I don't think the two situations are remotely comparable. Most of us inherently understood that undrafted, unwanted Case Keenum was playing out of his mind. He wasn't just good; he was - for those two games - playing on a level above Aaron Rodgers. Most us (ahem) knew it wasn't sustainable. Mallett, otoh, was more in line with... 2011-era Matt Schaub. He was efficient and moved the team rather easily. He was very good; but not "where did this come from?!?" great. As a former third round pick, his play wasn't appreciably beyond his capacity. It's possible he could settle into being a 90-95 rating QB and it wouldn't be too terribly shocking. And that leads to the second point - what he's "capable of" not what we should expect: huge difference. A prime-era Schaub is a reasonable and welcome ceiling. Lastly, we all got to watch Keenum's not the least bit surprising regression; he didn't blow his knee out celebrating a TD in the 4Q of that first Colts game leaving us all wondering, "what if..." He fulfilled his legacy as an undrafted, unwanted, limited talent. Mallett's legacy remains unwritten - but there's reason to be optimistic.
He was actually fairly good through nine games last year. His issue, on paper, anyway, seems ot be accuracy. But he also had no one to throw to and a dismal running game. I don't think he's appreciably better than Fitzpatrick; but, like Fitz, it's possible this regime & talent could - if he starts - crank out a career year from him.
I think he'll be much better than Fitz. We really had to hide Fitz's deficiencies with a lot of quick short throws. When he was asked to do more he usually held the ball too long
That would be nice. He doesn't even have to be top five - top ten would do. The thing with Mallett is he has more upside than anyone else available. If he doesn't work out, Texans go for a draftee in 2016.
If he does land here and somehow beats Mallett out, he will have a decent line to work behind and a solid running game. Our receiving corp is weak at the moment, but that will be addressed before TO's.
I expect Hoyer, if he plays/starts, to put up a QB rating in the high 90s, if not the low triple digits.
