The Houston Texans have finally found another quarterback, deep into the fourth round of the NFL draft. And it's not Ryan Mallett.
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The Texans used one of their compensatory picks to take Tom Savage out of Pittsburgh with the No. 135 pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. Calling Savage "out of Pittsburgh" is oversimplifying things. He started at Rutgers, went to Arizona to join Rich Rodriguez and then wound up at Pittsburgh after another transfer.
His play was erratic no matter where he went, but Savage has a lot of fans in the coaching and scouting community for his big arm and traditional NFL skills. Greg Schiano, his former coach at Rutgers, believes that Savage has the skill set to be a star at the next level.
Every year, a player or two emerges out of nowhere as a pre-draft prospect who "rises up draft boards" to become a talking point. In Savage's case, it was a bunch of hot air. Sure, he was drafted ahead of guys like Zach Mettenberger and AJ McCarron. But ultimately, Savage went where he was originally projected -- in the middle of Day 3. There was talk that some teams were looking at Savage at the top of Round 2.
This should quiet the rumors about Mallett, the New England Patriots backup quarterback, for a little while. NFL Media Insider Ian Rapoport reported Thursday that there was mutual interest between the Texans and Patriots about a possible Mallett deal early in the draft, but the Texans depth chart now includes Savage, T.J. Yates and Case Keenum behind presumptive starter Ryan Fitzpatrick.
We wouldn't consider the Mallett talk totally dead yet. But no matter what the Texans do at quarterback, they need their defense to carry them now.
*The "Around The League Podcast" wraps up the draft by picking our winners and losers. *
