Texans Shrug Shoulders, Name Ryan Fitzpatrick Starting QB

If the Houston Texans goal was to inspire Andre Johnson to come running back and end his hold out, then naming Ryan Fitzpatrick the starting quarterback this early in the NFL offseason certainly wasn't the ideal move to make.

The problem is, head coach Bill O'Brien's top shelf isn't exactly filled with premium quarterbacks. Fitzpatrick obviously doesn't go down smooth, but holdover Case Keenum hits the palette like a cheap bottle of grain alcohol. And then sits rookie Tom Savage, but he needs to age a bit before he's ready to hit the field.

So given the choices, Fitzpatrick, the guy who has completed 59.8 percent of his passes with 106 touchdowns and 93 interceptions throughout his career, is Houston's best bet. Sadly.

Some have derided the Texans for settling on Fitzpatrick so early, but, again, it's not like there are a lot of choices here. All of these quarterbacks are mediocre and prone to mistakes. At this point, after going through organized team activities and minicamp, O'Brien likely has a good feel for what he has, and it's not as if one of them is suddenly going to pull a Keyser Söze, straighten up, and walk straight.

As a mole inside the Texans locker room told VICE Sports, O'Brien's hands are tied and felt he needed to name a starter before training camp started so that someone who is going to be watching from the sidelines isn't stealing snaps from the starter. In that regard, it makes sense to hand the keys over to someone this early.

The real question here is if Fitzpatrick is the guy who can get this talented Houston roster back to the playoffs.

Fitzpatrick is a highly intelligent individual who should have no problems grasping O'Brien's offense. He's also very confident in his abilities and has good enough feet to evade trouble.

On the other hand, Fitzpatrick, despite all of his intelligence, has a penchant for making bad mistakes. Often.

Counting fumbles, he's coughed up the ball an average of 1.4 times per game throughout his career. By comparison, the defending champion Seahawks averaged 1.18 turnovers per game as a team last season. As any football fan with even a glimpse of realty will tell you, you can't win games if you don't have the ball.

So even with all that talent on defense, Arian Foster running the ball, and (maybe) Andre Johnson catching passes, it will be hard for Houston to get anywhere if Fitzpatrick is throwing head-scratching picks or putting the ball on the turf. If that turns out to be his method of operation early in the season, it's hard to imagine O'Brien will provide Fitzpatrick with much leash.

But maybe with such talent surrounding him, Fitzpatrick will finally settle down and stop playing hero ball. That's a pretty big maybe.