dogfish
09-10-2007, 03:31 PM
Not So Fast!
When the Houston Texans used the number one overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft to select defensive end Mario Williams, passing on electrifying offensive talent Reggie Bush, armchair general managers and talking heads everywhere were outraged. “What?! Who?! This guy never won a Heisman trophy or a national championship!” Didn’t the Texans know that Bush was already the consensus number one pick of Mel Kiper wannabes everywhere? Did head coach Gary Kubiak somehow miss the memo that Bush and his ankle-breaking moves were destined for Sports Center superstardom? Addidas wasn’t rushing to give Williams a monstrous contract, and that should have told Kubiak all he needed to know.
Pundits from PTI to the upper deck peanut vendor bemoaned the lost opportunity to find the new face of the franchise. How many tickets was a lineman going to sell? Critics everywhere felt justified when Bush’s productive rookie season contributed to a New Orleans turnaround in a New York minute, as the Saints went from worst to first behind a dazzling offense. To make matters worse, Williams gimped through an unremarkable season on a bad foot, altogether failing to look like Reggie White reincarnate. And in the eyes of pigskin prognosticators, that was that. Bush was Michael Jordan to Williams’ Sam Bowie, and the Texans were the biggest suckers in the history of sports. Owner Bob McNair may as well have sunk his money into swamp land.
Not so fast. The problem with this foregone conclusion is that the average NFL fan has less patience than a four-year old on a cross-country car trip. With the weight of Bush’s highlights pressing on their collective bladder, the media helpfully attempted to douse the flames of controversy with gasoline, and in the process managed to relieve themselves all over Williams. But they forgot that the success of an NFL career is not determined solely by the results of a single season. No one gets a bust in Canton based on their rookie accomplishments, and no one should be called a bust after just one year. The league awards no trophy for collecting endorsements and ESPN appearances.
The stuffed shirts also failed to take into account the considerable differences in the duo’s job descriptions. Running back has long been proven to be the easiest plug and play position in pro football, while defensive linemen tend to take time to develop. Their respective supporting casts also deserve consideration. While Bush was running to glory in open space freed up by weapons such as Deuce McAllister, Drew Brees, Jammal Brown and fellow rookie sensation Marques Colston, Williams was slogging through double teams alongside the likes of the immortal Travis Johnson.
But now, a scant year later, Williams is taking steps to show that the coronation of Bush was premature. Their respective week one performances revealed a startling role reversal. Williams was a man among boys against Kansas City, causing chaos off the edge while helping contain the Chiefs’ vaunted running game. Williams earned a game ball by recording five tackles and two sacks, and returning a fumble thirty-eight yards for a touchdown—one more score than Bush managed while looking lost against the Indianapolis Colts’ previously wretched run defense. Bush barely managed to out gain Williams with forty-five total yards, and he ran as though he’d exchanged his cleats for a pair of ballet slippers.
Though one week’s results aren’t exactly cause to rewrite history, it says here that they prove the Texans knew what they were doing. Why take a small, freakish athlete when you can have a big one? He may take longer to develop, but Williams has every bit as much upside as Bush, if not more. There’s no doubt that Bush is a dynamic weapon, but he will always be a one-dimensional player. Williams, on the other hand, has the potential to be an every-down force. In a league where productive running backs are a dime a dozen, two-way defensive ends that can be disruptive against both the run and the pass are rarer than teetotalers at Mardi Gras. Does this mean that Williams is, or will be, a more valuable player than Bush? Not necessarily. What it means is that the aspiring Nostradamuses who leapt to write off Williams were wrong.
When the Houston Texans used the number one overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft to select defensive end Mario Williams, passing on electrifying offensive talent Reggie Bush, armchair general managers and talking heads everywhere were outraged. “What?! Who?! This guy never won a Heisman trophy or a national championship!” Didn’t the Texans know that Bush was already the consensus number one pick of Mel Kiper wannabes everywhere? Did head coach Gary Kubiak somehow miss the memo that Bush and his ankle-breaking moves were destined for Sports Center superstardom? Addidas wasn’t rushing to give Williams a monstrous contract, and that should have told Kubiak all he needed to know.
Pundits from PTI to the upper deck peanut vendor bemoaned the lost opportunity to find the new face of the franchise. How many tickets was a lineman going to sell? Critics everywhere felt justified when Bush’s productive rookie season contributed to a New Orleans turnaround in a New York minute, as the Saints went from worst to first behind a dazzling offense. To make matters worse, Williams gimped through an unremarkable season on a bad foot, altogether failing to look like Reggie White reincarnate. And in the eyes of pigskin prognosticators, that was that. Bush was Michael Jordan to Williams’ Sam Bowie, and the Texans were the biggest suckers in the history of sports. Owner Bob McNair may as well have sunk his money into swamp land.
Not so fast. The problem with this foregone conclusion is that the average NFL fan has less patience than a four-year old on a cross-country car trip. With the weight of Bush’s highlights pressing on their collective bladder, the media helpfully attempted to douse the flames of controversy with gasoline, and in the process managed to relieve themselves all over Williams. But they forgot that the success of an NFL career is not determined solely by the results of a single season. No one gets a bust in Canton based on their rookie accomplishments, and no one should be called a bust after just one year. The league awards no trophy for collecting endorsements and ESPN appearances.
The stuffed shirts also failed to take into account the considerable differences in the duo’s job descriptions. Running back has long been proven to be the easiest plug and play position in pro football, while defensive linemen tend to take time to develop. Their respective supporting casts also deserve consideration. While Bush was running to glory in open space freed up by weapons such as Deuce McAllister, Drew Brees, Jammal Brown and fellow rookie sensation Marques Colston, Williams was slogging through double teams alongside the likes of the immortal Travis Johnson.
But now, a scant year later, Williams is taking steps to show that the coronation of Bush was premature. Their respective week one performances revealed a startling role reversal. Williams was a man among boys against Kansas City, causing chaos off the edge while helping contain the Chiefs’ vaunted running game. Williams earned a game ball by recording five tackles and two sacks, and returning a fumble thirty-eight yards for a touchdown—one more score than Bush managed while looking lost against the Indianapolis Colts’ previously wretched run defense. Bush barely managed to out gain Williams with forty-five total yards, and he ran as though he’d exchanged his cleats for a pair of ballet slippers.
Though one week’s results aren’t exactly cause to rewrite history, it says here that they prove the Texans knew what they were doing. Why take a small, freakish athlete when you can have a big one? He may take longer to develop, but Williams has every bit as much upside as Bush, if not more. There’s no doubt that Bush is a dynamic weapon, but he will always be a one-dimensional player. Williams, on the other hand, has the potential to be an every-down force. In a league where productive running backs are a dime a dozen, two-way defensive ends that can be disruptive against both the run and the pass are rarer than teetotalers at Mardi Gras. Does this mean that Williams is, or will be, a more valuable player than Bush? Not necessarily. What it means is that the aspiring Nostradamuses who leapt to write off Williams were wrong.