Death to Google Ads! Texans Talk Tip Jar! 🍺😎👍
Thanks for your support!

Grossman Wins #2 Spot

HoustonFrog

Dallas Frog
I wonder how King got this info early...or he is just saying he thinks he beat him out

From MMQB

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/peter_king/09/06/mmqb/2.html

HOUSTON
Rex Grossman beat out Dan Orlovsky at backup quarterback (I am still blown away by the Al Davis-like contract -- three years, $9.15-million -- the Texans gave to Orlovsky), which is significant because Matt Schaub has missed five games due to injury in each of the last two years.
 

GP

Go Texans!
I guess I need to apologize for laughing at LZ when he said Grossman looked better than Dan AND Matt back in training camp.

Watching the Bucs preseason game, Grossman was decisive and accurate.

Dan is shaky and indecisive.

What a story this is.
 

rmartin65

Phil Kessel: Nice Guy. Tries Hard.
That contract for Orlovsky looks pretty bad right now... Shoot.

Grossman is an up and down player, sometimes you get a very good QB, and other times you get a high school player. That makes for a risky backup.
 

Mr. White

Retired OLine Coach
I'm glad to see a player get a job based on performance instead of his draft position or the size of his contract.

Call me crazy, but I think Kubes just might be able to help Grossman become a successful starter.
 

Vinny

shiny happy fan
That contract for Orlovsky looks pretty bad right now... Shoot.

Grossman is an up and down player, sometimes you get a very good QB, and other times you get a high school player. That makes for a risky backup.
actually, that makes for a back up. If he was more consistent he would be a starter somewhere.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Rex impressed me on the field. Danny O simply has potential, a great arm and Kubes saying he can coach him up. If the back up QBs contracts were reversed, I would not be complaining as Grossman looked damn good Friday. If he is gone next year and he might not be, O. should be a much stronger QB going into next season. Schaub could be out quite a bit this season (heaven forbid) & both back ups could get field time.
 

Texans Pride

Veteran
I'm glad to see a player get a job based on performance instead of his draft position or the size of his contract.

Call me crazy, but I think Kubes just might be able to help Grossman become a successful starter.
Word!

I was worried that "The Big O" would get the second spot because of the contract. I think this sends a very good message to the entire team: No job is a given, and hard work will be rewarded!
 

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
I'm not suprised at this, it's fairly obvious who was the better QB. Grossman won't be here next year though if he plays well this season, because we will have to give him more than what's he's making now. There are other teams that will pick him up and pay him more. DanO will be here next year, and will be a much better QB after a year of coaching up.

At least that's how I see it right now. In December this year, we'll all be singing different tunes on just about everything we've said so far in these threads. LOL
 

HoustonFrog

Dallas Frog
The thing I always liked about Grossman, even with the Bears, is that he gave their offense a chance to be explosive. He made mistakes and some clunkers but he also caught fire. I think with a back-up you don't necessarily want a guy to lose a game but you don't want a guy who is afraid and who just hands it off. I think Grossman has been in enough games where he can do what is needed to win games.
 

Vinny

shiny happy fan
Why do we give such big contracts to guys on spec so often? It's like we are bi polar. We either sign a "proven" guy way past his prime or we sign a guy on pure speculation that he can do something here that he couldn't do elsewhere.
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
Why do we give such big contracts to guys on spec so often? It's like we are bi polar. We either sign a "proven" guy way past his prime or we sign a guy on pure speculation that he can do something here that he couldn't do elsewhere.
There you go again trying to use common sense and logic... sheesh. :photos:
 

gtexan02

Working?
Why do we give such big contracts to guys on spec so often? It's like we are bi polar. We either sign a "proven" guy way past his prime or we sign a guy on pure speculation that he can do something here that he couldn't do elsewhere.
Dont forget that we won't resign our own proven talent in order to make a point
 

rmartin65

Phil Kessel: Nice Guy. Tries Hard.
actually, that makes for a back up. If he was more consistent he would be a starter somewhere.
I would rather have an average QB that is consistent, game after game. With backups you just want a guy who can manage the game, someone who can step in for a game or two (or in Schaub's case, 5 or 6) and the offense can still function. Grossman is hit or miss.
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
actually, that makes for a back up. If he was more consistent he would be a starter somewhere.
Exactly. Good Rex like we saw much of the other night is the guy who kept the fans in Chicago thinking that he was almost there but sooner or later Bad Rex would come around and just stink the place up. I think the only question (and it's not much of one really, a thin thread at this point) is whether he's had the coaching he needs. Now that's the same thing we hear about Orlovsky too but with Dan the possibility that he can get better and be coached up is much more likely. Still, maybe Grossman just needed proper coaching to get better. Plummer went to Denver and got better so maybe by the end of the season we're trying to re-sign Grossman and Orlovsky, well I don't know what we do then.

And there I go falling for a good game from Rex Grossman. That's how it starts and the next thing you know he's been around for a couple of years and you're starting to think "This isn't going to change is it?" You would think after David Carr I'd know better.
 

gtexan02

Working?
Exactly. Good Rex like we saw much of the other night is the guy who kept the fans in Chicago thinking that he was almost there but sooner or later Bad Rex would come around and just stink the place up. I think the only question (and it's not much of one really, a thin thread at this point) is whether he's had the coaching he needs. Now that's the same thing we hear about Orlovsky too but with Dan the possibility that he can get better and be coached up is much more likely. Still, maybe Grossman just needed proper coaching to get better. Plummer went to Denver and got better so maybe by the end of the season we're trying to re-sign Grossman and Orlovsky, well I don't know what we do then.

And there I go falling for a good game from Rex Grossman. That's how it starts and the next thing you know he's been around for a couple of years and you're starting to think "This isn't going to change is it?" You would think after David Carr I'd know better.
The nice thing about having him as a backup is that you can coach him up just enough to show flashes of "good rex" and then trade him while his stock is high. After Kubiak was able to turn FA signing Sage into a 4th rounder, I think he got excited and is ready to do it again with Dano and Rex
 

beerlover

Hall of Fame
maybe its to showcase where he's @ this stage in his career to shop him around the league for another 4th rounder :barman:

All it takes is for one or two QB's to go down (excluding Schaub or course) & teams could line up in a bidding war (one only hopes). In this case I think it was a prudent move on Kubiaks part to keep three QB's for a change :bender:
 
I guess DanO is feeling pretty awesome right about now. His contract might be on the big side of dumb but adding that Grossman is making as little as a veteran can possibly make kind of evens it out. In my mind anyway...

As good of a game as Rex had don't forget his first performance was one of injury and a terrible deep throw. And getting yanked. I don't pretend for one second that Grossman has this spot on lockdown, just that right now if Matt is unavailable it's Grossman. DanO still has the rest of that contract with Kubiak, I think he'll be a fine player with more exposure to non-Lion coaching.
 

Runner

Hubcap Diamond
Staff member
This is a good sign for the Texans. They let the decision be made by the play on the field rather than by who was named before play started, by the contract, or other spurious things.
 

Hervoyel

BUENO!
He's got a weird kind of career. First three years in the league he has 7 starts and then all of a sudden he starts 16 games, does ok, they go to the Super Bowl (entirely on the strength of just about everyone but him) and then the next year he's starting 8 games and generally stinking it up. The thing is if you look at his numbers the year after their Super Bowl he was pretty much doing about the same thing he did the year before.

He kind of looks to me like a guy who hasn't grown much over the past 6 years. It makes you think "Does he just not get the game at this level (entirely possible) or has he been in the wrong system (also possible).

If it's the first one then there's nothing you can do about it but if it's the second then he should get a lot out of being here with Kubiak and Shanahan and he should flourish in our system. We likely won't see it unless (until) Schaub goes down for a while but if he maintains his hold on the #2 spot all season then I think that will indicate that Kubiak thinks he's on to something.
 

Brisco_County

Apples and roadmaps
That's an awful lot of money for a #3.
I don't think Orlovsky lived up to expectations in the preseason. He looked better in Detroit. He's still a good #3 to develop, even if he's paid too much.

Grossman is an up and down player, sometimes you get a very good QB, and other times you get a high school player. That makes for a risky backup.
Like Rosenfels?

As someone else mentioned, Grossman isn't afraid to make a big play, which is valuable when you have receivers as talented as ours. I don't think Grossman has ever had this kind of talent to work with. Mushin Muhammed at best?
 

Runner

Hubcap Diamond
Staff member
gtexan02 said:
Why do we give such big contracts to guys on spec so often? It's like we are bi polar. We either sign a "proven" guy way past his prime or we sign a guy on pure speculation that he can do something here that he couldn't do elsewhere.
Dont forget that we won't resign our own proven talent in order to make a point
The team us still on the learning curve. It's going to take more than just improvement in the players to be a contender year after year. The coaches and front office need to figure things out too. If not, the Texans will end up around 8-8 most years with the occasional flash of play-off contention and sucky years mixed in.
 

euro-Texan

Rookie
albiet premature, as far as as the big contract goes, if next year is indeed uncapped, and DanO doen't measure out, we can cut him and not take a cap hit, so maybe that is why we signed another veteran QB after we picked him up with that fat contract.
 

HOU-TEX

Ah, Football!
IIRC, didn't Sage sign a similar contract with the Vikes? I know they might've signed him as a potential starter, but he is now a backup getting paid 9 mill over 3 years.

:includeme:
 
Long term, this move makes sense if we think Grossman is clearly ahead of Orlovsky. This gives us a year to develop Orlovsky as the backup and he can be our #2 the next two years after Grossman departs (which he almost certainly will).

As for Grossman's revelatory performance, let's remember that it came against the deep backups for a team that has a dark-horse shot at the #1 pick in 2010. So before we go proclaiming that Sexy Rexy is back, let's hold it for a minute.

But, before I give in to realism, allow me to posit the best case scenario (right after we pick up Casey Hampton on waivers from the Steelers): Schaub stays healthy, making the backup debate a purely acadmeic exercise. Grossman's film is good enough that a suddenly desperate team decides to throw a draft pick at us to get him, while Orlovsky fixes the bugs in his game. Then, in the offseason, other fallen QBs start banging on Kubes' door to get their careers resurrected like he did for Rex.
 

Kaiser Toro

Native Mod
Long term, this move makes sense if we think Grossman is clearly ahead of Orlovsky. This gives us a year to develop Orlovsky as the backup and he can be our #2 the next two years after Grossman departs (which he almost certainly will).

As for Grossman's revelatory performance, let's remember that it came against the deep backups for a team that has a dark-horse shot at the #1 pick in 2010. So before we go proclaiming that Sexy Rexy is back, let's hold it for a minute.

But, before I give in to realism, allow me to posit the best case scenario (right after we pick up Casey Hampton on waivers from the Steelers): Schaub stays healthy, making the backup debate a purely acadmeic exercise. Grossman's film is good enough that a suddenly desperate team decides to throw a draft pick at us to get him, while Orlovsky fixes the bugs in his game. Then, in the offseason, other fallen QBs start banging on Kubes' door to get their careers resurrected like he did for Rex.
I would have liked to think that Orlovsky would have been the guy that we could turn over given his measurables and the "Kubiak touch." I am not sure why the Steelers would be interested in our two back ups when they have Batch entrenched, and are playing with Dennis Dixon's versatility.
 

AcresHomesTexan

No Longer Arlington: Escaped From Jerry's World
Staff member
I had said earlier in the off-season that I did not think that DanO. would lose unless he was CLEARLY our played by Grossman. I know in the last pre-season game Grossman did so, but it does say something to what's going on in practice with Grossman and orlovsky that this choice was made. I do applaud them for not just making this a political and monetary decision.
 

barrett

All Pro
He reminds me of Sage except higher risk as well as higher reward. I'm certainly comfortable with it as of wk 1. Orlovsky is built for this type of offense. If his errors are corrected (and I think they can be) He's a better QB than Grossman hands down. Grossman is who he is.

In my best case scenario Schaub plays 19, Orlovsky becomes a solid 2 and we get a pick for Rex.
 

JimC

Practice Squad
In other news. Dan Orlovsky is making a voodoo doll of Anthony Hill.
That is a beautiful line (and probably true).

In the last game, Orlovsky completed every pass he threw to anyone other than Hill, and lost his job...
 

badboy

Hall of Fame
When speaking of Rex moving on, someone should discuss what teams would want him. I think he is best served by a team with a decent running game and a stable of very good WR that can make any QB look efficient. A strong O line that moves well to take pressure off an average to good QB. As far as trading him as season moves on and QB drop by wayside, if he continues to develop and show as he did against TB, maybe he would remain with Texans? Forget his past and focus only on his stats after say midseason. Hopefully, he will get minimal plays and in mop up scenarios.

I think there may be few teams who he could sign with that will pay him big bucks. He might choose to remain in this system as did Sage. It is possible O. may command more interest later in this season if he "coaches up". For now, based on the little we have seen, I am ok with both remaining on roster all season.
 
I would have liked to think that Orlovsky would have been the guy that we could turn over given his measurables and the "Kubiak touch." I am not sure why the Steelers would be interested in our two back ups when they have Batch entrenched, and are playing with Dennis Dixon's versatility.
I only made the Casey Hampton comment as a jest about hopeful-case-scenario's by referencing the one-day thread last week where we were all hoping/speculating/theorizing that we might get Hampton given his contract issue in Pittsburgh. Wasn't intending to suggest we could trade Rex for Hampton.

As I was typing that last sentence, the opening strains of Mr. Preposterous Trade Proposer started going through my head.
 

JimC

Practice Squad
I'm not sure why so many people are fretting over the Orlovsky contract. The NFL salary cap is nearly $130 million, so the average among all 53 players is over $2 million per year. An average salary of $3 million is a little over 2% of the cap.

Given the importance of backup QB -- especially for the Texans -- and the high cost of QBs in general, $3 million per year isn't a huge contract. In fact, I wouldn't have a problem with giving another $3 million a year to Grossman and keeping both of them for multiple years.

That $6 million is a little more than Anthony Weaver is counting against the cap this year, and he's gone! I'd much rather have 3 QBs that I thought I could win with, even if the extra two cost $6 million a year (5% of the salary cap).

In recent years, the backup QB has largely decided the outcome of 5 games per year. How many other $3 - $6 million investments could have that much impact?
 

Kaiser Toro

Native Mod
I only made the Casey Hampton comment as a jest about hopeful-case-scenario's by referencing the one-day thread last week where we were all hoping/speculating/theorizing that we might get Hampton given his contract issue in Pittsburgh. Wasn't intending to suggest we could trade Rex for Hampton.

As I was typing that last sentence, the opening strains of Mr. Preposterous Trade Proposer started going through my head.
It was certainly directional, but as the Bud Light-spots say, "integrity is over rated."
:shades:
 

Kaiser Toro

Native Mod
I'm not sure why so many people are fretting over the Orlovsky contract. The NFL salary cap is nearly $130 million, so the average among all 53 players is over $2 million per year. An average salary of $3 million is a little over 2% of the cap.

Given the importance of backup QB -- especially for the Texans -- and the high cost of QBs in general, $3 million per year isn't a huge contract. In fact, I wouldn't have a problem with giving another $3 million a year to Grossman and keeping both of them for multiple years.

That $6 million is a little more than Anthony Weaver is counting against the cap this year, and he's gone! I'd much rather have 3 QBs that I thought I could win with, even if the extra two cost $6 million a year (5% of the salary cap).

In recent years, the backup QB has largely decided the outcome of 5 games per year. How many other $3 - $6 million investments could have that much impact?
For me it was not 3m dollars, it was Orlovsky getting 3m dollar per year. Outside of that I like your line of thinking.
 

dalemurphy

Hall of Fame
For me it was not 3m dollars, it was Orlovsky getting 3m dollar per year. Outside of that I like your line of thinking.
The point is that the Orlovsky contract will not handicap this team's ability to sign or re-sign free agents. Therefore, unless you are Bob McNair, why do you care?
 

HOU-TEX

Ah, Football!
That is a beautiful line (and probably true).

In the last game, Orlovsky completed every pass he threw to anyone other than Hill, and lost his job...
The INT was basically the same mistake Dan O made the game before. It wasn't completely Hill's fault. The ball should've never been thrown his way to begin with. Sure, the ball hit Hill's hands, but it was thrown behind him and he was covered very well.

Apparently, making the same mistake two games in a row doesn't sit well with Kubiak and rightfully so.
 

JimC

Practice Squad
The point is that the Orlovsky contract will not handicap this team's ability to sign or re-sign free agents. Therefore, unless you are Bob McNair, why do you care?
Exactly. Money on a good backup QB isn't wasted, it is invested. This is a small investment, and doesn't impact the big investments.

Despite carrying over $12 million in dead money, franchising their CB, and carrying 3 QBs who have started for NFL teams, the Texans have over $10 million in cap space right now. They could bring in a big-time free agent or resign their own players without having cap problems.

Their biggest problem is no longer cap trouble; their biggest problem is deciding who to cut to make room for Dunta.
 

JimC

Practice Squad
The INT was basically the same mistake Dan O made the game before. It wasn't completely Hill's fault. The ball should've never been thrown his way to begin with. Sure, the ball hit Hill's hands, but it was thrown behind him and he was covered very well.

Apparently, making the same mistake two games in a row doesn't sit well with Kubiak and rightfully so.
Don't get me wrong, I have no problem with the Grossman decision. Orlovsky tried to rifle a ball into a tight opening in traffic, knowing that the guy he was throwing to was drafted for his blocking ability and not his catching ability. He made a big mistake and hurt the team.

Still, Hill didn't do anyone any favors either. The team was looking at him as a receiving tight end, and I suspect they have decided to just let him block for a while.

The bottom line is that Orlovsky hasn't been terrible, Grossman has been more successful, and both are legit backups. I am hopeful that within a few weeks the Texans will have 3 QBs that can win games.
 
Texans quarterback Matt Schaub returned to practice Tuesday, though it's not clear whether he will start against the New York Jets in Sunday's season opener.

Schaub took half the snaps in practice, his first significant work since he suffered the injury during a Aug. 31 preseason game against the Minnesota Vikings. He is listed as day-to-day.



"He took a big step forward (Tuesday)," Texans coach Gary Kubiak said. "He's progressing toward getting ready to go, so it's a positive move forward for him."

Kubiak stopped short of saying Schaub, who has missed five games in each of the last two seasons with injuries, would start against the Jets. The coach did announce that Rex Grossman would be Houston's No. 2 quarterback this week.

Grossman, who led the Chicago Bears to the Super Bowl in the 2006 season, overtook Dan Orlovsky in the competition to back up Schaub after throwing two touchdown passes in the Texans' preseason finale. Orlovsky, a seven-game starter for the Detroit Lions last season, was scheduled to be the backup before Grossman's recent performance, which came after he missed two weeks of action because of an injury.




so grossman may get the start.......


way to start the season yes? :voodoo:
 

Thorn

Dirty Old Man
Oh good lord. Quick, someone delete this thread. I don't even what to think about this.
 

TheRealJoker

Hall of Fame
Methinks Kubiak doesn't want to say one way or another until he has to give the NFL the official injury report because he wants the Jets to have to practice without knowing who will be under center on Sunday.

Personally, if Schaub took any reps today, I think he's gonna be starting on Sunday. Its a good coaching move to keep the opposing team wondering :)
 
Top