texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

and, rightfully so..................

TEXANS TAKE A SWIPE AT REGGIE?
Posted by Mike Florio on April 28, 2008, 4:45 p.m.
More than two years after making the stunning decision to pass on running back Reggie Bush with the first overall pick in the 2006 draft, the Houston Texans might have provided a hint as to the supposed football reason for leaving him on the board.

Offensive coordinator Kyle “Kevlar Jr.” Shanahan, whose career continues to ascend despite having the initials of Chris Simms tattooed on his leg, mentioned Bush while discussing Steve Slaton, a similarly-sized running back whom the Texans took in round three this year.

“You look at guys around the league like Kevin Faulk, a guy like Reggie Bush; guys who come in and fill a specific role on third downs,” Shanahan said. “I think when a guy is 197 pounds and if you look at the history throughout the NFL there are not too many guys that are first and second down player for long periods of time. When you look at a guy that people are projecting as a third down type guy or a change of pace guy I believe a lot of teams have more important needs that go early in the draft. One exception is Reggie Bush; he is the highest guy that I’ve seen go that is a third-down type player. The third round is when these guys start popping out.”

So, basically, Shanahan thinks Bush is a third-down type player. Which is an accurate assessment of him now.

But no one viewed Bush that way at the time. And that’s another reason why we never know what a great college player is going to do against NFL competition until he is actually pitted against NFL competition.

As to Slaton, a scout told us after eyeballing a West Virginia practice in 2006 that Slaton was in many ways comparable to Bush. In 2006, Slaton’s performance was equivalent to Bush’s college exploits as well.

But something happened to Slaton prior to the 2007 season. Maybe he decided to bulk up to the point that he lost his pop. Or maybe he was hoping not to get Michael Bushed when what once seemed to be a first-round payday was within reach.

If Slaton gets that something back, then he could end up having an even bigger impact that Bush. Two years ago, that really would have been saying something.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Well I can tell you right now, Reggie is gonna shut a lot of people up this year. This is going to be his year to shine. Mark my words.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

i hope ur right....he has too many fumbles to justify his 2nd overall pick....he has helped make our offense very explosive tho....whenever he is on the field he needs a spy because even at the wideout spot he can still end up carrying the ball....thats a scary kind of player....mario williams has made his point....i think he deserved to be the first pick....i think that reggie can be a great player...i just dont think he has shown that yet

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

i cant even be a homer on this one, slaton was a good college player. i really dont think he will be a good pro. i dont think he'll even have half the career that bush will have.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

haha.....im just thinking about the comparison....reggie is one of the top 25 players to come out of college of all time....this is another silly post...they are just saying that because they passed on reggie to pick up williams

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

bush opened up the entire offense in his rookie season. not too mention he had 2 td's when it mattered most (both playoff games).. he may not be a starting rb which they tried in 2007 when the entire team blew.. but when he is used correctly he is something special. even in the nfl.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

I have to believe this is going to be Reggie year.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

If Deuce is healthy this season you'll see Reggie have a break out season.
The key to Reggie's success depends on if he gets help in the backfield.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

My belief is running backs usually start to peak in their 3rd season. Reggie should have a great year if he stays healthy. I think the Saints do know how to best use Reggie, but was unable to fully execute this last season. Since Pierre Thomas looks like he can possibly do the job, I think Reggie is going to be kept in his role no matter how things turn out for Deuce.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

i want reggie to prove he was worth the 2nd overall pick...i agree that reggie is a situation back tho..he has a role....when he had to carry the team last year he kinda fell apart...he does best when the pressure is off of him...when duece can carry the offense and then reggie can be plugged in and out of the offense....is when our offense is most dominating....i loved our offense in '06.....duece, reggie, and stecker all on the field at the same time....thats intimidating

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

well....he is right. they ended up with a better player, as of right now. mario williams had a pro bowl season last season, for sure. in only his second season, thats pretty impressive. not just a pro bowl season, a GREAT pro bowl season.

but i think reggie will live up to the hype. he isnt now though.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

This will probably be the year that Reggie shuts people up in a big way. He is not just an average back, he's not just a third down back. Once he gets coached up and turns mean he's gonna turn into Walter Payton. JMO.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

haha walter payton is a different kind of runner....try comparing him to barry sanders...thats more of the kind of back he is....even tho i dont think those comparisons are fair....reggie is neither one of them

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Reggie spends to much time with Kardishian, making him soft, well

anyways

Michael Westbrook took a few years to get the rhythm of the NFL game, so I say this year the Real Reggie Bush, Come On Down to the Poydras EndZone...

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

michael? u mean brian?

if so, i think so too since it took westbrook like 3 yers to become as great as he is today

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

shes a babe....i would spend as much time with her as i could too

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

We need to stop here and think about this.

Everyone gets hung up on Reggie's rushing yards, as in yards gained after hand offs. However, Mr. Shanahan is conveniently omitting Reggie's passing yards.

He is also conveniently omitting that Reggie's passing yards are about 95% yards after the catch, and that the overwhelming majority of passes Reggie catches are screen passes behind the line of scrimmage.

If the hangup is numbers, well, in 2 years Reggie has 1,146+ rushing yards and 1159 receiving yards, which is pretty good on itself, but then he isn't the only one that get fed the ball, since Payton's offense distributes it well to other players.

As for Mario Williams, congrats on his 14 sacks last year. Unfortunately for the Texans, that accounted for 25% of Mario's total tackles for 2007, both solo and assisted.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

I guess I'm going to have to be Reggie's PR guy. Reggie's hype was supposed to be that dude can take 15 carries a game from the backfield and get 1500 yds/year carrying the football. Only one player in NFL history has gotten over 1500 yards with a 6.25 YPC average over the course of a year (which is required if you're only going to have 250 carries). That was Jim Brown in 1963 (and close in 1958)

Reggie was an instrumental cog in getting the Saints to the NFC championship in 2006. Reggie has broken records for RB receptions. Reggie make defenses and their coordinators account for him every play he's on the field. On the field Reggie is a difference maker.

Most importantly Reggie has put a face on the Saints franchise when the Saints most needed a face. Personally it drives me crazy how average Joes gravitate to the guy. But it is certainly what the Saints needed.

And finally Reggie has run the ball well at times when given the opportunity. The Giants game in 2006. Seattle in 2007.

But truthfully it limits the Saints offense to have Reggie as the feature back. It makes it easier to key on him.

All I ask of Reggie in the run game is to continue to work on getting positive yards when he touches the ball. Don't dance until you get past the LOS. Once he learns (and truly believes) that he's better off with one cut and go, then you'll see more positive results in his run game.

SFIAH

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Well, you are off to a good start as PR guy. I agree with everthing you said.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

This is the year. I still have the FAITH in Reggie. Best future RB duo in the league-Thomas-Bush.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

I couldn't agree more with Tobias and SFIAH.

As far as Reggie as our every down guy... trouble (IMO).

As far as the quality of that pick: Reggie was instrumental to our making it to the Division Final! Where did Williams get the Texans?

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

These 2 players are going to be compared the rest of their careers. I don't want to get into a debate on who is better because it has yet to be played out. I don't even know if I would give an edge yet to a player either.

You can argue Reggie has more around him to get him to the NFC game, Colston was a huge part of that as weel.

Head to Head - 'Bush bowl' the edge went to Willimas/Houston.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Reggie is already a great player - right now, as previous posts in this thread have so eloquently pointed out. But he has the potential to be a truly phenomenal player, an incredible player, HOF all the way.

But I think he needs to work on the weights to reach his true potential. Right now, he goes down too easily when someone gets an arm on him. He can't run through tackles - he runs around them, or jumps over them. Fix that, and all this Mario talk will go bye-bye.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Bull-F'n-Crap!!!!

The Texans were afraid of the dollars it was gonna take to sign him and they couldn't get a contract done with him before the draft. That's the ONLY reason they went to MW. Kiss my butt Texans. Sure, wait three years to comment on why you didn't "pick" Reggie. Right!!!

What a punk way to pat yourselves on the back...

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

eh, idk where u get this from but talk to some linebackers in this leauge and they'll tell u reggie is hard as fuk to tackle.

look @ that atl game last season where u put it on those 2 or 3 falcon safetys/lbs/cbs.

i do agree that he has had a great career so far. those recieving yards are where its at, since those are mostly behind the line of scrimmage check downs and should pretty much be considered rushing yards, except that he isn't trying to run through the defensive line, but whats it matter as long as it works?

to me a rush for 4 yards and a checkdown for 4 yards are the same thing.

on 473 touches between rushes/receptions, he has 2305 yards. thats an average of 4.8 yards every time he touches the ball.

that's pretty good if you ask me. LT averages 4.9 yards in his entire career per reception or rush

i'm satisfied cuz reggie hasn't hit his football ceiling. tons of upside left, he can become even better, but right now i'm satisfied with our #2 pick.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

nah their reasons were legit, they had a contract ready with reggie man

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

no they didnt.. they went to mario williams b/c it wasnt goin to cost them as much to sign him as reggiee...

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

their GM said on nfl network they had contracts for both players ready

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

[QUOTE=beauchristopher;164598]in 2007 when the entire team blew.. QUOTE]

Thank you beauchristopher!

This sums up the way I feel about '07.

You packaged it nicely.

RMS

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

(1) Euph, on this one, we completely agree. Well said. I retract my earlier bold claim that compared Williams and Bush. I still, however, agree with the sentiment here - Bush is a pretty good football player.

(2) Guys, you have to watch your language. I suppose, we're all guilty of getting excited and typing somethings without considering the possibilty of a wide audience, but you'll have to hide the profanity a bit better than it has been here.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Sorry Ricky, I don't buy that. In the games I've watched, he goes down immediately after contact. He's damn good at avoiding contact, by juking or cutting back, using a stiff arm to push them back, or just jumping right over them. But when someone hits him, he goes down.

What's his weight right now? 195? Do you have any links of LB's quotes saying he's hard to bring down? Sorry man, I just don't buy that. My eyes tell me otherwise.

The fact that he's had little success running up the middle supports that.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

i'm not saying reggie is going to carry defensive tackles on his back into the end zone; i'm just saying that he's a very evasive guy and he is much stronger than he looks

if ur going to go by weight then in that case westbrook must be easy to tackle too because he weighs the same as reggie. what about adrian peterson? he weighs about 10-12 pounds more than reggie. tiki must have been easy to take down, since he not only weighs a hair more than reggie, but hes 2 inches shorter!

see where im goign with this?

ps: actually, reggie gets the most yards when he runs up the middle.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Reggie is something special. Hes not the type of guy who gets all involved in the media hype. He doesn,t talk alot of smack. He spends countless hours going over tapes of his past performances, and he has just recently given his dedication back to the game 100%. Reggie has blessed the Neworleans community with something it hasn,t had in a very long time "HOPE". I agree, this is going to be the year where he shows us what hes made of. Remember what his coaches said in college. Reggie is on of the most competitive players they have ever seen. CVoming from a person like myself i can relate to that. Trust me, competitive people never stay down long. GOOOOOO REGGIE!!!!!!

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

I think he is confusing Reggie with Deuce. reference: Saint vs Philly 2006

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

If yall want me to take Kardashian off of Reggie's hands, I'll be happy to. For the good of the team, of course.

(if I don't have to listen to her talk...jesus, she's annoying.)

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Well....I wasn't going to say anything, because I am first & foremost a Saints fan. But....the Texans have every right to take their shots. They were plastered by the media for taking Mario Williams over Reggie Bush. Since then, Mario Williams (who I honestly didn't like) has emerged as one of the league's top pass rush DE's. Reggie....well... let's just say, hasn't quite lived up to the hype. As for Reggie being hard to tackle....hahaha!!!! Sorry, but like LOE has brought up....the dude goes down on the first contact! As a matter of fact, I remember getting pissed off over a Reggie interview where he was saying he knows when to go down to prolong his career. Dude....you're a RB!!! You're supposed to fight for extra yards. That's what RB's do. Please excuse my rant, but I have been dissappointed with Bush as a player & a person since last year.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

I am with you Ganhdi. I was leaving this one alone till now.
bush does have to learn when the time is right not to go down so easy and when to fight for the extra yardage. remember if Bush fought for ever yard he would be side lined for 2 to 4 games a year. He is not built for it. We knew that when we drafted him.
But do not doubt his toughness. At the goal line he goes all out and put his body on the line.

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Yeah...Brian Westbrook...yea, that's the ticket...

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

You're wrong here bro...

Re: texans take a swipe at reggie......
 

Reggie is not a great player right now...he has great talent and great potential...but he hasnt shown us ne thing....if he has ne chance of becoming the player he was hyped to be then he better start now....they are exactly right when they say mario was a better pick....there is no way to compare the two right now....reggie drops the ball and mario makes ppl drop the ball...thats about all they have in common.....i love reggie and i wanna see him step it up.....but by no means has he shown his worth of being #2 overall or a possible #1 overall pick