"You don't hear so much any more that the Houston Texans made the biggest mistake in the world by drafting Mario Williams ahead of Reggie Bush four years ago. Okay, some Houstonians will never get over the fact that the Texans didn't take Vince Young, the hometown kid, who had just won a national championship. But when the Texans visit Washington on Sunday, their defense will be anchored by Williams, a defensive end who is coming off the best game of his career: an eight-knockdown performance of Peyton Manning in a rare Texans victory over the Colts.

None of the three is on a collision course with the Hall of Fame at this point. Bush, even though he now has a Super Bowl ring, is certainly not the defense-wrecking player he was at Southern Cal and doesn't look like he's ever going to be an every-down back in the NFL. And now, of course, there's the embarrassment of becoming the first Heisman Trophy winner ever to give back the award, and the scandal that surrounds that whole affair.

Young has led his team to the playoffs, and some believe he's in the calmest period of his adult life and, as a result, a threat to put the Tennessee Titans in serious contention this year. But the meltdown of a couple of years ago and how it could have ruined the Titans is still fresh in the memory.

Williams, meantime, has had no controversy of any kind. If part of the reason the Texans chose Williams over Bush was the desire to avoid drama - and the Bush scandal was beginning to mushroom even when he was in college - then the club's executives ought to be ecstatic. Williams' teammates like him. He's a weight room guy, a worker, rock-solid. He's not consistently great on Sundays; in fact, some weeks his coaches have pulled him aside, particularly before a big game, and told him, "Mario, we need more from you this week." Even so, Williams has had enough impact to be a two-time Pro Bowler. "