The Houston Texans need to start thinking about the depth of their quarterback roster during the 2020 NFL Draft.
With the 2020 NFL Draft nearing, the Houston Texans are set at starting quarterback with Deshaun Watson being a rising star in the league after his first three seasons with the franchise since being a first-round pick in 2017.
When it came to his rookie season back in ’17, Watson was on fire after six games, but then an injury happened, and Watson missed the remainder of the season. That season showed just how important depth at quarterback is for a roster because the Texans went from 3-3 with Watson at the helm to only adding one more win for the remainder of that season.
This is where the 2020 NFL Draft comes into play because the Texans need to make sure their Plan B at quarterback is the best they can make it, plus giving A.J. McCarron some competition wouldn’t be such a terrible thing, either.
The Texans can wait until the third day of the draft to add a quarterback with a fourth-round pick, plus a pick in the fifth round and three seventh-round choices to find a quarterback they can work with to play a reserve role as either the top backup quarterback or find a player to build on the practice squad.
The best hope is the Houston Texans never need to worry about even playing a reserve quarterback in a game for the upcoming season, but they also need to be prepared, and that is where the 2020 NFL Draft comes into play.
There will be plenty of quarterbacks to take a closer look at in the draft on the third day, and if Houston wants to be prepared, they will take scouting quarterbacks seriously because who is to say with the style of play that Deshaun Watson has made famous that he doesn’t get hit the wrong way, or lands awkwardly. Where would the Texans go from there?
Houston’s 2020 NFL Draft is of great importance this season as they have already traded their best wide receiver, they still haven’t signed Laremy Tunsil to a contract extension and Watson’s contract needed looked at and extended too, but who is to say he even wants to stay with the franchise as they did trade DeAndre Hopkins?
The Texans have a lot on their plate as general manager Bill O’Brien has many franchise-altering decisions to make, and one of those is making sure the backup quarterback spot is the best it can be, and that should start with the 2020 NFL Draft in the late rounds.
Here are three options for the Texans if they were to draft a backup quarterback in the seventh round, as Bill O’Brien and his team have three seventh-round picks at their disposal.
Anthony Gordon, Washington State
The Houston Texans aren’t looking for their next starting quarterback, but why not take a chance on a young prospect to see if they can build him into a solid player who one day could either be the top backup on the roster or even make available for trade with a better selection for the future.
That player who has a sixth-round grade who could fall to the seventh round of the 2020 NFL Draft is Anthony Gordon of Washington State. Gordon could easily be a player the Texans put on a practice squad and teach him the fundamentals of what it takes being an NFL quarterback and not rush any of his progression. Gordon is 6’2 and 205 pounds, and he’s no stranger to throwing the football at all times as his head coach at Washington State was Mike Leach.
Again, a player like Gordon means the Texans would have to take their time in grooming him to the level of an NFL quarterback, but being a seventh-round choice, the rewards of finding a good quarterback in the final round can outweigh the risk involved at this point.
Gordon is described by Lance Zierlein of NFL.com as a player who “throws with a consistent touch” and a player who is “willing to sit down in pocket and work on his progression.” When watching highlight packages of Gordon, those sentiments ring true because the Washington State quarterback does have a nice touch from the pocket when throwing the football.
In one full season as a starter, Gordon’s numbers were off the charts under Leach — a former Texas Tech head coach — as Gordon had 493 completions, 689 attempts, completed 71.6 percent of his passes and passed for 5,579 yards. The quarterback also collected 48 touchdowns, 16 interceptions and his longest pass went for 65 yards against UCLA on Sept. 21, 2019. Gordon also showed he can take a hit as he was sacked 20 times, including five times against Washington.
In his final collegiate game, Gordon played in the Cheez-It Bowl, where he was 28-of-42 for 351 yards with three touchdowns and no interceptions. Selecting Gordon in the final round could make the Houston Texans look smart if they can improve his mechanics at the NFL level, eventually giving them another option at the backup quarterback spot.
James Morgan, Florida International
James Morgan played at a small school at Florida International, but the 6’4, 229-pound quarterback with 33 3/8 inch arms and 9 3/4 inch hands could surprise some if given the proper time to develop as a NFL quarterback. Morgan also ran a 4.89 40-yard dash at the NFL Combine in February, but again there is a lot of work ahead for the 2020 NFL Draft prospect.
Most likely Morgan wouldn’t compete for a backup role this season with the Houston Texans or any team in the league, but what he could do is be a player who is in need of a lot of “fine-tuning,” according to the standards of the NFL, and learn from pros like Deshaun Watson and A.J. McCarron this season as a member of the practice squad.
Who knows, some players develop really fast if given the correct coaching, and Bill O’Brien is supposed to be a coach who can develop quarterbacks, so this is a chance at a project player who he could build from the ground up so to speak.
Morgan’s final two seasons at the collegiate level showed he’s able to put up some nice numbers as his senior season saw him complete 58 percent of his passes (207-357) for 2,560 yards with 14 touchdowns and five interceptions. As a junior, he completed 65 percent of his passes (213-326) for 2,727 yards with 26 touchdown passes and seven interceptions.
Aaron Wilson of the Houston Chronicle wrote in a recent article that Morgan “Morgan has drawn comparisons from scouts to NFL quarterbacks Kirk Cousins and Joe Flacco,” as he also started the Texans met with Morgan at the East West Shrine Game.
Just keep an eye on Morgan on Day 3 of the 2020 NFL Draft because the Houston Texans know who he is, and it wouldn’t be a surprise if the Texans take a quarterback on the final day of the three-day draft event.
Kelly Bryant, Missouri
Let’s have a little fun and choose a player who has some experience as a starting quarterback at Missouri, but also at Clemson, and at one time he has already the experience of being the backup quarterback of Deshaun Watson. That player is Kelly Bryant.
Bryant has an interesting story as he was once a backup to Deshaun Watson when he was at Clemson. Next Bryant was a starting quarterback at Clemson, was also 5-0 as the starter and lost the starter’s role to current starter and future first -round pick (2021) Trevor Lawrence.
Bryant played last season with Missouri, where he was the starter for all 10 games, and did what he could to prepare for a tough path to the NFL. In his lone season at Missouri, Bryant was 181-of-292 for 2,215 yards with 15 touchdown passes and six interceptions. He was sacked 21 times, but completed 62 percent of his passes.
The best collegiate season for Bryant could have been 2017 when he passed for 2,802 yards with Clemson, completing 65.8 percent of his passes. In that ’17 season, Bryant also threw for 13 touchdowns and eight interceptions.
At the NFL Combine in February, Bryant ran a 4.69 40-yard dash, and at 6’3, 229 pounds he has shown he’s built to take a hit as he was sacked the aforementioned 21 times last season. Bryant is also another player who could work on a few aspects of his game and become a better player.
For example, Lance Zierlein of NFL.com in the draft profile of Bryant said a couple of weaknesses had by the quarterback prospect were: “lacks patience to wait for downfield development,” and “placement and accuracy below NFL standard.”
The good thing about just two weaknesses are they are not only fixable, but those weaknesses don’t just fall on Bryant because every game you can see quarterbacks throughout the league have those same issues.
For Bryant, if the Texans were to select him, it would be for pure development and hopefully he’d not have to see the field in 2020 because with Deshaun Watson at the helm, he’s the top priority for the Texans.
Drafting a quarterback in the seventh round is al for development of a player who can help the Texans if they get into a bind if something were to happen to Watson in a game, plus giving A.J. McCarron a player to battle in training camp isn’t a bad thing, either.
Bryant could be a player who surprises once he lands on an NFL team, whether it happens by being a late-seventh round selection or even through being signed as an undrafted rookie free agent.