NFL Football Revealed on Squib Kick

Mario Williams - This year he will prove his worth!

by James on May 27th, 2007

NFL Football at its best. NFL Football at its craziest.

Don’t be messing with Mario!

Oh boy. Houston passed on local legend Vince Young.

That wasn’t enough; they then passed on national legend Reggie Bush.

Instead they picked Mario Williams.

Mario who? They did not. They picked, umm, let’s see, it was… Hey, maybe it was that Mario guy.

Yeah, it will always be remembered. Problem is we will remember what they did not do and not what they did.

Wait, his name was Mario who?

The day he was drafted will be the day that everyone remembers how his new team, the Houston Texans, passed on possibly the next Barry Sanders.

With the first overall pick in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Texans chose Williams over USC superstar running back Reggie Bush. To the amazement of many, Houston felt that it needed to address its defense before adding a running back. source

No matter how much we look for the bright side of this pick or want to believe it just does not seem to work out.

He could be the next Julius Peppers or Andre Wadsworth, but there arguably will be more eyes on Bush’s career than Williams. Forever, he will be linked to Bush and vice versa, but that shouldn’t take away what a tremendous athlete the Texans selected.

The move to take Williams over Bush or Young just drew ire form the media.

Many commentators immediately criticized the decision to select Williams ahead of Bush, with Len Pasquarelli claiming that the administration of the Houston Texans was “suffering from astigmatism”., and ESPN columnist Bill Simmons suggesting that all professional sports teams should hire a Vice President of Common Sense. source

To make matters worse, Reggie Bush remained in the limelight as New Orleans drove to the playoffs and Vince Young engineered several late victories for Tennessee.

In the meantime, Mario had plantar faciitis during his rookie year.

Now for those of you that have had plantar faciitis, and your intrepid author had it, it can be very painful and really restrict your mobility. The facia is the ligament that stretches along the bottom of your foot and hooks onto your heel.

In the Squibster’s case, not only was my mobility affected, but the ability to back up was almost gone.

Somehow Mario fought through the pain and lack of mobility to have a decent rookie year. In the off season Mario did all the right things to get better.

“It was really gradual,” Williams said of the healing process. “It wasn’t one day like, ‘Oh, my God, I can walk. All right!’ I just completely stayed off of it until I had to do something. And then it was better. It’s a big shock now. It’s almost like having a new foot.”

With his new foot comes a new season and new expectations. source

Still it gnaws at us. How could Houston have been so dumb? Geez, it was Vince Young and Reggie Bush, a no brainer if ever there was one.

Turns out Houston was not even considering Vince Young. They believed David Carr was going to develop. For what ever reason, Carr did not develop. Most likely it would have helped to have an offensive line.

For Houston, it came down to Bush or Williams.

Then-general manager Charley Casserly and new head coach Gary Kubiak’s choice came down to Williams or Reggie Bush. As the Denver Broncos’ offensive coordinator from 1995-2005, Kubiak had coaxed 1,000-yard rushing seasons from a sixth-round pick (Terrell Davis) and then-unknowns Olandis Gary, Mike Anderson and Reuben Droughns. He didn’t think he needed to spend the first pick on a running back. source

Poor Houston. Carr failed and no running game appeared. This just made the Houston fans angrier and other fans wonder what was going on.

Houston believed it needed to pressure Indianapolis Colts quarterback Peyton Manning. The Texans had never beaten division rival Indianapolis, and owner Bob McNair valued an impact pass rusher. Williams, dogged by foot problems in his rookie year, had 47 tackles and 4½ sacks; Houston did beat the Colts in December.

Now things may be looking up for Houston. They have added Schaub at QB, Green at RB, and DeMeco Ryans is going to be a star at middle linebacker. In the draft, they captured Akoye the young defensive lineman that many think will have a great NFL career.

True, they have their weaknesses, especially at offensive line, but things are definitely looking up.

Not it is time for Mario Williams to prove he was worth a First Pick in the draft!

NFL Football Fan Question Will Mario ultimately prove Houston was smart?

As always, any NFL Football related comments are welcome.

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POSTED IN: Houston Texans, Indianapolis Colts, NFL Draft, NFL Football, New Orleans Saints, Opinion, Peyton Manning, Reggie Bush, Tennessee Titans, Vince Young