Deshaun Watson is still on the roster for the Houston Texans, but the AFC South club is undergoing a great reset at quarterback.
Whether it is Watson’s trade request or his ongoing legal issues, the Texans won’t be able to count on the three-time Pro Bowler. Enter former Pro Bowler Tyrod Taylor, third-year Ryan Finley, and third-round rookie Davis Mills to compete for the starting quarterback job.
According to general manager Nick Caserio, who met with the media during the Texans’ 18th annual charity golf classic, the Texans are carefully evaluating each part of the process to find the immediate successor to Watson.
“We’ll take it one step at a time,” Caserio said. “We’re not going to put any unreasonable expectations on anybody. It’s kind of a waste of everybody’s time. It’s how do they improve? Can they make adjustments? What do they do one day? Okay, can they stack multiple days together?”
Caserio, who was the director of player personnel for the New England Patriots from 2008-20, knows that the Texans aren’t going to be close to perfect recovering from a 4-12 season and not having sufficient salary cap space nor top-100 draft picks to adequately address holes on the roster. The same frailties may also be present at quarterback in 2021.
Said Caserio: “Look, they’re going to have setbacks. You’re going to go out there, you’re going to have a bad play. Okay, how do you respond to that? Can you make the adjustment? Do you understand why that happened? Those are the types of things right now that are really important.”
Caserio also would not give any hints as to who has the inside days before rookie minicamp begins. When asked for his comments on Stanford coach David Shaw stating Mills was a steal in the 2021 NFL draft, Caserio offered little.
“I’m not a draft expert,” said Caserio. “I have a lot of respect for David, so you can talk to David about what he thinks. We’re just glad that we have the players that we have in the building.”
Texans rookie minicamp kicks off on May 14 and runs through May 15.