First order of business in offseason is for Smith, O’Brien to find a top QB
The Texans’ revolving door at quarterback is getting ridiculous.
Because of injuries and ineptitude, six quarterbacks have played for Bill O’Brien in his first 25 games as the team’s coach.
That’s an exasperating lack of stability at the most important position on the team. And it has to stop. T.J. Yates is the sixth quarterback to play for O’Brien and will be the fifth to start. He follows Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Case Keenum, Tom Savage and Brian Hoyer. Only Savage hasn’t started a game.
In the offseason, O’Brien and general manager Rick Smith have to put their heads together and find a solution — preferably in the first round — to a problem that has plagued this franchise since its inception.
Smith and O’Brien must get a player they agree can be their franchise quarterback. No more Band-Aids.
The Texans are 4-5 and tied for first place in the AFC South with Indianapolis. They’re hosting the New York Jets, who have the fourth-best defense in the NFL, with Yates re-
placing the injured Hoyer (concussion), and the newest addition, Brandon Weeden, being inserted into the backup role.
Yates was out of the league until the Texans called to offer him a job to replace Mallett, who was waived after O’Brien finally ran out of patience with the quarterback’s immaturity and irresponsibility.
Hard-luck Hoyer must feel like that revolving door is slapping him in the face.
Named as the starter in preseason, he was benched after one game, then returned to the lineup when Mallett couldn’t keep his head screwed on straight. Then Hoyer was injured at Cincinnati, and Yates — the Cincinnati Kid — saved the day with his gamewinning touchdown pass to DeAndre Hopkins.
Just another day in the quarterback room at NRG Stadium, where they play musical chairs depending on the current starter.
Last season, O’Brien started Fitzpatrick, who has the Jets in playoff contention, and benched him for Mallett. When Mallett was injured, Fitzpatrick returned.
In a December game at Indianapolis, Fitzpatrick suffered a season-ending injury. Savage came off the bench and also went down for the season. Punter Shane Lechler started warming up on the sideline and daydreaming about his all-state days as a quar- terback at East Bernard.
The lack of continuity at quarterback has to drive O’Brien and offensive coordinator George Godsey absolutely crazy.
“That’s part of our jobs,” O’Brien said this week. “We try to set the roster in the offseason knowing that the roster may change at certain positions.
“A lot of that work we do in the offseason allows us to be able to say, ‘We can observe this guy and figure out how to teach this guy, relative to teaching that guy.’
“As much time as George and I spend together, we kind of have a good idea about how these guys learn once we observe them. T.J. (is) a very fast learner. We’ve been impressed with him, where he is and, obviously, what he did in the Cincinnati game.”
O’Brien got spoiled in New England. In his five years as a Patriots assistant coach, every day when he went to work, he knew Tom Brady was his quarterback.
“If you have one guy in there, and that guy stays healthy, and you’re coaching the same guy every day instead of having six different guys playing quarterback for you in two years — I don’t know if it’s easier, but that would be more of a routine,” O’Brien said.
But how boring O’Brien and Godsey.
“Your job as a coach is to be able to adjust,” O’Brien said. “That’s what coaching is — teaching, being
for
able to adapt, having the pulse of your team, understanding what the guy can do and putting him in the best position to do it.
“That’s what we try to do.”
And it has to end in the offseason.
The Texans must find their franchise quarterback and bring stability to the position.
Whether it’s Paxton Lynch (Memphis), Con-
nor Cook (Michigan State), Jared Goff (California), Christian Hackenberg (Penn State), Carson Wentz (North Dakota State) or someone else, the offseason is the time for the Texans to solve the biggest problem on the team.
Just ahead of running back, but that’s a story for another day.