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Houston Texans: Tap Tom Savage As The Starter For 2016?

By Brian K. Patterson

Aug 22, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage (3) attempts a pass during the game against the Denver Broncos at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports
Aug 22, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Tom Savage (3) attempts a pass during the game against the Denver Broncos at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Troy Taormina-USA TODAY Sports /
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Ahhhhh, the Houston Texans off season, where dreams come true for us fans!

Wait what?

I think I may have exaggerated my lead-in just a tad but just by gauging each off season, the level of excitement is likely unmatched by any NFL team’s fan.

Why?

Normally because we’ve ended the season in either such drudgery or disappointment that we’re just itching for the Texans’ front office to make a move to hopefully get us to the promised land someday.

When you think about how this season — equivalent to the sound of a grand piano being dropped from a 50-story building — it ended with loud, ungraceful thud with all wondering one thing.

What in the hell just happened?

With the team working hard to position themselves to in the AFC South and to clinch a playoff berth with a 9-7 record, you’d think we’d eke out a better performance than that.

But no, when we took on the Kansas City Chiefs in the AFC Wild Card Game, it was actually more of the same.

Right from the opening play, the slaughtering begun and there was nothing they could do about it.

I was at that game and it was one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen by this team — and I haven’t gotten to Brian Hoyer yet.

Simply put, Hoyer is a career backup quarterback and he’ll continue to have a future in that role but he has proven that he’s not ready from prime time.

When the brights lights were on such a monumental stage, he disappeared like a fart in the wind and has absolutely nothing to show for it.

Nothing.

Hoyer is under contract for one more season and it remains to be seen if he’ll be back next year.

There is a good chance that he’ll back as a backup but honestly don’t want to see him at all on the roster.

The memories of that Wild Card Game would start rearing their ugly head again and I’d be holding my own exclaiming in excruciating pain!

No, don’t bring him back, let him latch somewhere else where his services could be needed.

Hell, send him back to Cleveland!

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But I have an idea that I know for sure the Texans have a high probability of implementing.

What’s that?

You know, we have a 4th-round draft pick from 2014 that we tend to forget about that’s also happens to be a quarterback.

Yep, now do see where I’m going with this?

Why don’t we just trot Tom Savage out next season?

We need to really see what this guy has to see if he’s worth keeping around.

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He also has two years left on his four-year, $2.5 million rookie deal.

Tom has a history of dealing with adversity, particularly in his college career where he started at Rutgers, transferred to Arizona and finally found a home at Pitt where he was able show out and eventually find himself in the NFL and in a Texans uniform.

The guy has certainly had his opportunities to shine but the injury bug keeps biting him big-time.

Savage had to step-in immediately — for an injured Ryan Fitzpatrick — during a crucial division-rival match up with the Indianapolis Colts in mid-December 2014 but unfortunately sustained a knee injury, taking him out for the season.

And, as you know, in the last preseason game in September 2015 against the Dallas Cowboys, Tom sprained his shoulder after being sacked late in the game.

I’ve always been high on Tom and the fact that Bill O’Brien put him on the injured reserve list — knowing our history of quarterback health — is nothing short of mind-boggling!

His recovery was expected to be between four to six weeks!

I have no doubt that we would’ve seen a lot of Tom had the crap not hit the fan with Ryan Mallett and Hoyer later on.

But here’s the deal — Tom’s got a heck of an arm and I’d like to see more of it this season.

This will be his best opportunity for him start this season and he’ll certainly get that opportunity when training camp comes around later in the year.

There’s no question that the Texans will draft a quarterback this year but they won’t be ready to start an NFL game.

Savage needs to tapped to hopefully hold things together until our rookie QB — Carson Wentz, Christian Hackenberg or whomever they select — is ready to roll.

As I’ve written previously, I’m a big fan of Tom’s story of how he made it to the NFL through such an unorthodox path.

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And being the official starter for the Texans would be an intriguing start of a chapter of his professional career.

Although Tom will need to earn it, I think the Texans should strongly consider starting him for 2016 — we need to see what he has!

Savage, 25, passed for 127 yards — 12.7 yards per pass completion — no touchdowns and one pick through two games in 2014, the last time he was active.

Let’s do this Texans!

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