This actually applies more to Savage than Mallett. Mallett is 27. It's his 5th year in the NFL. And he's battling a journeyman who ranked 31st in passer rating and 27th in QBR last year. If he can't beat out Hoyer then there really shouldn't be any hope that he can be any kind of long term solution for the Texans. Whatever kind of "upside" he does have, what kind of future franchise QB can't beat out Brian Hoyer 5 years into his NFL career? Would we really be sitting here next year talking about how much potential a 28 year old QB who's never seen significant playing time has? If he can't beat out Hoyer than strip him of that "potential" and "upside" label and give it to Savage for the next couple of years. This. I've never played in an NFL game. Theoretically, I have a lot of upside.
Of course you were never considered a possible first round pick (even top 10) until manufactured character issues dropped your stock. I think that's where most of the hope comes from. Also, the people saying that he was only traded for a conditional pick are exaggerating things. And that he couldn't beat out Fitz. He was traded for a conditional pick because New England didn't really have a spot for him. He was going to be a free agent after the season. They had just drafted Garroppolo, and liked the kid as well. They did Mallett and O'Brien a favor by trading him to a place where he had a chance to show himself off before his new contract. Also, if you remember, we waited it out for a bit, dropping the asking price from a reported second round pick. The Fitz thing...Mallett took over the starting job about six weeks after being traded, IIRC, which to me was BOB allowing him to get acclimated to his teammates. In my opinion, and I've said this here before, BOB was at s crossroads, and he knew it. While Fitz was fine, he wasn't a BOB kind of guy. For whatever reason. The problem was, being a new coach, he didn't want to look like he was hitching his wagon to Mallett, a relatively unknown commodity in the league. So, he let Mallett sit for a few weeks, get used to things, played up the fact that he was prscticing well, etc. to make it look like he won the job. The problem was, Mallett got hurt the next week. In other words, I'm of the opinion that those saying Mallett couldn't outpkay Fitz are wrong. Remember, Fitz essentially led this team to a 9-7 season. I've no reason not to believe BOB in that both of these quarterbacks are good in his system. The guy is a straight shooter. Although he wouldn't get up there and say they are crap, I feel there's no reason either of these guys won't be as good or better than Fitz. Plus, our players are slightly more tailored to this offense. The thing about Mallett besting Hoyer... while Hoyer played well initially in Cleveland, did we ever stop to think about the other factors? He's got a better offense here. He's got a system that suits him more here. He was essentially hand picked by our coach. Also, he was dealing with a rookie head coach last year in Cleveland. Not saying that was the reason he fell apart, but you gotta feel the pressure got to him. As I said, O'Brien is a straight shooter, but he's holding his cards so close to the chest on this one. Either he likes Mallett and really wants to motivate him and has essentially pegged him as the starter, or he's really torn between the two guys, likes them both, and is trying to make the best decision. What troubles me is why he isn't playing them more in these games...
Opinions, based off of following the team closely and reading absolutely everything I can about the situation. I'm not saying Mallett is going to be great or that our team is set at quarterback with either of the guys, I'm just trying to say that some people are downplaying the situation to make it seem much worse than it is. Others, obviously, are overhyping it.
Neither excite right now but what you say is true - it is the only real hope Texans fans really have right now. If he is given the starting job again, I think Mallett will settle down like we saw last season. I love the way he drives the offense - that and his skillset can only grow from there.
When Fitz came back after Mallett's injury, he looked much better - and attributed it to watching Mallett!
To be fair, everything I said about Mallett was accurate, I just didn't know about his ability to get the ball out quickly enough to make up for his flaws. And Mallett not getting the opportunity till he did last year was a good thing, the Texans were one game out of the playoffs...which they likely make if not for injuries to basically all of their QB's. Sure Savage might have upside too, but it's pretty clear that he's not ready to take the reigns yet. He's not even in consideration for the starting job and rightfully so.
First off, let me say....B.O.B. is the man ....He is by FAR the best coach we've ever had..and by the time it is said and done will be recognized as one of the top 3 or 4 coaches in the league. Big BOB just needs to take his cue from him and get the Hell out of the way.(Clowney) And ..of course..he's a QB guru. Anyone who watched Ryan Mallett take the reigns against Cleveland, should know he'll be the starter come opening day. This whole dog and pony show is ridiculous. Hoyer will back him up in the short term....and is a footnote. Now, Savage is an interesting case as he's already showing loads of promise .....Down the road, there will be a conversation as to whom to keep between him and Ryan. But for now, we should see Mallett shoot the moon.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a> coach Bill O'Brien says he does not know which quarterback will start against the Saints.</p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/635527032991035394">August 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">O'Brien says the sacks last night were a combination of blockers getting beat one on one and QBs hanging onto the ball too long. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a></p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/635527881393852416">August 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">O'Brien says he'd like to see the offense get the ball down the field more. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a></p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/635529359424663552">August 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Number of coaches have told me they get more out of joint practices than preseason games. And it feels like there are less injuries. So ...</p>— Albert Breer (@AlbertBreer) <a href="https://twitter.com/AlbertBreer/status/635529764481011712">August 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">"The preseason games are necessary ... but the games are not the be all end all in the preseason," O'Brien says. Just part of eval. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Texans?src=hash">#Texans</a></p>— Tania Ganguli (@taniaganguli) <a href="https://twitter.com/taniaganguli/status/635529714875146240">August 23, 2015</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
