QB dynamic rates as strange
Savage gets his shot, but most hope wait for Watson is short
It is going to be one heck of a story if Tom Savage somehow pulls this off. Especially considering that this city will be waiting for Deshaun Watson the entire time.
That’s the cruelest part of all this, right?
Savage bounces all over the country in college, becomes the first quarterback Bill O’Brien drafts, spends an entire year on injured reserve because the Texans don’t believe in him, and when the fourth-round pick of the 2014 draft finally gets his best — and likely last — chance to prove he can be a starting NFL QB …
Rick Smith flips the script (I still can’t believe it) by banishing Brock Osweiler to Cleveland, then trades up in the first round to make a collegiate national champion the No. 12 overall pick of 2017.
And ever since then, we’ve waited and wondered.
Smith makes one simple, factual remark about Watson — he’ll compete for the starting spot — and social media lights up like Week 1 will soon belong to a 21-year-old rookie.
O’Brien acknowledges Watson’s well-known trademarks from college — studious, committed, devoted, humble — and fans (and the media) instantly become giddy, convincing themselves that a coach who rarely praises rookies really must see something special in the new kid.
I lost count of the number of times since late April that I was asked to really tell the truth. Sure, we all know that O’Brien has to publicly back Savage, I was told. But really, be honest: Watson could take the first snap Sept. 10 against Jacksonville, right?
Historically speaking, there isn’t much history of back-to-back division winners handing the ball to a rookie QB, then making the playoffs for the third consecutive year.
Which is why if Savage pulls this off in a potential make-or-break year for O’Brien, Watson won’t start a single game in 2017 and will barely take the field.
But there’s that thought again: If Savage pulls this off.
Starter with 0 TDs
He’s played in just five games and started only two. He hasn’t thrown a touchdown pass in three pro seasons and has been a walking injury report since the end of 2014.
(A hot tip for the Texans while they’re camping out in West Virginia for a few weeks: Don’t sneak your new starter up the middle for 1 yard in a meaningless scrimmage.)
Ryan Fitzpatrick, Brian Hoyer, Ryan Mallett and Osweiler inspired more initial public confidence than Savage. And that’s not his fault — it’s just the reality of his professional situation.
It’s difficult to obtain an official number. But I can estimate with a strong amount of near certainty that about 2 percent of Texans fans were cool with the idea of Savage being handed the starting spot in February. The other 98 had just watched Tom Brady brilliantly steal Super Bowl LI from Matt Ryan in Houston, and have spent their entire football lives having the invaluable importance of franchise quarterbacks drilled into their brains.
Some of the local pro-Savage talk has been embarrassing.
His teammates like him. Key Texans vouch for him. He’s waited for his time and earned a shot. Is this Little League? Key Texans also publicly backed Osweiler week after week last season — until O’Brien benched him in Week 15 and gave the ball to Savage with no other option.
For the first time in 15 years, there’s a real other option this season.
David Carr was the starter. Matt Schaub was the guy. Ever since, the Texans have randomly tossed out names in the hope that someone — Case Keenum, T.J. Yates, Hoyer — could do more than anyone imagined.
Hefty price to pay
Trade up from 25 to 12 and send away a future first-round pick for the promise of a franchise-altering QB and, yeah, we can imagine a whole lot.
I’m not anti-Savage. If he can do it, great. He’ll be one heck of a story and he’s been one of the best Texans in the locker room since day one. Good arm, better guy.
But I, like you and all those kids wearing No. 4, am just waiting for Watson.
Maybe it’s Week 8 after the open date. Perhaps Week 14 against the rebuilding 49ers at NRG Stadium. Maybe Savage shines brighter than all those 8-8 and 7-9 predictions believe, and the kid from Clemson stays on the sideline all year.
But you know it and I do as well. There’s no reason to lie. For as long as Savage is the Texans’ starting quarterback, we’ll always be watching and waiting for Watson to take over, and then never give the ball back.