After a disastrous first half for the Houston Texans, head coach Bill O’Brien has benched Tom Savage in favor of first-round pick Deshaun Watson.
The Houston Texans are desperate to come back against the Jacksonville Jaguars, and they are turning to their first-round pick, rookie quarterback Deshaun Watson, to do it.
Watson, who was supposed to be eased into his first NFL season as a backup to Tom Savage, has instead been inserted to start the second half with his team trailing 19-0 in a potential upset at NRG Stadium. Savage has not had a chance to make any plays in Week 1, being sacked six times before the end of the first half.
The move makes no sense on a litany of levels. For starters, Watson looked woeful in the preseason. He struggled to go through his reads with any speed, and was inaccurate most of the time when he did find an open receiver. Watson was bad against both the New England Patriots and New Orleans Saints in the second and third exhibition games, respectively.
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Additionally, the Texans are without star left tackle Duane Brown, who is holding out in hopes of a new deal. Without him, the line has been completely overwhelmed by a Jacksonville defense that has some stars on it, including Calais Campbell, A.J. Bouye, Yannick Ngakoue, Telvin Smith and Jalen Ramsey.
Watson was always going to be the starter at some point in the campaign. Savage, in the final year of his rookie deal, was simply a place holder. Still, to put a rookie in the game when you can’t block anybody is a ridiculous notion from O’Brien.