Everyone in Houston is super excited about the Tom Savage era. Especially Tom Savage.
"I'm super ready," Savage said Monday, via the Houston Chronicle. "It's going to be a battle. I can't tell you how excited I am."
Added J.J. Watt, an unofficial spokesman of all things grit, determination and long odds: "He's had time to learn and grow. He's got a chance to prove what he's got. That's all you can ask for in this league - an opportunity. I think he's embracing that chance this offseason."
At the moment, each of the three teams who drafted a quarterback in the first round are in delay-the-inevitable mode. Savage, Mike Glennon and Alex Smith all have advantages for now in terms of system knowledge, which might push them into the regular season and beyond as starting quarterbacks.
The Texans have propped up Savage all offseason, including the night they selected Deshaun Watson with the 12th overall pick in the NFL draft. General manager Rick Smith told NFL Network at the time that the Texans were "comfortable" with Savage and their expectation was "Deshaun comes in and learns."
It's a difficult balancing act for a team that clearly wants to get more dynamic at the quarterback position but does not want to shove all of its institutional knowledge out the door. For Savage, the one benefit will be getting at least some of the summer as a starting quarterback. By many accounts, he is just as good, if not better than some of the sub-replacement level starters that still seem to be clinging to premier roles around the league.
If Savage can hold off Watson long enough to prove that on film, that's something worth getting excited about.
