Texans: Ryan Fitzpatrick Was Better Than Brian Hoyer
By Yoni Pollak
Let me preface this article by saying the Texans made the wrong decision by starting Brian Hoyer over Ryan Mallett. I know I’m not alone in that thought – and even if I were it wouldn’t matter – but the Texans continue to make the wrong choices at quarterback.
Let’s start with the 2014 preseason. The Texans entered the year with Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starting quarterback and he was the unquestioned starter the whole way through the preseason. In late August of 2014, the Texans acquired Ryan Mallett from the New England Patriots for a late-round conditional pick in the 2016 draft.
From the moment the Texans traded for Mallett, I began pushing for him to start. To be fair, I wasn’t the biggest Fitzpatrick fan and felt that Fitzpatrick starting 16 games for the 2014 Texans would mean an 8-8 season, something that I really didn’t want to happen.
We all know what happened next. Fitzpatrick started the team’s first nine games, “leading” them to a 4-5 record entering their week 10 bye week. Fitzpatrick did nothing to lead the Texans to victory, but also wasn’t the main reason the Texans lost those other five games.
Enough was finally enough for head coach Bill O’Brien and he FINALLY made the switch to Mallett. Mallett looked good in his week 11 win against the Browns (and Brian Hoyer) but hurt himself in pregame warmups in week 12 and was lost for the season following a week 12 loss.
Fitzpatrick went back to the starting lineup in week 13 and threw for 6 TD’s against the Titans, his best game of his career. In a 27-13 win against the Jaguars in week 14, Fitzpatrick threw for 135 yards and 0 TDs or INTs. That week 14 win pretty much sums up Fitzpatrick as a quarterback. He won’t win you many, if any, games at all, but he’s good enough to play smart and win the games you should win.
With the 2014 season over and the Texans one game out of the playoffs, a quarterback change was necessary. Fitzpatrick and his average-at-best quarterback play weren’t going to cut it.
So what did the Texans decide to do? Brian freaking Hoyer. Yes, the Texans decided to replace Fitzpatrick with a guy no better than Fitzpatrick in Hoyer.
Here are their 2014 numbers:
Fitzpatrick: 12 starts, 2,438 passing yards, 63.1 comp %, 17 TD, 8 INT, 95.3 rating
Hoyer: 14 starts, 3,326 passing yards, 55.3 comp %, 12 TD, 13 INT, 76.5 rating
You tell me which QB was better.
It’s true Fitzpatrick arguably had his best season of his career, but there’s no reason to think he couldn’t repeat those numbers this coming year. It’s also true that the Texans offense was much more talented than the Browns. Still, those numbers aren’t exactly close enough for you to argue that Hoyer is better.
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Let’s forget about the argument that Mallett should have started for the Texans last year and should be starting for the Texans this year. That’s for a different time. All I’m trying to do here is that the Texans screwed up this decision to bring in Hoyer to replace Fitzpatrick.
There was no reason for the Texans to give Hoyer a two-year deal and give him the starting gig, when Fitzpatrick did pretty much everything you asked him to do and not screw up. It’s just confusing to me that people believe Hoyer can do better for this team than Fitzpatrick did last year. I don’t get it.
Anyone with me?
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