Carr's future depends on his supporting cast - NFL - quarterback David Carr of the Houston Texans
Troy AikmanA number of folks who saw what David Carr endured in Houston last year have compared it with my first season. It's understandable, I guess.
Dallas drafted me first overall in 1989 and started me immediately as a rookie. The Cowboys were in disarray, and I took a pounding. Houston drafted Carr first overall last year and started him immediately. The Texans were an expansion team, and Carr took a pounding.
It has become popular to predict that because my career worked out well, Carr will be fine, too. That may be true--Carr is fully capable of becoming a great NFL player--but the Texans better get some people around him. He got sacked a league-record 76 times last year and got hit dozens more. If he keeps getting hammered, his body won't hold up.
It's not just the blocking. That's much of it, but can you imagine what the teams I played on would have been like without Emmitt Smith and Michael Irvin? They obviously had a great deal to do with our success.
The Texans are working on it. They added a great wide receiver in the draft, Andre Johnson of Miami, and Stacey Mack is an upgrade at running back.
They still have much work to do, especially up front, but the Texans did keep Carr from getting sacked by the Dolphins in the opener before he was taken down five times by the Saints in Week 2.
Another thing Carr has going for him: his coaches. His head coach, Dom Capers, got a Panthers team that was one year removed from expansion status to the NFC championship game with a second-year quarterback, Kerry Collins. Carr's offensive coordinator, Chris Palmer, helped develop Drew Bledsoe and Mark Brunell as young players. These guys have been there, done that.
Do I think Carr and the Texans are playoff-bound this year? Doubtful. A more realistic goal is for Carr to improve his game and get through the season in one piece. I remember the feeling.
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