BOCA RATON, Florida -- If you're one of the people knocking the Texans for throwing $37 million guaranteed at quarterback Brock Osweiler, Bill O'Brien couldn't care less about your opinion.
"I think the first thing you look at is his film, how he plays the game," O'Brien said. "He's a big, tall guy with a strong arm and he stands in the pocket. When the rush is bearing down on him, he delivers the ball. Now, look, it's not always clean, but there's a lot that goes into that. I think the one thing I like about this guy is that he's got good leadership ability."
The Texans pounced on Osweiler only after an extensive review of every available quarterback, with O'Brien saying the team "spent a lot of time studying a lot of different guys, college guys, pro guys," but felt like "Brock gave us the best chance to win."
Osweiler was hardly pristine during his seven starts with Denver last season, but O'Brien made it clear that no young quarterback is perfect.
"Everybody asks me that," O'Brien said. "I need to improve, we all need to improve. ... I'm sitting there in bed this morning thinking about what I'm going to do better this year. Every player from J.J. Watt, DeAndre Hopkins, all the way through -- everybody's got something that they need to improve upon. I would say with Brock, just continuing to develop his skill set as a passer and being as accurate as he can be. I think he's an accurate passer, but you're always striving for 100 percent."
I asked O'Brien which of Osweiler's starts really shined his mind. He picked Denver's 30-24 win over the Patriots and, curiously, a 15-12 loss to Oakland in mid-December.
"I thought the New England game was one particular game that stood out to me because they were really, in coaching lingo, they were 'getting after him.' They were hitting him and he was delivering the football and getting right back up and calling the next play. One of the main requirements for a quarterback in this league is the ability to stand in there -- when everything's flying at you -- take a hit and deliver the ball, and that's one thing in that game that really stood out to me."
On the Raiders tilt: "(Pass rusher) Khalil Mack must have hit him, I don't know, eight to 10 times in that game? Stood in there, delivered the ball, maybe statistically it wasn't his best game, but to someone who's been coaching that position for a while and has really studied it, that means a lot to us."
Not everyone believes that Osweiler's ready for prime time, but at least one NFL coach is completely sold.
