Brian Hoyer Is The Texans' Starting Quarterback, But That Doesn't Mean He Will Be All Year

News broke this morning that Brian Hoyer would be the first starting quarterback for the 2015 Houston Texans. I say "first starting quarterback" because I am not convinced that the job will be Hoyer's all season long.

Recall that Bill O'Brien had no qualms about pulling the plug on Ryan Fitzpatrick as his starting quarterback last year, and no one is going to confuse Brian Hoyer with Aaron Rodgers, thus entitling him to any sort of pronounced job security, anytime soon. While I'm sure O'Brien would like nothing more than for Hoyer to consistently perform at a high enough level that the Texans win game after game with him under center, I don't think this quarterback competition is over.

In fact, as I sit here today before the third game of the preseason, I'd say it's more likely than not that Ryan Mallett does start at QB for the Texans sometime during the regular season, and I'm not talking about a Week 17 game after Houston has already clinched a playoff berth and is resting starters.  We have no reason to think that Bill O'Brien chose Hoyer for any other reason than an informed belief that Hoyer gives the Texans a better chance to win than Mallett does.  That belief is subject to change at any time.

Brian Hoyer won the first round (and congrats to him for doing so), but I don't think Mallett's been knocked out.  What say you?

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