No, He Shouldn’t Be Benched
By: Gabriel Myers
The Houston Texans should not bench Brock Osweiler, even though he has been one of the worst starting quarterbacks in the NFL this season. Brock has had good stretches and bad stretches, and even though I think that the bad has out-weighed the good with Brock the Texans are still sitting at a 5-3 record this season, which puts them in first place of the AFC South. Brock is not the guy that can lead the Texans to the Super Bowl, but at the moment, he is the Texans’ best option at quarterback. He has not been worth the $18 million the Texans have paid him this season, but he’s the only viable option at quarterback. Tom Savage is the backup, and the Texans have seen him around the team for three years, and they still signed Osweiler. That shows you what the Texans think of Savage, clearly they do not think he is the guy.
Even though Brock is showing that he is not capable of being a franchise quarterback, he is the team’s best, and I would say only option at quarterback. If the team were 2-6, I would understand the idea of wanting to bench Brock. I would enjoy seeing what Savage could do because he is a young quarterback that hasn’t had an opportunity yet. With the Texans though, that is not the case. The Texans are 5-3 with a very good chance of making the playoffs. When you’re in playoff position, you do not make a quarterback change. Brock does need to play better if the Texans are to have any chance to win a playoff game, but 5-3 is 5-3. People think that the sky is falling in Houston; if I didn’t know any better I would think that the Texans are 0-8, like the Cleveland Browns.
The Texans are not an NFL powerhouse. Personally, I don’t even think they’re a good team this year. Replacing Brock with a backup QB is not going to change that. New England Patriots quarterback, and future Hall of Famer, Tom Brady is not coming off the bench for the Texans, Tom Savage is. I understand the frustration with Brock’s play, because I’m frustrated too, just listen to last week’s “Houstonian Sports Roundup” podcast and you’ll hear my feelings on Brock; but now is not the time to hit the panic button in Houston. The Texans need to let this season play out with Brock at quarterback, and then make a decision in the offseason.
Yes, He Should Be Benched
By: Hivan Moreno
Houston Texans’ quarterback Brock Osweiler has been anything but the 72 million-dollar man through week eight of the NFL. Osweiler this season has a completion rate of just under 60 percent, with only 9 touchdowns and an eye-popping 9 interceptions. Although that is better than most players at his position, it is not what a quarterback with a large contract should look like. The solution to this dilemma is to bench Osweiler. He’s inaccurate and sloppy play, at the most important position, is something the Texans can’t afford to have if they want to make a Super Bowl run.
Osweiler standing at 6-foot-8-inches is one of the tallest QB’s in the league. With that in consideration, it should be easy for Osweiler to see over his offensive line and target an open man, right? That is not the case with Osweiler. Osweiler has a completion rate of 59.3 percent with 9 interceptions, that’s almost one interception per game, and turnovers are probably the worst mistake you can make in football. Not only has Osweiler been inaccurate, he also tries to force the ball into tight windows too much. Texans’ wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins is the obvious go to receiver, but if he is not open then don’t throw the ball his way. Hopkins, being the team’s No. 1 receiver, gets doubled team left and right, which means other receivers should be open. During the Sunday night game against the Colts on Oct. 16, Osweiler made a huge play in overtime and connected with Jaelen Strong for a 36-yard gain, which then lead to a Nick Novak game winning field goal. Houston fans want to see more of this from the big money quarterback. Osweiler needs to spread the ball around and look for receivers than Hopkins.
If there is anything that makes an athlete better, it’s competition. By benching Osweiler and playing Tom Savage or Brandon Weeden, Osweiler will see that his job is in jeopardy and force him to play better. Giving Osweiler time to gather his thoughts is a good thing for him, and showing authority will make him grow as a competitor. The Houston Texans are on now on a bye week. Maybe Osweiler will get things together and start rolling in week 10 when they hit the field to take on AFC South rivals the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The final reason why the Texans should bench Osweiler is because the Texans overpaid for the unproven quarterback. A perfect example of this is the current quarterback for the Denver Broncos, Trevor Siemian. Looking at both quarterbacks, they have similar stats. Both QBs have around a 60 percent completion rate, have roughly the same number of touchdowns (Osweiler 9, Siemian 8) and number of yards; but the major difference is their contract. Siemian gets $525,000 guaranteed versus Osweiler’s 37 million dollars guaranteed. With these two quarterbacks having nearly the same stats, it looks like the Texans have paid just about 36.4 million dollars too much for the quarterback.