A.J. McCarron as backup QB gives Houston Texans security for 2019

The Houston Texans signed A.J. McCarron as their new backup quarterback, and it was one of the smartest moves made by the franchise this offseason.

When the Houston Texans signed A.J. McCarron as their new backup quarterback over the former quarterbacks who held the position, the franchise made a very smart decision to do so. It was a great decision because if McCarron is called to the field at any point in time this season, he’s capable of running the offense better than the players who held that role a year ago.

Last season, the Texans didn’t have to use either Brandon Weeden or Joe Webb as a reserve quarterback because Deshaun Watson made all 16 regular-season starts, plus one in the playoffs one season removed from tearing his ACL in his rookie season.

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It was a great thing the Texans didn’t have to look elsewhere on the depth chart for a starting quarterback last season, because the last time they had to do so in 2017 when Watson was injured … well, it wasn’t a good experience, to say the least.

In ’17, the Texans used Tom Savage and T.J. Yates to make starts for the team once Watson went down, and they went a combined 1-9 in their 10 starts with Savage not only having the one win, but he completed just 56.1 percent of his passes for five touchdowns and six interceptions.

Yates wasn’t much better as he was winless in three starts, where he completed 48.5 percent of his passes for four touchdowns and three interceptions.

Last season, it was a miracle no Texans reserve quarterback threw a pass for the franchise, as with Weeden there was never a great feeling of comfort or security knowing he was the top option at quarterback if something were to happen to Watson.

Enter McCarron to the quarterback mix for the Texans, and as training camp is around one month away — even knowing McCarron is coming off a bad stint with the Oakland Raiders in 2018 as their backup — there is a feeling with him that is better than the one with past reserve quarterbacks of the franchise.

Texans head coach Bill O’Brien, during a press conference earlier in June, spoke about McCarron and adding him to the roster, with this quote provided by HoustonTexans.com:

"“I think AJ has brought a really good, competitive, smart, dependable approach to the room. I think the way he approaches every day – certainly there’s things that he has to improve on, knowledge of our system, but he really works hard.”"

O’Brien went on to say the following about McCarron:

"“He’s really put a lot of time into learning this offense and hopefully we can see the reward of that type of labor when we get to training camp.”"

McCarron played in two games (no starts) for the Raiders in 2018 and had three passing attempts, with one completion for eight yards. He does have three career starts and is still young enough for the NFL at 28 years old, but like most backup quarterbacks, he’s never reached his full potential some may feel he had in the past.

For his career, McCarron has completed 64 percent of his passes (87-136) for 928 yards with six touchdowns and two interceptions. Yes, it is a fact McCarron has very little playing time in the league and is learning a new system, but he’s somebody new and fresh and is a quarterback who has played under pressure in the past with a playoff start for the Cincinnati Bengals for the 2015 season.

Hopefully, McCarron will be like last season’s backup quarterbacks and he’ll never see the field in the regular season, but if he is forced to go onto the field, he seems to know what he needs to do to keep an offense moving and is working to become a better quarterback as he learns the Texans’ offensive system.

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Again, the Texans must have confidence in McCarron as that is who they’ve chosen, and for at least this opinion, it was a smart decision by the franchise, and the reserve quarterback role is in a better spot than it was one year ago.

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