All Eyes on Texans Quarterback Dan Orlovsky

[MojoMan]

I hope Matt Schaub is healthy and does not miss a snap all year. He was healthy for most of the year in 2009, and with an increased emphasis on running the ball in 2010, there is every reason to expect Schaub will have great success this year.

However, the NFL is a rough place and the Quarterback position is one of particular vulnerability. As a result, it is all too common to see the backup QB of any team taking the field at some point during the season, as has been the case for the Houston Texans pretty much every year since their inception in 2002.

Sometimes, this is when heroes are made. Other times, this is when seasons are lost. Which is why Texans' Quarterback Dan Orlvosky is in such a pivotally important role as the Houston Texans try to earn their first ever playoff birth this year.

The word coming out of training camp about Dan Orlovsky so far has been disconcerting. But a good showing on Saturday could really change a lot of perspectives. Hopefully Dan-O plays a great game Saturday and begins to establish himself as a leader on this team. If not, it could be time for Smithiak to start searching the waiver wires for his replacement.

All Eyes on Texans Quarterback Dan Orlovsky

Texans preseason games are more important for quarterback Dan Orlovsky than any player on the team. Entering his second season with the Texans and his sixth in the NFL, Orlovsky must use the preseason to convince the coaches that he's capable of replacing Matt Schaub if the starter suffers an injury.

When the Texans begin their preseason schedule Saturday night at Arizona, Orlovsky will be under more pressure than any of his teammates. "Not really; I'm excited about it," Orlovsky said. "I want to lead the offense the way it should be led."

Orlovsky has to play better than he did last preseason. After signing as a free agent for $3 million a year, he started camp as Schaub's backup. In the preseason opener at Kansas City, Orlovsky was 9-of-20 for 121 yards. He had no touchdown passes or interceptions, and his rating was 64.8. Orlovsky played in three preseason games, completing 27 of 48 passes for 331 yards and one touchdown. He threw two interceptions and closed with a 67.3 rating.

Coach Gary Kubiak didn't like enough of what he saw, and Rex Grossman, who threw one incomplete pass in preseason, was designated as Schaub's backup. Orlovsky spent his first season with the Texans watching and learning. Kubiak has praised him on several occasions, insisting he's improved. But until the quarterback shows it in games, nobody will know how much he's improved. That's why Orlovsky will play at least two quarters against the Cardinals; Schaub is expected to play one series.

"I like his work ethic, the way he goes about his job," Kubiak said about Orlovsky. "He's got the ability to make some big plays. Now he has to take it to the field and show the team." Orlovsky (6-5, 231 pounds) looks a lot like Schaub. He's able to run the same offense. No changes have to be made in the strategy or play-calling when Orlovsky takes over.

When Kubiak was asked Tuesday about the most important thing he wants to see from Orlovsky on Saturday, the coach didn't hesitate. "Protect the ball," he said. "When he's throwing it, protect it. Protect the team by protecting the ball. We've got to get rid of that one bad play out of 10. That's what we're trying to focus on."

When informed of what Kubiak said, Orlovsky smiled. He's heard that a thousand times from his coach. "Well, an incompletion or a throwaway are better than a turnover," Orlovsky said. "I'm not going to try and run up the scoreboard or anything. Just executing the offense is so important for me."

[IDEXAN]

Signing Dan O, then retaining him for another year while releasing Grossman ?
QBs are supposed to be Kubiaks long-suit, but did he make the right decisions about those 2 ? Looking doubtful ?

[76Texan]

Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with Grossman as the primary back-up last year.

He came in and worked for bread crumb.
I can see how the two parties saw it as mutually beneficial.
Grossman needed a jump start to land his next job.
For the Texans, Grossman already knew the system and he didn't cost much.
That would give Dan O. the opportunity to "unlearn" the previous system and to learn the intricacy of the WCO.

The Lions depended on the receivers more as the TEs had only 43 catches and all the backs (including FBs) had 64.
Out of 281 completions, 62% went to the receivers.

The Texans completed 73 passes to the TEs and 101 to the RBs.
Out of 399 completions, 56% went to the receivers.

And the Texans have a much better receiving corp than the Lions.

Dan O. has all the tools but he needs the toolbox.
He needs to learn to take what the defense gives him, to make all the right reads, to find the hot receiver quickly, to hand the ball go the backs correctly in the ZBS.

I don't think fans should be too critical of him.
Rosenfels and Schaub were both quite inconsistent (for quite a long while) early when they first came to the Texans.

But hey, once gain, it's always good for the fans to have something to talk about.

[jaayteetx]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Honestly, I didn't see anything wrong with Grossman as the primary back-up last year.

He came in and worked for bread crumb.
I can see how the two parties saw it as mutually beneficial.
Grossman needed a jump start to land his next job.
For the Texans, Grossman already knew the system and he didn't cost much.
That would give Dan O. the opportunity to "unlearn" the previous system and to learn the intricacy of the WCO.

The Lions depended on the receivers more as the TEs had only 43 catches and all the backs (including FBs) had 64.
Out of 281 completions, 62% went to the receivers.

The Texans completed 73 passes to the TEs and 101 to the RBs.
Out of 399 completions, 56% went to the receivers.

And the Texans have a much better receiving corp than the Lions.

Dan O. has all the tools but he needs the toolbox.
He needs to learn to take what the defense gives him, to make all the right reads, to find the hot receiver quickly, to hand the ball go the backs correctly in the ZBS.

I don't think fans should be too critical of him.
Rosenfels and Schaub were both quite inconsistent (for quite a long while) early when they first came to the Texans.

But hey, once gain, it's always good for the fans to have something to talk about.

Did you watch the Jags game? Dude was horrible.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by jaayteetx

Did you watch the Jags game? Dude was horrible.

He was pretty bad out there, but not horrible.
But that's Grossman.
Sometimes he's good T-Rex; sometimes he's bad T-Rex.
We all knew that coming in.

I would have preferred to make DanO the back-up straight away.
But the Texans chose to do differently.

[76Texan]

I don't think I would even say that Grossman had a poor performance, actually.

Things just didn't go right for the Texans, that's all.

[badboy]

I think Kubes the QB guru is working on D.O.'s psyche. In a recent radio interview, Orslovky said Kubes told him at OTAs he needed to bring more to the field and O. said it made him angry but determined to do what Kubiak wanted. I saw little between his efforts and Grossman's last season & believe Gary was trying to send a message. I think it is important that only Booty is on the roster to challenge D.O. this season. I think Schaub will have another healthy year and O. will improve even more so. If not, I will probably arrange my board to draft a QB rather high.

[OzzO]

Originally Posted by Orlovsky

When informed of what Kubiak said, Orlovsky smiled. He's heard that a thousand times from his coach. "Well, an incompletion or a throwaway are better than a turnover," Orlovsky said. "I'm not going to try and run up the scoreboard or anything. Just executing the offense is so important for me."

That sounds eerily familar to an ex-QB that was here, except substitute "falling down" and "run out of bounds behind the line of scrimmage" for the bolded above.



Outofboundsky better wake it up, quick.

[HOU-TEX]

I've been on DanO's side the entire time he's been here (guess I'm just a sucker for underdogs), but from what I've seen in camp this season hasn't been much different than last year. I still think he's thinking too much, causing very poor throws. He's over-throwing, under-throwing and just missing short routes all together. Short routes?!

Heck, If I were forced to choose a #2 today I just might give it to JDB.

If he doesn't get his mind right in these 4 pre-season games we are likely screwed if Schaub goes down.

[drs23]

Originally Posted by HOU-TEX

I've been on DanO's side the entire time he's been here (guess I'm just a sucker for underdogs), but from what I've seen in camp this season hasn't been much different than last year. I still think he's thinking too much, causing very poor throws. He's over-throwing, under-throwing and just missing short routes all together. Short routes?!

Heck, If I were forced to choose a #2 today I just might give it to JDB.

If he doesn't get his mind right in these 4 pre-season games we are likely screwed if Schaub goes down.

Time will tell of coarse but I sure wouldn't mind them drafting a 3rd or 4th to hold the clipboard for a few years to be a QUALIFIED & CAPABLE backup and step in if Matt goes down. Probably not a popular idea but that's just me.

[CloakNNNdagger]

The question of keeping 2 or 3 QBs hopefully is answered with concrete logic. If Orlovsk is not downright solid by mid preseason, and we decide to keep him, we better find a vet to hedge our bets. Under those circumstances, I don't see Orlovsky and Booty being a smart backup plan to Schaub.

[Hervoyel]

Of course I want Orlovsky to get it and be the entirely adequate backup they signed him to be. I wasn't impressed with what we saw in the preseason last year and I was very happy that we had Grossman around. Those of us who thought Grossman was truly pathetic against Jacksonville keep in mind that it could have been even worse.

If Orlovsky had been able to push past Rex on the depth chart and taken the #2 spot he would have. He didn't.

Now I'm hoping he's improved enough to be that backup but I am not going to get excited about anything until I see him make it happen. I want to see what he can do and I'm hoping for the best but if he looks like he did last year who (if anyone) is still out there looking for work? I like the old veteran approach to the #2 spot if I can find one.

[JB]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Of course I want Orlovsky to get it and be the entirely adequate backup they signed him to be. I wasn't impressed with what we saw in the preseason last year and I was very happy that we had Grossman around. Those of us who thought Grossman was truly pathetic against Jacksonville keep in mind that it could have been even worse.

If Orlovsky had been able to push past Rex on the depth chart and taken the #2 spot he would have. He didn't.

Now I'm hoping he's improved enough to be that backup but I am not going to get excited about anything until I see him make it happen. I want to see what he can do and I'm hoping for the best but if he looks like he did last year who (if anyone) is still out there looking for work? I like the old veteran approach to the #2 spot if I can find one.

I don't think there is much out there. Culpepper? Patrick Ramsey maybe?
Did Jeff Garcia sign anywhere? If Favre returns, maybe we can get Sage back for a 7th?

[Dutchrudder]

Originally Posted by JB

I don't think there is much out there. Culpepper? Patrick Ramsey maybe?
Did Jeff Garcia sign anywhere? If Favre returns, maybe we can get Sage back for a 7th?

Jeff Garcia is available, and I imagine he wouldn't mind joining the Texans for the right price. The problem is the team already invested a bunch of money in Dan O, so I doubt they would find a new #2.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Of course I want Orlovsky to get it and be the entirely adequate backup they signed him to be. I wasn't impressed with what we saw in the preseason last year and I was very happy that we had Grossman around. Those of us who thought Grossman was truly pathetic against Jacksonville keep in mind that it could have been even worse.

If Orlovsky had been able to push past Rex on the depth chart and taken the #2 spot he would have. He didn't.

Now I'm hoping he's improved enough to be that backup but I am not going to get excited about anything until I see him make it happen. I want to see what he can do and I'm hoping for the best but if he looks like he did last year who (if anyone) is still out there looking for work? I like the old veteran approach to the #2 spot if I can find one.

Herv, I would like to know why you (and some others) think Grossman was pathetic in that game?

[JB]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Herv, I would like to know why you (and some others) think Grossman was pathetic in that game?

I don't have it where I can watch it again, but I remember thinking that he sucked at the time.

[thunderkyss]

Originally Posted by Hervoyel

Of course I want Orlovsky to get it and be the entirely adequate backup they signed him to be. I wasn't impressed with what we saw in the preseason last year and I was very happy that we had Grossman around. Those of us who thought Grossman was truly pathetic against Jacksonville keep in mind that it could have been even worse.

What I liked most about Rex, was that he didn't want to be a backup QB. He's played on the biggest stage there is, and he believes he can get there again.

What I liked about Sage, I never got the impression that he "understood" that he was a back-up. I felt he always (since he got here) thought he was a starter waiting for his opportunity.

I liked Orlovsky when he played in Detroit, because that is who I thought he was. The last two years, I don't know. Is he happy being the back-up?

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by JB

I don't have it where I can watch it again, but I remember thinking that he sucked at the time.

It was tough to watch, but no, Grossman was just a victim of a lot of things that went wrong for us on that day.

The receivers didn't run crisp routes and the O-line had some leaks were two major factors. And the Jax were just in the right place at the right time.

[76Texan]

Originally Posted by thunderkyss

What I liked most about Rex, was that he didn't want to be a backup QB. He's played on the biggest stage there is, and he believes he can get there again.

What I liked about Sage, I never got the impression that he "understood" that he was a back-up. I felt he always (since he got here) thought he was a starter waiting for his opportunity.

I liked Orlovsky when he played in Detroit, because that is who I thought he was. The last two years, I don't know. Is he happy being the back-up?

Haha, let's hope third time is the charm!

[infantrycak]

Originally Posted by 76Texan

Herv, I would like to know why you (and some others) think Grossman was pathetic in that game?

A 5.6 QB rating might explain thinking he was pathetic.