Houston Texans: Tom Savage, Deshaun Watson have opposite problems

The Houston Texans have officially named Tom Savage their first string quarterback for the beginning of this season, ending any quarterback controversy going forward.

The Houston Texans made this move most likely to end any pressure on either quarterback to do well and to instead improve on the aspects of their game they need to improve on without fear of failing and losing the shot at the starting job.

It’s a smart move to end all the controversy so both players can start taking more chances and experimenting with their game play instead of playing to win the starting job. Much like Spring Training in baseball, pitchers who are fighting for a starting job have to pitch like it’s the regular season. Pitchers who have their role solidified can experiment with that new pitch they’re working on and can get knocked around knowing they’re secure in their role with the team.

The Texans have two options at quarterback. A dynamic rookie who has the potential to be a real difference maker in the NFL and a four year quarterback with not as much hype but who’s finally getting his chance at a full time job after receiving a few starts last year in place of the sub-par Brock Osweiler.

Both players have obvious aspects to work on. For Tom Savage, the main weakness that he’s shown is his lack of mobility and ability to improvise. A strength we’ve seen from Deshaun Watson this preseason.

For Savage to maintain his starting job come the regular season, he needs to make decisions faster and realize when to get out of the pocket. A lot of times we’ve seen him sit back in the pocket and even with time, he lets it collapse around him. He needs to have that clock in his head that says “Ok, I’ve got no where to go with the ball. Time to scramble and look downfield again and assess the situation as I go.”

If Savage can improve on these two aspects of quicker decision making and scrambling rather than waiting too long in the pocket, he’ll do well enough to keep the starting job while letting the defense control the game.

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Keep in mind all he has to do is be efficient enough to lead a scoring drive or two and not turn the ball over. The bar for what will make him lose his starting job is quite high, so he just needs to play within himself and not try to do too much. It would be nice to see him be able to make more explosive plays as he has 17 completions on 20 passes which is great, but only for 167 yards showing his lack of big play ability.

The opposite is true of Deshaun Watson who has great big play ability and the ability to scramble and make things happen when the play breaks down and the field turns into chaos. The biggest thing for Watson will really just be learning and getting his accuracy down.

He went three of 10 in the most recent game against the New England Patriots and a majority of the 102 yards he threw for were more a credit to D’Onta Foreman than his passing prowess. He made two shallow passing completions over the middle that went for a combined 96 yards with more than 80 of those yards being after the catch, so it’s not like he unloaded and found someone deep.

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While Tom Savage has been 17 of 20, his strength is Watson’s weakness in accuracy. If we could combine Watson and Savage, we would have the perfect quarterback. For now we have to hope they both can improve in their weaknesses which is ironically the strength of their counterpart. 2017 will be an interesting season indeed as whoever can cover up the holes in their game sooner will be the one the Houston Texans will trust with the future of the franchise.

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