Every year, in every professional sports draft, we're exposed to talk like "that guy is the worst pick ever, our GM needs to be fired."  Or, "I can't believe nobody picked him, and he fell 25 spots into the second round, our GM deserves a raise for nabbing the next dominant "_______" (Insert position relevant to your sport of choice).

The most insane arguements come following the NFL Draft.  Months and months of analysis, grading, testing, physical examinations and character investigations, players are chosen to fill voids on every team in the league.  After all, with 32 teams, and roughly 60 players per roster, including practice squad and injured reserve lists, retirements and so forth, there are  alot of potential openings for playing time. 

Each team comes to the draft with a list of needs, according to position, the number of selections they have, where each selection falls in every round, as well as a list of players who, if available past a certain projected selection, may be picked because of their "value." 

This year's draft actually created a frenzy of "what the hell did you just do?" before it even officially began.  I'm speaking of the Houston Texans selection, and signing, of one Mario Williams.  Every expert, General Manager, coach, waterboy, and fan of the sport assumed Reggie Bush was by far the best player in the draft.  Nobody seems to understand how in the world Charlie Casserly could pass on him for, of all things, a defensive end.  Seriously, a defensive end selected number 1 overall, ahead of a lightning quick running back, with jukes and abilities like noone else is insane.  Or is it?

Many theories have been tossed about as to why the Texans did this.  I've offered my thoughts on various posts here as to why I don't think it was as stupid as many people think.  To quickly review, the Texans have a quality back in Dominick Davis, probably did not feel they were getting enough in return if they traded the rights to Bush, and, most importantly, felt that their defense was the area that needed to be addressed first and foremost.  There was also the thought that D'Brickashaw Ferguson should have been an option, as their offensive line has been miserable since the expansion Texans came into the league.  While this is true, many, including myself, believe that offensive line help can be found later on in the draft.

If the Texans didn't receive any reasonable offers from teams who wanted to move into the #1 spot to draft Reggie Bush, why accept any at all?  Most teams were set at running back before the draft, and those that weren't were too far down the board to A) have enough ammunition to offer in a trade for the pick, and B) probably did not want to give away their entire draft, plus a likely 1st or 2nd rounder next year to acquire Mr. Bush.

As for Mario Williams, he was willing to negotiate a contract before the draft, and when talks between the Texans and Bush's representatives broke down, Williams immediately became the team's focus.  Adding a much needed spark to the defensive side of the ball, in a player some have compared to Julius Peppers and other stud defensive ends was a priority, and the Texans got their man.  Not only that, they were able to draft Demeco Ryans in the second round to play along side, or right behind williams at linebacker.  If these two live up to their potential, they form a solid 1-2 punch for a defense desperate for a spark.

Only time will tell if they did the right thing, although almost everyone in America seems to have already deemed this the 2nd coming of Sam Bowie over Michael Jordan in the NBA draft all those years ago.  There is also the risk vs. reward factor here. If I may explain:  I've said it before that I fear Reggie Bush, with all his athletic ability, is one ACL/MCL injury away from being just another running back.  In a position where so much of your success depends on the ability to cut back, lunge, change direction and power ahead using your legs, such an injury would be devasting to Bush.  His scary ability to do these things would be severely limited.  Sure, the same could happen to Williams, but if it does, there is the option of moving him to linebacker, where he wouldn't need the same amount of leg strength as he would rushing the passer, trying to get by a 320+ pound tackle on every single play.

Much like everyone's thought that passing on Bush was a mistake is nothing more than opinion and speculation, the same can be said about the thoughts written here.  I'm in no way guaranteeing the Texans made the right choice, and I can't see into the future either, so my opinions are not based on some cosmic knowledge that noone else has.  All I'm saying is that maybe we need to give this a year or 2 before we bury Williams next to Tony Mandarich in the "Biggest Bust Ever" NFL cemetary of #1 overall draft picks.