Houston Texans

Houston Texans: Brock Osweiler is the ultimate test for Bill O'Brien

Published Jun. 30, 2017 6:28 p.m. ET

foxsports

Houston Texans head coach Bill O’Brien has been called a quarterback whisperer during his tenure, but Brock Osweiler is proving to be his toughest challenge yet

This season things were supposed to be different. After struggling through a revolving door of quarterbacks over the past two seasons, head coach Bill O’Brien finally had his guy. A franchise guy he could mold into a star.

The sky was the limit as O’Brien had earned the reputation of a quarterback whisperer. He was able to work wonders at Penn State with freshman Christian Hackenberg. His work with him was so impressive that after two down seasons following coach B.O.B.’s departure Hackenberg still somehow was drafted in the second round.

O’Brien’s legacy as a quarterback guru continued to grow as he found success in back-to-back seasons while featuring journeymen Ryan Fitzpatrick and Brian Hoyer under center.

So naturally after giving $37 million guaranteed to former Broncos quarterback Brock Osweiler things would be better. Imagine how good they will look with a capable player rather than the hand-me-downs they won nine games with in each of the past two seasons.

In his first game, Osweiler threw for 231 yards with two touchdowns and one pick. It wasn’t perfect, but they got the win and it looked like there was something to build on. Since then, things have gotten progressively worse.

At home Osweiler looks average. He appears to be the kind of guy you can win with, but still not win because of. On the road, he looks like a guy that will cost you games.

This past Monday at Denver, Osweiler had arguably the worst game of his career. Facing his old team he put up stats that would make anyone cringe, and as pointed out by ESPN Stats & Info, it was historically bad.

Brock Osweiler: 1st QB in NFL history to have 3 games in a single season with 200 yards or fewer on 40 att. in each game

via @EliasSports

— ESPN Stats & Info (@ESPNStatsInfo) October 25, 2016

With weapons like DeAndre Hopkins and Will Fuller at wide receiver those kind of numbers are inexcusable. It’s obvious that the team has what Matt Bonesteel of the Washington Post calls a “Brock Osweiler Problem.”

What’s up with the deal he got?

Houston paid a fortune to lure Brock away from Denver and the bashing is getting brutal.

Let’s get two misconceptions out of the way though. One, no matter what you hear, Bill O’Brien wanted Osweiler. As recently as Monday night, analysts and pundits alike are trying to spin this thing as if general manager Rick Smith and owner Bob McNair went and signed the 6-foot-8 passer and forced him upon O’Brien.

More from Toro Times

That’s the dumbest storyline ever. The reason for it is because due to NFL rules the coach and quarterback could not meet during the odd “legal tampering period.” This obviously means O’Brien was sitting at home eating Bugles, downing mountain dews and watching the ESPN ticker to see if his team made any moves, right?

That’s the ludicrous idea being floated out there. Let’s get real, O’Brien said he wanted him, and the team made it happen. If you don’t believe O’Brien has that kind of pull, look at how many former Patriots he brought with him during his three seasons here.

The issue wasn’t that the coach and player didn’t meet. The issue is that they weren’t allowed to. That’s a fault of the leagues, not Houston’s. They believed in Brock and weren’t going to risk losing him on the off chance that he and O’Brien would have not liked each other’s personalities.

The second issue is the money. Everyone is destroying Houston for what they paid Osweiler, but they had to. Denver offered a similar deal and everyone loves the work of their general manager John Elway. If Elway thought Osweiler was worth close to what Houston paid, than most teams probably thought it.

Truth be told, Houston did overpay. That’s a given. Even if Brock met his potential, that would still be true, but that’s what you have to do to steal a player in today’s free agency bidding.

Now it’s going to be up to Bill O’Brien to get the most out of the guy they targeted to guide this franchise.

Oct 24, 2016; Denver, CO, USA; Houston Texans quarterback Brock Osweiler (17) walks off the field in the first quarter against the Denver Broncos at Sports Authority Field at Mile High. The Broncos won 27-9. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-USA TODAY Sports

Can Brock be Fixed?

That’s the $37 million question. Can the quarterback mechanic tweak what Osweiler does enough to get things going?

History says he can. In 2014 he had success with Ryan Fitzpatrick, Ryan Mallett, Tom Savage and Case Keenum. He then went on to get some good performances in 2015 out of Mallett, Brian Hoyer and then even T.J. Yates and Brandon Weeden who were signed late in the year.

None of those guys were at a good point in their careers when O’Brien got a hold of them. That’s not all they have in common though.

As of a couple weeks ago, three of those guys were starting quarterbacks. Fitzpatrick with the New York Jets, Brian Hoyer with the Chicago Bears (before breaking his arm) and Case Keenum with the Los Angeles Rams.

Of the bunch, Fitzpatrick has been the most vocal about how helpful O’Brien is.

“I probably learned more about football last year than I had the rest of my career in a single season in terms of being able to see the game from a different angle.” Fitzpatrick said via Rich Cimini of ESPN.

Also keep in mind that in 2015 the Texans were sitting at 2-5 at this point of the year. They had just been dismantled by the Miami Dolphins in a 44-26 beatdown and O’Brien famously said the team simply wasn’t done.

He was right and from that point on the team on seven games while losing just two. That right there should give people some hope that he can turn Osweiler around. Eventually. At least we all know by now that if he does, it will be the coach’s biggest accomplishment to date.

This article originally appeared on