Case Keenum impressing Houston Texans coaching staff; moving up depth chart
By Josh Sanchez
One of the greatest aspects of preseason football is watching players that have something to prove go out on the field and fight for a bigger role in their respective team’s plans moving forward. A star of the early preseason action has been Houston Texas third-string quarterback Case Keenum, who has blown away the coaching staff with his performance in training camp and in the preseason opener.
Keenum has done so well that there is a belief he could be climbing up the team’s depth chart.
“Well they are two good football players, so it’s a nice problem for us,” coach Gary Kubiak said, via Pro Football Talk. “I think Case has come a long way. That has nothing to do with T.J. not doing something. I think T.J. is having a dang good camp. He’s a better player than he was the last couple of years. It’s just a very competitive situation for us right now and it’s going to make our team better. It’s making both of those guys better. It will help them in their careers, but it’s definitely making our team better.”
Keenum played in the third quarter of the team’s game against the Minnesota Vikings on Friday night, where he went 13 of 18 for 125 yards and a touchdown.
With the impressive outing, Kubiak has said that the coaching staff will determine whether or not to give the former University of Houston standout the No. 2 quarterback job over T.J. Yates for next week’s game.
“We’re going to talk about that this week,” Kubiak said. “What I’m trying to do is get him and T.J. in the exact same situations as players with pretty much equal reps, so that’s something that may be a topic this week. They will continue to both play a great deal. It’s a very good battle going on and they both did a good job last night.”
It is great to see the man who entered the league as an undrafted free agent making big waves early in his NFL career, and his maturity and poise will go a long way with the team as he eventually fights for a starting gig down the line.