The mishandling of Tom Savage has put this team even further into quarterback purgatory. It's been by far the biggest blunder of the O'Brien years. Think about it. If Savage wasn't IR'ed, he would have at least two game's worth of film for us to see what he could be. He would have given us a more competent quarterback to turn to when Hoyer went down. It actually would have been fun to watch. The kid has the tools, but we don't know where he's at mentally, as far as the game goes. He's played a very small amount of football in the past 6 or so years, and he needs his reps. Now, instead of him playing, getting quality reps, and the team knowing a little more about what he is when it matters, he's stuck at home, doing who knows what. He's got a right to be the most frustrated person on the team. I'm actually surprised how little has been written of it. If we knew a bit more about what he was, we'd be in such better positioning going into this off season. If RG3 becomes available, he's a risky sign, for instance. The reason I say this is because in signing him, you have to make a choice of not drafting a quarterback, cutting Savage, or cutting Hoyer. And you know we won't cut Hoyer. I use RG3 as an example, but I know our fan base would not stand for signing him and not drafting a QB high in the draft. It'd cause us to be even more of a mockery. I think that not letting Savage play has made it to where you have to keep him around next year, no matter what. Could you imagine cutting Savage and watching him go on to be a solid starter in this league? Because of that, we've, once again, totally handcuffed ourselves in our weakest area of the team.
Agree with your logic but the Texans probably believed they had seen enough. I think the decision to IR Savage was a decision to give up on him. We'll see down the line if that was wise.
it was a b.o.b decision and rick nodded as b.o.b practiced his putting. does it worry anyone that savage gets hurt every season?
This. If the Texans thought much of Savage, no way they IR him so soon going into a season with Hoyer and Mallet as your other two QBs. Savage may never materialize into nothing more than a back up himself but it was still a mistake to IR him so soon with what they went into the season with at the QB position.
They put Savage on IR to free up another roster spot because they had faith that Mallet or Hoyer would seize the job. They were very wrong.
Tom should've been IR'd designated to return...At the end of the season, I think B'OB will admit that it was a mistake to IR him for the season. But NO one thought that this season wouldve turned out this way. Switching Ryan Fitzpatrick for Brian Hoyer was a mistake. Naming Hoyer as the starting QB for game 1 and then benching him after the 1st half worsened the situation. Then deciding that Mallett was mentally reading to be a pro NFL QB, only to have him completely choke and let O'Brien down...you cant predict that stuff. O'Brien has made a lot of mistakes this season...but to recover his job from a 2-5 start, to possibly winning a division crown...That is quite impressive. Finally, perhaps the IR of Tom Savage was similar to what the Texans did with Quessenbery...a cost cutting move...designed to wiggle around the cap while keep talent on the team without impacting the 53 player max. The good thing about all of this...is that it seems that Bob McNair has had enough with this QB shuffle...and will demand that his staff draft a QB with their 1st round pick for this season.
Wouldn't have made a difference if Savage came in for one game and then injured his knee trying to slide. I don't think it makes that much of a difference in how the season would have turned out.
Exactly. Who knew (definitively) that Mallet would self destruct, Hoyer would be concussed, Yates would be hurt, yadda, yadda, yadda...
agreed. If they had really given up on Savage, they would have cut him. Hindsight is 20/20 though. Personally, I never agreed with the idea because I had no faith in Mallett, but i understand the decisions that was made to IR him . The team needed that extra spot since the roster was far from being set in various positions and who knew Mallett would go off the deep end and get himself cut Not having Savage definitely sucks a big one though because this experience/evaluation time would be great.
This is the only logical conclusion, unless BoB just simply wiffed . We'll see if Savage makes the roster next year. The crazy thing is we went through 4 QBs just LAST SEASON. It's not like we employ some Flacco, Farve-type QB who's proven to be durable. Speaking of Joe, how's his injury coming along?
Next season, I think it will be Savage, Rookie, and Hoyer. I don't think they'll bring in anybody like RGIII or Brees or Manning or any other bigger name that's been thrown out there. But if they did, I think Hoyer would be the one to go. You say we won't cut Hoyer. Why? We got rid of Fitzpatrick. If we brought in a FA QB to start, why wouldn't letting Hoyer go be an option. From everything I heard in the off-season, the staff really liked Savage and he looked good in the preseason games. They have invested in him and I don't think they're going to throw that away for a journeyman QB if they bring someone else in to be the starter. The move to IR him looks bad now, but it was understandable in context. I don't think the move had anything to do with a lack of faith in Savage's future.
