Twitter: Rod Marinelli is the reason we have Taco instead of TJ Watt

[JBell]

McClay really liked TJ that year. The coaches (Rod) thought Taco would be a better fit because he played with his hand in the dirt in college, whereas Watt was more of a projection since he mostly rushed the passer while standing.

Imagine where this defense would be if we had Watt at RE. Rod gotta go.

 

[Carson]

Legit question ... is Watt the beast he is, if he plays RE here?

 

[jrumann59]

Legit question ... is Watt the beast he is, if he plays RE here?

Some will say without a doubt. He is listed at 6'4" 252 lbs. How much weight would he have to put on to be an every down player and then learn to play with his hand in the dirt.

 

[JBell]

Legit question ... is Watt the beast he is, if he plays RE here?

He's shown the ability to generate pressure from a three point stance in Pitt. Letting Rod overrule McClay was a huge mistake.

 

[Nightman]

Blame it on the 43

a lot of teams passed on Watt

 

[Hardline]

Draft the better player and worry about scheme fits later.
If a player can play he can adapt to any scheme.

 

[davey999]

Some will say without a doubt. He is listed at 6'4" 252 lbs. How much weight would he have to put on to be an every down player and then learn to play with his hand in the dirt.

What does/did Gregory play at? 230? Watt could do it. It was a dumb pick.

 

[HanD]

Legit question ... is Watt the beast he is, if he plays RE here?

obviously hind sight right....but he'd at least be a 3rd down rush specialist like bruce irvin was early in his career. which sadly is more than we have from taco at this point.

 

[Risen Star]

If you saw the video when they made the selection Jerry emphasizes to Taco how much Garrett wanted him and how hard he was campaigning for him.

I've never heard Jerry say that to another player.

Who knows what goes on in that circus of a war room.

 

[Sydla]

Some will say without a doubt. He is listed at 6'4" 252 lbs. How much weight would he have to put on to be an every down player and then learn to play with his hand in the dirt.

He likely would be a situational guy here, a pass rush specialist. Gregory is just a shade under 260 and Dorance Armstrong is listed at around 255.

Marinelli strikes again. I also believe Garrett wasn't sure on Watt either, pushing for Charlton with Marinelli.

 

[Stash]

McClay really liked TJ that year. The coaches (Rod) thought Taco would be a better fit because he played with his hand in the dirt in college, whereas Watt was more of a projection since he mostly rushed the passer while standing.

Imagine where this defense would be if we had Watt at RE. Rod gotta go.

Preach!

 

[Stash]

Draft the better player and worry about scheme fits later.
If a player can play he can adapt to any scheme.

Old people lose all flexibility. Both literally and figuratively.

 

[Stash]

obviously hind sight right....but he'd at least be a 3rd down rush specialist like bruce irvin was early in his career. which sadly is more than we have from taco at this point.

No. Plenty of us said it the second they made the mistake.

 

[HanD]

No. Plenty of us said it the second they made the mistake.

i wanted watt also. i'm just saying my current analysis of watt at least being a 3rd down rush specialist compared to zero impact from taco is hindsight.

 

[Stash]

He likely would be a situational guy here, a pass rush specialist. Gregory is just a shade under 260 and Dorance Armstrong is listed at around 255.

Marinelli strikes again. I also believe Garrett wasn't sure on Watt either, pushing for Charlton with Marinelli.

It's hilarious when fans come rallying to the team's defense about another stupid mistake. They try to use "scheme fit" as some lame excuse when this same team switches players between outside linebacker and defensive end all the time depending on what suits them.

 

[Stash]

i wanted watt also. i'm just saying my current analysis of watt at least being a 3rd down rush specialist compared to zero impact from taco is hindsight.

Ok, thanks for clarifying.

 

[Denim Chicken]

Yeah, and everyone passed on Lawson who's better than both.

And we took Switzer over Kittle. Where wold we be at TE if we drafted Kittle?

You can do the revisionist thing all day for all teams.

 

[CATCH17]

I don't hate the decision and the Cowboys took the guy they felt could be an every down player instead of taking an undersized DE that would most likely only be a pass rush specialist in a 4-3.

You don't take a 1 trick pony with your first pick and that is what we would be doing if we had drafted Watt to play DE in a 4-3 for us.

 

[rnr_honeybadger]

The larger question is why does Rod Marinelli have a job after his defensive line got shredded against the Rams?

 

[JustChip]

Some will say without a doubt. He is listed at 6'4" 252 lbs. How much weight would he have to put on to be an every down player and then learn to play with his hand in the dirt.

Randy Gregory is listed at 6'5", 242 lbs.