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The Texans announced earlier this week that Brian Hoyer has won the quarterback battle against teammate Ryan Mallett. Hoyer is certainly the less mysterious of the two options, as we have seen what he is capable of with the Cleveland Browns. Now that the Texans offense is mostly solidified, let's take a look at the fantasy implications of having Hoyer under center in Houston.
In short, this is bad news for the Texans passing game. Mallett would have, at least, added a certain aspect of the unknown. He is a young, relatively unexperienced QB with a cannon for an arm and years spent learning under Tom Brady in New England. He started two games for Houston in 2014. In his first start against a respectable Browns defense, Mallett went 20-for-30 with 211 yards and 2 TD. He's shown flashes of competence, but the sample size is not nearly enough to judge the course of a full season.
With Hoyer, there's enough evidence to know this season probably won't go well. In 2014, Hoyer ranked 35th among qualified QBs, according to ProFootballFocus. His 55.5 completion percentage ranked dead last among qualified starters. Of course, Hoyer showed plenty of aptitude during his time in Cleveland. He surpassed 200 yards passing in 10 of his 14 starts, surpassing 300 yards in three starts, and seemed to be leading the Browns to a playoff run in a crowded division. Still, it's worth noting that Hoyer's tumultuous season in Cleveland was behind an elite offensive line. He won't have such a luxury in Houston. The Texans offensive line ranked 10 spots behind Cleveland's in 2014 and they did little to bolster the unit in the offseason.
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Naturally, this does not bode well for Houston's receiving corps from a fantasy perspective. Hoyer ranked 41st of all qualified QBs in 2014 in adjusted deep-passing completion percentage, per ProFootballFocus. So, deep threats like DeAndre Hopkins will likely suffer from the quarterback's subpar arm strength and accuracy. Cecil Shorts, Nate Washington and tight end Garrett Graham will also be negatively affected.
On the bright side, this could bode well on the Texans running game. The team has always used a run-first philosophy in years past and Bill O'Brien didn't change that upon taking over. Houston ran the ball more often than any other team in 2014 and the offensive line ranked 6th in run blocking. For the first handful of weeks in 2015, expect Alfred Blue to see a huge portion of carries and yards. Depending on Arian Foster's return timetable, which now sits between weeks 2-4, Blue could be a valuable sleeper in the draft. If Foster can stay healthy upon his return, expect him to be a monster, as usual.
