Texans Under Pressure: Mario Williams or David Carr

If you read anything about the Texans in most media sources, you will read how much pressure Mario Williams is under because he isn't Reggie Bush, and how Williams was booed at the Texans Draft Party at Reliant Stadium

Actually, I was at the Draft Party, and at least in my estimate his reception was mixed. A mixed reception isn't unusual given all the hype before the draft for Bush and Vince Young and very little about Williams. Texans fans were told since last year that Bush was going to be drafted, and when fans learned the night before the draft that Williams was going to be the pick, some of the fans at the draft party were upset. But it certainly wasn't the entire fan base.

Most of the people I spoke to were happy about the pick, and I had one person tell me that he saw camera guys looking for the most vocal critics to put on camera but didn't want to record people supporting the pick.

This summer, the Texans held an All Access event that allowed fans to tour the stadium and get autographs. Gary Kubiak spoke to the crowd after the even and introduced some of the players. Mario Williams got the loudest cheers, and people chanting his name. You will not read anything about that in national publications because it doesn't fit the thesis of most sportswriters' articles.

As one of many examples of missing the real story, Peter King in making his his prediction for a lopsided 31-10 Texans loss, says:

"Not that there's much pressure on Mario Williams to make a quick impact. But after Williams doesn't lay a hand on Donovan McNabb in four futile quarters, the Texans fans rain raspberries on the No. 1 overall pick as he walks off the field."

Actually, I believe most Texans fans have more patience than that for a rookie defensive end, especially one facing a quarterback that does mostly short drops. The first overall pick most Texans fans have no more patience with is quarterback David Carr. In his previous four years, he has had poor and contradictory instruction, project offensive linemen, horrible offensive schemes, inexperienced receivers -- and he got killed on a weekly basis. He has also done enough frustrating things (not throwing the ball out of bounds when he should and staring down receivers, as just examples), that the fan base doesn't want to wait for any more Carr development, even while he learns a new offense.

The pressure on Carr is further compounded by the fact that much of the fanbase wanted the Texans to choose Longhorn hero and Houston native, Vince Young as the quarterback.

Personally, I am more suprised when I read accurate information about the Texans in the national media because to be honest, most journalists don't care enough about a team that was 2-14 last year to get the information right. Guess which picture was commonly shown in newspapers after the draft. The one above, or this one....