Houston Texans: Tyrod Taylor right choice for starting QB; Deshaun Watson on roster

The Houston Texans have finally announced who the starting quarterback will be for Week 1.

The long Houston Texans nightmare is finally over, and to no surprise at all, the starting quarterback for the start of the 2021 season is Tyrod Taylor, who has been in the driver’s seat for this job basically since he signed with the Texans this offseason.

Taylor takes the spot vacated by ’20 Texans quarterback Deshaun Watson, who was the NFL passing leader last season, but a lot has changed from the final game last season up to today’s decision announced by head coach David Culley.

Last year, Watson made all 16 starts for the Houston Texans, but since he was the passing leader in the NFL, Watson has requested a trade, has had some legal off-the-field issues, and he’s even stood in as a defensive back during some training camp skills.

Watson also hasn’t said much to the media this training camp, except to wonder why he’s filmed all the time, but even with how talented Watson is, with him obviously not wanting to be the starting quarterback of the Texans, the choice of Taylor being the starter is the best option for the franchise in Week 1 when the Jacksonville Jaguars visit NRG Stadium.

Houston Texans: Why Tyrod Taylor is the best choice for Week 1

It isn’t any fun seeing how the Texans and Watson have grown so far apart from each other, and it is even less fun seeing all the off-the-field issues of Watson as well. The Houston Texans are waiting to get the right value when giving Watson his way and trading him, but they can’t get a poor return in a deal either.

Watson can just sit this season and stay healthy, which eventually will benefit the Texans in a trade, and in the meantime – at least for 2021 – Taylor can rally the Houston Texans and try to make something of this season.

This is a bit of a redemption season for Taylor because of the medial accident of ’20 that caused him to miss Week 2, leading to Justin Herbert taking over as the Los Angeles Chargers starting quarterback and never looking back.

That unfortunate event for Taylor brought him to the Houston Texans this offseason, and now we all wait to see what happens in ’20.

The career numbers by Taylor look like this, as he’s played for the Baltimore Ravens, Buffalo Bills, Cleveland Browns, and the LA Chargers in his first 10 seasons:

• 72 games
• 47 starts
• 24-21-1 record as a starter
• 9,770 yards passing
• 54 touchdown passes
• 20 interceptions.

Taylor has also rushed for 1,850 yards with 16 touchdowns on 342 carries in his career. Though Watson played with passion and had great production in his first four seasons with the team, it was evident a long time ago he didn’t want to be a part of this current rebuild the Texans are going through.

There is also Davis Mills on the roster, but the rookie needs more work before he’s ready to start, plus the Texans need to try to compete at their best level to start the season.

If Taylor can stay healthy, the prediction here is is he’ll do a serviceable job at quarterback with fewer distractions than it would have been if Watson even wanted to be the Texans quarterback.