Brian Hoyer as a backup is a really good backup, probably one of the best backups in the league, if that is how it plays out. He got paid because he started most of the year and he picked the Texans because it was one of the fews teams that he had some acquaintance with (BO'B), and a good chance to win the starting job. I think it pushes Mallett, if he really wants the job. I think Hoyer started preseason game 1 because they know what they will get out of Brian. This week Mallett gets a legitimate test against the Bronco D and for most of the first half. BO'B is giving Mallett a chance to show what he has and win the starting job. Competition is the key.
It makes sense that BOB would start Hoyer the first game in order to push Mallett. It makes sense that we had to pay Hoyer a little more, as Mallett wanted to be here because it was his best chance to win a starting job, and in a familiar system, to boot. Texans fans are hoping for Mallett to start because of the unknown, coupled with potential. In reality, he is probably our best chance to compete. Hoyer is a great backup. Someone I'd feel great about taking over in a pinch. It's laughable that I saw someone saying the Texans qb situation ranks below the Bills, Jets, and Browns. In actuality, its probably the best of those teams. That wasn't posted here, though. I'm pumped for this season. I really think Mallett could be a good NFL quarterback. He's shown some good things in his limited time in Houston. I'm starting to believe the hype train that O'Brien knows who his quarterback is (Mallett), but wants to motivate him to work as hard as possible for as long as possible. What that says about Mallett, I don't know. I think this team can win 11 games this year. It's weird to type that, but I really put our sweet spot at 10-11 games. Especially if Foster plays more than half the season.
Excellent post. It wouldn't surprise me if BOB is indeed trying to light a fire under Mallet's ass, especially given his history as a party animal in college (being somewhat unmotivated), by all reports he seems to have left that behind him. On the subject of Foster, I heard from the General on 610 that reports are that Foster will miss a minimum of 4, and a possible maximum of 6 games, which would be a huge break for the Texans. If best case scenario plays out, that means he'd be back for Andrew Luck and the Colts at NRG stadium (although we shouldn't expect him to get the lions share of the carries yet). I'm not as optimistic as most posters here, I really don't think Blue is ready to take the lead back role, so all we can do at this point is hope for a speedy recovery, and maybe, just maybe, Mallet can provide some magic; at this point we all know what Hoyer is.
Mallett has been stuck as a backup for his entire career in the league and now gets his first chance to win a starting job. He shouldn't need any extra motivation or need a fire lit under his ass. If he needs extra motivation now, what happens when he's actually an established starter not worried about his job?
Basically, we've seen Hoyer's ceiling multiple times. The potential and obviously (continued) good play of Mallett is the route to go for me.
I'm pretty much expecting Hoyer to start the first few games and then Mallett takes over when he struggles. Unless Mallet just shows out in the preseason which is what I hope and get the start week 1
Gosh its gonna be tough with both these guys, but Hoyer just puts the team in a better position to win now...
The QB Battle is still cloudy. Mallet only had 4 attempts. Our offense is too conservative to know who's the best passer.
Serious question (really!): Can Savage overtake Mallett and Hoyer, and become our starting QB? Why is Savage playing so much, if Mallett / Hoyer are "battling" it out for the starting spot?
I have been saying he is the best of the three but it honestly seems like no matter what he does he will be the third QB
I don't get all this 'more upside' with Mallett talk. If that were true then there would have been a market for him. There wasn't. Hoyer got paid more and started because he's been better, it's pretty simple.
It's just weird that Savage is playing an entire half, while the two QBs who BO'B considers to be the frontrunners, only plays about a quarter each. I guess you could argue that this is the only playing time Savage will see, barring injuries to #1 and #2, because he probably won't see time during the regular season; but even then, wouldn't you need to see the decision making / throws that Mallett and Hoyer make, with regards to an actual opposing defense?
Arguing Savage over either of the other two is laughable. While Savage is doing good for this stage of his career (journeyman college QB who played very little), he is nowhere near ready to overtake two veterans in the NFL. Watching these last two games, he's played fine. He's missed some wide open receivers, as do most. Problem is, he checks down on just about every pass play. He seems to read his first option and then go to his check down. Not sure if that's exactly what he's doing, but he's checking down awfully quick. On top of that, he hasn't proven to me to be accurate enough consistently enough to be an NFL starter. Not saying that he never will be in the NFL, because he's got the tools. I'm just saying the gap is far wider than some of you are suggesting. I think some of you guys are failing to realize who he's playing against, and also just being wooed by the volume of plays he's been in for. I appreciate O'Brien giving him actual game time to learn, but for the love of God, if you've got a quarterback battle brewing, play each guy a half, each preseason game. Hell, if one of them gets hurt, it's not that big a loss. It's one of the few disappoints I've had with O'Brien in two years. Love the guy, though.
I don't know if they are just calling super conservative short yardage plays or if our guys are just falling into the captain checkdown mentality, but I can't take too much away from this one by way of QB play. I plan to watch again to see if I see things the second time around that I missed, but I really wish I could have seen Mallett at least attempt to air it out at least once.
Let me amend this to add that I'm not looking for the common talk radio rationale. It didn't occur to me at the time that I may have needed to spell that out.
