The Houston Texans are the official winners of the HBO's Hard Knocks which will follow the team through training camp before the 2015 season. While players like JJ Watt are sure to be stars of the show, a main storyline will be the quarterback battle on the team. The Texans traded way Ryan Fitzpatrick while signing both Brian Hoyer and Ryan Mallett to contracts. Both quarterbacks have experience as starters and will be battling it out to earn the spot with Houston.
Head coach Bill O'Brien made it clear that he wanted some competition heading into camp with the quarterback spot. He believes both Hoyer and Mallett have the skillset to be successful and the competition should help bring that out. Mallett told the media that he is healthy following a season-ending injury last year and excited to compete while Hoyer is relying on his previous quarterback battle to get him through another one.
"I've been through it before," Hoyer said, via the Houston Chronicle. "I'm not going to let it affect me and I'll just be myself and really focus on the things that I can control."
According to team sources, in the first days of OTAs, Hoyer was taking snaps with the first-team offense while Mallett continues to rehab from offseason surgery. The veteran has a great deal of experience in O'Brien's offensive system having spent time with him in New England with the Patriots. Now, Hoyer just needs to build chemistry with the rest of the team.
Houston let go of leading franchise receiver Andre Johnson and replaced him with Jaelen Strong. The rookie will pair well with DeAndre Hopkins and Cecil Shorts to create a strong passing game for either quarterback. The question mark could be at the running back position. Arian Foster returns to the helm while the Texans added Chris Polk along with Alfred Blue and Jonathan Grimes.
According to NFL.com, Foster is at risk of seeing a lot less playing time this season. It is no secret the running back has struggled with injuries over the past few years. As he approaches the questionable age limit for running backs the Texans would be wise to see what else they have in depth. The team also added Kenny Hilliard out of LSU and any one of those backs listed could become the future of the franchise run game.
