Texans Ink Veteran Ryan Fitzpatrick

What wondrous use of facial hair

     Thursday the Texans inked veteran QB Ryan Fitzpatrick to the tune of two years/7.5 million with four million guaranteed. As if it wasn't obvious previously given his contract situation, the Texans lack of cap space, and his poor play from the season previous, the writing is on the walls for Matt Schaub. Number eight has very likely taken his last snap in steel blue, and will either be traded or given his outright release soon. Fitz will provide one of the best back-ups in the league and an invaluable mentorship to the QB the Texans give the keys of the car to moving forward. Fitzpatrick is among the most qualified QB2's in the league, and would suffice as a stop-gap if the Texans feel the need to season a young playcaller before throwing him to the wolves. Fitz has started previously in stints with St. Louis, Cincinnati, Buffalo, and Tennessee for a total of 77 games started over the course of nine seasons. Most recently Fitz started nine games in Tennessee in Jake Locker's stead, posting a completion percentage of 62%, on 2454 yards passing with 14 touchdowns to 12 interceptions with a respectable QB rating of 82. The arrival of the former Harvard grad will likely spell the end of the tenure for either TJ Yates or Case Keenum as Texans. I don't believe the signing of Fitz in anyway is foreshadowing as to which direction the Texans brass may be leaning towards in regards to the draft. Ryan Fitzpatrick is a proven commodity who will provide insurance to a team that may need it in the coming campaign. I believe it to be a sound acuisition, a bit costly, but a wise investment none the less. What do you make of the signing? Below is a look at Fitz' statistical body of work via pro-football-reference.com...

Year	Tm	G	GS	Cmp	Att	Cmp%	Yds	TD	TD%	Int	Int%	Y/G	Rate
2005	STL	4	3	76	135	56.3	777	4	3.0	8	5.9	194.3	58.2
2006	STL	1	0	0	0		0	0		0		0.0
2007	CIN	1	0	0	0		0	0		0		0.0
2008	CIN	13	12	221	372	59.4	1905	8	2.2	9	2.4	146.5	70.0
2009	BUF	10	8	127	227	55.9	1422	9	4.0	10	4.4	142.2	69.7
2010	BUF	13	13	255	441	57.8	3000	23	5.2	15	3.4	230.8	81.8
2011	BUF	16	16	353	569	62.0	3832	24	4.2	23	4.0	239.5	79.1
2012	BUF	16	16	306	505	60.6	3400	24	4.8	16	3.2	212.5	83.3
2013	TEN	11	9	217	350	62.0	2454	14	4.0	12	3.4	223.1	82.0
Career		85	77	1555	2599	59.8	16790	106	4.1	93	3.6	197.5	77.5