Monday, 8. February 2010
The 2006 NFL Draft was one of the most talked about in years.
The Houston Texans, 2-14 in 2005, held the first pick of the draft.
The New Orleans Saints held the second pick and the Tennessee Titans the third.
Vince Young, off of a National Championship season at Texas, was expected to be a top three pick. Adding to the
drama, Vince went to high school at Houston Madison high school.
Reggie Bush, coming off of a Heisman trophy winning season with USC, was also expect to go within the top three
picks. Bush had been called the greatest college running back ever. He was compared to Gale Sayers.
Mario Williams, defensive end from North Carolina State, was the third choice of possibly top three picks.
Williams was not really as well known as Young or Bush. He was the darkhorse candidate.
The Houston Texans had David Carr at the time, but his time was running short as the franchise quarterback.
New Orleans had signed Drew Brees to a long-term contract just weeks before the draft.
Tennessee needed help in a few different spots at the time.
Let’s break down the players for you, four years into their careers, and see if the correct decision was made.
Pick #1 – Mario Williams, Houston Texans
Mario has been a two time Pro-Bowler(2008 & 2009). Mario also made first team All-NFL two seasons(2007 & 2008). Williams has averaged nearly twelve sacks per season over his last three seasons in the league. He just turned 25 at the end of January. 2010. The sky is the limit for Williams.
Pick #2 – Reggie Bush, New Orleans Saints
Reggie has not made any Pro Bowls up to this point in his career. He finished in the top ten in the league in his rookie season with 88 receptions. In 2008, Bush finished third in the league with 13.5 yards per return on punts. For his career, Reggie has averaged about 500 yards rushing and 500 yards receiving per season.
Pick #3 – Vince Young, Tennessee Titans
Vince is a two time Pro Bowler. He sneaked in the back door in both of those Pro Bowls. Young is 24-13 as a starter in the NFL. He has led the Titans to one playoff game, losing in the wildcard round. For his career, Young has thrown for 6800 yards, 32 td’s and 39 int’s. He also has ran for 1255 yards and 12 td’s.
It appears that the Texans did in fact make the correct decision in drafting Mario Williams. Some could say that Vince Young would have really brought the fanbase together, and for that reason alone he will always be considered the correct choice. The Texans do have Matt Schaub now, who is a Pro Bowl caliber quarterback. The Texans offense is one of the best in the league, so the pick of Mario Williams is probably going to go down as the right choice. The pick of Reggie Bush at number two is probably the one that will go down as a bust. The Saints could have gotten out of that slot and gotten D’Brickashaw Ferguson from Virginia to set themselves up at left tackle for the next 12 years. They did not need another quarterback certainly, so Vince going there was no going to happen. Reggie Bush has turned into the type of layer that teams try to pick up late in the 2nd or 3rd round, not a number 2 overall pick.
Posted in College Sports, NFL by houstonlibrarian -
Tuesday, 26. January 2010
2010 Heisman Candidates
Jacquizz Rodgers
Rodgers has to be considered a Heisman candidate. He ran for 1440 yards and 21 td’s on 273 attempts. He also chipped in with 522 yards and another td on 78 receptions. Rodgers and his brother are pretty much the entire offense at Oregon State. If it happens, it is usually one of them doing it. Jacquizz is extremely durable for his size. He can take a large dose of carries and not be slowed down. He will get a ton of them this year, and even though the Beavers may be an average team, he will roll up a ton of stats.
Christian Ponder
Christian Ponder is a Heisman contender. He was on his way to an All-American type season this past year until an injury derailed him for the last three games of the season. Ponder still ended up with 2717 yards and 14 td’s with only 7 int’s. Florida State has some receivers in which to throw the ball. Ponder will be hungry after ending his season on such a disappointing note. He was only improving as the weeks went by last year. I feel like Ponder is poised for a monster season this year.
Jeremiah Masoli
Masoli will again lead the Ducks attack this year. He does it through the air and on the ground. Masoli had over 2100 yards in the air and another 600 yards on the ground. He accounted for 23 td’s, all while missing one game. The Oregon offense will be potent again this year, and Masoli will pile up the stats, but the main reason he may not win will be the next guy in this list.
LaMichael James
How did the state of Texas ever let this guy get away? You would think someone would have been able to reel him in. James had a dynamic first season in Oregon. The state of Oregon has two of the leading candidates for the Heisman trophy at running back, both from Texas high schools. James ended up with over 1500 yards on the ground on only 230 carries. He only carried the ball eleven times total in the first two games, so just imagine what his stats could have looked like had he been playing the whole wasy. He will be playing the whole way this year, and he will get his yards, but Masoli and James may split some votes if they both have the season expected of them.
Dion Lewis
Lewis grew on me towards the end of the year last year. The more you watched him, the more you noticed it was not the system, but it was him being able to make tacklers miss and get all of those yards. He was another one that got away from some of the bigger schools. He will be back wreaking havoc in the Big East again this year after a freshman campaign a year ago that saw him get nearly 1800 yards and 17 touchdowns on the ground. Keep an eye on this year as teams try to key on him a little bit more to see how he handles it.
Kellen Moore
Moore is probably not the most talented guy in the world. True, if he were playing in a BCS Conference, we wouldn’t even have him here. Heck, he may not even be starting for a lot of BCS teams, but the kid did put up the state last year. You have to figure with the schedule that Bloise State has that Moore is going to throw up monster stats again and the Broncos are going to win nearly all of their games. This should be reason enough for any intelligent observer to put him here knowing how voters vote.
Andrew Luck
Luck is a guy I watched multiple times at Houston Stratford High School. He willed his so-so team to near state championship runs two years in a row. He is a competitor. He is extremely intelligent. He is a winner. All of the components you look for in a quarterback. Luck will not put up the great numbers probably, but he will overwhelm you with his innate ability to quarterback a football team. He threw for 2500 yards and 13 td’s last year, but his stats do not begin to tell his worth to the Stanford Cardinal football team.
Terrelle Pryor
Yeah, I know…everyone is tired of waiting for Pryor to get past mediocre and become even a good quarterback before we put him in this conversation. That’s not always waht the Heisman is about though. Look at this year as prime example number one. Ingram was not a special back, nor did he have sparkling numbers, but that is not what the Hesiman is about any more. Pryor is on Ohio State, one of the big time schools in college football. He plays the most important position. He can make breath-taking plays occasionally. Those are the things that will get him some Heisman consideration, especially is the Buckeyes do well as a team. He did end up passing for over 2,000 yards and running for over 600 yards, which is nothing to sneeze at. Where he needs to work is on limiting his turnovers and improving his decision making skills in the clutch. If he can do that, you can mark him down for a spot in New York.
AJ Green
Green followed up an amazing freshman year with a decent sophomore year. His numbers fell a bit from 950 yards receiver to 800 and 8 td’s to 6. That had a lot to do with the offense as a whole. They did not have much going on that side of the ball last year. Losing Knowshon Moreno and Matt Stafford were obviously big blows for the Bulldogs. Hopefully with another year under his belt Green will do a better job of harnessing his immense talent and Georgia will find a way to get him the ball. He likely will not be around for senior campaign, so this is his year to shine. However, how many receivers have won this award without some major special teams contributions? Green is fighting an uphill battle.
Ryan Mallett
Talk about a strong armed Texas kid. It’s amazing how many of the quarterbacks around the country are from Texas these days. Ponder, Luck and Mallett all grew up in the Lone Star state. Mallett has the biggest cannon that I have probably ever seen as a college qb. He effortlessly flicks it 45 yards down the field on a line. He does not have any mobility at all which will not help if he is to get into the thick of the Heisman race. He will have to do all his damage through the air. He ended up throwing for over 3600 yards and 30 td’s. IF he can duplicate that, then he should be in the race.
Ryan Williams
Williams is a darkhorse candidate. He really came on at the end of the year last year finishing up with 180 yards and four td’s against Virginia, then following that up with another hundred yard game against a tough Tennessee defense in the bowl game. Williams has legitimate NFL skill at the running back position. Virginia Tech loves to run the ball. The Hokies are always in the top 15-20. If they can put it together and make a run for a top 5 slot this year, with Williams leading the way, I expect he will get his name in the race.
Jacory Harris
Harris looked like he was ready to get in the Heisman hunt last year, but he faltered a little towards the middle of the season. After throwing for over 650 yards against Florida State and Georgia Tech to open the season with two big wins, Harris came crashing back down to earth in a loss to Virginia Tech. Harris threw four interceptions in a late season loss to North Carolina. If he can stay away from throwing so many interceptions and Miami can become a national contender again…those are some huge if’s…then he will have a shot. He went for 3300 yards and 24 td’s last year. I exect much the same, if not more, with better decision making this year.
Best of the rest
Case Keenum, QB, Houston – He will have the stats, but he really needs to win nearly every game to have a shot.
Mark Ingram, RB, Alabama – No way will he win it back to back, especially with Richardson getting more and more carries.
Andy Dalton, QB, TCU – Dalton could slide into the hopefuls category if he has an abdolutely monster year.
Garrett Gilbert, QB, Texas – too soon for Gilbert, though he will put up good stats and win a lot.
Colin Kaepernick, QB, Nevada – Nevada is not going to have a Heisman winner, but he will put up some stats though.
Jake Locker, QB, Washington – Not going to have the stats, though he is a nice NFL prospect.
Noel Devine, RB, West Virginia – Late entry to the list. Devine will need a top 10 Mountaineers team to get in the mix.
Posted in College Sports by houstonlibrarian -