DeMeco Ryans isn’t putting all of the Texans’ eggs in the quarterback basket

The Houston Texans have had problems at quarterback since 2021. It may be their most fundamental problem.

However, new coach DeMeco Ryans won’t let the position define them, even though he is aware of the deficiencies therein.

“We have one quarterback here on our roster, and we have to add more at that position,” Ryans said. “We know everybody gets excited about the quarterback. The quarterback is one piece to a team.”

Davis Mills has had the thankless job of taking snaps under center for the hapless Texans over the past two years. The former 2020 third-rounder has a 5-19-1 record with a career 83.3 passer rating. With two years remaining on his rookie contract, Mills may be relegated to backup as the Texans seek other options at quarterback, including using their No. 2 overall pick in the 2023 NFL draft.

Ryans isn’t looking for a quarterback to solve all of Houston’s problems. Although Mills gets tagged with a 5-19-1 record for the past two years, the Texans went 7-26-1. Tyrod Taylor and Kyle Allen were hardly better as they compiled a 2-7 record apart from Mills.

Said Ryans: “How do you build around that quarterback? Yes, we want a great quarterback, but no, we need a great offensive line to protect the quarterback. We need great running backs, great tight ends, great receivers. We need a great defense, special teams. We all play together. That’s the awesome part about football is it’s not on one guy’s shoulders to go out there and win the game for us. It’s all about building around each other and playing together. That’s how we’ll win games.”

The San Francisco 49ers, where Ryans started out his NFL coaching career in 2017, is a prime example of a team that didn’t implode due to complications at quarterback.

“As I’ve seen in San Francisco, what happens when you don’t have that one guy,” said Ryans. “Is the season over? Are you just booking it? No.”

The Texans seek to employ the same model of team building under Ryans.