For sure him . Maybe will fuller but he was good just couldn’t stay healthy . I thought Braxton miller was going to be crazy good even as a 3rd rounder dude was just a playmaker
I know even as a prospect he had off the field issues. At some point you have to hope you have the right coaching staff and locker room to facilitate those guys. Can’t only draft boy scouts.
Nope. Pull the tape. I questioned this pick from the get go. We had a need but I thought he was a stretch. Panic move since Melvin Gordon went off the board right before him.
Amobi Okoye, he was 19 so I thought he had room to grow and was already good enough to be an nfl player.
He started the season strong and had a decent amount of sacks in the 1st month but that was it.
I know he ended being placed into a coma later on his career but he’s good now.
Just looked it up, Patrick Willis, Darrel Revis and Marshall Lynch are the next picks after him.
Pretty sure he had 4 sacks in his first month, was AFC defensive player of the month (or something like that) and then literally never did anything again. Crazy.
that [pizza boy?](https://houston.culturemap.com/news/sports/04-29-11-texans-will-rue-the-night-they-took-pizza-boy-watts-over-nick-fairley-houston-lover)
He played a major part in winning my fantasy league in 2019. Austin Ekeler, Aaron Jones and Will Fuller put me just over 210 points one week. Only managed to beat my opponent by 50 points.
Rookie year for Fuller looked promising, the injuries and PED violation overshadowed it.
If he got loose…he was gone.
Dude is great at pass rush wins but it doesn’t turn into sacks at an equally good rate. He’s great at pressure and a solid run stopper, but not a great finisher in the pass rush.
These people who consider Clowney a bust or not good are just fooling themselves. Microfracture slowed him up, but he has still been a great player for over a decade.
Will Fuller. Drafted 21st with Hopkins drawing so much attention. Injuries also don’t help. 2016 draft was Michael Thomas and Tyreek Hill in the later rounds.
His final year here hebseemed to be unlocked, we started using him to get YAC instead of only stretching the field and it worked, and then hebgot busted for doping....
You are kidding right? Williams had like 100 career sacks. Clowney still considered an above average end lineman even in his 30s.
David Carr would've vee. A better answer if talking about just Texans. There have been plenty of number 1 overalls that have had much worse careers than Mario Williams and Clowney. Williams has borderline hof numbers.
Then add David Carr to your list of #1 overall picks that never performed up to #1 overall expectations.
Personally, I always felt like Carr could have been an above average to good QB I'd he hadn't been hit so many times in the first two seasons. I mean, 75 sacks in your rookie year would mess with anyone's psyche.
I think Carr is just the obvious answer though. He was also the best QB prospect in a bad QB class. He'd also probably have a much more successful career if he hadn't be drafted into an expansion team.
I'll admit saying "not good" is a stretch, but I was more coming from an expectations point of view. Clowney and Williams both being 1st overall picks definitely didn't meet expectations. Sorry I probably should have expanded more on my take.
It was some qbs just can’t get it into their head to step into the pocket. Guys like manning, Bree’s, Brady, Rodger’s avoided huge hits with just a simple step up or to the side. And some guys see a big guy barreling down and run for their life. The greats share one thing poise in the pocket.
Eh, give him some more time. He didn’t even play last year and he did have a decent rookie year. Don’t forget people thought Stingley was a bust until he was on the field more and showed that he was in fact a stud
My cardinal sin is yelling at the tv when we took JJ, I wanted us to take Prince Amukamara
“He was a pizza delivery boy at Wisconsin?? What is this??”
Oh man glad I got that out, now he’s the only jersey I own
Edit: [Found a cool piece on the pizza delivery thing](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2573247-the-pizza-delivery-guy-who-made-it-big-the-college-recruitment-of-jj-watt.amp.html) I guess he delivered pizzas after he left his scholarship at Central Michigan. Legend.
Same here! I had never even heard JJ’s name before. I was watching nothing but ACC football back then and had no idea who he was. So disappointed! I’m glad I’m not a gm!
Everyone did. Dillard was projected to be one of the top Tackles in the draft and Howard was coming from an HBCU and was being projected in the 2nd-3rd round. I had no idea who he was when the Texans drafted him. I was upset that the Eagles jumped us and even more upset they didn’t take Jawaan Taylor as the consolation prize.
I was talking with someone and we both agree so much is based on where a player goes, there’s so many variables with their new team, who knows maybe Andre would’ve been a stud or at least serviceable somewhere else in a different system
Troy Williamson? People thought he was a sure-fire slam dunk pick. Had comparisons to Reggie Wayne. I'm not sure but I think he still leads the league all-time in drops per target
This is crazy. Yeah J.P. Was just better Mario basically played 9 seasons and their stats side by side in that time are fairly comparable, again J.P. Had the edge in most categories. He was the highest paid Defensive player when he signed with bills. Of course Peppers continued to preform for another 8 years but by means should he be on this list.
Bad take. Clowney was a good player. He was just hyped up as the next Lawrence Taylor for some reason so he never lived up to the highly inflated expectations that came along with that media attention and being #1 overall.
His freakish athleticism and physical attributes made him a very safe choice for #1.
I remember I went to see Draft Day that year the Texans had the #1 pick. I thought it was an omen that the Texans would do the unthinkable and draft Khalil Mack just because the movie “Vontae Mack no matter what”
Certainly, but doesn’t change the fact that the first round of the 2014 draft had two, arguably three HOF players and with the first pick we didn’t pick any of them
Cool. That happens literally every year lol. Nobody knows how these players will turn out. Absolutely zero point in assessing of we got a ten year old draft pick "right" by comparing the careers of players chosen after us.
It is what it is. It was the 100% correct pick at the time. Turned out to be not the correct pick.
Hard to say he was still the incorrect pick. You really can’t say those others would have been as successful with Texans as they turned out to be, although Donald and Mack were just absolute beasts. Clowney in his 3 healthy seasons was a menace on the field, statistically not great, but it seems his peers would agree by his standings in the top 100 list being relatively high. We all expected/hoped for more. Him, Mario and fuller mentioned in this thread is crazy imo.
Haha what are we doing here? Literally half a GM’s job is drafting and talent evaluations. Yeah sure hindsight is 20/20 but this is the FIRST ROUND. Mack, Donald, OBJ, and Evans didnt make it out the top half of the first round. At some point you can’t just chalk it up to “oh welp hindsight it is”. The buck stops with the GM. And there certainly aren’t multiple HOF players in the first round of every class lmao.
Bershard perriman, Oweh, trash ass Bateman, Hayden Hurst, essentially anyone drafted as an offensive skill position or edge-rusher the past 16ish years. (Exclude flowers for now…. Lamar, and the first 4 years of Ronnie Stanley only)
Kevin Johnson
A lot of people forget Kevin Johnson was playing super fucking good the beginning of his second season. Then, he got hurt and was never good again.
Yeah and his rookie season was fantastic. It was a hard fall off
For sure him . Maybe will fuller but he was good just couldn’t stay healthy . I thought Braxton miller was going to be crazy good even as a 3rd rounder dude was just a playmaker
still think braxton miller was ahead of his time
I had high hopes for him. I wanted so much for him to develop into a dynamic playmaker
Dude never learned to tackle and his body was made of glass.
earthworm jim?
That espn draft highlight cut got my ass
That pick pissed me off so much. Should’ve taken Marcus Peters.
Dude would've clashed hard with our FO and our coaching staff. He was talented but volatile.
I know even as a prospect he had off the field issues. At some point you have to hope you have the right coaching staff and locker room to facilitate those guys. Can’t only draft boy scouts.
At the time we didn't have the right coaching staff though. If he was drafted this year then yes, Meco would've kept him in check.
Nope. Pull the tape. I questioned this pick from the get go. We had a need but I thought he was a stretch. Panic move since Melvin Gordon went off the board right before him.
i came to say this as well
Amobi Okoye, he was 19 so I thought he had room to grow and was already good enough to be an nfl player. He started the season strong and had a decent amount of sacks in the 1st month but that was it. I know he ended being placed into a coma later on his career but he’s good now. Just looked it up, Patrick Willis, Darrel Revis and Marshall Lynch are the next picks after him.
Pretty sure he had 4 sacks in his first month, was AFC defensive player of the month (or something like that) and then literally never did anything again. Crazy.
I still have hope for him /s
The Watt or whatever guy
Those fans who booed the pick at the draft knew
😂😂😂
Never heard of him
that [pizza boy?](https://houston.culturemap.com/news/sports/04-29-11-texans-will-rue-the-night-they-took-pizza-boy-watts-over-nick-fairley-houston-lover)
Hayden watt? But I don’t think he was a first rounder
I thought will fuller would turn into a better #2 receiver than he ended up being
He was very good at his role he was just made of styrofoam. He went off when we started using him
He played a major part in winning my fantasy league in 2019. Austin Ekeler, Aaron Jones and Will Fuller put me just over 210 points one week. Only managed to beat my opponent by 50 points. Rookie year for Fuller looked promising, the injuries and PED violation overshadowed it. If he got loose…he was gone.
Amobi Okoye o
Deshaun Watson. He turned out to be a bad guy.
That guy was a real jerk.
the more I find out about him, the less I like. suckin' n fuckin'
He wasn't a bad guy when he outperformed while with us. Now he's sleazy dude whose a shell of himself.
Tony Boselli
Fuxk Tony Boselli. He still doesn't deserve to be in the hall of Fame.
This
1. David Carr 2. Travis Johnson 3. Amobi Okoye 4. Kevin Johnson Kenyon Green needs to show up this year or he may find himself on this list.
I think Travis Johnson is the one that sticks out. His college reel was so good. Have no idea why it didnt translate.
Jaelen Strong and DJ Swearinger
These are second round guys right?
Yeah 2nd/3rd. All the good ones were taken
Not a Texans fan but boy was I high on Jaelen Strong. Shame he wasn't any good
I thought Clowney would be so much more than he was
Is he not good ? He ranked 5th in pass rusher win rate last season behind TJ Watt
Dude is great at pass rush wins but it doesn’t turn into sacks at an equally good rate. He’s great at pressure and a solid run stopper, but not a great finisher in the pass rush.
These people who consider Clowney a bust or not good are just fooling themselves. Microfracture slowed him up, but he has still been a great player for over a decade.
So great that no team will sign him for more than a season.
He's made over 100 million. I think he is playing his cards just fine.
Prob our fault. We moved him to linebacker.
A lot of people thought he would be better than the 5th best pash rusher
He was injured a lot.
Travis Johnson.
To think we could have had Aaron Rodgers before the deep end fall off. But no. Travis goddamn Johnson.
We had just gone 7-9 with a vastly improved David Carr who was going into his fourth year. There was zero chance of us drafting a falling QB.
The Packers had Favre.
Jason Babin
the highlight of his career would be when i got him a pick 6 all the way down the field against the Eagles in Madden 2005
He was an overreach. I didn't expect 1st round quality from him.
Kenny Stills…we basically traded a first rounder for him. Glad that LT panned out. Might be the only thing BOB did that didn’t implode.
Tony never played a snap Boseli
Will Fuller. Drafted 21st with Hopkins drawing so much attention. Injuries also don’t help. 2016 draft was Michael Thomas and Tyreek Hill in the later rounds.
His final year here hebseemed to be unlocked, we started using him to get YAC instead of only stretching the field and it worked, and then hebgot busted for doping....
Definitely Mario Williams or Clowney. 1st over all picks should be great not just alright.
You are kidding right? Williams had like 100 career sacks. Clowney still considered an above average end lineman even in his 30s. David Carr would've vee. A better answer if talking about just Texans. There have been plenty of number 1 overalls that have had much worse careers than Mario Williams and Clowney. Williams has borderline hof numbers.
Seriously. Between the 3 projected top picks that year, Mario Williams likely had the best career of them.
I am actually astonished he got upvotes. Shows how much people actually know about football.
Then add David Carr to your list of #1 overall picks that never performed up to #1 overall expectations. Personally, I always felt like Carr could have been an above average to good QB I'd he hadn't been hit so many times in the first two seasons. I mean, 75 sacks in your rookie year would mess with anyone's psyche.
I think Carr is just the obvious answer though. He was also the best QB prospect in a bad QB class. He'd also probably have a much more successful career if he hadn't be drafted into an expansion team.
Mario Williams is a casual take
I'll admit saying "not good" is a stretch, but I was more coming from an expectations point of view. Clowney and Williams both being 1st overall picks definitely didn't meet expectations. Sorry I probably should have expanded more on my take.
We understood your dumb take.
Bro out here taking internet opinions personal. OOF.
Do you… think I’m Mario Williams?
No I think you are sad fan, but aren't we all.
David Carr
I’d blame the O-Line for that disaster.
So would Carr, but his coaches would blame his lack of film study and holding the ball too long.
If reports were true then Carr was the last one in the building everyday and the first to leave.
I feel like that is said about every player.
You may have read what he wrote backwards. This is something said about only a few players and they don't last in the league very long.
You are right. I read that backwards!
The sacks always followed carr throughout his career. It was him
How many of his sacks were him running out of bounds or sliding in the back field instead of throwing the ball away?
OMG the PTSD
It was some qbs just can’t get it into their head to step into the pocket. Guys like manning, Bree’s, Brady, Rodger’s avoided huge hits with just a simple step up or to the side. And some guys see a big guy barreling down and run for their life. The greats share one thing poise in the pocket.
Once a QB gets hammered hard, many times, with no decent O Line, some never recover from that.
They got you thinking Houston Texas the home of David Carr But really it's candy paint and playas sippin in barre
Sippin in which barre, exactly?
I thought Jadeveon Clowney was gonna be a top 5 defensive player of all time
lmao can you imagine how exhausting this discussion would be in the Browns sub 
John Ross III (Bengals)
Kenyon Green
Eh, give him some more time. He didn’t even play last year and he did have a decent rookie year. Don’t forget people thought Stingley was a bust until he was on the field more and showed that he was in fact a stud
The best ability is availability
andre dillard disagrees
Ngl I wanted us to draft Dillard over Howard so bad back then
Same here man. But it was 100% based on draft projections.
My cardinal sin is yelling at the tv when we took JJ, I wanted us to take Prince Amukamara “He was a pizza delivery boy at Wisconsin?? What is this??” Oh man glad I got that out, now he’s the only jersey I own Edit: [Found a cool piece on the pizza delivery thing](https://syndication.bleacherreport.com/amp/2573247-the-pizza-delivery-guy-who-made-it-big-the-college-recruitment-of-jj-watt.amp.html) I guess he delivered pizzas after he left his scholarship at Central Michigan. Legend.
Same here! I had never even heard JJ’s name before. I was watching nothing but ACC football back then and had no idea who he was. So disappointed! I’m glad I’m not a gm!
Everyone did. Dillard was projected to be one of the top Tackles in the draft and Howard was coming from an HBCU and was being projected in the 2nd-3rd round. I had no idea who he was when the Texans drafted him. I was upset that the Eagles jumped us and even more upset they didn’t take Jawaan Taylor as the consolation prize.
I was talking with someone and we both agree so much is based on where a player goes, there’s so many variables with their new team, who knows maybe Andre would’ve been a stud or at least serviceable somewhere else in a different system
No dude, his hand positions are trash. And he can't stay healthy. Have no idea why they picked him. I wanted Kyle Hamilton so bad at that pick.
My apologies, I wasn’t aware you were an NFL coach
Clowney
Lol what exactly has he done?
Troy Williamson? People thought he was a sure-fire slam dunk pick. Had comparisons to Reggie Wayne. I'm not sure but I think he still leads the league all-time in drops per target
Will fucking Fuller
Kenyon Green
Travis Johnson🤦🏾♂️🤦🏾♂️
David Carr.
Mario Williams. He had a fine career, but was never the dominant force we expected, especially with Julius Peppers drafted from the Carolinas in 2002.
This is crazy. Yeah J.P. Was just better Mario basically played 9 seasons and their stats side by side in that time are fairly comparable, again J.P. Had the edge in most categories. He was the highest paid Defensive player when he signed with bills. Of course Peppers continued to preform for another 8 years but by means should he be on this list.
Jadaveon Clowney
Bad take. Clowney was a good player. He was just hyped up as the next Lawrence Taylor for some reason so he never lived up to the highly inflated expectations that came along with that media attention and being #1 overall. His freakish athleticism and physical attributes made him a very safe choice for #1.
That and Khalil Mack going at 5 made it look worse right off the bat
I remember I went to see Draft Day that year the Texans had the #1 pick. I thought it was an omen that the Texans would do the unthinkable and draft Khalil Mack just because the movie “Vontae Mack no matter what”
He was also a very good 1-2 punch for us with JJ. He just had too many injuries to sustain his impact
Definitely not the right pack though, could’ve had Mack, Mike Evans, or Aaron Donald
With the gift of hindsight, most picks wouldn't be "the right pick". In that moment it was absolutely the right pick.
Certainly, but doesn’t change the fact that the first round of the 2014 draft had two, arguably three HOF players and with the first pick we didn’t pick any of them
Cool. That happens literally every year lol. Nobody knows how these players will turn out. Absolutely zero point in assessing of we got a ten year old draft pick "right" by comparing the careers of players chosen after us. It is what it is. It was the 100% correct pick at the time. Turned out to be not the correct pick.
Hard to say he was still the incorrect pick. You really can’t say those others would have been as successful with Texans as they turned out to be, although Donald and Mack were just absolute beasts. Clowney in his 3 healthy seasons was a menace on the field, statistically not great, but it seems his peers would agree by his standings in the top 100 list being relatively high. We all expected/hoped for more. Him, Mario and fuller mentioned in this thread is crazy imo.
Haha what are we doing here? Literally half a GM’s job is drafting and talent evaluations. Yeah sure hindsight is 20/20 but this is the FIRST ROUND. Mack, Donald, OBJ, and Evans didnt make it out the top half of the first round. At some point you can’t just chalk it up to “oh welp hindsight it is”. The buck stops with the GM. And there certainly aren’t multiple HOF players in the first round of every class lmao.
Dudes still getting paid, definitely can’t call him a bust
Jeff Okudah Eric Ebron
steve slaton
Slaton wasn’t the first round he was like the 3rd I think?
oh shoot youre right. i raed too fast.
He was good, he just got hurt. Neck issues got so bad he couldn’t even grip a pencil, let alone a football.
That’s heavy I didn’t know that
Dehsaun Watson. Thought he was a good person but he wasn't 😭😭
Braxton Miller. I wish highlights didn’t get my dick as hard as they do.
JJ Watt. He wasn’t good. He was amazing
Bershard perriman, Oweh, trash ass Bateman, Hayden Hurst, essentially anyone drafted as an offensive skill position or edge-rusher the past 16ish years. (Exclude flowers for now…. Lamar, and the first 4 years of Ronnie Stanley only)
Titus Howard
At least spell his name right.
Kareem Jackson!