My thoughts on Case are pretty much summed up from the TNF game thread vs Jax. tl;dr - case deserves to remain on the team and compete for a spot. nothing more. nothing less.
If Case starts, it'll be kind of like a Derek Newton situation. 7th rounder/undrafted rookie. Gets to start due to injury. Continues to start the next year because team didn't try to get somebody better or their expected replacement got injured. Compete for a backup spot, sure. But if he's legitimately competing for the starting job, we're in trouble.
It's obvious we're not going to roll into next year with the same 3 QBs on the roster, and whomever we draft and/or trade for will be in the driver's seat. But like I said before, the beginning of Case's career matches up with a lot of QBs that ended up doing quite well for themselves in the long run. His career isn't over, but he's going to have to wait a bit before he's given another shot at a starting job. Considering how wildly different BOB's offense is, nothing will surprise me at this point.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>For all the draft talk about QBs, Keenum still in Texans' mix <a href="http://t.co/gYdRs9Sn4Y">http://t.co/gYdRs9Sn4Y</a></p>— John McClain (@McClain_on_NFL) <a href="https://twitter.com/McClain_on_NFL/statuses/440510958889230336">March 3, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
A few not entirely insignificant follow-ups - you don't calculate QBR by adding and dividing, as you've done here. (PS - I'm just responding to this specific post (800 years later); if others did in the actual thread, I apologize for "piling on," or whatever) His QBR was actually 85 for the first 8 games of his career, which is not only relatively decent but significantly better than Keenum (78.2). To try and put that in perspective: Schaub would have finished this year behind Luck (87) but ahead of Stafford (84.2). Keenum finished between Kellen Clemens and Christian Ponder. Schaub averaged nearly a yard more per attempt (7.7 to 7.0) - and it was only close because of Keenum's first two games; he was under 6 for his final six games, which is atrocious. Schaub also completed 68% of his passes to Keenum's 54%. Keenum did throw more TDs/fewer INTs - but he was 2/6 over his final five games after a fast (7/0) start. (Schaub wasn't appreciably better in that regard, finishing 1/4 - but, again, he was completing more passes and he actually left two of those games with injuries.) And, of course, we invested ample resources into Schaub, which is an obviously gigantic factor. I think it'd be foolish to not invite Keenum to camp - what would be the point in cutting a young, cheap QB with NFL starts under his belt? But we shouldn't try and spin Keenum's performance. It wasn't very good. I recognize it wasn't an optimal situation but... not good. Let him compete and if BOB think he gives us our best chance to compete, I'm on board.
Notice how I posted that after the Jax game. The following game, a clunker against the Colts fresh off the Kubiak firing, pretty much threw those numbers in the garbage, no matter how they got calculated. Speaking of spin, if you're going to pull the "first two games card" to marginalize Keenum, the same could be applied to Schaub (note: his first two games were his best). I also think you're doing a disservice by minimizing two things: Schaub's time as an understudy and being set up to succeed (i.e. an entire training camp with the 1s) vs. Keenum coming in after a year on the practice squad (not exactly great prep material) and taking over a flaming pile of garbage team in the middle of an epic backslide. Relative expectations should be adjusted accordingly. Nevertheless, we arrive at the same conclusion. He deserves to compete and he will get that chance.
Probably true but then again they may not see "the guy" in the draft this year so who knows how this will unravel.
He was actually winless (0-11), just like Case - which means Keenum one day making it into Canton is even more likely! Now all the Texans have to do is surround him with 5-7 legitimate Hall of Famers and the greatest offensive line ever assembled...
I can't find the "Quarterbacks WIN-LOSS as an official stat" or the fact that "Quarterbacks play alone" in any NFL or football book. HELP?
If we take Clowney, I'm in the very small percentage that says run a vet & Keenum out there in 2014, take your medicine & reassess in 2015. http://www.battleredblog.com/2014/3/4/5470362/ready-for-teddy-or-down-with-the-clown
Not joining you in that small percentage: Bob McNair. This is not a tear-it-down rebuild like 2006. The owner thinks this is a playoff team. When healthy, there are five top 100 players on the roster (Foster, Johnson, Brown, Watt, Cushing). They have three young first round draft picks who have at least flashed potential (Hopkins, Merciless, Jackson). They (currently) have former Pro Bolwers at TE, LG and CB. They will be adding (at least) four of the top 100 prospects in this year's draft, including the best overall. I don't think Bob McNair has any interest in taking a drop of medicine.
I doubt we draft a QB in the 1st round. I think my boy Case will impress BO'B during training camp and will name him the starter.
Very possible, he done fairly well with the curcumstances. With a coach who believes in him and puts him in a position to win, Case may just surprise and hush the haters.
If OBrien is as smart as people say he is, he is going to be watching a ton of film. I think he will see that Keenum was not only put in a very difficult situation but was not helped when he struggled. I still believe that coaching could have made a positive difference. I believe that Case will get another chance.
Training camp is well after the draft. Most teams aren't allowed to practice before the draft. However, since the Texans have a new coach, I think they are allowed a few practices with O'Brien before the draft. I don't know how many (not a lot), but I doubt there will be enough to affect the plan for drafting a QB. Keenum won't have time to prove himself (if he can) and there's no way they can go into the draft expecting him to start based on what he did last season.
