in 2002.

Texans fans forgave them for not making those decisions because, dang it, they were going to get Reggie Bush.  Sports experts billed Bush as one of the most prolific running backs in the history of the football program at USC, which is also known in football lore as Tailback U.  Bush is, according to multiple college and pro football analysts, the next Gale Sayers.  The Texans were supposed to pick the guy who averaged 8.9 yards per carry and 222 yards per game last season.

The Texans were going to take Reggie Bush with the number one pick in the 2006 NFL Draft.  They had been saying so since Vince Young declared for the draft in January.  Everyone knew that Reggie would become the most popular Bush in Houston, ahead of both Georges.  At least that is we thought.

Not only did the Texans not get the hometown hero, nor did they not improve the offensive line, which has been the most glaring hole on the team since the franchise’s first game, but they also did not get the best player in the draft.  And now Texans fans everywhere are wondering one simple question.

Why?

Mario Williams definitely has a good shot at improving the Texans pass rush, which is the reason that Casserly gave on ESPN’s draft coverage for picking Williams over Bush.  But remember that the Texans did sign Anthony Weaver from the Baltimore Ravens this offseason to improve the pass rush.  Weaver was brought to Houston to play left end, which also happens to be Williams’ preferred position.  How will the rookie adjust to switching positions before his first professional snap?

The Texans also were not exactly in the basement when it came to sack rankings.  The Houston defense did accrue 37 sacks in 2005, which put them ranked 14th in the NFL.  This is not an excellent number by any means, but it also does not even rank close to the offensive line’s futility, giving up 68 sacks last season, which was good enough for last place in the league, 14 sacks behind the team ranked number 31, the New York Jets.

Williams also has the reputation of being inconsistent.  According to gopack.com, the official website of North Carolina State athletics, in his senior year at NC State in 2005, Williams had 14.5 sacks on the season.  All of those sacks were in seven different games.  Williams went sackless against teams such as Eastern Kentucky, Georgia Tech and Clemson.  Four of his sacks were against Maryland, 3.5 were against Southern Miss and three came against Wake Forest.  Williams also went sackless against Virginia Tech, arguably the best offensive line that he faced all season.

There are also questions about Williams’ abilities.  One NFL scout stated that if you did not go to an NC State game to watch Mario Williams last year, he would have done nothing to stand out.  Another scout said that there are issues with Williams’ work ethic.  There seems to be many issues that come with taking Williams with the first pick.

All of those issues would have been moot if the Texans had taken Reggie Bush.  If the Texans had taken Bush, they would have taken a player who would make a significant impact immediately.  Reggie Bush would have brought 15-20 touchdowns to an offense that ranked 26th overall in scoring offense.  Bush would have given the Texans excitement.  Bush would have given the Texans an exciting franchise player that would have been on Sportscenter highlight reels weekly.

Do any Texans fans remember the 15,000 empty seats at the games at the end of last season?  With Bush, those seats would have had butts in them.  Thousands of fans would have bought Reggie Bush jerseys.  Who is going to buy a Mario Williams jersey?

Not picking Young or shoring up the poor offensive line were, in many fans’ opinions, not the best decisions for the team.  But fans thought that at least if the Texans were not making those choices, the pick would at least be Bush, who would no doubt be a huge improvement to the Texans.

Instead, they made a pick that ESPN analysts compared to the Indianapolis Colts taking Trev Alberts with the fifth pick in 1994.  Hopefully for Texans fans, the Williams pick will not be compared to the Travis Johnson and Jason Babin picks.

Charley Casserly continued his legacy Friday night of making stupid decisions on draft days.  Williams may end up being a very serviceable defensive end for the Texans, and he will probably not be one of Casserly’s biggest busts, such as Heath Shuler or Desmond Howard.  However, Mario Williams clearly was not the best pick for the Houston Texans.