Texans: 3 Things Ryan Mallett Must Do To Win QB Job

By Brian K. Patterson | Sep 14, 2015

The Houston Texans were to open this season up with such pomp and circumstance.

We finally thought we were going to see the continuation and the graduation of a roster that had finally catapulted themselves out of mediocrity.

We were all pumped.

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We were somewhat pleased with the Texans’ performance during training camp, the preseason as well as on HBO’s Hard Knocks.

All of what had been happening over the past few months finally culminated in yesterday’s afternoon contest.

Until Brian Hoyer’s first official pass with the Texans was intercepted by rookie corner back Marcus Peters.

I attended yesterday’s game and it was as if all of the air, all of the anticipation had been let out of the stadium.

I’m quite surprised the entire Houston-area contingent didn’t slap their foreheads in unison.

That moment was frighteningly a tell-tale sign of what was to come for Hoyer.

The Kansas City Chiefs ate his lunch the whole game and when Justin Houston stripped the ball out of Hoyer’s hands just outside the Texans’ ten-yard line just before the end of the second half, I couldn’t watch anymore.

By then, the Hoyer had committed his second turnover of the game and although he had a plethora of passing yards to his credit, those stats were moot because he looked so damn bad out there.

That’s when Ryan Mallett came to the rescue in the 4th quarter — he immediately marched the Texans downfield, putting together an efficient, quick 2:03 59-yard drive with the cannon of a arm he has to get the Texans a bit closer — and gave us fans something uplifting to watch after it resulting in touchdown.

He also completed a two-point conversion putting the Texans within striking distance, trailing the Chiefs 27-17.

By then, many Texans had already filed the exits to beat the traffic but I stayed being intrigued in regard to what Mallett was going to do.

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Mallett continued his pursuit on the next time he got the ball but after a few missed passes, the Texans had to settle for a 47-yarder by Randy Bullock ultimately keeping the Texans down 27-20.

Mallett looked great out there as he played the role of kick-starter giving the team something to fight for all the way to the end.

The quarterback position is now up-for-grabs and here’s THREE things Mallett must do to rightfully win this job:

BE A LEADER: The temper-tantrum that he threw when he lost the job to Hoyer a few weeks ago, resulting in him oversleeping was not a good look. He must set an example for the rest of the team because after all, more oftentimes than not, it’s a position many players look up to and whomever is in it, must emanate leadership. The way he took charge and was directing traffic like a vet with his signal-calls yesterday was definitely something we needed see, like a fire had been lit under his rear-end and it was beneficial to the that drive the Texans had.

MANAGE WELL & DON’T MAKE MISTAKES: Hoyer’s pitfall was the two turnovers he committed, not to mention the pick that he threw. Mallett had none in the short time that he was in the game. One of Mallett’s biggest inconsistencies is that he goes a lot by feel instead of using his brain to manage games. We know that he has a ton of athletic talent but he has to bring those tools together in order to be successful at the job that he covets. Being cognizant of where his guys are at all times in proportion to what the defense will throw at him is not only critical but pivotal for him to win Bill O’Brien over.

MAKE QUICK READS & GET RID OF THE BALL: This has been another portion of Mallett’s drawbacks. There are times where he doesn’t react quickly enough to defensive transitions to adjust on the fly resulting in the sack or even worse, a turnover. Mallett looked good yesterday partly because the Kansas City Chiefs went to prevent-style defense and had backed off the blitzing as opposed to earlier in the game. Mallett must demonstrate the ability to think quickly on his feet and be able to make the right play at the right time in order to keep the Texans moving with positive yardage. If he masters that, then Mallett will be a bad mo-fo to stop and this will only result in only good things for the Texans. Hoyer was sacked five times yesterday because he wasn’t getting rid of the ball in a timely manner, Mallett must show that his proficient in finding innovative ways to move those chains.

If Mallett keeps these three tasks at the forefront, it will be a definite, sure-fire way of him winning the starting quarterback job.

It’s his for the taking and it’s all about if he wants it bad enough.

Just based of his performance from yesterday and his emotions in training camp, it appears that he does.

Will he win? We’ll just have to wait and see.

Go Texans.

Next: Texans: Cue The Quarterback Controversy

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