There has been a growing sentiment on twitter as well as around the league that before this offseason Brock Osweiler was not only a mistake, but the signing was never something Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien wanted.
Tom Savage is Bill O’Brien’s handpicked quarterback to start for the Texans week one next season.
Fans have had questions, mainly regarding Savage’s ability to start. Many point to the Brock Osweiler signing as a reason why Tom can not start. Looking less at Tom and more at Brock, it makes you wonder…
What if Bill O’Brien’s hands were tied behind his back by management? What if Brock, who does not fit O’Brien’s mold for a quarterback, was thrust upon him by an impatient general manager and owner?
It has become apparent that Bill O’Brien is picky, but he knows what he wants at quarterback.
You can see what O’Brien wants his signal caller to be like in his quarterback technique video along with his words from June 12, 2015, where he discussed specifics as to what he looks for at the position.
Sound like Brock Osweiler? I didn’t think so.
Texans owner Bob McNair said the folllowing at the NFL owners meeting:
"“We didn’t know Brock well enough,” McNair told the Houston Chronicle. “Coach [Bill O’Brien] didn’t have a chance to get to know him….You can’t talk to them (players on other teams’ rosters) before they become a free agent. You can’t work them out. We didn’t know him that well.”"
Other than admitting they made an ill-advised signing, McNair also proved that O’Brien did not have much of a say.
Bill always talks about the relationship between his quarterback and himself as needing to be close. He says they need to be on the same page.
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Why would the same coach who preaches those sentiments say yes to a quarterback he had only met briefly during a training camp practice against the quarterback’s former team? That does not add up.
If your boss got impatient with you and told you that he would hire someone for you to train, expecting you to train said new guy to reach the goal, wouldn’t you say yes?
That is what O’Brien was dealt.
Recently, Michael Lombardi and Robert Mays talked Texans on The Ringer. Mays and Lombardi touched on the topic of the Texans trust and likability with Tom Savage.
Lombardi offered an answer to some questions regarding Osweiler in stating:
"“Now, they like Tom Savage, they have liked Tom Savage ever since they’ve had him. They liked him all last summer, they liked him more last summer than they did Brock Osweiler. In fact, if it was an open competition last summer, Savage would have won the job. That’s the missing link here. They like Savage, they’re prepared to play with Savage.”"
When asked why the team did not start Savage over the recently signed Brock Osweiler, Lombardi exclaimed:
"“If we go back and really analyze the Brock Osweiler signing, I think Rick Smith went ahead, acted on his own as the general manager … and went ahead and signed him. … I talked to the coaches there and there wasn’t a lot of love [for Osweiler]. My sense of it is, yes you’re right, you can make that statement. But I think the general manager made this [move] more than the coaching staff in a unified decision.”"
These are all opinions for now, but in the near future I expect the whole truth to come out about the Brock Osweiler-Bill O’Brien forced marriage of 2017.
Let me know what you think, tweet me @manfreonair on Twitter and feel free to comment below.