With just six more weeks until the 2014 NFL Draft, Bill O'Brien is evaluating what might be the most important decision of his career.
When the Texans draft a quarterback, who should it be?
Notice the use of the word "when" and not "if." According to O'Brien, the Texans are definitely targeting a quarterback in this year's draft. The question is really, how early (or late) will they draft him?
"Oh I don't think there's any question that we'll draft a quarterback in the draft," O'Brien said in an interview with NFL Network. "Where we draft that quarterback, we don't even know that yet. We're still in the process of studying all these prospects, in the process of putting a grade on them and trying to place them where they would be in the draft. The big thing is it's such a long process. We're in the stage now where we are going to Pro Days and eventually we bring them into our facility for an interview, we call it an on-campus interview in Houston. As we get closer and closer, we'll obviously be ready to make a decision on where we're headed with all the picks."
With no clear-cut answer at quarterback with the No. 1 overall selection, the Texans could wait until later to make the pick for their future franchise starter. O'Brien likes what he sees in the top prospects but isn't opposed to snagging a quarterback later.
"There's really, to me, not a lot of separation, and there are more quarterbacks than just three," O'Brien said. "Obviously, the three guys that everybody talks about, Blake (Bortles), Teddy (Bridgewater), and Johnny (Manziel), those guys are good players. They've had great college careers. But there are other guys out there."
Some of the other quarterback prospects O'Brien mentioned were A.J. McCarron, Zach Mettenberger, Logan Thomas, Tom Savage, and Jimmy Garoppolo.
"To me, you've got 10 to 12 guys you've got to do a great job of evaluating and make the best pick possible wherever you pick these guys," O'Brien said. "I see a lot of good quarterbacks. All the guys have potential which is a dangerous word and you're trying to make sure you're doing what's best for your organization when you make that pick."
Last week, the Texans made two roster moves at quarterback, signing veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick and trading Matt Schaub to Oakland for a sixth-round pick.
