Quote:
Originally Posted by Nconroe
And here are two GM rankings for your pleasure. Unless you win you are middle of the pack or worse.
http://www.sportingnews.com/nfl/stor...mpson/slide/13
13 / 32 Rick Smith, Houston Texans
Last year’s meltdown stinks up his resume quite a bit. So does the fact that five of their draft picks from last year are already off the roster. On the other hand, he was on board for the back-to-back division titles, for Gary Kubiak’s hiring and the signing and drafting of the players that got them there. If the Texans turn things around fairly quickly with Bill O’Brien, Jadeveon Clowney and the core of this group, Smith's rep to an extent can be restored.
another http://www.rotoworld.com/articles/nf...-best-gms?pg=2
16. Rick Smith - Texans
Smith has done it all as a general manager. There have been bad picks (Amobi Okoye) and brilliant ones (J.J. Watt). Arian Foster is one of the best undrafted free agent signings of the past 10 years, Matt Schaub one of the best trade acquisitions. But a largely competent reign has still produced a sub-.500 record (61-67), and only two playoff wins in eight years. That’s not a résumé you can coast on forever. That’s why Smith has to get the No. 1 overall pick in May’s draft right. The correct choice could buoy a talented roster back to the upper reaches of the NFL, and buy Smith another 3-4 years of job security. The wrong choice would likely be the straw that broke the camel’s back on a perfectly fine, but ultimately unmemorable era of GMing in Houston. |
Smith wasn’t in on the Kubiak hiring since he himself wasn’t hired until several months later.
He deserves credit for picking JJ, but I don’t buy that he believed that JJ would turn into the dominant player he has. The Texans had a deal in place to trade up with the 49ers (#7) for Patrick Peterson. The Cardinals took Peterson at #5 so the Texans stayed put at #10 and “settled” for JJ.
Same for Foster – if Smith had a strong belief that Arian could become a franchise back, he would have drafted him instead of hoping that he’d be able to sign him as an undrafted free agent. And he wouldn’t have exposed him to waivers by cutting him at the end of that training camp, or kept him on the practice squad for most the season where someone could have signed him away.