It's become apparent that Bob McNair is an avid reader of BRB, and who can blame him? Shortly after we announced that we'd be taking a hard look at the QB position in this space, the Texans owner spoke about the team's ongoing evaluation and possible plans for local whipping boy/"franchise quarterback" David Carr . Not that McNair really said much in his comments, but it seems clear to me that ol' Bobby Mac isn't drinking nearly the quantity of Bakersfield Kool-Aid that he has consumed in years past.
Even the most casual follower of the Texans knows that one of the biggest issues confronting Texans management is what to do with the first pick in team history and face of the franchise. This glaring issue has been exacerbated by management's decision to pass on hometown hero/Jesus In Cleats Vincent Paul Young, Jr. in last year's draft. Hold on a second...I need to take a few deep breaths and go to my happy place.
Okay. I'm back. Carr has had five (5) years to show that he is The Man, someone who can lead the Texans to greatness (or at least a .500 record). Quite simply, he hasn't done it. Sure, he's played behind some nearly nonexistent and often downright atrocious offensive lines. And aside from Andre Johnson and Domanick Davis-Williams-Jones-Smith, he hasn't had a ton of skill players to help him out. Those things aren't his fault, and I fully advocate Charley Casserly being drawn and quartered for those crimes against humanity. But I firmly believe that Carr was put in a position to succeed this year under Gary Kubiak, and he didn't do it on a consistent basis. He had a few very, very nice games early in the season, but things began to fall apart in Nashville on 10/29/06. That was the game he was benched for Sage Rosenfels, and I firmly believe that he would have been benched again later in the year if Rosenfels hadn't been lost for the season to injury.
I just don't see any way that the Texans can bring David Carr back. And I don't see any way that another team would trade for him. Not that Carr doesn't have talent, because he definitely does. But because he's got salaries of $5,500,000.00 in 2007 and $6,000,000.00 in 2008 coming to him under his current deal. Who in their right mind would want to pay that? You have to think the Texans will cut him if they can't trade him, and then an enterprising team could pick him up on the relative cheap without having to give anything up.
So if Carr is gone (and I believe he will/must be), what do the Texans do at QB? I'll post on that shortly.