Playoffs or not, Texans need Hackenberg in first round

Dec 13, 2015; Houston, TX, USA; New England Patriots defensive end Jabaal Sheard (93) sacks Houston Texans quarterback Brian Hoyer (7) and forces a fumble during the second half at NRG Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kevin Jairaj-USA TODAY Sports

Before the game kicked off I started taking notes thinking what this offense could use within the first three rounds. For some reason I felt strongly that Houston needed to address the tight end position within the first three rounds.

Going into the third quarter Ryan Griffin would go on to have three drops and that’s when it hit me: no matter what Houston needs to draft a quarterback.

The best way I could explain the Texans need to draft a signal caller is comparing the offense to a really nice car. You can give a nice car new tires, a turbocharger and maybe some racing stripes. What’s the point of giving your car all of those upgrades if you are not going to put any gas in it? If you do not have a quarterback what’s the point in going out and getting a top tier tight end? Or another receiver? What about replacing Derek Newton or drafting Arian Foster’s eventual replacement? None of that matters without having a quarterback.

This defense has the talent to compete with any team in the league with JJ Watt in his prime, a young nucleus in Jadevon Clowney, Whitney Mercilus, Kevin Johnson and Bernardrick McKinney along with a couple of pro bowl caliber defenders in Kareem Jackson and Brian Cushing. This front office and coaching staff both need to come together and do this defense justice by going out and grabbing a quarterback in the first round.

I will still argue that the Texans organization should not give up on Tom Savage, but they still need to draft a quarterback in the first round. That first round signal caller should not have the pressure or be put in the situation to start day one. That’s where Tom Savage and Brian Hoyer step in. Hoyer a solid backup who can give you a few games while Savage has all the tools to be a successful player in this league.

Another pressing matter for the Texans is that they will most certainly not be the only team looking for a quarterback in the first round. There are a few teams in the St. Louis Rams, Buffalo Bills, New York Jets and the Philadelphia Eagles all who which have will be looking to add a quarterback to compete.

Then there are the teams that have aging quarterbacks that are now going to be looking to draft someone to groom into the eventual starting role as well as an insurance policy that you can invest starting reps into if your starter goes down. Those teams would be the Dallas Cowboys with Tony Romo, New York Giants with Eli Manning New Orleans Saints with Drew Brees and the San Diego Chargers with Philip Rivers. Those four teams will definitely be looking to snag a young quarterback who can learn under their current franchise leader. Those same teams would be looking to grab someone they would not feel bad to hand the keys to the franchise to if their current starter goes down, instead of giving all those quality first team reps and regular season games to develop and old aging backup quarterback who has hit their respective ceiling.

Next: So what's the answer?