The Houston Texans front office has shown glaring ineptitude in regards to its ability to evaluating the quarterback position, whiffing badly in that area from the first year in the league until now.
Nowhere is this more glaring than Monday night’s primetime matchup against Derek Carr and the Oakland Raiders. The Houston Texans famously went into the 2014 NFL Draft with a glaring hole at the quarterback position and in possession of the No. 1 overall pick.
With generational defensive talent Jadeveon Clowney available, as well as a deeper than expected quarterback class, the Texans’ front office felt as though it could pass on a quarterback in Round 1 and still find value at the position later on.
What one wouldn’t expect though, is for the Texans to not do their due diligence on one of the consensus top-5 players at the quarterback position in that draft, Fresno State’s Derek Carr.
Derek Carr said in his conference call that "(Texans) didn't even talk to me one time" during the 2014 draft process.
— Alex Del Barrio (@alexdelbarrio) November 17, 2016
Carr is the younger brother of former No. 1 overall draft pick and colossal NFL bust, David Carr. He just so happened to be the first ever draft pick of the Houston Texans.
The hesitation to draft the younger Carr is understandable. The Carr name isn’t one that is brought up with fond memories in Houston. That said, the fact that the Texans passed up a chance to interview and work out a consensus top-5 quarterback in the draft — a player expected to be there as their second round pick came about — is just laughable.
The Texans held the No. 33 overall pick, first pick in the second round, and Derek Carr was on the board.
The Texans instead chose UCLA offensive guard Xavier Su’a-Filo.
They did not draft a quarterback until the fourth round, that year when they took Pitt quarterback Tom Savage. Savage was a player who lost his job at Rutgers, transferred to Arizona, lost his job there, attempted to transfer back to Rutgers (which was denied by the NCAA) before transferring to Pitt where he started for one underwhelming season.
How has that draft pick worked out for the Texans you might ask?
In 2014 draft, #Texans passed on Carr 2x, selected Tom Savage in 4th. Since then they've fielded 7 different starting QB's. None were Savage
— Levi Damien (@LeviDamien) November 17, 2016
The seven quarterbacks the Texans have started?
- Ryan Fitzpatrick
- Ryan Mallett
- Case Keenuym
- Brian Hoyer
- Ryan Mallett Part 2, Mallett’s Revenge
- TJ Yates
- Brandon Weeden
- Brock Osweiler
We know. We know. That list struck fear into your heart as well.
While Carr is definitely going to play with a chip on his shoulder, there are conflicting reports regarding his quote that the Texans, “never met with me”.
In an 2014 article from CBSHouston, Carr sang a different tune after the 2014 Combine.
“There has been conversations with Houston. It went great,” Carr said. “Everything has gone good. The good thing about this week so far for myself is that there’s a lot of, not attention, but a lot of good evaluations, good reports coming back. And people saying a lot of things that would probably shock some people.”
While reports differ as to whether or not Carr actually spoke with the Texans, the fact that they did not bring him in on a pre-draft visit is both mind-blowing and quite frankly very funny.
Now the Texans are stuck with dead weight at the quarterback position in Brock Osweiler. Meanwhile the Raiders are 7-2 with a win over the defending Super Bowl champions while Carr is a front runner for the NFL MVP Award.
Regardless, hindsight is 20-20, and Monday night’s game is sure to be a treat to watch.