Case Keenum ended his college career as the all-time leading passing in NCAA history, throwing for 19,217 yards and 155 touchdowns in his 57-game career at the University of Houston.
Despite the production, Keenum's size (a shade under 6-foot-1 and 208 pounds and 9-inch-1/8 hands, the second-smallest hands among quarterbacks invited to the combine) and career spent in a spread offense contributed to him not being selected in the 2012 NFL Draft.
Keenum is an intriguing prospect, however, and received a $12,000 signing bonus (tied for the highest among the team's undrafted free agents) to join the Texans. While he's still adjusting to taking snaps from center, head coach Gary Kubiak thinks Keenum has a real future in the NFL, Nick Scurfield of HoustonTexans.com writes.
"It's interesting because for him to go play under center -- he'd never done it -- that hasn't been a problem at all," Kubiak said during last week's OTAs. "Now, it's just kind of getting used to playing under there from a standpoint off seeing things and verbiage. There's a lot of verbiage in our offense and I don't think there was much at Houston, if I'm right, so he's having to adjust to that. He's very smart. He's a diligent worker, and that's all you can ask for."
"He's well on his way to learning what he's doing, so I'm very pleased. I'm excited to work with him. I think he's got a future. We just got to take it a day at a time."
Keenum is benefiting from additional reps during the Texans OTAs because Matt Schaub is recovering from a foot injury.
Schaub is entrenched as the starter, however, and 2011 fifth-round pick T.J. Yates and John Beck are expected to battle it out for the No. 2 and No. 3 roles. Given the Texans' crowded depth chart, a raw prospect like Keenum is expected to spend the 2012 season on the practice squad.
