Fun With Draft Day Overreactions

Filed in archive NFL Draft on December 14, 2007

It's too bad last night's game between the Houston Texans and the Denver Broncos was on the NFL Network. Because that means most of you weren't able to witness a dominating performance by Houston defensive end Mario Williams.

Williams sacked Denver QB Jay Cutler three and-a-half times on the night to give him 13 for the year. That total is only half a sack behind Seattle's Patrick Kerney for the most in the NFL.

The number one overall pick in 2006, Williams' selection was not received well in Houston, or anywhere else for that matter. Everyone was clamoring for the team to take running back Reggie Bush or quarterback Vince Young, who went second and third overall, respectively.

Meanwhile, Reggie Bush has averaged just 3.7 yards per carry for his career, and has nine fumbles to go with his ten touchdowns. He is a great receiver, of course, but then again, so was Larry Centers. As for Vince Young, his troubles have been noted in this space previously. It's not a good sign to be outplayed by the likes of Joey Harrington and Kyle Boller.

That's not to say Bush and Young won't become fantastic players. It's entirely possible they are just having down years and will bounce back to become great assets. But Williams was hammered so much, it seemed inevitable that he was destined to fail, and the other two were headed straight to Canton. Let's revisit what some writers said about the Texans' selection of Williams at the time.

- Len Pasquarelli, ESPN.com: "Ladies and gentlemen, your Houston Texans, an outfit that might do better were Mr. Magoo executing its lottery selections. Hand out the darts, folks, and take cover ... Some teams try to exercise foresight with such threshold football decisions. Houston, on the other hand, apparently makes them blindfolded ... If the Texans keep making these kinds of questionable personnel decisions, it's going to take a long term, er, time, to ever transform the franchise into a winner."

- Kent Somers, Arizona Republic: "The Texans' decision to draft Mario Williams instead of Reggie Bush was stunning in its stupidity ... in the history of bad draft decisions, the Texans' move yesterday will rank in the top 10."

- Richard Justice, Houston Chronicle: "The Texans decided their need for a pass rusher was more pressing than taking the best player on the board. There's a word for this kind of logic in professional sports. It's called stupidity ... All we know for sure this morning is that they look dumb ... Once the Texans are finished explaining their decision today, they can release one other bit of information: the phone number that fans can call to cancel season tickets."

(Photo: Flickr)