Tom Savage - Texans' fourth round (#135 overall) pick

I view it potentially as a "throw away" pick in the sense that it doesn't matter how closely rated they were, if they were all rated as average at best.

I would have preferred a "gamble" on the defensive side of the ball... secondary or LB.

But I can't fault it that much. As someone else noted, it's like playing the lottery when the jackpot is $100 million, but not when it's only $20 million. Both would be great to win, but one would be much better. So it's definitely super high reward if Savage turns out to be an above average pro-QB.

 

Here are the last 5 QBs played for the Vikings,

Joe Webb
Donovan McNabb
Christian Ponder
Matt Cassel
Josh Freeman

So, you based on the Viking's evaluation on QB talent to judge the Savage pick is a great pick?

 

Then draft a QB that the fans will actually have hope in. Wait and get Mettenberger or McCarron or Boyd. Savage isn't giving the fans any hope.

 

Well, how many of those guys are better than the best QB drafted by the Texans (not counting Savage)?

 

The way they drafted? They drafted BPA (Clowney, X, Nix, etc.) over quarterback (Manziel, Bridgewater, Carr), which typically signals a team that wants to compete immediately rather than wait for a young QB to develop. And what scheme are you talking about?

There's no "style" that best correlates to winning, in terms of Fitz vs. McCarron. It's just overall how good you are, period. Fitzpatrick may be turnover prone, but he also puts up a lot of points, as evidenced by the high TD and yardage totals. And if you play high-level defense, putting up points on offense is generally helpful toward your ultimate goal of outscoring the opposition on a given day.

Keenum and Savage are lottery tickets. They'll work with them throughout the offseason(s), give them chances in training camp and preseason, etc. If they work out, that's great, but the Texans are not going to throw away a season by giving them a "chance" when they clearly aren't ready.

This isn't the NBA. Mediocre teams suddenly find themselves in a position to contend every December and January in the NFL. While the Texans certainly prioritize the future ahead of 2014, they're not going to discard the current season as worthless before it starts -- and that's what putting Keenum/Savage out there on Day 1 would do. Fitzpatrick is a perfectly mediocre NFL starting QB, and at least to start the year, that's the direction they will go.

 

Who said they were all average at best....??? I've heard many of the experts say they may not be NFL ready (day one starters) but there are many who think highly of some of these guys.

O'Brien is tagged as a "quarterback guru" so when he says there's not much separation between these guys then we shouldn't view Savage as a throw away pick. He fits the mold of what O'Brien wants in a quarterback so if Savage doesn't succeed _ that will be a strike against O'Brien...

 

I'm not claiming that it was a great pick. I just think it's a good value at that pick and low risk/high reward, as opposed to reaching on him or Jimmy G. in the 2nd/3rd round. Clearly stuck to their guns and didn't reach on him.

 

When you are drafting the best player available on the board, how is that a signal a team that wants to compete immediately?

This is a PASSING league, if you want to win it all, you need a QB, a goo one, or in most cases, a great one, period.

The way the Texan drafted, they are loading up on the front 7, because that's the ONLY strong point about this team now. Their secondary is shaking at best, JJ could be cut next year, Jackson is a player with very low IQ and often committing too much dumb mistakes, at the middle they have an OK second year player Swearinger, other than these 3 guys and the 2 new free agents pickup this season, rest of the secondary is a joke.

So obviously they are 'hoping' the front seven will help to cover their weakness in secondary and hope we can play the field position. While Froster is still a big question mark, it is still reasonable to think the Texans should do pretty good on the run game. Hence the logical thinking should be this : you will want a QB who won't make much mistakes and control the game to give you a chance to win some close games.

Sadly that's not what Fitz will fit in this type of expectation.

 

Don't really see much difference .. not a hell of a lot of "hope" with any of those guys .. look if it's just hope you're investing then Savage is just as good as any .

 

Because going BPA over a quarterback inherently means you have higher first-year expectations from the No. 1 overall pick, which usually leads to better team play.

LOL. This post is incredible. First off, barring injury, there's not ANY chance whatsoever -- not even a 0.000001% one -- that JJ is cut. Sorry.

They're not loading up on the front 7 because it's a strong point. They did it because that's how the draft board fell. At 1, Clowney was the consensus BPA, and he's a OLB/DE. By the middle of the third round, Nix was by far the biggest "value" pick, so the Texans went after him. In between those, the Texans went for completely different positions (guard/TE), the latter of which wasn't really even seen as a need. The reason? Again, because that's how the board fell. There's no grand plan in terms of positions. It's just getting the best possible players they can.

They're not "obviously" hoping to do anything, strategically, other than find the best players they can. Your "field position" argument is a cute narrative for John Madden simpletons, but in reality, whatever points Fitzpatrick gives away (relative to the average) via turnovers are likely to be recouped on the other end due to his propensity to make big plays. In the end, an average QB is an average QB, whether it's Ryan Fitzpatrick or A.J. McCarron. The closest model I can think of to your scenario game is the 2009 and 2010 Jets, who made it to back-to-back AFC Championship games behind a largely defense-and-running mindset. The QB of that group... had 33 INTs to 29 TDs.

 

Pretty sure he meant Johnathan Joseph, which is entirely possible.

 

The difference is you could have waited to get one of those players and use the 4th round pick on a different position.

 

JJ could be cut next year

JJ could be cut next year

JJ could be cut next year

JJ could be cut next year

JJ could be cut next year

 

That's a horrible reason to draft a QB or any other player. That's the kind of logic that has us passing up JJ Watt to draft Fairley.

Oddly enough, the fact that the fans don't like this pick makes me think the Texans are on to something....

 

Oh, that would make more sense. Thanks. Regardless though, it doesn't change the overall point.

 

remember how bad the defense looked a year before wade phillips got ahold of it, then suddenly it became a top 10 defense in 1 year..

Coaching makes a hell of a difference, and Romeo Crennel is not going to just sit there and play man all game long forcing kjax and jjo to have to cover the WR for 10 seconds..

 

Main point: there's no real correlation between the type of defense a team has and the type of QB a team should have. You want your offense to score as many points as it can. You want your defense to limit the other team to as few points as it can. Whatever player is best at a given position generally helps toward accomplishing those goals. The "style", especially as it pertains to any perceived link between defense and offense (there shouldn't really be any), is a non-factor. Those are media narratives, not reality.

 

cant teach accuracy, can clean up footwork or improve arm strength but accuracy is God given.

Texans took a flier, but let the Jameis Winston watch begin. Tired of the weak qb prospects on this team

 

This kid shows flashes to the point were he almost teases you with his talent. I think Pitt sucking this year hurts how we view him, but there is no denying that this kid has a lot of work to do on his game.
This is a major project that Bill has brought in here to teach how to be a NFL QB. I can't see him starting at any point this year(maybe even practice squad to learn) unless all the QBs ahead of him get hurt. . I still think that Mallet trade could be in the works as well.

 

We passed on Bortles who was the only elite prospect at qb in this draft but it looks like jacksonville is willing to sit him for the year which is smart and more teams should consider this option since it seems to work ie Green Bay - Aaron Rodgers, Oilers - Steve McNair, New England - Tom Brady, Dallas - Tony Romo etc.
I wouldve taken the qb cause we need one but i understand the team bowing to pressure to take the talented yet underacheiving Clowney. I dont think this draft filled the teams most glaring needs of right tackle, cornerback, slot wr, and quarterback but it shored up some weaknesses. Texans will still be terrible...hope we get an elite prospect at qb next draft (Winston, Marriota, Petty etc)