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Lance Zierlein broke the news today on his radio show and via Twitter:
For those asking who couldn’t hear the radio show, the QB the Texans targeted before Mallett was Matt Barkley according to two sources.
— Lance Zierlein (@LanceZierlein) September 5, 2014
Barkley's preseason stats were actually pretty decent in comparison to other quarterbacks that we have previously reviewed.
| PLAYER | COMP | ATT | PCT | YDS | AVG | TD | INT | LONG | 20+ | 40+ | SACKED | RATING |
| Tom Brady | 25 | 31 | 80.6 | 285 | 9.2 | 3 | 1 | 40T | 3 | 1 | 0 | 123.8 |
| Peyton Manning | 43 | 54 | 79.6 | 423 | 7.8 | 3 | 1 | 67T | 3 | 1 | 1 | 110.1 |
| Russell Wilson | 33 | 42 | 78.6 | 437 | 10.4 | 3 | 0 | 44 | 6 | 1 | 4 | 133.8 |
| Tom Savage | 19 | 26 | 73.1 | 133 | 5.1 | 1 | 1 | 31T | 1 | 0 | 3 | 81.1 |
| Colt McCoy | 32 | 44 | 72.7 | 496 | 11.3 | 4 | 3 | 80T | 8 | 2 | 2 | 111.6 |
| Jake Locker | 21 | 30 | 70 | 268 | 8.9 | 2 | 0 | 63T | 3 | 1 | 3 | 119.9 |
| Zach Mettenberger | 47 | 68 | 69.1 | 659 | 9.7 | 2 | 2 | 64T | 8 | 1 | 7 | 97.6 |
| Derek Carr | 30 | 45 | 66.7 | 326 | 7.2 | 4 | 1 | 38 | 5 | 0 | 2 | 108.2 |
| Chad Henne | 25 | 38 | 65.8 | 230 | 6.1 | 1 | 0 | 20 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 90.9 |
| Kirk Cousins | 35 | 54 | 64.8 | 370 | 6.9 | 4 | 1 | 24 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 101.6 |
| Andrew Luck | 26 | 41 | 63.4 | 245 | 6 | 2 | 1 | 23 | 3 | 0 | 1 | 85.9 |
| Matt Barkley | 41 | 65 | 63.1 | 495 | 7.6 | 3 | 3 | 43T | 7 | 1 | 0 | 82.5 |
| Blake Bortles | 32 | 51 | 62.7 | 521 | 10.2 | 2 | 0 | 57T | 11 | 2 | 4 | 110 |
| Teddy Bridgewater | 30 | 49 | 61.2 | 283 | 5.8 | 5 | 0 | 37 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 111.2 |
| Jimmy Garoppolo | 46 | 79 | 58.2 | 618 | 7.8 | 5 | 1 | 53 | 7 | 1 | 3 | 99 |
| Ryan Fitzpatrick | 25 | 43 | 58.1 | 232 | 5.4 | 1 | 2 | 31 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 61.4 |
| Matt McGloin | 38 | 69 | 55.1 | 471 | 6.8 | 4 | 1 | 29 | 7 | 0 | 3 | 89.7 |
| Case Keenum | 28 | 52 | 53.8 | 254 | 4.9 | 0 | 2 | 25 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 51.3 |
| Ryan Mallett | 14 | 26 | 53.8 | 161 | 6.2 | 1 | 0 | 23 | 1 | 0 | 3 | 85.6 |
| T.J. Yates | 28 | 53 | 52.8 | 438 | 8.3 | 2 | 2 | 67T | 6 | 2 | 4 | 77.4 |
| Matt Schaub | 24 | 47 | 51.1 | 218 | 4.6 | 0 | 1 | 40 | 2 | 1 | 3 | 55.1 |
| Johnny Manziel | 30 | 59 | 50.8 | 296 | 5 | 2 | 0 | 27 | 2 | 0 | 6 | 76.7 |
You may recall THIS article by our very own Brett Kollmann about Matt Barkley, where he had me sold on him as a draft pick that year. Then Brett wrote THIS a couple of days ago and now has me thinking we have a strong candidate in Ryan Mallett. I have a hard time believing Bill Belichick would let Mallett go if he was really a potential starter, but then he does have Tom Brady for at least a few more years, and an up-and-coming potential star in Jimmy Garoppolo, so who knows?
The news of the Texans signing Ryan Mallett pushed fans here at BRB into a polarizing discussion, as we all tried to determine exactly how coach Bill O'Brien will guide this franchise out of the proverbial depths of quarterback hell. That has me wondering how it would have gone in the media, and from the perspective of fan response, if the announcement was Matt Barkley instead of Ryan Mallett. Well, chime in below with your thoughts on the matter.
May you have an enjoyable Friday afternoon, and be sure to wear your Liberty White on Sunday for the Texans game.
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