Prior to C.J. Stroud's arrival a little under a year ago, Houston was a painful place to discuss quarterbacks. Starting with the end of the 2020 season, when Deshaun Watson decided he wanted out of Houston, and then a couple months later, when Houston was fine ridding itself of Deshaun Watson, along with the painful 2021 and 2022 seasons led by Davis Mills, quarterback talk was not fun for a good while there.

Then along came C.J. Stroud, the 2023 Offensive Rookie of the Year, and now we can calmly sit back, with out big bucket of popcorn, and watch teams like the Bears, Commanders, Patriots, and Vikings duke it out over four quarterbacks, three of whom will almost surely fail. After all, that's about the success ratio for first round picks.

It's a nice place to be, but it doesn't mean that the Texans ignore the quarterback position altogether. As we learned in Weeks 15 and 16 this past season, when Stroud went out with a concussion, injuries happen. A solid backup quarterback is essential. Without Case Keenum winning that Titans game in Week 15, the Texans might have missed the playoffs altogether. Instead, they were AFC South champs.

So we shouldn't be surprised then, when we see a report like the one below from KPRC Channel 2's Aaron Wilson, about South Carolina QB Spencer Rattler visiting the Texans this past Monday:

#Texans hosted South Carolina @GamecockFB standout quarterback Spencer Rattler for a visit, per a league source. Oklahoma transfer was named @seniorbowl MVP @JimNagy_SB Finished career with 10,807 career yards, 77 touchdowns, 32 interceptions and rushed for four scores @KPRC2

— Aaron Wilson (@AaronWilson_NFL) April 9, 2024

Just to lay out the backstory on Rattler, for those who don't know or remember, he was the next in line at Oklahoma after Jalen Hurts, Kyler Murray, and Baker Mayfield all either won or were finalists for the Heisman Trophy. Coming into 2021, Rattler was the Vegas favorite for the award. Then, in October, freshman Caleb Williams took Rattler's job and never looked back.

Rattler transferred to South Carolina for two solid, if unspectacular, seasons with the Game cocks in 2022 and 2023. As far as physical tools and arm talent go, there are very few in this draft class superior to Rattler. Still, it's expected that he will be a late Day 2 (2nd and 3rd round) or early Day 3 (4th or 5th round) pick.

So what does this bit of news mean? Let's examine:

Davis Mills and Case Keenum are likely done, as Texans, after this season, maybe sooner?
Mills and Keenum are both under contract for this coming season, but nether is a lock to make the team, if they decide to bring in another quarterback. If one of the two were to get moved, it's likely be Mills for a late round draft pick. Keenum does serve as a quasi-coach for Stroud, and has value in the locker room. Both should be gone, by the latest, after the season, and having a young guy like Rattler around to develop as a backup for a year makes sense.

Spencer Rattler is a logical prospect for the Texans to explore
Digging a bit deeper into Rattler specifically, I mentioned his physical talent. You can watch his highlights here:
Rattler has also had to overcome some adversity in his career, most notably losing his job as a highly acclaimed collegiate passer and having to transfer to reestablish himself. He had some maturity issues, too, as a young player, but in every interview I've watched this offseason with him, he seems to have found himself as an adult. I'd be in favor fusing a fourth round pick on him.

Hey, at the very least, the Texans will get some good intel on South Carolina WR Xavier Leggette and his awesome accent
The Texans are also scouting wide receivers, and in the end, at the very least, they should get some great intel from Rattler about his teammate, WR Xavier Leggette, who has the greatest Southern country-ass accent this side of Dameon Pierce:

Xavier Leggette has the best accent I’ve ever heard 😂 pic.twitter.com/JLI4rTpPWk

— Boston Cream 🍩 (@itsbostoncream) March 24, 2024

The draft is exactly two weeks away. I can't wait.

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