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Texans Will Regret Drafting Mario Williams Over Reggie Bush
Authored by Kyle Bradley - 29th April, 2006 - 4:50 pm
Between 2002 and 2006, each school that came into the season ranked No. 1 in the nation ran the table in the regular season, but we've seen huge turnover in 07 and 08.
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With an eerie parallel to the Portland Trailblazers selecting Sam Bowie instead of Michael Jordan in the 1984 NBA Draft; the Texans made a terrible mistake in passing on once-in-a-generation superstar Reggie Bush with the first pick in the 2006 NFL Draft. Texans’ GM Charley Casserly denies the fact that recent allegations regarding the relationship between potential agents and Bush’s family had any bearing on their decision to make Mario Williams the first overall selection in this year’s draft. Despite what the Texan executives say, this could not have been strictly a football move.
This selection had as much to do with measurements, forty-times, and college tape as it does with off-field allegations and potential contract snares. Throughout the entire draft process Reggie Bush had all the leverage in negotiation talks and could have held out for any amount of money because of his draft selection. Now with the #1 selection receiving a deal worth 6 years and $54 million, the market is set for Bush which could decrease his leverage drastically.
On the field, Bush will improve any offense considerably, even in his rookie campaign, due to his versatility, strength and quickness. Bush can play line up in the backfield, in the slot, and at wide receiver and many experts agree that Bush would have been a top ten pick this year if he was solely a wide receiver. Even beyond his potential impact lining up with players such as David Carr, Eric Moulds, Andre Johnson and Domanick Davis, Bush’s legend will be made by utilizing his unbelievable quickness, vision, and speed in special teams. Despite sharing the offensive load with top ten pick Matt Leinart and fringe first round pick LenDale White, Bush managed to lead the NCAA in all-purpose yards with over 220 yards per game.
In Casserly’s defense, putting pressure on the quarterback is growing increasingly important in today’s game. A perfect example of this is the Philadelphia Eagles, who finished second in the league in sacks, on their way to a super bowl appearance in 2004-2005, but last season the dropped to 26th in the league in sacks and suffered a very disappointing 6-10 season. Getting to the quarterback is a very important part to a defense’s success, but Mario Williams is not the world class athlete that will revolutionize the position the way Julius Peppers managed to do so in the 2002 draft. Carolina splits Peppers out wide in certain situations, ON OFFENSE, something no team would ever consider doing with Mario Williams. Now, Williams is definitely on slouch, and at 6-7 295 pounds he brings a whole lot to the table for any team, but there is just something about his game that does not make sense to pick him #1 overall. Throughout the entire season his intensity seemed to be lacking too often for an elite prospect, and scouts have also voiced their concerns about his tendency to take too many plays off. Also, he plays much slower than his 4.7 forty time would indicate, as opposed to an explosive player like Peppers who plays much faster than his 4.7 forty time. On film, it almost seems as if he just walks up and swallows the quarterback with his size instead of exploding through to the tackle.
His productivity in college is also less than worthy of such high praise. Despite piling up an impressive 13 sacks in his senior year, he managed only 11 sacks in 24 games over the course of his first two seasons. Of the 6 sacks racked up in his junior year, three came against the porous line at Florida State, who didn’t block anyone all year. The stats back up the question marks brought forth during the draft process about his intensity and motor.
Mario Williams should be a top-five selection, but he is not deserving of the #1 overall selection, especially in a year with a superstar in the wings named Reggie Bush is waiting to hear his name called. Reggie Bush will put people in the seats for the next ten years in New Orleans and gives them one more weapon on offense to make an already scary offense even more potent. In the case of the 1984 NBA Draft you can say that hind-sight is 20/20; but in the 2006 NFL Draft you don’t need hind-sight or glasses to see that the Texans made a grave mistake.
