Case Keenum's Updated 2013 Fantasy Outlook After Matt Schaub's Injury

Case Keenum has been announced as the Houston Texans’ starting quarterback for the team’s Week 7 contest against the Kansas City Chiefs.

Mark Berman of FOX 26 in Houston provided some comments from the new starter: 

As per ESPN’s Tania Ganguli, former starter Matt Schaub suffered a lower right leg, foot and ankle injury last Sunday in an eventual 38-13 loss to the St. Louis Rams.

Now that Keenum is under center, fantasy football owners desperate for a quarterback should give the second-year man out of Houston a look.    

The 25-year-old has never played a snap in the NFL, but he’s clearly impressing in practice and leapfrogged T.J. Yates on the depth chart. Yates has completed 15 of 22 passes for 113 yards and two interceptions in three appearances during the 2013 campaign. The second-stringer also fumbled the ball away once, possibly falling out of favor with head coach Gary Kubiak due to his turnovers.

In one sense, the team likely knows what it has in Yates, so it's giving Keenum a look to see what he can do.

Unfortunately for Keenum, his slated professional debut will come against one of the league’s premier defenses. The Chiefs are conceding just 190.3 passing yards per game to their opponents and lead the league with 18 takeaways, a number that includes 10 interceptions.

That makes Keenum a terrible start in all but the deepest of fantasy leagues. Owners that have been forced to start Schaub during his dismal season will want to jettison the quarterback to the waiver wire and scoop up the Week 7 starter and hope for the best.

If you have a large bench or compete in a dynasty league, Keenum is worth rostering but certainly not starting at this juncture. There is potential for the undrafted sophomore to take over the starting gig on a more permanent basis, especially if he impresses against Kansas City. But that will be a tall task.

After four straight losses, the Texans are serious about jump-starting their offense. With talented stars such as Arian Foster, DeAndre Hopkins and Andre Johnson surrounding the newly installed starter, there is certainly potential for him to succeed.

Keenum broke all sorts of records during his time with the hometown Cougars, completing 1,546 of 2,229 passes for 19,217 yards, 155 touchdowns and 46 interceptions during his time with the program.

He has the arm and talent to save this floundering offense, but it may take a few weeks for him to get acquainted to the speed of an actual NFL game. Don’t be afraid to take a chance on him as a stash, but make sure you don’t start him unless the situation is dire in Week 7.