Decision To Stay With Carr, Not Draft Young, May Haunt Texans
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When the Houston Texans chose defensive end Mario Williams with the first pick in this year’s NFL draft, fans from coast to coast said the decision to pass on running back Reggie Bush would haunt the franchise. Local fans, however, had another reason to be upset. Quarterback Vince Young, a Houston native who had just led the Texas Longhorns to the national championship, was also available.
The Texans passed on Young, saying their own quarterback, David Carr, had more potential. It sure hasn’t looked that way lately. Last week against the Oakland Raiders, Carr fumbled three times and lost more yards getting sacked (37) than he gained passing (32). Meanwhile, Young was playing the Indianapolis Colts, leading the Tennessee Titans to a comeback victory for the second week in a row. When Young and the Titans play at Houston on Sunday, Texans fans will see what they missed out on.
Carr has already made more than $30 million from the seven-year, $46 million contract he signed with Houston as the first pick in the 2002 draft, before the expansion Texans had ever played a game. With that kind of investment, by now the Texans should either have one of the best young quarterbacks in the game, or they should have cut their losses and moved on. Carr is in his fifth year with the franchise and still hasn’t established himself as a dependable starter.
A quick glance at Carr’s statistics might indicate some improvement, especially with his 69.1% completion rate. But Carr throws such short passes that his average of 9.2 yards a completion is the lowest in the league. Texans coach Gary Kubiak keeps Carr on a short leash, and when the Texans played the Titans in October, Carr played so badly that Kubiak benched him. After backup Sage Rosenfels completed 18 of 25 passes for 186 yards with three touchdowns and one interception, reporters asked about a potential quarterback controversy in Houston, but Kubiak said Carr would remain the starter.
Throughout his tenure in Houston, Carr has had the starting job whether his productivity warranted it or not. Many observers have defended Carr’s lack of production by saying he doesn’t get enough protection from his offensive line: In his rookie season Carr was sacked 76 times, an NFL record, and last year he was sacked 68 times, the third-most in history. But Carr himself bears as much responsibility as his linemen. Even after five years, he still struggles with recognizing blitzes and knowing when to throw the ball away. Carr was sacked four times in Houston’s previous game against Tennessee; Rosenfels played behind the same line and was never sacked.
Young evades the pass rush much better than Carr does, and not just when the opposition stops for fear of a penalty, as Giants defensive end Mathias Kiwanuka demonstrated two weeks ago. For a rookie, Young has a surprising ability to recognize when blitzes are coming and adjust accordingly. He wasn’t sacked at all against Indianapolis and has been sacked only 14 times all season.
Among NFL quarterbacks, only Atlanta’s Michael Vick has gained more ground than Young, who has 56 carries for 370 yards and four touchdowns. Young’s two best running games of the year have come in the last two weeks, with 10 carries for 69 yards against the Giants and nine carries for 78 yards against Indianapolis. (Carr is also a gifted runner, with 42 carries for 181 yards this year, but he’s not as skilled as Young in using his mobility to avoid blitzes.)
Still, Young has room for growth. He took shotgun snaps almost exclusively in college, and he hasn’t developed the skills of a classic NFL drop-back passer. It’s not clear whether the Titans will spend the off-season helping Young improve at playing under center, or whether offensive coordinator Norm Chow will re-tool the offense to emphasize the shotgun, but either way he still needs more polish to run a pro-style offense.
Nevertheless, the Titans are happy with their rookie quarterback. For the Texans, it’s too soon to say whether they made the right choice in taking Williams, whether they should have selected Bush, or whether they should have made the local fans happy with Young. But after five years, it’s not too soon to say that Carr has fallen far short of expectations.