Reviewing the Houston Texans quarterback situation as they are only weeks away from the start of the 2019 NFL Draft.
The Houston Texans have their franchise quarterback set in place with Deshaun Watson after trading their 25th pick of the 2017 NFL Draft to acquire the Cleveland Browns 12th overall pick to select their starting quarterback for the foreseeable future.
Behind Watson at the depth chart, the Texans signed former 2014 former fifth-round pick quarterback A.J. McCarron to a one year deal during this offseason to bolster their depth at quarterback. McCarron’s addition to the team can be interpreted that general manager Brian Gaine and head coach Bill O’Brien were ready to move on from free agent Brandon Weeden as their backup signal caller after he spent three of the last four seasons with the Texans.
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McCarron has had an interesting start to the NFL after winning the BCS National Championship with Alabama twice as a starter. He showed promise in his second season in the NFL after Andy Dalton was ruled out in the latter part of the season with a thumb injury. In his first playoff appearance against the Pittsburgh Steelers, he completed 23 of 41 passes for 212 yards, with one touchdown and one interception in a narrow 18-16 defeat against the Steelers.
The 2015 season was his most successful season to date as he completed 79 of the 119 passes attempted which is good 66.4 percent, 854 passing yards to six touchdowns and two interceptions for a 97.1 quarterback rating.
His untapped potential made him appealing to NFL teams, and he was almost traded to the Cleveland Browns for a future second and third round pick in the 2017 trade deadline, but the paperwork did not go through in time, and the NFL league office nullified the trade.
His stock slowly cooled off entering free agency in 2018, and he reached a two year deal worth $10 million with the Buffalo Bills. However, he has faced a similar obstacle with finding playing time as the Buffalo Bills drafted Josh Allen and the Oakland Raiders traded for him with Derek Carr as their starting quarterback.
McCarron is currently the primary backup with quarterback Joe Webb III serving as a contributor on special teams and emergency wide receiver on game day. Texans could still draft and develop a quarterback for the long term, but they could have signed McCarron to a short term deal with the intention in of sitting out in this year’s draft because they weren’t sold with this class of quarterbacks.