Ryan Mallett Out for Year; Is Tom Savage Ready to Start for Texans?

When a team goes through quarterbacks like a window shopper at a department store, often you'll notice the fans getting attached to the idea of a certain quarterback and ignoring the warts. For the Houston Texans, previous examples have included "I can't believe this T.J. Yates isn't made out of any Schaub-like materials" and "I buy this ratty Case Keenum dress because I support local businesses."

On Monday, news broke that newly instated starting signal-caller Ryan Mallett is done for the season with a torn right pectoral muscle, per NFL Media's Ian Rapoport (via NFL.com's Marc Sessler). Mallett's injury is not a huge loss for the Texans, because, as I've previously written, there wasn't much upside for the Texans to tap.

It is, however, a big gain for those attached to the idea of Mallett, who can now theoretically point out that his bad start was the product of the injury that ended his season. (Especially if you ignore the part where a lot of Mallett's throws against Cincinnati were poorly considered before he even let the ball go.)

Regardless of how you see Mallett, it's a tough break for a player who waited years to get his opportunity and wasn't able to seize on it due to injury. As a free agent next offseason, Mallett will likely again be getting offers only for backup roles. 

This turns the Texans back to square zero at the quarterback spot. It's still too early to say exactly to whom the Texans will turn, but the smart money is on them going back to placeholder Ryan Fitzpatrick. Houston media swarmed him on Monday. 

"

I have no idea. We just came in and got a workout. There’s a lot of things swirling in the air right now. But there’s not a whole lot of information, other than what you guys probably know. I’m not really sure. ...

Maybe when things get figured I’ll probably have a better shot at talking to you guys and giving (you) something but I don’t know anything.

"

But nature abhors a vacuum, and given that the Texans already moved on from Fitzpatrick once, it's worth considering just how ready rookie fourth-round quarterback Tom Savage is to start for the Texans.

Unfortunately, we can't see inside the locker room. Since we have no way to access how Savage is absorbing Bill O'Brien's system, we really have no way to tell how much he has improved since the preseason. 

If you didn't watch his preseason play—and if it's not part of your job description, I advocate that you do not do so—Savage played at what can best be described as an embryonic level. He checked down, checked down and checked down some more on his way to accumulating a high completion percentage with an extremely low yards per attempt. 

Completions	Attempts	Yards	Touchdowns	Interceptions	Sacks Taken
19	26	133	1	1	3

Since the preseason, the Texans have shown almost no sign of remembering that Savage is on the roster. He's been inactive for every game this season, and despite Mallett having zero experience with the team, the latter immediately took over backup duties from Savage upon being acquired from New England. 

So while, in theory, it makes sense for the Texans to turn to Savage in the same way that the Tennessee Titans turned their season over to Zach Mettenberger—because no other quarterback on the roster has received as significant an investment—the best guess without being in the building is that the Texans see Savage as a developmental quarterback. In other words, he's probably not ready to play yet, and watching him try to do so would elicit memories of Dave Ragone for Texans fans. 

Dale Robertson of the Houston Chronicle doesn't see that as reason enough to go back to Fitzpatrick: 

Houston knows that Fitzpatrick isn't good enough to be its starter. If Savage isn't ready to attempt to do so either, the Texans need to go right back to QuarterbackMart and try on some nice winterwear quarterbacks in the hopes that they can find a future backup or Brian Hoyer-type. It's too late to tank the season, and the Jacksonville Jaguars and Titans are doing a better job of it than Houston could aspire to. 

The Texans should see if an unsigned free agent like Thad Lewis, who played competently for the Buffalo Bills in 2013, can help them. They should be exploring off-brands like B.J. Coleman and Bryn Renner. They might even consider a practice-squad raid on a quarterback like Keith Wenning, Zac Dysert or Stephen Morris. They could even try out Case Kee ... OK, we already know that's not happening again.

The Texans had a chance in the 2014 draft to pick a quarterback high and commit to him. They decided not to take Blake Bortles over outside linebacker Jadeveon Clowney. They decided not to trade up to snag Johnny Manziel or Teddy Bridgewater, or select Derek Carr with the 33rd pick.

Because they didn't, they committed to being window shoppers for another season. And as Black Friday approaches, Houston must continue to try to find the best deal it can at quarterback.

Rivers McCown is the AFC South lead writer for Bleacher Report and the co-host of the Three-Cone Drill podcast. His work has also appeared on Football Outsiders and ESPN.com. Follow him on Twitter at @riversmccown.