TruffleShuffle

Well, I do know them well enough to know what they're going to do with the first pick the 2006 NFL draft... and that is > 0.

(1) Therein lies the problem... one man does not make an offensive line. You need 5 good players or at least 4 who can cover for the weak link, and right now the Texans' offensive line is basically trash. So, you're going to count on Ferguson and two other first-year offensive linemen to turn around a unit that has been atrocious? Sorry, first year players just don't have that kind of an impact, especially at a position like offensive line. They need to learn blocking schemes and adapt to the added strength, speed and complexity of the pro game. (2) They aren't going to get 3-4 extra high draft picks for that pick. Who is going to make that deal? The Saints? No, they don't need a RB, and they sure have enough holes to make it a bad move for them to deal away all kinds of draft picks. Tennessee? They could use the RB, but they just traded for Travis Henry and have Chris Brown, plus they too have a very low talent level and need numerous picks. The Jets talent level sucks, and they probably need a QB more than a RB. They go any lower than 4th, they lose Ferguson. In any case, I think that a trade with the Jets is probably the most plausible scenario, but even so, the Jets can't just magically invent first round picks. The Texans would be getting second, third, fourth rounders... good picks yes, but certainly with higher bust potential. Anyway, the Texans will be picking Reggie Bush, so this whole debate is pretty moot.

I can't imagine the Texans trading that pick. For one thing, fans would march on Reliant Stadium with torches and pitchforks if they trade it. And second, how would they explain to the players who threw games down the stretch that oops, you lost games on purpose for nothing? I think they do. They just resigned Davis to an extension, and they have a lot of years/cash invested in Carr. I say they trade down to 3 or 4, pick up a 2nd and a 3rd, or a future first, and draft D'Brickashaw. Regardless of whether one thinks they should do what you're saying above - and I don't - it's never going to happen. There's more for the Texans front office to consider than just what they think will work out best for the team on the field. They also have to worry about fan perception. This is a team that has been either mediocre or downright awful through the entire existence of the franchise. The fans need someone to rally around, and Reggie Bush is that guy. I guarantee you that his jersey will be one of the top ten sellers next year. The McNabb pick over Ricky Williams was unpopular in Philly, but trading down and drafting an obscure offensive lineman (doubt many Texans fans know who Ferguson is) over a dynamic superstar Heisman winner would alienate many fans. The only guy other possible move for them would be to pick Young if he comes out, because while it would probably be a foolish pick, he's a hometown hero and would be accepted by the fan base.

I can't imagine the Texans trading that pick. For one thing, fans would march on Reliant Stadium with torches and pitchforks if they trade it. And second, how would they explain to the players who threw games down the stretch that oops, you lost games on purpose for nothing?

A few thoughts after finally reading through this most excellent thread... (1) That was the best college football game I have ever seen, and possibly the best football game I've ever seen. Just wonderful to watch the talent on both sides, and the stars from both sides playing extremely well. Vince Young's performance is one of the best efforts I've ever seen in a big game. (2) It's funny that Treebeard tried to jump on USC's bandwagon, and still couldn't root for a winner (3) jaydee really doesn't like Texas (4) I strongly but respectfully disagree with those of you who say Young will be a bum in the NFL. No, he doesn't throw the ball all that hard. Neither did Joe Montana, and his career turned out OK. Young is not going to be a great pure pocket passer, but he can do a lot with his legs that other guys cannot, and I think his leadership, decision-making and accuracy are all better than someone like Michael Vick. I expect him to make at least 2-3 Pro Bowls in the NFL. (5) Cut it out with the knee being down in the first half. Should it have been reviewed? Of course. But did it really alter the outcome of the game? No. It's not like Texas would have probably not scored on that drive if the play had been reviewed and called correctly. USC couldn't stop Texas all night; what makes you think that they would have on that drive? Texas won the game because Vince Young was awesome, because they stopped USC on 4th and 2, and because they drove and scored the game-winning TD. End of story. (6) I agree wholeheartedly with Carroll's decision to go for it on 4th and 2. As said above, USC wasn't stopping Texas, and in the college game, two minutes and two time outs is an eternity to go 80 or 90 yards. The risk is, they start their drive about 30 yards closer. And the gain if going for it works, the game is basically over. The benefit is too great to not go for it. It's funny to see how some people praise Rich Rodriguez for the fake punt in the Sugar Bowl, but then rip Carroll for the call tonight. It's the same decision, just executed differently, and I agree with the decisions that both coaches made. If it were, say, Joe Paterno in that situation, I would want him to punt because PSU's defense is the strongest part of the team, and teams would have a very hard time going 80-90 yards in one drive against such a stout defense. But WVU and USC were struggling on D, and they went for the chance to end the game rather than put the game in the hands of their porous defense.

Quick quiz... which QB finished #2 in all of college football in QB rating, completed 64% of his passes for almost 2800 yards and a 9.7 yard per attempt average, with a 26-10 TD-INT ratio? Then went out and completed 75% of his passes for 268 yards in the biggest bowl game in recent memory? If you guessed Vince Young, you win. Say what you will about his mechanics, but it's hard to argue against that kind of success, and the fact that he has had some of his biggest games against highly ranked opponents. I wish I could bump the thread from earlier in the year in which I was supporting him for Heisman and defending his passing ability, but since I can't - nya nya I told y'all so. :lol:

Bump :P

As long as neither Texas nor USC loses by 25+ points, I'd leave them as #1/#2. A close, competitive game would make me even more certain that those two are head and shoulders above every other team this year.

PSU certainly did not play their best game last night. That said, they played the better game offensively and defensively, and the reason FSU was still in the ballgame was due to a punt return and Kelly's missed FGs, plus a bad exchange when PSU had first and goal from the 5 yard line. Plus, while Scott had a pretty solid game, he is not as good as Hunt, so the best RB and best WR (Williams) were not on the team. I'm not surprised that the offense struggled with two of its best players out after 1.5 months off and 2 of its top players not in the game. And, PSU was never in real danger of losing that game. FSU tied the game with the FG, then PSU drove and was in FG range to win the game but Kelly blew it. FSU then took a knee. FSU did not convert in the first OT so PSU didn't even have to score to keep the game going. PSU scored a TD in the second OT, so after that, at worst they were going to another overtime. Then, PSU got the ball in the third OT not needing to score to keep the game alive. If Kelly had missed that FG in the third OT, you could have said that FSU dodged 3 times where the game would have been over (all but over in regulation), plus faced the prospect of needing a TD to keep the game going in OT #2. And on the "who is #3" discussion, quality of bowl game victory is not enough to supersede a direct head-to-head result. Yeah, O$U's offense looked really impressive against Notre Dame's swiss cheese defense, but do you really think O$U would have run roughshot over a much better FSU defense? The Buckeyes had their chance to put up 34 points and 600 yards on PSU and came up just a wee bit short of those figures. Back in 2002, Ohio State barely won games over bad Cincy and Illinois teams, and had narrow victories over several other opponents. But, they won every game they played, went 14-0 and won the national championship in both polls. They probably weren't as good as Miami that year, but they were better on that one night, and that's what counts. As Herm Edwards said, "You play to win the games" and Penn State won all but one of their games.

Willis McGahee blew out his knee in the national championship game and went pro, and got drafted 23rd overall. He was certainly not as highly regarded as Bush. You can bet that if Bush blew out his knee during tonight's game, he would still go in the top 10 picks, so the Bears would never have a chance at drafting him.

Hey Rizzuto and Mazeroski are in the Hall, let's put every decent middle infielder in there. Dave Concepcion, come on down! Why not Walt Weiss too?!?!?

Robinson was never going to be drafterd as a QB anyway. he's simply not accurate enough. He's as much as admitted in interviews that in order to play in the pros he'd have to do something other than quarterback At least he has enough sense to realize this, unlike Eric Crotch, who didn't seem to get the drift that winning a Heisman playing QB at Nebraska does not entitle you to get a shot as an NFL QB. Robinson could play WR, RB, or even safety. I remember reading that after his soph year, a lot of NFL teams were hoping that PSU would move him to safety because of his size and speed. I actually expect him to be drafted late on the first day.

Sadly, I can't imagine Poz will be back (unless he's injured and can't perform for the combine). It was too bad he was hurt, because he was having one of the best games I can remember from a LB in a bowl game. The keys for PSU next year are their OL and DL - whether or not new players can step in and have the same impact after the 17 seniors are gone. I can't see it, but it also means that 2 years from now PSU will be in a good stop once again, after they've all matured. At defensive line I think PSU is in a lot better shape. They already have 4 highly-rated commitments from high school kids, and rotated in some younger guys this year. As long as a couple of the freshmen are ready to go next year, they should be OK. At least one guy (a 320 lb DT) is enrolling in January, and as you saw with King and Williams, guys who enroll early can make a big difference. OL is another story though. They have a couple of commits, and they are close to getting two top-three players at their respective positions, one a guard who is down to Nebraska or PSU, and another a tackle who is down to Maryland or PSU. I'd expect at least one of those guys to start next year. It also will be big to see what Levi Brown does. He was second team All-American and would likely go in the 2nd-3rd round if he came out. Hopefully he will stay and anchor the line. Donnie Johnson is a solid CB and Justin King was the #1 recruit in the nation at CB last year. With Williams, Norwood, Butler, Rubin back off IR, and a couple of good freshmen receivers coming in next year, there will be no need for King at WR, and he can go back to focusing on CB... which is the position that he projects to play in the NFL, so it will be good for him. They will definitely need to find a pair of safeties, because the two they had this year were solid. But, the people who are comparing this to 2002 are off-base. Back then PSU sent 6 players to the first 2 rounds of the draft - two DT, one WR, one RB, one DE and one SS. They will have a few guys drafted early - Hali, Zemaitis, possibly Phillips - but it's not the volume of quality that they lost in 2002. And, back then the cupboard was pretty bare behind those guys. Look how few Penn State players were drafted in 2003 and 2004. This year, there is much more talent left on the team, and for morons like Mark May to predict a plunge to 4-7 next year is ridiculous. ESPN should not allow him to talk about Penn State unless he can keep his hatred of them (from his days at Pitt) from coloring his viewpoints.

I thought the same thing when I saw the lineups last night. The entire secondary is gone, QB is gone, half of both lines, among others. Doesn't look too promising. On the good side, PSU is completely loaded at WR and has both their starting RBs back next year, plus the LBs will all be back if Poz stays. So, they have some work to do but if the secondary and OL can play decent and Morelli turns out to be a good player, they should still have a solid year.

I really think that if a player takes cash from a booster, his college career should be over. That's as blatant a violation as there can be in college sports, and a player can't plead ignorance. I have no idea how accepting booster money equals a two-game suspension... that is ridiculous.

Pretty obvious that he found her during the "supermarket bagboy" days, not the "NFL MVP multimillionaire" days.

Yeah, and Quinn's sister looks like she might once have been Quinn's brother, if you know what I mean. She wasn't horribly ugly. And while she is no supermodel, I will say that I hope for her sake that she really likes Hawk's personality and the millions that he will make in the NFL, because looking at that face on him could get old really fast.

They should have gotten Kerry Wood's wife and Tedy Bruschi's wife to stand next to Brady Quinn's sister, to complete the trio of most overtelevised people in the crowd.

That might be the coaching call of the year. I remember thinking before the play that a fake would probably work just because it would be completely unexpected, but it's one thing for a guy sitting on his couch to think it, and a whole other ballgame to actually call it with the game on the line. But think about it... if he kicks, they pin Uga back but their defense is very porous, and Uga has plenty of time to at least get in FG range, if not score a TD. Meanwhile, if you run the fake, you run the risk of costing your defense about 30 yards in field position, but if it works, the game is essentially over. I dunno how committed Rich Rodriguez is to WVU, but if I were a team from one of the other major conferences, I'd throw a buttload of money at him and see if he bit. His current contract is under a million a year, and considering what many of the other top flight coaches are making, he could stand to double that. WVU will have to up the ante to keep him in Morgantown, IMO.

Let's put it this way... he has a much better chance of making it as a manager as he does as a player.

Jeez, if you had asked me which Big Ten team would win by now, I'd have said definitely Michigan, Minnesota with about a 70% chance of winning, Iowa with a 50% chance, Northwestern with a 40% chance, and definitely not Wisconsin. Bowls are so unpredictable... ugh.

They really need to change the rules so that every guy who hangs around the major leagues for 10 years gets to be on a ballot. Neifi Perez and John Mabry will probably end up on a ballot, what a joke. So far there seem to have been about 15203598 polls posted, and I've voted for all of one player - Bert Blyleven.

And State College, PA....

I voted yes... one of the best offensive SS of his era or any era before the current one. Also won 4 GG awards, and was an All-Star 6 times without having to do backflips to make the team. He was more valuable than Ozzie Smith, who made the hall pretty easily. I think he belongs in there too.

Can we stick to the Blylevens, Rices and Sutters? This guy has no business even being in the debate. Who's next, Wally Joyner?