The 15 best quarterbacks in the history of the Houston Texans

No one can deny the significance of the quarterback spot in the NFL. While we can argue about the most important position on the team, the quarterback often carries the most impact on a squad's success or failures. He's the face of the franchise and can be the catalyst for great change. Oftentimes, the best way to win a Super Bowl is to have an elite quarterback.

You need an elite team around him, obviously, but without a great quarterback, you're often fighting an uphill battle.

Most NFL teams have had great quarterbacks at one point, but not all of them have a rich history. The Green Bay Packers, for example, had two Hall of Famers back to back, so clearly, they're doing well. The Houston Texans have not had that kind of success.

While we're ranking 15 of the team's best, only a handful of guys are truly worth talking about. That won't stop us from trying to find the good in this franchise's brief history of play. So while you can expect to see C.J. Stroud, Matt Schaub, and others, you may also see some names that may surprise you.

Criteria for Selection

It should be pretty obvious how we're ranking the players. First, we're looking at pure stats. Yards, completions, touchdowns, interceptions (or lack thereof), rushing yards (if applicable), and, of course, rushing touchdowns.

Once we feel like we have a good look at those, then we're going to continue to separate the players even more. We'll use stats like starts, wins, winning percentage, playoff appearances, and playoff wins to further hone the rankings.

We'll also look at Pro Bowl appearances, All-Pro selections, and other year-end individual awards. Beyond that, we'll factor in the length of time on the team, time spent as a starter, and the overall success of the squad during their tenure.

We'll also factor in things like public perception of a player and how well the team did to support the player's tenure with the club. A player won't be held accountable for bad draft classes and poor free-agent signings, though they will be held accountable for failing to deliver when their teammates were on their level.

The Top 15 quarterbacks in Houston Texans history

15. Ryan Mallet

Ryan Mallet's tenure with the Houston Texans was brief — just nine games during the 2014 and 2015 seasons. He threw for 1,170 yards and five touchdowns during his time with the organization.

His best outing came in Week 10 of the 2014 season, defeating the Cleveland Browns 23-7 He threw for a then-career-high 211 yards while tossing two touchdown passes. He didn't make much of an impact on the team during his tenure, but we'll always have that win over the Browns.

Mallet only won one other game, giving him a career record of 2-4 with the Texans.

14. Tom Savage

Since he started nine games for the Houston Texans, you'd expect Tom Savage to have better stats. He went 2-7 as a starter while throwing for 2,000 yards, five touchdowns, and seven interceptions.

His best game came against the Arizona Cardinals in 2017. He threw for 230 yards and two touchdowns in a Week 10 victory over the Desert Birds.

13. Tony Banks

The first backup for the Houston Texans, Tony Banks was second in line behind rookie hopeful David Carr.

Banks spent four seasons on the team, and despite Carr's struggles, he only started three games, though he appeared in 14 across four seasons. He had a record of 2-1 with 882 passing yards, six touchdowns, five interceptions, and a near-60% completion percentage. His best outing came against the Buffalo Bills in Week 10 of 2003 when he threw a touchdown and an interception and broke the 200-yard mark through the air.

Though he was a seasoned pro, the Texans, at the time, didn't feel he could give them much more than Carr did, and so his legacy is filled with "what ifs."

12. T.J Yates

T.J. Yates is the first player featured in this countdown to have three different stints with the team. He played for Houston from 2011 to 2013, then again in 2015, and finally in 2017. In that time, he had 10 starts and 21 appearances and went 4-6. He completed just 55% of his passes but still had 10 touchdowns, 11 interceptions, and over 2,000 passing yards to his name.

Yates' best game came in 2011 during a Week 13 contest with the Cinncinnati Bengals. He threw two touchdowns and broke the 300-yard mark in a 20-19 win.

11. Tyrod Taylor

Because he started just six games for the Houston Texans, it's not surprising to see Tyrod Taylor checking in down at No. 11. He threw for 966 yards, five touchdowns, and five interceptions and went just 2-4.

His best outing came against the Jacksonville Jaguars in Week 1 of the 2021 season, throwing for 291 yards and two touchdowns. This was when the Texans were starting their rebuild, so it wasn't too surprising to see him struggle.

10. Brock Osweiler

In hindsight, Brock Osweiler wasn't a bad player. But he was dramatically overpaid.

During his one season in Houston, he went 8-6 as a starter and threw for just shy of 3,000 yards while tossing 15 touchdowns and 16 picks. The Texans went 9-7 in that lone 2016 season, and had it not been for the massive contract they gave him (four years, $72 million), he likely would've stuck around for a few more seasons. He wasn't great, but he wasn't terrible.

His best game arguably came against the Indianapolis Colts in Week 4 of the 2016 season when he threw for 269 yards and two touchdowns in a 26-23 victory.

9. Case Keenum

Case Keenum has spent more time with the Texans than anywhere else in his NFL career, logging three full seasons with the club. He's gone 3-9 as a starter with eight of those losses coming in 2013 when he was a rookie for a team that went just 2-14.

For his career, he's thrown for 2,468 yards, 12 touchdowns, and 11 interceptions while going 3-1 in his last four starts. His best game came in Week 8 of his rookie season when he threw for 350 yards and three touchdowns. He's one of the few players on this list whose best game came in a loss, as the Colts defeated the Texans 27-24 that day.

8. Sage Rosenfels

All told, Sage Rosenfels wasn't terrible. Playing in a subpar era of Houston Texans football, he put together a solid three-season run. He went 6-4 as a starter while throwing for 3,380 yards, 24 touchdowns, and 23 interceptions. His best outing with the Texans came against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers when he threw for 209 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks in a 28-14 win.

Rosenfels still ranks sixth in career passing yards and fifth in career touchdowns for the Texans.

7. Davis Mills

Currently, Davis Mills is fourth in career passing touchdowns and passing yards for the Houston Texans. He has 35 career scores and 5,955 yards thrown.

He only has a 5-19-1 record, however, which hurts his placement. His best game came against the New England Patriots as a rookie. During that 2021 outing, he threw for 312 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks in a 25-22 loss to the Pats.

6. Ryan Fitzpatrick

Ryan Fitzpatrick's tenure, like many others so far, was short. He played in just one season (2014) for the Texans. That year, though, he threw for 2,483 yards, 17 touchdowns, and eight interceptions, making his one of the best single-season outings in team history. He went 6-6 as a starter and helped the Texans get to a 9-7 record.

As of July 2024, Fitzpatrick holds the franchise record for most touchdowns thrown in a single game. In his best outing with the Texans, if not throughout his whole career, he threw for 358 yards and six touchdown passes against the Tennessee Titans in Week 12 of the 2014 season. The Texans won 45-21.

To date, he's tied for 11th in Texans history for most passing touchdowns in a single season.

5. Brian Hoyer

Few could do what Brian Hoyer did for the Houston Texans in 2015. He went 5-4 in nine starts while throwing for 2,606 yards, 19 touchdowns, and seven interceptions, and he still ranks ninth all-time for most passing touchdowns in a single season with the organization.

Hoyer's best game came against the Jacksonville Jaguars when he threw for 293 yards, three touchdowns, and no picks. The Texans won that Week 6 outing during the 2015 campaign by a 31-20 margin.

4. C.J. Stroud

Not many people have been more talented than the Houston Texans' shining youngster. However, stats, longevity, and everything else still matter.

C.J. Stroud is the first Pro Bowler on the list and also has a Rookie of the Year award to his name. In his first season with the Texans, he put himself fifth all-time in passing yards and sixth all-time for passing touchdowns for the club.

He went 9-6 during that inaugural effort and took the Texans to the playoffs, winning the AFC South along the way. He also dispatched of the Cleveland Browns, making him the first Texans QB on this list to win a playoff game, as well.

His best outing so far came in that postseason win over the Browns. He threw for 274 yards and three touchdowns in the 45-14 spanking.

3. David Carr

David Carr is the second-longest-serving quarterback for the club, playing five seasons and starting 75 games. He threw for 13,391 yards (third-all-time) and 59 touchdowns (third all-time) and won 22 games (third all-time).

His winning percentage was awful, but so was the talent around him. In most games, he only had Andre Johnson to target, but that doesn't excuse the fact he threw 65 interceptions. Not all were his fault, but a lot were.

The team's first-ever pick and No. 1 overall selection never quite panned out. The best record the Texans posted under him was 7-9 in 2004, and his best game came in that season when he threw for 372 yards and three touchdowns in a 34-28 loss to the Minnesota Vikings.

Carr still has the 17th-most passing yards in Texans history for a single game. He's also, believe it or not, still in the top 10 in career rushing yards for a Houston player. Carr currently sits 10th all-time with 1,235 yards.

2. Deshaun Watson

Deshaun Watson was only in Houston for the better part of four seasons, and in that time he found himself a three-time Pro Bowler. He also sits second in passing yards (14,539), passing touchdowns (104), and wins (28) and is the club's most accurate passer at 67.8% (among those with more than one start to their name).

He took the team to two playoff appearances in 2018 and 2019, where he was 1-2. He also tacked on another 19 touchdowns and 1,994 yards on the ground. That lands him at No. 7 all-time for the Texans as a rusher. He also owns three of the 10 most passing yards in a single game in Texans history.

Watson's best game was arguably the Week 5 win over the Atlanta Falcons in 2019, as he threw for 426 yards and five touchdowns.

HowEarly injuries, lackluster playoff appearances, and off-field scandals tarnished Watson's legacy in Houston, keeping him out of the No. 1 slot.

1. Matt Schaub

If Matt Schaub had been gifted a better team around him, people would remember him more fondly. When it comes to the franchise's history, he's first in touchdowns (124), yards (23,221), wins (46), starts (88), completions (1,941), and attempts (3,020), and he has the second-highest completion percentage of any quarterback with more than 15 starts to their name.

His best outing came against the Tennessee Titans in 2009, when he threw for 357 yards, four touchdowns, and no picks in a 34-31 win.

He took the Texans to the playoffs in 2013, the first time the club had ever been, and he performed well, throwing for over 600 yards and two touchdowns in two games. Had he had a few more pieces, that 2012 team would have been a Super Bowl contender. Sadly the New England Patriots just wouldn't roll over.

Individually, he was a two-time Pro Bowler for the Texans, the first quarterback in franchise history to earn that accomplishment. He also led the NFL passing yards in 2009. Of the 10 games with the most yards thrown by a quarterback in Texans history, Schaub has a team-leading six.

No other quarterback in Texans history has five seasons of at least 15 touchdowns. In fact, when it comes to the most passing touchdowns in a single season for the Texans, Schaub has three of the top eight performances, with Watson taking four and Stroud claiming the other.

He was the most consistent quarterback the club has ever had, and he was the first great quarterback that Texans fans could call their own.

The 10 best quarterbacks in Houston Texans history by passing yards