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While Texans head coach Bill O'Brien sat down with NFL Network's Steve Wyche at this week's owners' meetings to talk about the upcoming NFL Draft, he confirmed what most football fans have come to expect since early in the 2013 season - Houston will have a new signal-caller very, very soon.
"I don't think there's any question that we'll draft a quarterback in the draft. Where we draft that quarterback, I don't think we know that yet. We don't even know that yet. We're still in the process of studying all of these prospects, and in the process of putting a grade on them and place them where they would be in the draft. And I think that the big thing is it's such a long process."
O'Brien then continued to talk about the, in his opinion, lack of separation in talent between the big three quarterbacks and everyone else, as well as how that impacts the number one overall pick.
"I think the thing is, to me, there's not a lot of separation, and there are more quarterbacks than just three. Obviously the three guys that everybody talks about -- Blake (Bortles), Teddy (Bridgewater) and Johnny (Manziel) - they're good players. They've had great college careers."
"But there are other guys out there. You've got (A.J.) McCarron. You've got (Zach) Mettenberger. You've got Logan Thomas. You've got (Tom) Savage. You've got (Jimmy) Garoppolo. I mean, I can go right down the list. To me, you've got 10 to 12 guys you've got to do a great job of evaluating and make the best pick possible wherever you pick these guys."
"So, I just see a lot of good quarterbacks. All of the guys have potential, which is a dangerous word, and you're trying to make sure you're doing what's best for your organization -- what fits best for your organization when you make that pick of a quarterback."
A popular theory after the signing of Ryan Fitzpatrick and the trade of Matt Schaub was that the Texans' power couple of O’Brien and Smith were not enamored by any quarterbacks at the first overall pick, and would rather develop a later round selection. O’Brien’s words at the owners' meetings seem to corroborate that. The possibility of Jadeveon Clowney or Khalil Mack becoming the first new Houston Texan on May 8th gets stronger every day.