Bill O'Brien has confidence in Ryan Mallett (Matthew Emmons-USA TODAY Sports)
INDIANAPOLIS — To begin bolstering the quarterback position, Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien said bringing back unrestricted free agent Ryan Mallett is his first choice.
“I hadn’t been around him for three years,” O’Brien said Thursday at the NFL Scouting Combine of bringing Mallett to Houston from the New England Patriots, where O’Brien coached Mallett and Tom Brady as the team’s quarterbacks coach and then offensive coordinator. “His huddle command. His knowledge of our offense — a lot of it is similar. You could tell he learned a lot from backing up Tom. And hopefully he can turn some of that knowledge into a successful career, in addition to him being himself.”
Mallett, 26, played only two games, replacing Ryan Fitzpatrick as the starter, before he was placed on injured reserve with a torn pectoral muscle. He spent his first three seasons with the Patriots but never started a game and had only one completion and four pass attempts when O’Brien acquired him.
The Texans will evaluate the 2015 draft class, including Florida State’s Jameis Winston and Oregon’s Marcus Mariota, but after passing on the prime prospects in 2014 — Houston drafted Jadeveon Clowney first overall — patience is still a priority for the Texans. They added Tom Savage, who as a rookie was one of four starters the Texans used in a nine-win 2014.
“We’re going to look at them all. We have to look at them all,” Texans general manager Rick Smith said Thursday.
Both decision-makers mentioned running back as a team need. Arian Foster, who is approaching his age 30 season but lasted on 11 games and still had 298 total touches in 2014.
Smith said the incoming rookie class was “a good looking group,” and O’Brien agreed there are players at the position he would like to add.
O’Brien, who came to Houston last January from Penn State, said he was thrilled to see the Nittany Lions shed the bowl ban and many scholarship sanctions stemming from the Jerry Sandusky scandal.
“A lot of those sanctions punished a lot of kids who had nothing to do with anything,” O’Brien said. “I felt good for James Franklin and his staff, and especially the players.”
