data-mm-id=”_bdrwnlmdf”>As a football coach, Bill O'Brien isn't the worst one you could find. Not the best, certainly, but in his six years at the helm of the Texans, they've only had one losing record: back in 2017, when Deshaun Watson tore his ACL. O'Brien has his well-known flaws as a coach, but the floor for his teams is high even if the ceiling has been low thus far. Bill O'Brien the general manager, however, is an entirely different story. He took on the responsibility along with several other members of the Texans' brass after the organization rather abruptly fired Brian Gaine this past June. Earlier this year, O'Brien was officially named the full-time general manager. After less than a year of O'Brien effectively the head honcho, the team looks completely different, and while some of these moves will need time before they can be declared successes or failures, one thing is absolutely for certain: life is a damn rollercoaster with BOB calling the shots. Today's news, which sparked this here post, is a great example. O'Brien traded No. 1 receiver DeAndre Hopkins and a fourth-round pick for David Johnson, a second-round pick, and a 2021 fourth-round pick. On the surface, that is an insane trade, especially given the Texans agreed to take on all of Johnson's contract, which will count $11 million against the cap this year and $9 million next year. The value of the running back has never been lower, yet O'Brien just traded a top-15 (at the absolute worst) wideout for not only an injury-prone player, but one who is owed quite a lot of money at a position that is more easily replaceable than any other. At first glance, a bad trade. But the Texans did get draft picks back in a deep wide receiver class, so that's good, right? Well, the reason the Texans need draft picks is because of previous O'Brien trades! He sent out both this and next year's first-round picks (as well as a 2021 second) for left tackle Laremy Tunsil. That worked out better than most expected and solved a blindside protection issue that had plagued the franchise for years. But O'Brien also traded a third-round pick for Duke Johnson (now redundant with the presence of the other D. Johnson) and a third-round pick for former first-round pick Gareon Conley, who didn't do much to help a horrific secondary and the team has yet to pick up the fifth year on his contract. All that left the Texans with exactly one pick in the first 90 selections of the 2020 NFL Draft. They needed to recoup that capital somehow, but trading your best receiver is quite a way to do that. This is all coming at a time where Houston is supposed to be taking advantage of the fact that Watson is still on his rookie contract. It seems like O'Brien understands that to a degree, since he's handing out draft picks like candy on Halloween, but the value he places on certain positions doesn't seem to match the common NFL discourse. He wants to be different, and he is succeeding. We'll have to see how this all shakes out before we can make a final judgement, but we know this much: whatever O'Brien is going to do, it'll be worth talking about.
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data-mm-id=”_4rw0wizk9″>Bryson DeChambeau bulked up big time during golf's three-month layoff, adding 20 pounds during the coronavirus lockdown. The change in his game has been evident, as the guy is absolutely ripping the ball off the tee. On Tuesday he took that to a ridiculous, Happy Gilmore-like extreme.During a practice round for this weekend's Travelers Championship, DeChambeau attempted to drive the green on the 420-yard 17th hole. Check this out:Bryson tried driving the 420-yard 17th green during his practice round today. Reached 198 mph ball speed on the drive (!) and stayed dry, but says it's too risky to try in the tournament.Was tempted to try and drive a few holes last week, but ended up "playing smart" pic.twitter.com/quAysDTpVb— LKD (@LukeKerrD…
data-mm-id=”_hxc2sjr87″>CBS released its broadcast lineup for NFL Week 2 and for some reason their No. 1 booth isn't getting their No. 1 primetime game. Or, at least their No. 1 primetime game in my opinion. Tony Romo and Jim Nantz will call the Kansas City Chiefs at Los Angeles Chargers game at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday. You can make the argument that any game featuring Patrick Mahomes is the No. 1 game, especially when that game is being played in LA's new stadium, but not when you have the Baltimore Ravens facing off against the Houston Texans during the same timeslot. .@NFLonCBS Week 2 Announcers pic.twitter.com/LvBHGJKaL1— CBS Sports PR (@CBSSportsGang) September 15, 2020Far be it for me to assume I know more than television producers who make these decisions, but the eye…
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data-mm-id=”_hnlm1e00f”>People are mad and saying nasty things about an umpire they don't even know for the crime of doing his job. And I am here to defend that person from the woefully misguided.The wide world of sports leads us this morning to a recent Missouri S&T-Wayne State baseball matchup. In the interest of time they were only scheduled for seven innings and the Warriors held a 6-5 lead with only one more out to get. Chase Burgess came through for the Miners, though, blasting a solo home run that should have tied the game. But it didn't because umpire working behind the dish ruled Burgess never touched it.Here’s another view for better context, the run didn’t count and @WSCBB walked away with the win pic.twitter.com/CjMQJ931No— Stephen Schoch (@bigdonkey47) …
data-mm-id=”_edpv7h1u8″>Bruce Dreckman didn't make our list of the 10 worst umpires in Major League Baseball, and he must have been upset because he's quickly trying to catch up to those other guys. On Tuesday he unleashed what might be the worst ball-strike call of the 2023 MLB season. The Boston Red Sox were up on the Washington Nationals 5-4 in the top of the fourth inning. Justin Turner was at the plate facing reliever Robert Garcia and readied himself for the 10th pitch of an at bat with a 3-2 count and two outs. Garcia threw an 83 mph slider that appeared to miss the plate by a foot. Dreckman run Turner up and no one in the stadium could believe it. Check this out:WHAT THE FUCK MLB pic.twitter.com/eMEayasv7R— Red Sox Stats (@redsoxstats) August 16, 2023Even the Nation…
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data-mm-id=”_krvwal79p”>The Miami Dolphins and Kansas City Chiefs are playing in one of the coldest games in NFL history Saturday night and the weather is obviously having an impact on the field. Apparently it's having a big impact on the sideline as well. The Dolphins' are having issues using their tablets in the -4 degree temperatures. Here's a shot of it on the sidelines:Thought it was impressive the tablets were working in these temps and then saw this 😂 pic.twitter.com/xYB0x3Iu1K— CJ Fogler account may or may not be notable (@cjzero) January 14, 2024Man, it's a long way from South Beach to Kansas City in January. The NFL's teams use Microsoft Surface tablets on the sidelines and it's not recommended to expose them to temperatures below …