Texans: The Case For Brian Hoyer

This was supposed to be the first of my weekly fantasy columns. I wanted to be writing a column on using V.O.R.P to measure different skill players effectively to achieve draft success. I wanted to be writing about the dangers of having a draft too early in the preseason, looking at you Jordy Nelson. And I wanted to be writing about anything other than the unpopular opinion of making Brian Hoyer the Houston Texans starting quarterback.

But here we are… So let’s talk about it.

I know some of y’all are debating about whether it was actually a quarterback competition, or not. And honestly, I don’t care about that. That’s not what this column is about.

Let’s say, for instance, you were interviewing people for a job. You’re at your place of employment and you’re the person in-charge of hiring. You work at a Fortune 500 company, but if you’re being honest with yourself, the company is closer to the end of the list than the top. You want to do the best job possible, but you know that you have a glaring weakness. Would you rather risk your own job on a safe bet or take a risk on an up-proven long shot that may or may-not, pay-off?

After Tuesday morning, we all know what head coach of the Texans Bill O’Brien would do. And I don’t blame him. Ryan Mallett is who we thought he was. He wasn’t setting the world on fire at the University of Arkansas and he’s been in the league long enough to know his strengths and flaws. He’s got a cannon for an arm, but makes terrible decisions with the football on the field. If arm strength is overrated (think Jay Cutler) than taking care of the football is still – somehow – underrated (think Kurt Warner).

To make matters worse, reports have come out of Texans training camp that both quarterbacks have looked sub-par in practice. Mallett had a decent, but not over-whelming, first two preseason games. You really expect Bill O’Brien to keep giving him every opportunity in the world if he doesn’t capitalize on it?

Give me a break. He’s seen enough and it was time to make a decision. Whichever player was going to start needs first-team reps and the Texans staff need to get ready for a long season. Andre Johnson is gone and Arian Foster isn’t walking through that door any time soon.

If you wanna talk about ceilings, become a contractor. Ryan Mallett is the poor man’s Joe Flacco.

Brian Hoyer has more experience than Mallett and is, flat-out, the better quarterback. When both players were with New England, Bill Belichick thought Hoyer was better. When Bill O’Brien took a month-long look at each player side-by-side, he thought Hoyer was better.

Do you know quarterbacks better than Bill Belichick and Bill O’Brien? Do you really think Ryan Fitzpatrick is better than Brian Hoyer?

I don’t.

And both players (Hoyer and Ryan Fitzpatrick) have beaten Mallet in head-to-head competition. Maybe, it’s time to stop talking about higher ceilings and “potential.” A lot of you are starting to sound like Case Keenum fanatics. Where is he now-a-days anyways, St. Louis? Please. Mallet was a second-tier collegiate QB and is now becoming a really good professional back-up.

I don’t like the Texans QB situation. The City of Houston hasn’t had a great signal-caller since Warren Moon twenty years ago. But we all need to stop this charade that Ryan Mallet is the savior of the Houston Texans because it’s getting old and it’s just not true. Hoyer is the better quarterback and he gives the Texans the best chance to win.

Be honest with yourself, how many Cleveland Browns games did you actually watch last year… Zero? Maybe one? Hoyer didn’t have a great statistical season last year, but he was also throwing to garbage receivers. Do you know who his third best receiver was last year?

Taylor. Gabriel.

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