The time to start Tom Savage is now for Bill O’Brien
By Peter Manfre
The Houston Texans have a back-to-back AFC South champion roster, minus the quarterback position. Tom Savage is the guy to lead them in 2017.
After the Texans signed quarterback Brock Osweiler last year and subsequently shipped him off to the Cleveland Browns this offseason, questions still remain at the most important position in football for Houston.
This year’s quarterback class for the 2017 NFL Draft has been widely regarded as weak by many scouts.
Dallas Cowboys quarterback Tony Romo is now retiring, and free agent quarterback Jay Cutler does not present the upgrade Texans’ head coach Bill O’Brien wants for his system.
Cutler holds a hideous 1.48 turnover per game margin, which is not ideal for a franchise that focuses on defense and winning the turnover margin. No Romo, no Cutler, no draft, who do the Texans turn to?
That answer is Tom Savage. The only quarterback to be hand selected and groomed by O’Brien for the Texans’ starting job.
At the NFL owners meetings, O’Brien said this about Savage’s ability to start:
"“He came into some tough games, the Jacksonville game last year that we had to win. We were down in the game, he helped us come back. He helped us beat Cincinnati on Christmas Eve, which was a big game that we had to win to clinch the South. He got injured, and that’s been kind of one of the things that’s happened to him. He’s been injured over the last three years of his career. But if you look at the history of the league, there’s a number of guys who have played that were injured early in their career."
Lastly, Bill expressed excitement with Savage:
"“Tom is a smart guy, he can throw the ball really well, he knows our system and he’s a guy that we’re real excited about working with.”"
Even Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle believes Savage is the Texans’ best current option at quarterback.
With the news that Tony Romo plans to retire and enter broadcasting industry, according to ESPN, Texans' top current option is Tom Savage
— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 4, 2017
Savage showed the good and the bad last year– his come from behind victory against one of the Texans’ AFC South rivals in the Jacksonville Jaguars showed his potential and comfort in the system.
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Savage fired the ball to all areas of the field and showed poise in the pocket and confidence within the system– something former quarterbacks have yet to do in Houston.
Yes, Savage had growing pains in his game against the Cincinnati Bengals; as he showed the areas of growth that he still needs to improve on in order to be the quarterback the Texans need.
With so many unknown at the position outside of Houston, why not let Billy O’ ride with his guy for a full season?
Tweet me your Texans thoughts @manfreonair and feel free to comment below.