It looks like Wednesday’s Rose Bowl won’t be the last time Reggie Bush’s football career and the state of Texas cross paths. The Houston Texans will have the #1 pick in the NFL draft.
I don’t know about trading the pick. I was just looking over the Texans stats. Their rushing game seems okay, but not spectacular. Their core problem appears to be passing and turnovers, though David Carr’s numbers, while not great, are not horrible either.
The big issue is third down conversions. They only convert about 1/3rd of the time. If they had someone like Bush in short yardage situations, even with crappy blocking, they could raise that percentage.
Besides, the entire city of Houston expects the Texans to draft Reggie Bush. Whoever the new coach is after Dom Capers is shown the door will face holy hell if he does not keep Bush.
They’ll draft Bush all right. You couldn’t find a more representative sample of Texan fans yesterday than at Houston’s Buffalo Wild Wings near Rice University. Ran into a season ticket holder who said, “I’m giving up my club levels if they win today.” The place went absolutely bonkers for every Texan miscue or Niner score. There was more cheering when Tony Banks came in for David Carr, when Andre Johnson left, and so on. When Kris Brown missed his second field goal attempt, the cheering was as loud there as when the Astros went to the World Series.
As to the pick itself. In the middle of Football Country, USA, the Texans find themselves running a poor second (if that) to the Astros. Something has to rejuvenate this team, bring back the fans, get people interested. Texan fans have been obsessed with Reggie since Fresno State, so much so that one local sports radio station installed a Reggie Moratorium (don’t call unless you’ve got something new to say) a few weeks back. Maybe they should trade the pick, but they absolutely won’t.
Good points. Anyone at the Texans who has the balls to trade Bush with all the boosterism going on is guaranteed to have his head served on a platter within days of that decision. Frankly, I don’t think any coach/GM has a choice. You have to go with Bush if you want to keep your job even, if in the end, the team has more urgent needs in other positions.
Now, as far as Reggie Bush is concerned, that might be a different matter. Does he want to be Barry Sanders or Walter Peyton? Does he want to be the only good thing on a crappy team or does he want a Superbowl ring? You look at someone like Corey Dillon who struggled for years in Cincinnati and think of all the things the guy could have accomplished if he had been on a better team. With any luck a real coach with a real record will end up in Houston next year and they can build a team around Bush. However, Bush may have different ideas and pull an Elway or Eli Manning and fight for a trade. Who knows? Only Reggie Bush.
Right now Bush is saying all the right things about Houston: that he’s never been here but he’s heard good things about the city, that the people are friendly and the houses go cheap–true enough, but (especially the latter point) not, I think, a large concern of his.
And yes, yes–the Texans need to surround him, etc. The team needs desperate help at at least seven positions to get its foot in the door. From USC, Lutui and Justice could go start on the Texan o-line tomorrow.
Regarding Walter Peyton, the Bears were no powerhouse when he came into the league, and for several years after. So, one never knows what will transpire over the next 5-10 years if Bush is taken (and kept) by the Texans. Heck, even Michael Jordan didn’t take the Bulls directly to the NBA Finals.
I think the biggest difference between the Texans and the Bears is that even if the Bears sucked when Peyton went there, it was an historic franchise with a great tradition. Kind of like why it would be better for Bush to be at the 49ers than the Texans. The 49ers were great once and can be again. The Texans have so far failed to live up to the most modest of expectations.
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January 2nd, 2006 at 9:25:27 am
They won’t draft Reggie..they’ll trade the pick.
January 2nd, 2006 at 9:46:35 am
I don’t know about trading the pick. I was just looking over the Texans stats. Their rushing game seems okay, but not spectacular. Their core problem appears to be passing and turnovers, though David Carr’s numbers, while not great, are not horrible either.
The big issue is third down conversions. They only convert about 1/3rd of the time. If they had someone like Bush in short yardage situations, even with crappy blocking, they could raise that percentage.
Besides, the entire city of Houston expects the Texans to draft Reggie Bush. Whoever the new coach is after Dom Capers is shown the door will face holy hell if he does not keep Bush.
January 2nd, 2006 at 11:17:16 am
They’ll draft Bush all right. You couldn’t find a more representative sample of Texan fans yesterday than at Houston’s Buffalo Wild Wings near Rice University. Ran into a season ticket holder who said, “I’m giving up my club levels if they win today.” The place went absolutely bonkers for every Texan miscue or Niner score. There was more cheering when Tony Banks came in for David Carr, when Andre Johnson left, and so on. When Kris Brown missed his second field goal attempt, the cheering was as loud there as when the Astros went to the World Series.
As to the pick itself. In the middle of Football Country, USA, the Texans find themselves running a poor second (if that) to the Astros. Something has to rejuvenate this team, bring back the fans, get people interested. Texan fans have been obsessed with Reggie since Fresno State, so much so that one local sports radio station installed a Reggie Moratorium (don’t call unless you’ve got something new to say) a few weeks back. Maybe they should trade the pick, but they absolutely won’t.
January 2nd, 2006 at 12:10:40 pm
texasyank-
Good points. Anyone at the Texans who has the balls to trade Bush with all the boosterism going on is guaranteed to have his head served on a platter within days of that decision. Frankly, I don’t think any coach/GM has a choice. You have to go with Bush if you want to keep your job even, if in the end, the team has more urgent needs in other positions.
Now, as far as Reggie Bush is concerned, that might be a different matter. Does he want to be Barry Sanders or Walter Peyton? Does he want to be the only good thing on a crappy team or does he want a Superbowl ring? You look at someone like Corey Dillon who struggled for years in Cincinnati and think of all the things the guy could have accomplished if he had been on a better team. With any luck a real coach with a real record will end up in Houston next year and they can build a team around Bush. However, Bush may have different ideas and pull an Elway or Eli Manning and fight for a trade. Who knows? Only Reggie Bush.
January 2nd, 2006 at 1:40:04 pm
Right now Bush is saying all the right things about Houston: that he’s never been here but he’s heard good things about the city, that the people are friendly and the houses go cheap–true enough, but (especially the latter point) not, I think, a large concern of his.
And yes, yes–the Texans need to surround him, etc. The team needs desperate help at at least seven positions to get its foot in the door. From USC, Lutui and Justice could go start on the Texan o-line tomorrow.
January 3rd, 2006 at 11:44:47 am
Regarding Walter Peyton, the Bears were no powerhouse when he came into the league, and for several years after. So, one never knows what will transpire over the next 5-10 years if Bush is taken (and kept) by the Texans. Heck, even Michael Jordan didn’t take the Bulls directly to the NBA Finals.
January 3rd, 2006 at 1:11:44 pm
I think the biggest difference between the Texans and the Bears is that even if the Bears sucked when Peyton went there, it was an historic franchise with a great tradition. Kind of like why it would be better for Bush to be at the 49ers than the Texans. The 49ers were great once and can be again. The Texans have so far failed to live up to the most modest of expectations.