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Friday, June 3, 2011
The Texans are the youngest team in the NFL today. In their ten year history, Houston has never been to the playoffs. In 2010 many people, including me, expected them to get to the NFL's final 12. The Texans were able to beat their long time rivals, the Indianapolis Colts, but faded down the stretch with some close losses. Despite not leading them to the playoffs, Gary Kubiak was brought back as coach for at least one more season. Houston's defense, which was the worst in the league, also got a face lift when they brought in Wade Phillips. There is not much to look back at for Houston, but here is there short history.
For a franchise that has not had much success, especially head coaches. There has only been two coaches in Houston history. Dom Capers and Kubiak. Capers helped draft bust David Carr (coming up later). Kubiak really has made the Texans relevant. After success as the Broncos offensive coordinator, the Texans hired Kubiak as their head coach in 2006. In Kubiak's second season, he helped lead the Texans to an 8-8 record, the first non-losing record in franchise history. In 2009, the Texans nearly got over the hump with a 9-7 record which is their only winning record in history. The Texans took a step back in 2010, but Kubiak will return as coach and better preform or Houston will find somebody who will. Some career highlights from Kubiak's career in Houston came in the 2006 draft when he passed on Reggie Bush and chose Mario Williams, which has worked out for the Texans so far. Probably the best front office move Kubiak made was trading two first round picks to Atlanta for Matt Schaub, who is now the teams Pro Bowl starter.
Even though we know as football fans that most big-name WR's have a big mouth, Andre Johnson is one exception. Johnson is a hard working talented WR that the Texans drafted third overall in the 2003 draft. Johnson has gone to five pro bowls, three first team all-pro selections, and has led the league in receiving twice. Johnson broke out onto the scene in 2004 when he was honored with Pro Bowl honors thanks to 79 catches and 1,142 yards with six touchdowns. In 2008, Johnson recorded his first 200 yard game against the AFC South rival Titans when he had 207 yards and one touchdown. After the 2009 season, Johnson became only the second WR to lead the league in receiving consecutive years. The first one, Jerry Rice. Johnson then became the highest paid receiver in the game in 2010 when he earned a two year extension. So don't worry Texans fans this guy will be until 2016. Probably the biggest highlight from Johnson's 2011 was this play. You shouldn't let that play sum up Johnson's career. He is probably the classiest WR in the game and is no doubt the best. What a defensive coordinator must go through to try to stop this guy must be difficult because there is no way to stop Andre Johnson. Click here to look at Johnson's stats.
When healthy, Owen Daniels is one of the best tight ends in the game. The Texans selected Daniels in the fourth round of the 2006 draft. Daniels was apart of a stellar TE class that included Vernon Davis and Mercedes Lewis. Due to injury problems, Daniels has only made one Pro Bowl. In his rookie season, Daniels had 34 receptions for 352 yards with five touchdowns on his way to being selected to the All-Rookie team. According to the Houston Chronicle, Daniels had his best year in 2008 when he caught 11 passes for 133 yards against the Minnesota Vikings, this performance helped him get to the Pro Bowl. In 2009, Daniels and WR Andre Johnson made the best TE-WR duo when they combined for 185 catches for 2,437. Ever since the 2009 season, Daniels has been in and out of the lineup due to injury problems. I will have more on Daniels in a couple weeks when I name the best players position-by-position. I guarantee that Daniels is a top 10 TE and what he has done for Matt Schaub and the Texans is amazing. Click here to look at Daniels stats.
The only player on this segment that is still not with the team is David Carr. The Texans selected Carr first overall in the 2002 draft out of Fresno State as a new franchise of the NFL. Carr has done close to nothing in his NFL career except he did lead the NFL in pass completion percentage in 2006. Of course in his five year career with Houston, Carr only started four games for the Texans. Carr's career actually started positively when he helped Houston become only the second expansion franchise to win their first game. Of course, Carr's rookie season will be known for being the most sacked QB in a single season by going down 76 times. Some of it is the offensive lines fault, but of course you have to a quick release to play QB and Carr did not. Over the next two seasons, the Texans improved to 5-11 and 7-9. Even after the Texans went 2-14 in 2005, the Texans decided to keep Carr (mistake). Finally after the 2006 season, Houston got a new GM and he helped trade for QB Matt Schaub from the Atlanta Falcons. The next day Carr was released by the Texans. Carr is probably the biggest draft bust who is still in the league and yes, he does play for my San Francisco 49ers. Probably the best QB taken in the 2002 draft was David Garrard, who went nearly 100 picks later. One guy the Texans should of went with was Julius Peppers. Peppers and Mario Williams would of been a formidable duo, but we can only imagine Houston fans. Click here to look at Carr's stats.
It was the unpopular choice among Texans fans when Houston passed on USC RB Reggie Bush for Defensive End Mario Williams. Five years later, I would say the Texans did a great job picking Williams. In his five year career so far, Williams has been selected to the Pro Bowl three times and is a two time first team all pro selection. Williams' best season came in 2007 when he set a franchise record with 14 sacks in a season. The sack total began when Williams took down Peyton Manning. While Williams has spent much of his career trying to live up to his #1 overall billing, he has become one of the best pass rushers in the league. For a franchise that has had more draft busts then playoff berths, the Texans were smart picking Williams #1. He has totally changed Houston's defense and should go down as one of their greatest players of all time. The guy the Texans' fans wanted, Reggie Bush. He is to busy being one of the most over rated players in the league. Click here to look at Williams stats.
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